Is Elite: Dangerous too difficult?

[Alien]

I remember day 1 of the Alpha .... Some people had trouble docking, I didn't. Then Frontier made that easier with the docking radar we have now. For me, all the changes Frontier have made to the game, have made the game more complex. I won't say harder, because the simple fact is, I haven't put in the time to learn how to do most of the things.
Credit rewards though, have been constantly reduced to where we are now, where getting paid is easy, getting paid a decent amount, is hard.

Is the game harder now than it was? I am honestly not sure, because I don't see the game through a newbie's eyes, and yes, that's the point of view we have to remember, because if the game is too difficult for a new player, they won't keep playing and will move on to other games. Those of us who are veterans, "difficult" is a relative term. Was something less difficult after you learned how?

 

[aRJay]

SCA is essential for USS hunting alright.

I like to use it for A>B>A trading also, but it would be good if it would tell you from the beginning whether a planet is in the way, or even better, circumvent it automatically. Needs a bit too much nannying still.

I haven't bothered with SCA since the beta and can hunt USSs just fine when I want to.

That said I wouldn't want it or DC or FA removed from the game.

 

[Old Duck]

It's always funny to hear this, when in actual fact, it's the exact opposite.

Let's face it, the biggest issue is the economy is trashed, and mining and whack-a-mole-income-bugfixing is the cause. The fastest income sources are also the least difficult. Mining is the path of least resistance, and least effort to FCs... i.e it's the lazy path.

Everyone else just wants a functioning economy.

Your post confuses me, as you seem to be both disagreeing and agreeing with me at the same time. Would not a functioning economy make the game more challenging? I would love a functioning, realistic economy. LOVE it. I'm not a fan of the dumbed-down Elite 1984 economy, even though I do take advantage of it. I'm not a SC player, but I got all excited about their real player and NPC driven economy model they showcased last year. If that ever comes to pass, I would be very tempted to "cross over" to that game.

Maybe you misread my post you are replying to. People who say ED is too difficult currently (because they want an easy-mode freebie fleet carrier with no upkeep) are "lazy" (in context of the game, not IRL) and would probably NOT want a real economy that requires some understanding of economics to fully take advantage of. Me, wanting MORE challenge, would very much welcome said economy. Thus we agree, do we not?

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Maybe a steep learning curve for beginners, but once you've overcome that, i'd say it's fairly easy.

Yes, the steep grindcurve takes over the initial learning curve.

 

[Greasetrap42]

The game will definitely be too difficult for some people.

I suspect a large percentage of potential players drop the game in the first 20 hours of gameplay. It is a challenging game to learn, and I think the game is aimed at a unique audience.

• Keybinding, ship controls, and various menus take getting used to.
• The game doesn't present a player with an obvious path to follow.
• Doesn't force the player through baby-step levels.
• Doesn't prevent players from making really bad choices. Very little gating of content.
• Doesn't give the player an assortment of prefabbed ships to choose from. Player has to make choices. decisions.
• There are no "best in class" ships to copy from internet.
• There is no clear ultimate goal (some players need a well defined goal. Like kill the Dark Lord).

The game is wide open to player failure.

I like the game the for this. It eliminates a large percentage of players. I know this sounds awful and very elitist, but it is true. I don't want to be playing a game designed for kids. If some younger people have an aptitude... fine thats great, but overall aim the game towards a more capable audience.

 

[kilvenny]

Compared to the original this game is easy. If you play open and choose to fly a small un-engineered ship, there is a level of difficulty.

 

[TiberiusDuval]

No. Nowadays people can buy big ships and such by fast grinding money in days. If anything it has been made in that part way too easy. (Of course there are other aspects that are somewhat difficult to master...)

 

[Vasea Azure]

You answered your own question with the "too grindy" section so.... eh... fly safe.

 

[Alexander the Grape]

Elite is difficult to learn, easy to master

 

[Jmanis]

Your post confuses me, as you seem to be both disagreeing and agreeing with me at the same time. Would not a functioning economy make the game more challenging? I would love a functioning, realistic economy. LOVE it. I'm not a fan of the dumbed-down Elite 1984 economy, even though I do take advantage of it. I'm not a SC player, but I got all excited about their real player and NPC driven economy model they showcased last year. If that ever comes to pass, I would be very tempted to "cross over" to that game.

Maybe you misread my post you are replying to. People who say ED is too difficult currently (because they want an easy-mode freebie fleet carrier with no upkeep) are "lazy" (in context of the game, not IRL) and would probably NOT want a real economy that requires some understanding of economics to fully take advantage of. Me, wanting MORE challenge, would very much welcome said economy. Thus we agree, do we not?

