Is FDEV the indisputable king of grinding?

To me the weird barrier here is that steep climb in mat accumulation from G3 to G5. So, confession: I basically stopped all my engineering at G3 for all my ships, because I found that plenty adequate for the stuff I want to do. The timesink for G4 and G5 mats seemed prohibitive if I wanted to chase a specific component, and given that the trading ratios are what they are.
Exactly. G3 significantly enhances your ship. G5 just gives you a feeling of completion and uses up some mats if your storage is nearly full.
 
To me the weird barrier here is that steep climb in mat accumulation from G3 to G5. So, confession: I basically stopped all my engineering at G3 for all my ships, because I found that plenty adequate for the stuff I want to do. The timesink for G4 and G5 mats seemed prohibitive if I wanted to chase a specific component, and given that the trading ratios are what they are.

I suppose so yes :) As you say G3 is generally enough (for regular PvE) and there is a lot of diminishing returns going on but still, G5 gives a worthwhile upgrade. In general my ships start out at G2 or G3, built from whatever I have immediately to hand & it's only because I've played so much that most have become fully G5 over time. In my case I the time taken is less of a factor because I play a lot anyway so having ever higher stretch goals to achieve provides something to do. For a newer player or one with less time available to play I can understand their desire to progress more quickly, to be able to catch up (in terms of assets if not experience) to players like me and generally speaking the game has made progression quicker.
 
Exactly. G3 significantly enhances your ship. G5 just gives you a feeling of completion and uses up some mats if your storage is nearly full.
Only in PvE.
Even there, G5 is significantly better, it just does not really matter because (with the exception higher tier Thargoids) NPCs are very weak and braindead.
 
Hello fellow Commanders.

I've been playing ED since 2016. It really picked up once i got my Rift and HOTAS in 2017. I've been playing MMORPGs since 2002, so i know what grinding is all about. Some do it good, and some do it bad. It has been my experience that most developers listens to their player base and make adjustments if something is wrong. FDEV have a few licenses that they can't implement their grinding mechanic in, such as Jurassic World franchise. Doing so would plummet the sales of said game.

Elite is their own IP, and they can do pretty much what ever they want with it. But why would they create a game, make it a pain to play, and then don't give a about those who play it? The game was also crowdfunded. ED could have been the greatest space simulator ever created. The 1:1 scale of our galaxy is a huge achievement in game development, yet they chose to make the game play as tedious and as boring as you can get. When players find ways to make it fun, they nerf it instantly.

I'm not sure what to make of Update 14. As ObsidianAnt, D2EA and several other content creators have already said. This is another impossible grind. It's like FDEV is literally trying to kill their own game. Why would they do that? True, the game costs to maintain, and they don't get cash from running a non subscription-based game. There are other games that still makes this work. Please, listen to your player base.

/CMDR Zantiah.
Yes.

Sure, there are other games with grind, but ED is the king IMO. That and a systematic disregard and lack of respect for the player's time.
 
Once again, good post, I agree with a lot of it but there is a simple reason why you can't just exchange credits for mats easily, it's because mats are the primary currency, not Credits (any more). Credits accumulation is so easy now because credits are no longer the primary currency of the game and haven't been for years.
You can say materials are rare, you can say they should be expensive, but you can't call them a currency. The amount of mats you can own is capped, so by definition they can't be a currency. They are commodities and should be treated as such. How easy it is to accumulate credits is completely irrelevant. What matters is how much stuff you can buy with them. If the money supply is inflated, the prices of goods should reflect this. Make ships and modules more expensive if you will, but stop calling materials a currency just because they are in short supply. Even the most valuable goods have a price tag.
 
You can say materials are rare, you can say they should be expensive, but you can't call them a currency. The amount of mats you can own is capped, so by definition they can't be a currency. They are commodities and should be treated as such. How easy it is to accumulate credits is completely irrelevant. What matters is how much stuff you can buy with them. If the money supply is inflated, the prices of goods should reflect this. Make ships and modules more expensive if you will, but stop calling materials a currency just because they are in short supply. Even the most valuable goods have a price tag.

I don't think your definition of the word 'currency' is a useful one, but it does seem that whatever word you prefer to use, you do understand my point. I accept that you think mats & credits should be interchangeable but I think that is unlikely to happen until a new 'Currency' is introduced.

