Hello. I recently purchased the game, and I have to say it's freakin' awesome! I'm really enjoying it, and I think it has some potential to be truly amazing.
I did, however, have some issues with the very initial game play. I'm talking about the first 5 to 10 hours of starting a brand new file, as a person who is brand new to the game and not very experienced in the genre at all. So! I'll list the issues, and my suggestions. If anyone has some information about them that I don't know/overlooked please chime in!
1. Issue: The starting station (and star system as a whole) can leave you completely unable to do any missions for several hours. It is likely that you will get missions that you A: Cannot complete due to the starting ship set up and credits (EX: Too small cargo hold, not enough jump range), B: Cannot accept because of Faction requirements. I actually restarted my file twice because missions in the first system I was in were not able to be completed/accepted and I ran out of credits paying for fuel.
Suggestion: The initial station (or preferably star system) should be a sort of newbie mode. Make the mission system ensure each station has 2~3 low risk/low reward missions that are 100% able to be finished in the starting set up. This way new players don't get frustrated by their initial game play experience be flying between stations for 10~20 minutes, then another 3~10 minutes figuring out landing... only to have no missions at the new station. I think the best situation would be there be three stations that cater to specific play styles (Combat, Trader, Miner; or something similar) and hand out newbie missions for those play styles. That way the new player (like me!) can experience the basics of everything in a relatively short amount of time. These stations could A: Never upgrade B: Upgrade after a certain amount of missions played (or credits earned?) C: Some other way of 'ending' the newbie time period.
2. Issue: It is sometimes very difficult to find the system/planet/station that a mission is asking you to go to in the Galaxy Map. The primary reason for this is that systems don't show up until you've gotten to a certain stellar proximity to them (IE: A handful of jumps away). Compounding this is that the search function doesn't seem to bring up anything that you can't "see." I understand that's part of the exploration aspect... but with 400 billion? systems out there, and 40 some shown immediately upon starting the game, it is overwhelming. Additionally, third party programs shouldn't be required to play the game, let alone in the first hours.
Suggestion: There's a couple ways I thought of to solve this one. First, and probably the best, is that the mission provider should give you the stellar coordinates for the system of the objective. What this would effectively do is populate the system in your Galaxy Map (perhaps with a fancy mission icon next to it). It only makes sense that the person sending somewhere would actually know where that place is (most of the time). For the most part it should not automatically reveal the route to the location, figure that part out on your own, but it could be interesting for Trader-style missions to provide you with a suggested "safer" route. That route could potentially costs you tons in fuel, but perhaps be charted and known to have less (but not zero!) hostile activity.
The other way you could solve this is to have the search function reveal the system in a similar manner; populate it on the map, but not the connecting systems to it.
3. Issue: There's no good way to know if a station has any value to you without docking with it. This leads to most of your time being spent hoping between stations trying to find something you can do.
Suggestion: It doesn't seem unreasonable for stations and outposts to have long range communication capability with your spacecraft, with some limitations. First, the range should be limited to the star system it's located in; no talking to a station 10 jumps away! Second, not all stations would have the capability or the desire to let you use it. My idea system would be that government aligned stations would have it and would allow you to use it with neutral or higher standing. Independent stations could A: Have one, but not want to talk to you at all. B: Have one, but require mission completion/faction standing to use it. C: Not have one, but have it be possible to build on through missions (perhaps travelling the galaxy to collect the raw materials?). D: Not have one and have no intention of ever getting one.
With this set it, "populated" space would be relatively easy to find missions in; but as you progressed into more uncharted space it becomes harder and harder to communicate forcing you to rely on the skills you've learned.
That's all I have so far! Again, I'm really enjoying the game thus far. The shear scope, and the amazing little details put in, have me raving about it and craving more. I do think, however, some improvements to the issues above would help draw the new player in, and make their first few hours have them begging for more.
I did, however, have some issues with the very initial game play. I'm talking about the first 5 to 10 hours of starting a brand new file, as a person who is brand new to the game and not very experienced in the genre at all. So! I'll list the issues, and my suggestions. If anyone has some information about them that I don't know/overlooked please chime in!
1. Issue: The starting station (and star system as a whole) can leave you completely unable to do any missions for several hours. It is likely that you will get missions that you A: Cannot complete due to the starting ship set up and credits (EX: Too small cargo hold, not enough jump range), B: Cannot accept because of Faction requirements. I actually restarted my file twice because missions in the first system I was in were not able to be completed/accepted and I ran out of credits paying for fuel.
Suggestion: The initial station (or preferably star system) should be a sort of newbie mode. Make the mission system ensure each station has 2~3 low risk/low reward missions that are 100% able to be finished in the starting set up. This way new players don't get frustrated by their initial game play experience be flying between stations for 10~20 minutes, then another 3~10 minutes figuring out landing... only to have no missions at the new station. I think the best situation would be there be three stations that cater to specific play styles (Combat, Trader, Miner; or something similar) and hand out newbie missions for those play styles. That way the new player (like me!) can experience the basics of everything in a relatively short amount of time. These stations could A: Never upgrade B: Upgrade after a certain amount of missions played (or credits earned?) C: Some other way of 'ending' the newbie time period.
2. Issue: It is sometimes very difficult to find the system/planet/station that a mission is asking you to go to in the Galaxy Map. The primary reason for this is that systems don't show up until you've gotten to a certain stellar proximity to them (IE: A handful of jumps away). Compounding this is that the search function doesn't seem to bring up anything that you can't "see." I understand that's part of the exploration aspect... but with 400 billion? systems out there, and 40 some shown immediately upon starting the game, it is overwhelming. Additionally, third party programs shouldn't be required to play the game, let alone in the first hours.
Suggestion: There's a couple ways I thought of to solve this one. First, and probably the best, is that the mission provider should give you the stellar coordinates for the system of the objective. What this would effectively do is populate the system in your Galaxy Map (perhaps with a fancy mission icon next to it). It only makes sense that the person sending somewhere would actually know where that place is (most of the time). For the most part it should not automatically reveal the route to the location, figure that part out on your own, but it could be interesting for Trader-style missions to provide you with a suggested "safer" route. That route could potentially costs you tons in fuel, but perhaps be charted and known to have less (but not zero!) hostile activity.
The other way you could solve this is to have the search function reveal the system in a similar manner; populate it on the map, but not the connecting systems to it.
3. Issue: There's no good way to know if a station has any value to you without docking with it. This leads to most of your time being spent hoping between stations trying to find something you can do.
Suggestion: It doesn't seem unreasonable for stations and outposts to have long range communication capability with your spacecraft, with some limitations. First, the range should be limited to the star system it's located in; no talking to a station 10 jumps away! Second, not all stations would have the capability or the desire to let you use it. My idea system would be that government aligned stations would have it and would allow you to use it with neutral or higher standing. Independent stations could A: Have one, but not want to talk to you at all. B: Have one, but require mission completion/faction standing to use it. C: Not have one, but have it be possible to build on through missions (perhaps travelling the galaxy to collect the raw materials?). D: Not have one and have no intention of ever getting one.
With this set it, "populated" space would be relatively easy to find missions in; but as you progressed into more uncharted space it becomes harder and harder to communicate forcing you to rely on the skills you've learned.
That's all I have so far! Again, I'm really enjoying the game thus far. The shear scope, and the amazing little details put in, have me raving about it and craving more. I do think, however, some improvements to the issues above would help draw the new player in, and make their first few hours have them begging for more.