Perhaps I have misread your post... just the "people being lazy" is the current catch-cry to refer to "people who don't want to mine and want FCs to be free" straw-man going around at the moment.

Just to be explicit: 5 years of consistent gameplay doing pretty much everything the game has to offer except grinding cash-cow activities, to come out with 3b credits at the end (3.5b if you count crew wages) only to have that kind of cash earnable in a matter of weeks, yeah, that tells me the economy is broken AF and needs urgent fixing.

For the record, I did mining for =~ 2 hours, got 150m. That's like 5% of my earnings over 5 years, in two hours... and for the last two nights totalling about 2 hours (4 actually, but I'm excluding the two hours I spent repping up) I've been grinding the broken mission generation in Conven and earned a further 200m credits (a 30 minute loop nets me about 20-30m in cargo runs and another 25m in stacked powerplant/scan datalink missions).

 

[Leper Messiah]

Quantify "difficult" that covers a large user base of varied skill levels.

 

[Old Duck]

Perhaps I have misread your post... just the "people being lazy" is the current catch-cry to refer to "people who don't want to mine and want FCs to be free" straw-man going around at the moment.

Ahh, I see. That's definitely not me. I'd be totally cool if mining was nerfed to be more in line with other payouts. I think gold-rushes are fine, with the emphasis on "rush" (you might get lucky for about a week or two until everyone finds out, then that cash flow dries up). But as for making a lot of credits, mining is the lazy way, LOL.

However, I don't want the current FCs to become cheap. That also would be broken "easy mode" economics. On the other hand, I would LOVE if there were some cheaper FCs, like my beloved non-existent small FC with 2Sx2Mx1L pad and limited services. I'm also a wee bit more accepting of a price drop in carriers since it is clear now that we do not OWN carriers, but rather we are basically leasing them. If we were to own them outright, then they should indeed remain expensive IMO.

Anyway, I do think we agree much more than we disagree. I want realism with a "gameplay coefficient" to adjust for the fact that ED is a game and not a real job, a Goldilocks zone between realism and fun, if you will. Grind need not be part of that equation, but neither should "free fleet carriers for 3rd day players".

 

[BL1P]

@OP, nope its too easy.

 

[TheSisko]

Too difficult? Hell no.

Some people think 'can't be done in a day' = 'too difficult' for this game.

 

[Old Duck]

Some people think 'can't be done in a day' = 'too difficult' for this game.

"Some" = "way too many"

 

[Enderby]

It’s not difficult it’s just a bit.. of a grind

 

[Deleted member 182079]

I haven't bothered with SCA since the beta and can hunt USSs just fine when I want to.

That said I wouldn't want it or DC or FA removed from the game.

Of course, but it does allow me to do other stuff while waiting for a number to count down from 5,000Ls or thereabouts.

Same as I could just scoop stuff up manually, I like the added convenience, if you can spare the slots that is.

 

[Rat Catcher]

It's about to get a lot harder, the new Era seems to be about forcing you to play or lose your stuff. That's really hard if your PC dies or ill for a while

Oh, where did you see the announcement about Next Era? I try to keep up-to-date but must have missed that!

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

The game will definitely be too difficult for some people.

I suspect a large percentage of potential players drop the game in the first 20 hours of gameplay. It is a challenging game to learn, and I think the game is aimed at a unique audience.

• Keybinding, ship controls, and various menus take getting used to.
• The game doesn't present a player with an obvious path to follow.
• Doesn't force the player through baby-step levels.
• Doesn't prevent players from making really bad choices. Very little gating of content.
• Doesn't give the player an assortment of prefabbed ships to choose from. Player has to make choices. decisions.
• There are no "best in class" ships to copy from internet.
• There is no clear ultimate goal (some players need a well defined goal. Like kill the Dark Lord).

The game is wide open to player failure.

I like the game the for this. It eliminates a large percentage of players. I know this sounds awful and very elitist, but it is true. I don't want to be playing a game designed for kids. If some younger people have an aptitude... fine thats great, but overall aim the game towards a more capable audience.

Challenge is one thing, the amount of time needed to invest is another. Many people are just not willing to spend so much time with one game.

 

[Pat Healy]

Any game where you have to TRY to get killed cannot be considered “hard,” and that’s the case with ED. The breadth of the game crates a big learning curve, but none of the career paths are particularly difficult.

If you don’t grind, much of the perceived “difficulty” disappears.