How hard/challenging is Elite from your perspective?

[Vorxian]

Just to add out of curiosity, what defines skill in Elite Dangerous? Is it piloting skill? Exploration navigation? Combat skill? Or skill in finding huge profits in the void?

Compared to the ace pilots out there and combat specialists, I'm not skilled at all.. But for commerce, and sniffing out the credit background echo, I think i'm more proficient than average. I guess everyone has a different measure.

I for one still find controlling the SRV IMPOSSIBLE. IMPOSSIBLE! so I avoid it like the plague.. but others do crazy things in theirs... I guess we're all made differently, after all .

 

[GunnerBill]

Just as you think you've mastered one thing in this game...

 

[FurtivePygmy]

I for one still find controlling the SRV IMPOSSIBLE. IMPOSSIBLE! so I avoid it like the plague.. but others do crazy things in theirs... I guess we're all made differently, after all .

Lol driving SRVs be like:

Do YOU have the Ancient Technology Activation Gene?

#JustStargateThings

 

[Jakester13]

Having just seen and tried to help someone completely brand new to Elite, there is an initial difficulty curve that is definitely challenging. How far you take it, is up to the individual.

Some become amazing in combat. Unbelievably so. And that takes practice and persistence and learning much more about ship flight behaviour and spatial awareness than a trader or explorer ever needs to. I take my hat off to them. I'd love to learn, but drift off on aimless - but fun - tangents.

I think the big learning curve at the start of the game levels off depending on your chosen career path. Then you choose your difficulty levels by engaging with the content that you select (mainly).

o7

 

[CMDR WER NUR]

For me, the only challenge (except for PVP and "puzzle missions" like finding Alien stuff, both of which i do not participate in) is to sometimes find the will and the need to play on. Everything else is dead simple in the end nowadays - which is sad... For example, the 2.1 AI (?) (disregarding the plasma fire bug, which i never encountered during that time) was spot-on at the challenge level for me - i was always risking my ship, and in most of the cases i fought the better AIs (lets say Expert/Master or higher) i took at least some hull damage, up to 50% hull damage when fighting the upper-end AIs). That was the only time i really felt challenged by the game (one could discuss if it is a challenge to travel to Colonia or whereever, but even then it is more thing of one's personal patience as it is a challenge, at least for me - i lost count of my trips to Colonia and back so far). That was the only time i felt "alive" as a CMDR in the game as there was a level of consequence for my "failures" - nowadays i win interdictions by being in the kitchen and cooking a new coffee...
So now i see it more as playing a "concept" than playing a "game".

MFG
CMDR WER NUR

PS: As the CMDR below pointed out, i still think ED is the best game eh concept i ever dabbled with, but it could be so much more with only (from a layman's view) a little bit of effort from FD's side - so i can only hope for the best (and by managing my expectations about what may or may not happen with the concept /game/whatever in the future). As a positive last note, my "expectation managment course" cost me under a 100 Euros and less then 2 years of time - and is IMHO valid and applicable to all things in life, not just to this game/concept/whatever. So Thanks FD for that lesson

 

[Karunamon]

The thing about Elite that I kinda realized yesterday is that, with the exception of combat, there is no skill involved, other than your patience.

I don't mean that in a derogatory way, I mean that a skill is an activity that you can get better at. You can get better at flying and combat tactics, but you can't really be a better explorer or a better trader. Once you know the basics of exploring or trading, you're equally as proficient as every other explorer or trader, the difference between their performance and yours being a function of how much time you spend on it.

 

[DragonIV]

The thing about Elite that I kinda realized yesterday is that, with the exception of combat, there is no skill involved, other than your patience.

I don't mean that in a derogatory way, I mean that a skill is an activity that you can get better at. You can get better at flying and combat tactics, but you can't really be a better explorer or a better trader. Once you know the basics of exploring or trading, you're equally as proficient as every other explorer or trader, the difference between their performance and yours being a function of how much time you spend on it.

Can't speak for exploring, but trade isn't as one dimensional as it appears to non-traders. It does change as you rank up, throwing harder and harder enemies at you, and there is a certain satisfaction with devising an maximized commodity route or a highly efficient rare route. It's nowhere near as complex as combat, I will grant that.

 

[Vardaugas]

It's difficult until you manage to dock.

There is a steep wall you have to climb in the beginning, managing controls, learning mechanics, setting up key bindings, etc. but once you got up there it's comfortable.

 

[FurtivePygmy]

The thing about Elite that I kinda realized yesterday is that, with the exception of combat, there is no skill involved, other than your patience.

I don't mean that in a derogatory way, I mean that a skill is an activity that you can get better at. You can get better at flying and combat tactics, but you can't really be a better explorer or a better trader. Once you know the basics of exploring or trading, you're equally as proficient as every other explorer or trader, the difference between their performance and yours being a function of how much time you spend on it.

Yeah, that sounds about right to me too. In a way "progressing" (i.e. amassing more money, bigger ships, engineered modules) feels a little bit like doing RPG loot farming for better gear in the sense that it is usually simply a matter of time invested that determines success, rather than increasing skill level. Which of course many people who play RPGs seem to really like, so I guess it's not inherently a positive or negative trait for a game to have. But yeah, it is interesting to me at least to imagine how something like exploration could (in theory) be more skill based after you know the basics...

