...go back to the day before the April Update announcement and propose here in the forum an Autopilot for Supercruise. Oh that would be terribly funny to see the different reactions of the very same people! 
I would like to have a time machine to...
- Thread starter VR SenseiMatty
- Start date
At least there was the suggestion of docking computers for everybody lot that long ago:
forums.frontier.co.uk
And my point of view didn't change with that FD announced: things which take control of the player to help them might be a short term fix, but they don't cure the core problem. They just make sure the new player runs into another wall a little later.
What they do now can be a fast way to make things a bit easier for the new player. But to really help with the steep learning curve, much more needs to be done.
New Player Suggestion
Iāve thought about this a lot, and I really hope I can communicate it effectively. Of my thousand or so psn friends, around 150 bought elite yet maybe 6 actually play. The reason is simple, DOCKING. I sincerely believe that if āitā were flip-flopped, all 150 would still be playing...hell, the...
And my point of view didn't change with that FD announced: things which take control of the player to help them might be a short term fix, but they don't cure the core problem. They just make sure the new player runs into another wall a little later.
What they do now can be a fast way to make things a bit easier for the new player. But to really help with the steep learning curve, much more needs to be done.
Deleted member 110222
D
Diddums.
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You don't even need a time machine. All you need is a forum with a properly working Search function. Which we now have. 
Thread begun 8th May 2016 seems to be the main dumping ground for discussion ont he idea; the thread was last active a year ago. And this thread from March 2017 seems remarkably prescient.
Thread begun 8th May 2016 seems to be the main dumping ground for discussion ont he idea; the thread was last active a year ago. And this thread from March 2017 seems remarkably prescient.
That is all the OP would do with a time machine - how umm errr LAME!
Seriously with OP's recent posting history, he would be better of using that time machine to go back to before the kickstarter was even thought up. He could get himself hired by FD, rise up the corporate ladder due to his vast knowledge of the game and then be in position to ensure Elite Dangerous is designed and crafted specially to his exacting needs. Of course there is a big chance the game would fail because he refuses to acknowledge anyone elses wishes or wants in the game, but damn, he would have the game he wants.
Seriously with OP's recent posting history, he would be better of using that time machine to go back to before the kickstarter was even thought up. He could get himself hired by FD, rise up the corporate ladder due to his vast knowledge of the game and then be in position to ensure Elite Dangerous is designed and crafted specially to his exacting needs. Of course there is a big chance the game would fail because he refuses to acknowledge anyone elses wishes or wants in the game, but damn, he would have the game he wants.
Booring... You always criticize the person and not the post.. Another useless comment.. It adds nothing to this discussion
I know docking computer is somehow popular so I'm not surprised about the auto undocking computerAt least there was the suggestion of docking computers for everybody lot that long ago:
New Player Suggestion
Iāve thought about this a lot, and I really hope I can communicate it effectively. Of my thousand or so psn friends, around 150 bought elite yet maybe 6 actually play. The reason is simple, DOCKING. I sincerely believe that if āitā were flip-flopped, all 150 would still be playing...hell, the...
And my point of view didn't change with that FD announced: things which take control of the player to help them might be a short term fix, but they don't cure the core problem. They just make sure the new player runs into another wall a little later.
What they do now can be a fast way to make things a bit easier for the new player. But to really help with the steep learning curve, much more needs to be done.
If I were to build a Time Machine I would use it to go back in time, tel myself not to do some many stupid things, change history so that I didn't build a Time Machine, create a paradox, and then deal with said paradox. As Heinlein said, "There is no Paradox that cannot be paradoctored!".
There are a few players who have always argued for autopilot, such as NeilF, 777Driver and me.
PS
Actually that's not true, but NeilF convinced me back in 2017 or 2016.
PS
Actually that's not true, but NeilF convinced me back in 2017 or 2016.
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I know docking computer is somehow popular so I'm not surprised about the auto undocking computer
I'm not opposing the new modules by themselves. I am sure that some people will use and enjoy them. More options, even if enjoyed by a small part of the playerbase -> good for the game.
What i fear is that FD goes like "immediate problem solved, people don't quit any more during the first 5 minutes" and goes all "mission accomplished". Because it'll now take people 20 minutes before they run into something they can't handle and quit.
I so very much hope that FD proves me wrong here and actually goes the whole distance. Drop a pile of context sensitive help into the game. Some thing monitoring players behavior and give them a hand in case of need. Along the lines:
- (New) Player launches ship but doesn't move from the pad. -> Don't trigger fines and station defense, but put a hover window on top to display ship controls. Provide voice help giving some pointers on what to do.
- (New) Player launches ship, leaves pad, but doesn't leave the station. -> Highlight compass, provide hover text and voice help instructing them on how to leave the station.
- (New) Player left the station but still is there, not going to supercruise or jumping, after two minutes. -> Provide information on inter-system travel, show people how to get to the galaxy map.
- New player opens galaxy map for the first time -> Provide in-game hands-on tutorial. (If the hints come up while the player is using the map, it's much more likely to be read and understood than if the player is supposed to watch a tutorial video. Almost no player watches those. Then blame the game that they don't know what to do. )
Note that the (New) in many cases is a varying parameter. It would make sense to apply that openly. It should be used not only for somebody completely new to the game, but might also be reasonable to have for somebody who didn't play for several months and may have forgotten one or another thing in the meanwhile. So something like "has played less than three hours in the last six months" could be a valid criteria here. Refinement most likely will be necessary.
And yes, this is just the start of a long list. I see and understand that building something like this will take a long time. It might even be reasonable to spread it out over several patches, so over the run of half a year or more, the game would get more and more context sensitive help.
Based on how long it can take to do this, i fully understand that the current additional flight assists might help bridge the gap. It won't save those players who come in completely uninformed, expecting the game to be playable as easily as any game out there with a well designed game start. They will still quit in limited time. But it might be enough to save a number of players who have a vague idea of what they are doing, but need a hand in doing it. I just so very much hope that FD will do the complete job and not consider things done after throwing new players a few crutches.
