im all good with long range smuggling but this... is whats wrong with missions now

[bladebss]

this has been high lighted to me a lot since I have started the endless grind that is empire rank!

missions pay squat, I get it, it's clearly the way they want it though god knows why, there is a ranking system to stop new players cashing in high paying missions straight out of the sidey. so surly they should actually be harder and pay more the higher the rank, this sort of happens, some times if your are lucky, though I think if you are an elite trader the 1mill missions you can now run are peanuts.



now if you wanna make money real good and fast and have fun doing it there are shadow deliveries and long range smuggling missions to be had. fine fine all is well and good with that. I think the work that has been done to get them fun and challenging and not just a cash bonanza is great as they are fun and challenging and rewarding when you make it.

however... a side effect of this has resulted in a lot of missions looking like this...




this is just silly! I could travel 90 odd Ly to get my 35k or.. I could fly to the sun and shoot one wanted npc in a sidey and make the same if not more.

most of the time there is at least 2 or 3 of these '' fly 100ly to deliver *random commodity* for under 50k'' usually right next to one paying 200k to deliver 3 tones of animal meat to the system next door, cus they are hungry.

I don't want missions to be super lucrative to the point it makes all free lance activities moot, you get rep with missions that you don't with free lance, most missions are not too much of a challenge so why pay big bucks. but it would be nice if they were relevant at least. and dare I say it.... balanced.. just a little bit.


I have spent the last week doing nothing much but empire missions I have made about 2 or 3 million after doing like 150 of these things.. I could make the same money in a viper mk3 at HIrez in about a day EASY and I would never have to leave the system nor would I have to be any rank in any thing to do it.


this renders missions into nothing more than a rep gaining grinder and a chronic waste of time if you have any interest in making credits. unless you are in week 1 of play and still trying to make it out of the starter sidey. (except of course the long range smuggling missions)


I think missions add flavour and could be so cool, like the shadow deliveries, and I appreciate all the new and interesting missions like assassination missions and multi branch etc. but I cant justify doing them except for rep to get that shiny cutter etc. its like a whole massive facet of the game that's just so under par in the creds/logic department.


this is my semi rant plea for missions love to be made a priority.
(then weapons just under that cus yawn)

PLEASE! ;(

 

[Kristov]

You are working on naval rank, correct? In that case, I'd strongly suggest you stop looking at what the mission pays in credits and start looking at what the mission offers in Reputation gain, as that is what affects your naval rank increase.

The mission in the screenshot, 35k for running 90oddLY, not really worthwhile for the credits, very true. HOWEVER, it pays Medium Reputation gain and that is what you should be looking at. I think if you look at those high credit paying missions, you'll see many of them offer Low Reputation gain, I know most, NOT ALL, of the high paying missions I see work that way. Some of the high paying missions do offer Medium or even, rarely, High Reputation gain, but those are the exceptions, not the rule.

That could well be why your Imperial rank progression is such a grind, you are taking the wrong missions for actually gaining rank. I've run maybe 10 missions and taken my Count 8% rank to Count 31% now. Not a single charity mission in the lot, not a single combat mission in the lot(those are usually best for getting naval rank progression, mostly High Reputation gains, occasionally Medium), just plain delivery/haul/data missions, all Medium or High Reputation gain, pay is low, from a few hundred credits(seriously, not even a grand but it gained me 2% on rank progression) to about 50k, but they are getting me rank progression and that's my objective with taking them. I'm making credits running cargo between a few different systems around 60LY apart all together(multiple ports of call for various high value cargo) and just taking the missions as I see ones that aren't too far out of my way. I went from CPO 37% to Ensign 81% in a week doing that in Federation space, but I was doing only missions, not running cargo for my own purposes. That's a few ranks of progress by the way, CPO to Warrant Officer to Ensign, in a week, not doing charity missions and not stacking them via the mode switch. Also made a bit of coin in the process, approx 50m, half of which I blew on rebuys thanks to flying my Python into planets being a dumbass

 

[ocflyer]

Kristov has a valid understanding of these missions. Some missions are for earning credits while gaining a Reputation and Rank experience. Some missions are for gaining Reputation and Rank Experience while earning a few credits. Also, some missions are for gaining Influence while earning a few credits. Pick mission that match your priority. When I'm trying to influence a faction to avoid a war, I take missions with Med/High Influence and don't care about credits. When I'm trying to rank up in a major faction, I take missions with Med/High Reputation and don't care about credits. When I'm trying to earn serious credits, I take high paying smuggling missions which, as an added bonus, also have Med/High Reputation impact, thus allowing me to simultaneously earn lots of credits AND rank up quickly but not without considerable risk.

 

[bladebss]

No no your missing the point and making it all at the same time.

I have been doing exactly as you are describing, running delivery missions back and forth for empire factions between about 6 systems close buy I take all the missions I can that arnt too far to go and have gone 75% thrugh knight. Its slow and tedious but thats not my point

its that there is no reson to take, so many missions, cus instead of going to the system next door they want you to go 100ly for the same money and or rep gain. Missions pay so little there only real use is rep grinding amd even then there are mission not worth the money or the rep.