 

[Alec Turner]

The thing about Elite that I kinda realized yesterday is that, with the exception of combat, there is no skill involved, other than your patience.

I expect to see you at the top of the next Buckyball leaderboard then and also look forward to hearing your best time for driving the SRV 50km from Elwood Camp to Ferguson prospect on Wasat A 2 E.

[video=youtube_share;iKBf255Sbjs]https://youtu.be/iKBf255Sbjs[/video]

 

[Lordxenu]

I think the game can be challenging (e.g. thargoid killing or landing on high g planets etc) but the biggest problem is you really have to look for the challenge it doesn't throw challenge at you.

 

[Karunamon]

I expect to see you at the top of the next Buckyball leaderboard then and also look forward to hearing your best time for driving the SRV 50km from Elwood Camp to Ferguson prospect on Wasat A 2 E.

A shame those things have no official support in the game, which is kinda the whole point.

Also, what is it with people on this board and not reading posts? Do you think that if you don't address it that it doesn't exist?

You can get better at flying and combat tactics, but you can't really be a better explorer or a better trader.

Sheesh...

 

[RexKraemer]

For me its very easy and a mostly relaxing game. Thats what I try to find playing the game: relaxation.

So what I really find hard and extremely difficult, frustrating too, is PvP, so I try to avoid it for now. My approaches to PvP were not successful, or better to say, devastating, no hope to learn it in a reasonable way.

 

[Alec Turner]

A shame those things have no official support in the game, which is kinda the whole point.

Not quite sure what you mean really. The skill in doing those things is inherent, it requires no official support.

Also, what is it with people on this board and not reading posts?

Huh? but you wrote ..

The thing about Elite that I kinda realized yesterday is that, with the exception of combat, there is no skill involved, other than your patience.

You even emboldened it. Sure you mentioned imrpoving flying skills later but your first statement was just plain wrong. Sorry.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Oh oh, driving the SRV at high speed in low gravity is difficult. Lol

Well, it's kinda more annoying than difficult.

Rocks also present one of the most dangerous aspects of Elite Dangerous Horizons. I've lost countless SRVs to rocks. Far more than I've lost ships to NPC's, or landing on skimmers near bases, which happens more than I'd like... But still, rocks provide more danger than the NPC's these days. Lol

Hehe, EDs new game needs to be Rock, SRV, Skimmer

Rock beats SRV.
SRV beats Skimmer.
Skimmer Flies Over Rock.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[jgrim]

tl;dr Challenging the first time, not so much later.

I'm a fairly new player and here's what I find. The first time I do anything in E it's pretty challenging. Docking was challenging at first, but after doing it a few hundred times it's second nature. Same goes for fuel scooping, planetary scan missions and many other things. Right now I'm learning how to Engineer and the materials gathering is challenging for me. Not in the sense that it's hard to do really, but in that you have to figure out what to do and where to find the stuff. And it seems like every new task in E brings a new learning curve to surmount, which keeps it fresh for me.

Also, challenging != fun (necessarily). But I play Fallout 4 in god mode to relax, so what do I know?

 

[WR3ND]

Easy, once you have the basics sorted out, PVP meta not withstanding.

Lost a total of 5 ships in the game and none sine 3301. I generally only fly small non-Engineered ships in the game.

2 cents worth, Cheers.

 

[FurtivePygmy]

Hehe, EDs new game needs to be Rock, SRV, Skimmer

Rock beats SRV.
SRV beats Skimmer.
Skimmer Flies Over Rock.

I like this idea waaaay too much, lol. Thanks for that!

 

[jgrim]

The thing about Elite that I kinda realized yesterday is that, with the exception of combat, there is no skill involved, other than your patience.

I don't mean that in a derogatory way, I mean that a skill is an activity that you can get better at. You can get better at flying and combat tactics, but you can't really be a better explorer or a better trader. Once you know the basics of exploring or trading, you're equally as proficient as every other explorer or trader, the difference between their performance and yours being a function of how much time you spend on it.

No derogatory taken

I feel like I've become a better explorer after doing it for a while. Fuel scooping is a big part of exploration and that takes some piloting skill to do well. I used to approach it with trepidation, but now I can get max scoop rate with no heat damage while orbiting a star. Same goes for planetary landings. Getting the most out of orbital cruise and glide, then come out of glide within 10Km of your target. Very satisfying. Many exploration skills have nothing to do with piloting the ship, too. Reading the SRV wave scanner comes to mind.

For me at least, exploration is much more than just jump, honk, scan, jump.

 

[FurtivePygmy]

Also, challenging != fun (necessarily). But I play Fallout 4 in god mode to relax, so what do I know?

I think it is very true that what counts as fun depends largely on expectations and desires going in. If I'm in the mood for twitchy action, I'm more likely to choose a multiplayer FPS to play over Elite, but when I just want to chill and look at pretty space scenery (i.e. not looking for a challenge), then exploration can be just the ticket. In that sense, I do think it is a strength of the game to have varying activities with varying degrees of challenge. My general sense thus far from people responding, though, is that the balance between the challenging and the non-challenging aspects of the game is weighted toward the latter (i.e. most of it is not very skill based or quite easy, at least for veteran players).

Also I myself had a beloved character way back in TES: Morrowind that had basically infinite stats and was cheat-boosted to hell for that very reason, so I do understand that particular inclination