Is co-op multiplayer worth purchasing E:D for at this point?

[lufia22]

I own the game, but I've barely scratched the surface. I came into this game at the last minute, so I don't know a ton of what's in the game, I just enjoy space sims. Most of what I've seen wouldn't be very interesting to play co-op wise, but I haven't really done much of anything besides deliver some goods and collect a few easy bounties.

I know the whole wingman thing isn't due out until next year. My brother is interested in this game to play with me, but I'm not sure if I can recommend it for the purpose of co-op or not.

What are some things you have been doing co-op that have been fun?

 

[Kicks]

Taking on an Anaconda in 2 sidewinders, laughing hilariously over skype as we really shouldn't have done that - but both escaping by the skin of our teeth.

*salutes* to CMDR PrometheusDarko.

 

[Wertymk]

No, it is not worth purchasing the game for coop at the moment. If you just want to goof around then maybe but if you want to progress in the game or do anything meaningful then no. There is nothing in the game that requires more than one player, it's difficult to share rewards, they don't scale accordingly and you can't really even make money any faster.

The only multiplayer element currently seems to be shooting other people just for fun.

 

[_Flin_]

It is possible to play multiplayer.

You need external communications. You need to understand the grouping and instancing mechanics. You have to find ways and communicate to share your profits and bounties. The game itself does not support coop multiplayer very well. You have no built in bounty sharing, or multiplayer missions, or guild/alliance mechanisms. Or system chat, station chat...

So yes, it is possible. If you expect a flawless and easy experience, then you will be disappointed. The mechanics are rather clunky and rudimentary. But you can make it work. Just don't expect anything to be handed to you, or it to be easy or comfortable.

So currently you might want to buy it, try it, and if it's not enough for you wait for a few months until the wing mechanics are in game and the overall state of multiplayer has been improved, as already announced with an ETA of early next year.

 

[Xorr]

It is possible to play multiplayer.

You need external communications. You need to understand the grouping and instancing mechanics. You have to find ways and communicate to share your profits and bounties. The game itself does not support coop multiplayer very well. You have no built in bounty sharing, or multiplayer missions, or guild/alliance mechanisms. Or system chat, station chat...

So yes, it is possible. If you expect a flawless and easy experience, then you will be disappointed. The mechanics are rather clunky and rudimentary. But you can make it work. Just don't expect anything to be handed to you, or it to be easy or comfortable.

So currently you might want to buy it, try it, and if it's not enough for you wait for a few months until the wing mechanics are in game and the overall state of multiplayer has been improved, as already announced with an ETA of early next year.

+1 this sums it up basically. It's a little frustrating, but I'm sure many of these features will come in time.

I'll also add that missions specifically aimed at groups would be great, for example the current kill missions for named npc's would be perfect, you can do them with others but only the person who has the mission will get the rewards. It's particularly frustrating as it seems such a minor change to add shared rewards.

 

[Tinman]

Improvements to Co-op is the next major thing the devs are going to be working on and it will come "early next year" (my guess: mid/end of February)

Hello Commanders!

A tiny bit more information on player wings:

It's the ability to mechanically group up with a small number of other players to share rewards and risk. So we are looking at:

* enhanced matchmaking for wingmen
* enhanced/clear feedback for who and where wingmen are
* shared information within the wing
* shared bounties and mission rewards
* on-going mission support for wing gameplay

To be absolutely clear, this is not anything to do with NPC wingmen (though they do sound similar).

And as an added caveat! This is what we are looking at, the final result *may* have more or less bits! To be absolutely, lutely-abso clear.

 

[Krollin]

Greetings,

I would say carry on playing/dive in. There are features that allow some co-op play and you can have a damn good laugh with it too. Play now, get some credits and wait for the updates would be my suggestion.

Kro

 

[zorianarki]

I'm sorry but... no. coop as it stands is stupidly wrongly implemented unfortunately, wait till Q1 next year when wings are implemented.

 

[Aranbaal]

Co-op doesnt even seem to be a thing you can actually do atm. After spending hours with friends in the same system grouped up we failed to ever be in the same instance as each other. We could always see each other when frame shifting around the system but once out we never appeared in the same instance, often being totally alone in them or with just 1-2 other players.

 

[M3tzg3r]

not to mention that the matchmaking with friends is absolutely horrible at the moment.

if your friends or yourself have a high ping chances are you wont be able to get into the same instance. might be easier if you are in the same country (or building...)

 

[OnePercent]

match making sucks!

You will go to the same location where your friend is, but won't see each other. Don't buy it on the premise of any sort of constructive multiplayer gameplay, they haven't figured out their server architecture yet!

 

[blueski]

You need to have a wake scanner apparently , then you can follow you mate you just need to be in the same instance as them to start with .
Although i haven't tried the wake scanner workaround yet, it seems to be luck if you even see them.