Once im done getting to the rank I want or indeed I reach max. Im done with missions as I need no more rep amd they have no other use as they pay squat bar the long range smuggleing. I dont want all missions to pay out like the long range smuggleing missions but make it make sense and make it not just for rep grinding.

Some one wants me to drive a taxi full of meat halfway to china and back they had better offer me more than the guy down yhe road who wants me to deliver him a cabab.

 

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

All mission payouts are missing a 'zero' IMHO

 

[Kremmen]

All mission payouts are missing a 'zero' IMHO

legit/legal missions - this - absolutely...

 

[ocflyer]

No no your missing the point and making it all at the same time.

I have been doing exactly as you are describing, running delivery missions back and forth for empire factions between about 6 systems close buy I take all the missions I can that arnt too far to go and have gone 75% thrugh knight. Its slow and tedious but thats not my point

its that there is no reson to take, so many missions, cus instead of going to the system next door they want you to go 100ly for the same money and or rep gain. Missions pay so little there only real use is rep grinding amd even then there are mission not worth the money or the rep.

Once im done getting to the rank I want or indeed I reach max. Im done with missions as I need no more rep amd they have no other use as they pay squat bar the long range smuggleing. I dont want all missions to pay out like the long range smuggleing missions but make it make sense and make it not just for rep grinding.

Some one wants me to drive a taxi full of meat halfway to china and back they had better offer me more than the guy down yhe road who wants me to deliver him a cabab.

Missions are not solely for credits or reputation. They're also for influencing systems to control and conquer territory. If your concept of ED is limited to your own personal bank account and rep, then you have a small vision of what is possible with ED. It's more fun to play ED on a grander scale of conquest.

 

[bladebss]

Thanx I realy needed to be told how to play the game, its clarly my lack of vision thats in error and these missions make perfect sense, how could I have been so blind! The games perfect the devs can all go home as the games finished and needs no more work well done guys

How about we stop judging people and there concept of ed.

im not here moaning about not being able to make money or rep. I have 500mill and a fleet of ships ive plaued every day more or less since premium beta i have spent weeks in the black exploring i have done legal trade, smuggling, bounty hunting, piracey, system flipping... witch is one hell of a challeng if you are alone I might add. I have tryed all sort of missions and seen and done all manner of wunderfull things. I love this game I have wanted it to be made for 15 years. And it is that love that compells me to want elite to be the moste awsome it can be and for things to make sense. In previose edditions of elite the missions made far more sense than they do right now some times. So excuse me and my aparently limmited concept

 

[Commander Biscuit]

I hear that if missions aren't paying enough then we're picking them up from the wrong place. But it's far easier to grind hires than to worry about that, so missions get a bad rap.

 

[Cmdr_Prussian]

I think at this time you just have to view missions differently. They are a slow but reliable source of income, like factory work is today. If you want to earn the big bucks, you need to be an entrepeneur. Find your own way/niche were you can earn lots more, but involves more risk as well. Also, I primarily see missions not as moneymakers, but for rep/inf/rank grinding, if you want to speak more technically.

They still need massive work though

 

[Nerdicus]

All mission payouts are missing a 'zero' IMHO

IMO they're not. This game has gone crazy with missions that pay 6 figures and better for missions that take 15 minutes TOPS, and that's crazy. The mission that the OP is posting is what, FIVE MINUTES of work for $35K?

The ability of this game to start a kid flying a Sidey and have a Conda in a week is absolutely killing this game, and the chickens are starting to roost, as the last newsletter release garnered all of 18 replies, WOW...

 

[bladebss]

All mission payouts are missing a 'zero' IMHO

Humm im not so sure about adding a 0 but it would be good if the payout was more in line with the rank reqirment and rough income of some one of that rank. Mabe double the pay on most missions on top of that as a quick fix as some just dont seem wort doing and given how few there are available in each station you cant even stack say 12 missions all heading in roughly the same place and make up a halfway decent wage.


I do agree the low end rank missions might pay a little too high at times. When I started out this was not the case, and it was a week or two before I was in a half way ok viper. When I re started from the beggining on xbox one, I had 10 mill in 2 weeks from doing 100k+ smuggling missions even at low trade rank.

But once you are tycoon in trade rank the missions only pay a little more but are peanuts incomparison to what you can pull free lance and the lvl of ship parts and upgrades you might be dealing with at that rank.



if you are at dealer rank in trade you are probably in a type 6 if you can do this mission cargo hold wise at the earliest. in witch case you just won the lottery! this mission should be entrepreneur or tycoon. its still worth it at that price but its not insane. it should be paying out something like 400-500k tops if yu need to be a dealer to do it, imo.

 

[Rabidweasel]

IMO they're not. This game has gone crazy with missions that pay 6 figures and better for missions that take 15 minutes TOPS, and that's crazy. The mission that the OP is posting is what, FIVE MINUTES of work for $35K?

The ability of this game to start a kid flying a Sidey and have a Conda in a week is absolutely killing this game, and the chickens are starting to roost, as the last newsletter release garnered all of 18 replies, WOW...

