Blackcompany
Banned
So today, after another break, I returned to the game and tried to buy a Federal Assault Ship (FAS). Sold my Vulture and many outfittings. No big deal; the power balance and jump range make that ship an unfun mess to actually fly. Sure its potent, but its also an exercise in frustration just to pilot the thing in combat. You spend more time fighting the ship you ARE flying, then the ones you aren't, to be honest. When you arent waiting on delivery, anyway, because lets face it, no one is going to TRAVEL with that POS Range.
But hey, guess we have to have balance, right...
So I tried buying a FAS. And of course, the station didnt have 6A Thrusters. Of course.
So what did my first half of "playing" Elite this morning consist of? Alt+Tab and third party tool searching, trying to find up to date information on where I can get the stuff I need TO ACTUALLY PLAY THE GAME I LOGGED IN TO PLAY.
It was then that it occurred to me: Anyone who would voluntarily make their game this inconvenient, at every turn, doesnt really WANT me to play their game. They must not. Otherwise, they would design the game to be first and foremost a fun, enjoyable affair that is as convenient to play as is reasonably possible.
So once again, my first hour back to Elite has resulted in nothing more than me adjourning to another game that's actually fun instead.
If you would like us to play and enjoy this game, please consider the following changes:
Outfitting:
If a station sells a ship, they should sell ALL OF the outfittings for that ship. Every weapon. Every module. Every class and tier. Not only does it make logical sense, it also makes the game more convenient for players and more enjoyable. This is good for player retention, something with which the game struggles.
Travel Time:
Double the range of ALL ships in the game. If the only argument against this is "but then everyone would just fly combat ships everywhere" the problem isnt travel range, its your game design. Fix it.
Let us choose the star in a system we want to jump to. The Main Star only limitation is arbitrary and often nonsensical to boot, as many times secondary stars are larger than mains. This doesnt exist for internal logic. It exists to create an unnecessary, arbitrary time sink.
Begin loading the next system the moment the countdown begins. If we cancel the countdown, you can always unload it. We have GOT to reduce load times for jump transitions, as even on high end hardware the last patch did NOTHING here.
Supercruise:
Double acceleration rate. Eliminate the forced deceleration due to celestial bodies. Its nothing but a time sink.
Allow us to drop at 5-10mm more often than you currently do.
RNGineers:
Just get rid of this walking disaster already. Its a slot machine gambling time sink that has unbalanced the entire game. There's literally no other part of the game where this broken time sink has NOT created problems. From PVP to PVE combat to reward tables to outright bug ridden experimental effects. Its forced TWO combat Betas that used up lots of time and had zero results. Its made a mockery out of "jump ranges are fine as they are because balance" now that you can bypass or increase the limitations. The net effect of this mess has been negative and its even driven players from your game completely.
Just have RNGineers teach us how to do stuff in exchange for credits. Then, let us make the tweaks going forward in ANY station. If people want to grind mats for the sake of experimental stuff, let them continue to do so. But for those of us with limited time, how about you do SOMETHING to prove that you value it, instead of wasting it at every turn.
Right now, for a person with a career, two pets, a relationship, other hobbies and interests...this game is simply too inconvenient to play. It seems the hardcore fan base was right after all: This game really IS NOT for me.
So I am going to heed their advice. I'm going to stop playing it. I will watch from a distance to see where it goes from here. But for now, my wallet and I are going elsewhere. There are simply too many games out there that care about my time, my enjoyment and dont want to inconvenience me at every turn.
But hey, guess we have to have balance, right...
So I tried buying a FAS. And of course, the station didnt have 6A Thrusters. Of course.
So what did my first half of "playing" Elite this morning consist of? Alt+Tab and third party tool searching, trying to find up to date information on where I can get the stuff I need TO ACTUALLY PLAY THE GAME I LOGGED IN TO PLAY.
It was then that it occurred to me: Anyone who would voluntarily make their game this inconvenient, at every turn, doesnt really WANT me to play their game. They must not. Otherwise, they would design the game to be first and foremost a fun, enjoyable affair that is as convenient to play as is reasonably possible.
So once again, my first hour back to Elite has resulted in nothing more than me adjourning to another game that's actually fun instead.
If you would like us to play and enjoy this game, please consider the following changes:
Outfitting:
If a station sells a ship, they should sell ALL OF the outfittings for that ship. Every weapon. Every module. Every class and tier. Not only does it make logical sense, it also makes the game more convenient for players and more enjoyable. This is good for player retention, something with which the game struggles.
Travel Time:
Double the range of ALL ships in the game. If the only argument against this is "but then everyone would just fly combat ships everywhere" the problem isnt travel range, its your game design. Fix it.
Let us choose the star in a system we want to jump to. The Main Star only limitation is arbitrary and often nonsensical to boot, as many times secondary stars are larger than mains. This doesnt exist for internal logic. It exists to create an unnecessary, arbitrary time sink.
Begin loading the next system the moment the countdown begins. If we cancel the countdown, you can always unload it. We have GOT to reduce load times for jump transitions, as even on high end hardware the last patch did NOTHING here.
Supercruise:
Double acceleration rate. Eliminate the forced deceleration due to celestial bodies. Its nothing but a time sink.
Allow us to drop at 5-10mm more often than you currently do.
RNGineers:
Just get rid of this walking disaster already. Its a slot machine gambling time sink that has unbalanced the entire game. There's literally no other part of the game where this broken time sink has NOT created problems. From PVP to PVE combat to reward tables to outright bug ridden experimental effects. Its forced TWO combat Betas that used up lots of time and had zero results. Its made a mockery out of "jump ranges are fine as they are because balance" now that you can bypass or increase the limitations. The net effect of this mess has been negative and its even driven players from your game completely.
Just have RNGineers teach us how to do stuff in exchange for credits. Then, let us make the tweaks going forward in ANY station. If people want to grind mats for the sake of experimental stuff, let them continue to do so. But for those of us with limited time, how about you do SOMETHING to prove that you value it, instead of wasting it at every turn.
Right now, for a person with a career, two pets, a relationship, other hobbies and interests...this game is simply too inconvenient to play. It seems the hardcore fan base was right after all: This game really IS NOT for me.
So I am going to heed their advice. I'm going to stop playing it. I will watch from a distance to see where it goes from here. But for now, my wallet and I are going elsewhere. There are simply too many games out there that care about my time, my enjoyment and dont want to inconvenience me at every turn.