Here's a link about game currencies that might help you to understand where I am coming from. It's just the first link from me googling 'game currency':

 
No, you don't. The amount differs with the luck of your dice rolls. Grade 5 generation requires between 8 and 11 rolls. Another indicator that the materials aren't payment but get consumed in the module modification process.
You don't have to 100% G5 modules though, not even in PvP.

It doesn't really matter if your power distributor recharges 6.41 or 6.44 mj per second, or if your beam laser has a range of 5977 or 6000 meters.
This is actually a pet peeve of mine, I rarely put in more than 3 rolls in a G5 module. The gains are so marginal, I'd rather engineer 3 modules to 99 % than one to 100%.
 
It should be a question of whether the activities, grind based or not, are enjoyable. A fun grind can be done over and over again
It depends, which "gameloop" you will use.

Example manufactured materials from milking 1 settlement by relogs is boring as hell. Similar with HGE.
But gathering it after fights, as rewards from ANY type of mission, or random detour, because before going to station I noticed USS? Yes, it can be enjoyable. Even settlements can be funny, if you visit DIFFERENT settlements, and will pay attention to their logs.

Data? I never noticed data "grind". Scanning random ships when I dock on station/in RES sites give me more, than I need. Only part which need any, little focus are wakes. I gather them after any CZ which I complete. You don't need 6 shield boosters in CZ. You can take 5+wake scanner ;)

Only raws can make some issues, because they require literally 2 activities. Mining, or driving in srv.

Min/max meta grind kills fun. Not fact that you need processors to module.
 
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You don't have to 100% G5 modules though, not even in PvP.

It doesn't really matter if your power distributor recharges 6.41 or 6.44 mj per second, or if your beam laser has a range of 5977 or 6000 meters.
This is actually a pet peeve of mine, I rarely put in more than 3 rolls in a G5 module. The gains are so marginal, I'd rather engineer 3 modules to 99 % than one to 100%.
I envy you, as some of us (or maybe just me) have mental disorders that make it near impossible to not keep clicking until the last sliver of the circle has been filled, even when the numbers are already maxed and the dial somehow isn’t.
 
I envy you, as some of us (or maybe just me) have mental disorders that make it near impossible to not keep clicking until the last sliver of the circle has been filled, even when the numbers are already maxed and the dial somehow isn’t.
Oh, I have that urge too.

But I also don't like numbers go brrrr down, as materials do when you 100% this G5 stuff.
 
Oh, I have that urge too.

But I also don't like numbers go brrrr down, as materials do when you 100% this G5 stuff.
I solved that problem at the other end, by relogging and getting as many mats as I like in short order.

I plan my builds in EDSY, and sometimes my power plants are utilized 99.9%. One dice roll too few, and the build may not work as intended.
 
It depends, which "gameloop" you will use.

Example manufactured materials from milking 1 settlement by relogs is boring as hell. Similar with HGE.
But gathering it after fights, as rewards from ANY type of mission, or random detour, because before going to station I noticed USS? Yes, it can be enjoyable. Even settlements can be funny, if you visit DIFFERENT settlements, and will pay attention to their logs.

Data? I never noticed data "grind". Scanning random ships when I dock on station/in RES sites give me more, than I need. Only part which need any, little focus are wakes. I gather them after any CZ which I complete. You don't need 6 shield boosters in CZ. You can take 5+wake scanner ;)

Only raws can make some issues, because they require literally 2 activities. Mining, or driving in srv.

Min/max meta grind kills fun. Not fact that you need processors to module.

Yes, but this part is about knowing what is available. Someone who comes to the game and watches a clickbaity video about how to gain so many X in Y, is going to learn the absoloute most boring and grindy way to get something, because, a sad fact is, that's usually the case with grind elements in ED. The most "efficient" was is the most boring, but there is a slightly less efficient way, but is a lot more fun.
 
For me elite is just like every mmo and compared with many of them the games compensate this with realistic approach of progress,

It’s like to cry for an fast travel system in elite, it would undermine the realistic touch of this game.

Honestly, yes it can be boring but then you have tons of other opportunities to bang your freedome out.

For me elite is a good thing in this way, there are games which isn’t half away so full of different approach to gather the end game stuff. Therefore, it’s a mmo like game, haven’t heard of any mmo without massiv grind.