People being able to actually make credits at a decent rate have nothing to do with it, the newsletters are ignored because they have virtually zero content. They aren't even posting a single image of something interesting any more, just boring community stuff many players don't care about and the occasional vague assurance that they're working on cool updates that they can't tell anyone about because ?????

 

[bladebss]

IMO they're not. This game has gone crazy with missions that pay 6 figures and better for missions that take 15 minutes TOPS, and that's crazy. The mission that the OP is posting is what, FIVE MINUTES of work for $35K?

The ability of this game to start a kid flying a Sidey and have a Conda in a week is absolutely killing this game, and the chickens are starting to roost, as the last newsletter release garnered all of 18 replies, WOW...

Well the mission is for mostly aimless so at that enry point you would be just starting out traveling that distance in a sidey or hauler would take some time and a fuel scoop so walst the money is ok for the rank requirment the distance makes its too much hassel when you could get about the same fly 20 or so ly. It should probably pay 50k or so imo especialy of you then have to fly all the way back to your system where they know you and will offer you missions

 

[Iskariot]

I agree op, I personally would never take a mission like that. It simply is not worth the trouble and the effort and it isn't exciting either.
As you said I can make more money killing a few random wanted ships in a just a few seconds.

 

[Kristov]

The mission in the first post requires Mostly Aimless Exploration rank, which means starting, so it's actually paying pretty well. That distance may be a lot to YOU, but to me, it's nothing, to my grandson who just got the game on his XBone, it's also nothing and he's in a starter Sidey, all he did was add a fuel scoop, an hour after he started the game he was over 500LY away from the starter system and heading for, well, I don't know where he was heading, don't think he knew either, he was just having fun. I did help him through a multi-stage mission where for about 15 minutes of game time he made over 150k running metals around to a few stations, 2 of which were in the same system(which he didn't realize until he'd flown 20LY away).

Missions aren't supposed to be THE best way to make credits, they are there to show you how you can make them yourself by giving you a taste of what hauling cargo, bounty hunting, smuggling and mining can pay when you do them for someone else, and they give you the starting point for getting rank with the big 3 powers. Once you figure that out, well, I don't do missions to make money, I do them for rank and to swing faction Influence around, as that's really all they are good for once you've figured out how to actually make credits in a way that YOU personally enjoy the most. For me, that's exploration, pay is squat, but I love it so I don't really care. I can make credits easy enough with my Python any number of ways quickly, such as I'm doing currently, which is running cargo while I work on my Empire rank. I also enjoy some bounty hunting on occasion(actually bounty hunting, not res farming, I enjoy interdicting wanted pirates), and mining, which oddly enough I really enjoy doing and is quite profitable.

Lately we're seeing more high paying missions at all levels, which I think is due to all the whining about how missions don't pay for jack from people who just don't get the game, which is a lot of them it seems. Yes, blaze your own trail, but last time I checked, blazing your own trail did NOT mean working for the man, which is all running missions is, so the whines about missions not paying well and being unable to blaze your own trail due to that, yeah, not seeing that myself, but hey, to each their own. So many gamers today do NOT know how to play a game that doesn't literally direct them every single step of the way, so they expect the missions to be THE way to make it in the game. They don't want to head off on their own and make their own way, the trail they want to blaze is the one already trodden into a concrete like surface, clearly marked and well lit. I may not like that myself but that's fine, I don't have to do it, one of the great things about the game, do what you want, you can't really do it 'wrong' now can you?

 

[Mikey2305]

@I

But not everyone can...

 

[ruger_shooter]

All mission payouts are missing a 'zero' IMHO

Feel exactly the same. It's hard scratching a living from the BB at present.

 

[bladebss]

Im prety sertain I said that I didnt want missions to be THE way to make money. Its about it making sense and not just being about rep and influence. Missions shouldnt be just training wheels for the begining of the game. They have rank requirments that go all the way to elite. So the missions you unlock acces to as you progress thrugh the system should be apropriate for some one of that rank in both pay out and challenge.

if your doing an elite rank mission you should face elite challenges and get payed like the highly experienced, skilled and reliable pilot you have become... because you have a REPUTATION for getting things done.

free lance activitys do and should pay more but not so that missions are not worth the credits they pay in many cases and are worth 10x the effort in others.

if you wanna be an assasin you kinda have to get hired to do it or its just bounty hunting/murder. What if you are blazing a trail as a delivery driver or hostage rescue sqad. Make a nice tale round the table at the local station bar about how you used to be a delivery driver and then became an assasin, felt guylty and becane a hostage rescue worker

a sidewinder with d grade upgrades takes about 20 jumps to go 100ly and it costs about 30k to get it to mostly d grade stuff its 50k before you have just a B grade frame shift and then its 9 jumps, better but still not exactly great in terms of speed as you still have to fuel scoop every 2 or 3 jumps. It might take 20mins or more to do it.
Dont get me wrong I think it should be hard starting out, but its still quiker and easyer to do almoste anything else for the money