 

[orfeboy]

+1 this sums it up basically. It's a little frustrating, but I'm sure many of these features will come in time.

I'll also add that missions specifically aimed at groups would be great, for example the current kill missions for named npc's would be perfect, you can do them with others but only the person who has the mission will get the rewards. It's particularly frustrating as it seems such a minor change to add shared rewards.

A little frustrating? I would say it is non existant right now unless you play in private mode. Playing in Open and you will not even be able to text your friends nevermind speak or even see them!

 

[[LG] Khan]

when it works it's great. but's it's no where near stable enough to be enjoyable yet. give it a couple of patches and see if things improve would be my advice

 

[Snicker]

Tried with a friend yesterday, and at first it was great. Then it got a bit frustrating.
We found each-other quite easily. But no way to share credits or cargo. (Yet) Tested what we could see from each others, and that was great. Could see the light from the other ship. And all details like the heat evaporators closing when silent running and hard points opening when ready to fire and other small details. Absolutely loved that! And watching him going into hyperspace/suprecruise (same effect) was awesome! He wanted us to fight together and the only way I found out we could do that was to just staying close in supercruise and looking for unidentified signals. And then one of us had to disengage the SP there, and the other player had to disengage at the wake the other player left. Since we never see that same 'Unidentified Signal' And then we ended up in the same instance. And that worked ok, actually. A few bugs, like he could see the remains of a broken ship there, but I could not. But cannisters and other ships could we both see and engage. But after doing this a few times, the other play no longer left wakes when disengaging the SuperCruise drive. Frustrating. Maybe a wakescanner would have helped? And we also had a few bugs where I could see some canisters close to a space-station and he could not. Also annoying. But I see GREAT hope for this when the dev's fix coop for us. It will be awesome!! And why not buy the game now? Start getting used to the controls, earn some credits, make some friends, support the Dev's. (More money faster development) For only 2 years of development this game has come FAR FAR FAR! And there are almost new patches every day.

 

[obliterator]

Not yet, maybe later.

I often connect with friends on skype to play the game with them, but every single time we end up doing our own separate thing while talking to each other, which isn't exactly my definition of "playing with your friends"...

-No co-op missions
-No tools to find your friends, even if you're in the same instance (they appear just as any other player, nothing to indicate they're friends. If there are other players in your instance this can get frustrating as you need to scan everyone before finding each other_
-No shared bounties, no shared anything
-No way to stay close to each other in supercruise (so that you could help each other when you get interdicted, or even just interdict ships together)

If you don't enjoy playing alone, I suggest you just wait. They'll probably add better multiplayer features eventually.

 

[devastat]

What co-op ? There is no co-op in the game as it is.

 

[Flappers]

So a friend and I played last night together, and we had a blast, but without the 'wings' that will be coming out early next year, it's limited.

So our struggles...
First, I had to leave the instance I was in and come back in to get into the same instance. Had to do this twice overall, in different areas (one in the HUB's, and once at the nav point) - so this was mildly annoying.
Second, there was an issue, where I dropped some cargo for him. He crashed into one of the cannisters and it disappeared on my screen only leaving 3 left. But 4 were still available for him. So when he went to pick the last one up, on my screen it looks like he was scooping nothing.
I bought the wrong FSD wake scanner. It didn't clearly say if it was low or high energy wake scanning, I ended up buying the high energy one, which meant I could go into USS's with him. Only persistent instances such as nav points.

But, we still had a lot of fun. We went to a nav point, and since my ship was bigger, what I did was start firing at a wanted ship and weaken them. And I allowed my friend to finish them off so he could claim the bounty.
Obviously once wings comes out, this won't be a problem, but for now this was the only way of doing it.
At one point, everyone turned on us, because we were attacking a specific faction. In the end it turned into a big space battle, with the two of us flying around and defending each other. Was pretty good fun.

So, it's possible to play with a friend, albeit quite limited.
'Wings' will be coming out early next year, which will have a whole range of new features for playing with friends, which I am very much looking forward to.

 

[Tunis]

I bought the wrong FSD wake scanner. It didn't clearly say if it was low or high energy wake scanning, I ended up buying the high energy one, which meant I could go into USS's with him. Only persistent instances such as nav points.

the wake scanner is only for folowing a high wake (when going in another system) if it's a disengage or just a supercruise jump you dont need it. and there are no other scanner ^^

 

[Bones]

I was having no problems with playing with a friend in ED, we had a few issues finding eachother in open play, but once we joined a group and played in private group mode it all worked perfectly, managed to help him out with some cash by abandoning some Palladium for him to scoop and sell. I think the flakyness is with the open play matchmaking, if this gets ironed out so that your friends or group mates are always put in the same instance as you or the instance of the player of your group with the best ping more consistantly, it would be great.