Grind is not the baddest thing in my opinion in elite.
 
Yes, but this part is about knowing what is available. Someone who comes to the game and watches a clickbaity video about how to gain so many X in Y, is going to learn the absoloute most boring and grindy way to get something, because, a sad fact is, that's usually the case with grind elements in ED. The most "efficient" was is the most boring, but there is a slightly less efficient way, but is a lot more fun.
The reason why these videos exist is because for many players anything that isn't accessible in a reasonable time frame isn't accessible at all. ED isn't friendly to casual players who have lives outside the game, full-time jobs, families to take care of etc. If your in-game time is limited, you don't want to waste it on stupid time sinks. And that means you can't engineer your ship and make it fit for open play.
 
Yes, but this part is about knowing what is available. Someone who comes to the game and watches a clickbaity video about how to gain so many X in Y, is going to learn the absoloute most boring and grindy way to get something, because, a sad fact is, that's usually the case with grind elements in ED. The most "efficient" was is the most boring, but there is a slightly less efficient way, but is a lot more fun.
Okay, but like... that's just how goal orientation works, isn't it? Of course, a player who comes into the game wanting to get into certain kinds of content is going to want to take the fastest way there, even if it is the most boring. The larger issue remains that even the efficient way often isn't really that efficient, and the "optimized" approach to getting stuff still requires a pretty large time commitment overall. If my choices to go from zero to a G5 combat ship for high CZs are "follow this guide and be bored for two months, then it's awesome" and "brainhack yourself to forget about your goal, do other things, and be pleasantly surprised in a year," like... neither of those are good choices, right?

For me it's a moot point—I've been playing since beta and love this genre so much that I'll forgive a lot of meh to get these particular kicks. And I'm sure a lot of us here are the same way. But I feel like there's only so far you can stretch expectation management, you know?
 
I envy you, as some of us (or maybe just me) have mental disorders that make it near impossible to not keep clicking until the last sliver of the circle has been filled, even when the numbers are already maxed and the dial somehow isn’t.
I don't want to be rude, but mental disorders are your problem, not fdev, or our.

You cannot stop untill bar is full, even if it means +0,1 additional hp in 200 hp upgrade? So grind, or deal with your disorders.
 
I don't want to be rude, but mental disorders are your problem, not fdev, or our.

You cannot stop untill bar is full, even if it means +0,1 additional hp in 200 hp upgrade? So grind, or deal with your disorders.
That 0.1 HP figure can be true for the last roll of a single HRP, but you typically have more than 1 of those modules.

The other day I finished the last rolls on a build (armour and IIRC 5 HRPs all had only 1 to 2 G5 rolls on them before) and I gained more than 100 extra HPs overall. Not much, although I can recall many occasions when I survived on 0 to 1% hull. :)
 
I don't want to be rude, but mental disorders are your problem, not fdev, or our.

You cannot stop untill bar is full, even if it means +0,1 additional hp in 200 hp upgrade? So grind, or deal with your disorders.
I wasn’t complaining about anything, I actually enjoy engineering ships, just a little self deprecating commentary.
 
I understand.

To be fair for this type of people they could take one on foot engineering feature :)
Fixed prices for whole grades. No more rolls, let's say 3/10 materials for completed grade, which has 100% for success.
 
Okay, but like... that's just how goal orientation works, isn't it? Of course, a player who comes into the game wanting to get into certain kinds of content is going to want to take the fastest way there, even if it is the most boring. The larger issue remains that even the efficient way often isn't really that efficient, and the "optimized" approach to getting stuff still requires a pretty large time commitment overall. If my choices to go from zero to a G5 combat ship for high CZs are "follow this guide and be bored for two months, then it's awesome" and "brainhack yourself to forget about your goal, do other things, and be pleasantly surprised in a year," like... neither of those are good choices, right?

For me it's a moot point—I've been playing since beta and love this genre so much that I'll forgive a lot of meh to get these particular kicks. And I'm sure a lot of us here are the same way. But I feel like there's only so far you can stretch expectation management, you know?
The genre is cool and all, but not when you violate it with a crappy looter bolted on top. It's gameplay fit for a free2play game but without the monetisation solutions to circumvent the grind.
 
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