Is it as boring for everyone but Elite Veterans?

[gudlbua]

I started playing Elite (with many long breaks) in Beta, but the game still feels... empty..., like a Cruising-Simulator of sorts.

Is there a trick to make the experience more enjoyable? Just to give you an example of what I mean, here is my experience with the game from today's session (~2 hrs):

I started the game and saw that my ship (just an Eagle from one of my previous sessions a couple of months ago) was stranded with 0 fuel in a remote System. So I destroyed the ship and got reset to a space station. I familiarised myself with the controls (5 mins tops). I then tried finding a mission I could do for a little excitement. I searched the missions board only to find out that no mission was suited for my level and reputation (Harmless). As this part of the game was locked to me, I then bought 2 slots of polymers because they were around 150 CR below average price. I couldn't afford anything else that would net a profit on average, so at least I would get a little extra money from it.
I then began my search for a market to sell the polymers and get that mission I was trying to get in the first place. I raced (cruise simulated) towards Systems names I knew (which meant they were "starter" Systems, as I don't have much experience in the game). However, after 4 or 5 jumps, with landing at at least one or two stations in every system, I was still at zero missions and not one of them would buy my polymers for more than maybe a 20 CR profit. As I am not that much of an experienced pilot (I don't suck at it either though!), all of this took me maybe 45 minutes. Until I finally came across a mission I could accept (and that looked very promising for 43k credits!). The polymers however were still in cargo hold...
For the first time in this session of already ~1 hr I felt something like excitement. I was to hunt a pirate named "Merlyn" in a system just 2 jumps off (still took me a couple of minutes to get there, mind you).

So I jumped there and... the System looked totally empty. I fired up the scanner and suddenly a couple of unidentified objects popped up. I flew to at least 4 - all of which turned out to be planets without anything to them. I scanned a few more times and saw an unidentified Signal in the system, cruised there and finally found my mark. Unfortunately he was accompanied by 2 of his pirate friends. So the three of them really shot up my ride and I had to flee after a short firefight.
I then turned off the game because:
1) I was not going manage to repair my ship and handle those pirates in the ~1:30h I had to kill him in and return for the mission debrief. So I would have lost another couple of CRs to the penalty on mission failure (penalties are still in there, aren't they?)
2) I did not want to spend another 40+ minutes searching for another mission just for the off-chance I might be able to handle it.
3) I was very, VERY frustrated how playing for almost 2 hrs resulted in a net loss (and that alone would not have been a huge problem, but I did not make a single Credit in all that time, despite really trying)


So now I have a few questions for the veterans out there:
1) Is there a way to make at least a bit of profit with an eagle that's not super-upgraded?
2) Is there any way of having fun while doing it?
3) Is it in any way possible to finish a mission in under 30 minutes (that's really what bugs me the most, the lengthy fly times just to "get there").
4) Is there any fun activity I might not know about (Powerplay really doesn't seem to be it).

To the programmers:
1) I really want to enjoy this game, but you make it soooo hard to find anything fun to do for a relatively unexperienced player.
2) What's the reason for having a huge galaxy, if it's completely empty?
3) Has this been play-tested? What did the testers have to say about the long cruise times?
4) Do you really think this is in any way "fun"?

 

[Surly_Badger]

It's weird that you'd want to exclude "elite veterans" because, clearly, you don't get to be a veteran by being bored. So by excluding "elite veterans" you are basically asking "is this game boring for everyone who's not not-bored?" i.e.: "is this game boring for people who are bored by it." Well, yes, apparently it is.

 

[Marshall...]

A nice way to make credits with an Eagle is to bounty hunt at a stars Nav Beacon or at a Resource Extraction site (some planets with rings have extraction sites). Look for Wanted targets, if you have a Kill Warrant Scanner even better. You could also wingup with some fellow cmdrs for a laugh.

You can make a nice profit, if that is what you are after in an Eagle.

 

[Araviel]

oh there is so much i could tell you, but i have little time to write a wall of text amt.
are you a PC gamer? if you are maybe you would like to wing up later?
i have been playing since beta but don't mind getting into a Eagle again to show you some stuff.

 

[Flavio]

It's weird that you'd want to exclude "elite veterans" because, clearly, you don't get to be a veteran by being bored. So by excluding "elite veterans" you are basically asking "is this game boring for everyone who's not not-bored?" i.e.: "is this game boring for people who are bored by it." Well, yes, apparently it is.

I actually think he was directing his question at people who hadn't played the 1984 version etc rather than players that had played less than x amount of hours of ED. That is me excluded then but I will say that it depends on your mind set as occasionally I do get bored but I can say the same of some of my favourite programs.

 

[gudlbua]

It's weird that you'd want to exclude "elite veterans" because, clearly, you don't get to be a veteran by being bored. So by excluding "elite veterans" you are basically asking "is this game boring for everyone who's not not-bored?" i.e.: "is this game boring for people who are bored by it." Well, yes, apparently it is.

So you think it's impossible for someone to enjoy a game and not consider themselves veterans? Interesting opinion. But wrong.
I've played many games that I enjoyed, but wouldn't consider myself to be a veteran in and no, I am not alone with that.

 

[The Rifter]

1. Buy a KWS and do bounty hunting at nav points. First, go for small targets until u get better at dogfighting. Avoid kill missions. Better avoid all at the start until you have enough cash from hunting.
2. Yes, it should be fun.
3. With the right ship and setup, yes.
4. Bounty hunting (in sc), res hunting, smuggling, pirating, ...trading and maybe more but I concentrate on these things. Just fun to me. I avoided pp by now.

Have fun and fly save cmdr!

Btw, buy a rift and do all this in vr.

 

[Crimson Kaim]

I started playing Elite (with many long breaks) in Beta, but the game still feels... empty..., like a Cruising-Simulator of sorts.
1) I really want to enjoy this game, but you make it soooo hard to find anything fun to do for a relatively unexperienced player.
2) What's the reason for having a huge galaxy, if it's completely empty?

These two points hit the nail perfectly. 400 billion star systems ... but every system looks more or less the same plus it is static.
Fun ways. Lots of potential, but barely used. Grind, singleplayer favored, no difference in pwoer factions. Stations, missions, culture, nothing changes. It is all-the-same.

 

[Vasea Azure]

static..

what do you mean - static? The planets, moons, suns are orbiting right? Unless you thinking about dynamic economy or something.

 

[Ghostickles]

I started playing Elite (with many long breaks) in Beta, but the game still feels... empty..., like a Cruising-Simulator of sorts.

Is there a trick to make the experience more enjoyable? Just to give you an example of what I mean, here is my experience with the game from today's session (~2 hrs):

I started the game and saw that my ship (just an Eagle from one of my previous sessions a couple of months ago) was stranded with 0 fuel in a remote System. So I destroyed the ship and got reset to a space station. I familiarised myself with the controls (5 mins tops). I then tried finding a mission I could do for a little excitement. I searched the missions board only to find out that no mission was suited for my level and reputation (Harmless). As this part of the game was locked to me, I then bought 2 slots of polymers because they were around 150 CR below average price. I couldn't afford anything else that would net a profit on average, so at least I would get a little extra money from it.
I then began my search for a market to sell the polymers and get that mission I was trying to get in the first place. I raced (cruise simulated) towards Systems names I knew (which meant they were "starter" Systems, as I don't have much experience in the game). However, after 4 or 5 jumps, with landing at at least one or two stations in every system, I was still at zero missions and not one of them would buy my polymers for more than maybe a 20 CR profit. As I am not that much of an experienced pilot (I don't suck at it either though!), all of this took me maybe 45 minutes. Until I finally came across a mission I could accept (and that looked very promising for 43k credits!). The polymers however were still in cargo hold...
For the first time in this session of already ~1 hr I felt something like excitement. I was to hunt a pirate named "Merlyn" in a system just 2 jumps off (still took me a couple of minutes to get there, mind you).

So I jumped there and... the System looked totally empty. I fired up the scanner and suddenly a couple of unidentified objects popped up. I flew to at least 4 - all of which turned out to be planets without anything to them. I scanned a few more times and saw an unidentified Signal in the system, cruised there and finally found my mark. Unfortunately he was accompanied by 2 of his pirate friends. So the three of them really shot up my ride and I had to flee after a short firefight.
I then turned off the game because:
1) I was not going manage to repair my ship and handle those pirates in the ~1:30h I had to kill him in and return for the mission debrief. So I would have lost another couple of CRs to the penalty on mission failure (penalties are still in there, aren't they?)
2) I did not want to spend another 40+ minutes searching for another mission just for the off-chance I might be able to handle it.
3) I was very, VERY frustrated how playing for almost 2 hrs resulted in a net loss (and that alone would not have been a huge problem, but I did not make a single Credit in all that time, despite really trying)


So now I have a few questions for the veterans out there:
1) Is there a way to make at least a bit of profit with an eagle that's not super-upgraded?
2) Is there any way of having fun while doing it?
3) Is it in any way possible to finish a mission in under 30 minutes (that's really what bugs me the most, the lengthy fly times just to "get there").
4) Is there any fun activity I might not know about (Powerplay really doesn't seem to be it).

To the programmers:
1) I really want to enjoy this game, but you make it soooo hard to find anything fun to do for a relatively unexperienced player.
2) What's the reason for having a huge galaxy, if it's completely empty?
3) Has this been play-tested? What did the testers have to say about the long cruise times?
4) Do you really think this is in any way "fun"?

Mate, I hit that wall back in Beta, bought a sidewinder and went to find Combat Zones. After a few hours of mindless combat with a few moments of 'oh shoot' I had racked up enough to upgrade to an Eagle, and I repeated to a Viper. A combat grind is the same in almost any game, kill stuff. The combat zones are nice because you don't have to waste any time scanning or hunting, you just pick a side and go to work for them, and they will back you up (a bit) so you can go after some larger ships.

 

[Smugallo]

I don't play much. I know it's meant to be continual development but devlopment time is very very slow. I keep poking my head back here and waiting for the features I pledged for. Until then I won't be playing much, if at all. The game itself is actually very simple, it just has a cumbersome amount of keybinds and strange UI choices that make it seem like a complex game.

 

[lucerro]

Btw, buy a rift and do all this in vr.

lol this! I don't care how boring it seems do this and I swear you won't care lol

But seriously, it has a helluva learning curve and a lot of the guides out there assume you already have a lot of knowledge about the basic mechanics of gameplay, imo this is why it seems boring at first. While it's not a game for action junkies or those seeking instant gratification for their actions it is far from boring once you get beyond the initial gameplay mechanics.

really needs a complete newb guide, none that I have seen really cut it so far.

 

[gudlbua]

Mate, I hit that wall back in Beta, bought a sidewinder and went to find Combat Zones. After a few hours of mindless combat with a few moments of 'oh shoot' I had racked up enough to upgrade to an Eagle, and I repeated to a Viper. A combat grind is the same in almost any game, kill stuff. The combat zones are nice because you don't have to waste any time scanning or hunting, you just pick a side and go to work for them, and they will back you up (a bit) so you can go after some larger ships.

That's actually what I did to get my Eagle if I recall correctly. And it was fun for a while. I was just wondering if there is now (after a year?) a more meaningful way to some action (and I don't mean necessarily combat, something happening!) than just grinding in combat zones.
The (randomized) stories an open Galaxy could tell.
"I was sucked into an anomaly in a remote system and on the other side I found a rich ore field / Derelict ship of an alien nature ready to be mined / salvaged"
"I flew to a well known station just to find it destroyed by a huge battleship. They ignored me due to me being only in a crappy eagle, posing no threat to them and not being associated with the station. I even was able to land in their hangar and sell some [insert future tech] to them."

The galaxy seems too "realistic" as in: empty. I have yet to see if there are any capital ships that actually fly through the galaxy and do stuff (there was an inert one in one of the combat zone, randomly spawning an infinite amount of ships)... Threaten people, Destroy a pirate base... anything that would be worth seeing.
The most interesting thing so far was a binary star system. Quite anti-climactic in my opinion.

 

[Ghostickles]

That's actually what I did to get my Eagle if I recall correctly. And it was fun for a while. I was just wondering if there is now (after a year?) a more meaningful way to some action (and I don't mean necessarily combat, something happening!) than just grinding in combat zones.
The (randomized) stories an open Galaxy could tell.
"I was sucked into an anomaly in a remote system and on the other side I found a rich ore field / Derelict ship of an alien nature ready to be mined / salvaged"
"I flew to a well known station just to find it destroyed by a huge battleship. They ignored me due to me being only in a crappy eagle, posing no threat to them and not being associated with the station. I even was able to land in their hangar and sell some [insert future tech] to them."

The galaxy seems too "realistic" as in: empty. I have yet to see if there are any capital ships that actually fly through the galaxy and do stuff (there was an inert one in one of the combat zone, randomly spawning an infinite amount of ships)... Threaten people, Destroy a pirate base... anything that would be worth seeing.
The most interesting thing so far was a binary star system. Quite anti-climactic in my opinion.

Better is subjective, and the game still needs to get up to par with other offerings at the same price point, in my opinion. The game still does feel like that, although there have been improvements, like mission targets appear in SC and mining Limpets. It may develop slowly, but its going.
Perhaps FD should take a week off to play some OTHER games, and then come back and see what they can do, idk.
For now I just tool about if I am bored, I haven't made a dime in weeks. I have some Transactions pending but who wants to fly around to deliver for peanuts.
Hit the guys from CODE up, they are always having a laugh and doing things. Social helps add content to games where its lacking.

 

[bendover]

You think the galaxy is too realistic Well thats the trouble People dont want real they want Hollywood too realistic you could have said the Galaxy is too Anne Widdercome that would make just as much sense

 

[smiths121]

Hi OP - Nope the sledgehammer that is PP makes it boring for veterans as well.

 

[Chann3l]

I don't play much. I know it's meant to be continual development but devlopment time is very very slow. I keep poking my head back here and waiting for the features I pledged for. Until then I won't be playing much, if at all. The game itself is actually very simple, it just has a cumbersome amount of keybinds and strange UI choices that make it seem like a complex game.

This is what I think of Arma 3. Not elite though.

 

[Arjin]

Boring is as boring does..All games get boring after a point, take a breather play something else, re-invigorate your imagination and approach the game from a different perspective. If your expecting this game or any game to do all the work without any imaginative input from you then......wait for new content and be spoon fed from that until it gets boring...

 

[Soulstain]

You think the galaxy is too realistic Well thats the trouble People dont want real they want Hollywood too realistic you could have said the Galaxy is too Anne Widdercome that would make just as much sense

I think he meant the real universe is empty and so is the game. Your whole comment doesn't make sense. By your logic we shouldn't even be flying around in space ships. Unless I missed something, that's not very real either.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

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