Location, Location, Location

[MadDogMurdock]

I'm seeing quite a few threads about the locations of the Materials Brokers, being able to do all blueprints anywhere, etc.

It seems like the implications of the instant Hyperdrive have not really sunk in.

When you can cross the entire populated bubble in half-an-hour or less, you can place your business pretty much wherever you like (provided it's not another 2 hours in SC once you get there) and people will come.

Seriously guys - it's a space sim.
Travelling across the vast empty expanses of stars systems, traversing entire galactic arms in a matter of hours - that's the game.
More than anything else, it needs unique destinations and reasons to go to them.

Remove all reasons to travel anywhere and we may as well stay at the station bar.

This thread is not about the mechanics of SC or Jump,Jump,Jump - save that for another day.

 

[Genus]

Wait....there's a bar?!

 

[MadDogMurdock]

Wait....there's a bar?!

Well, there will be - CG at Wangal

 

[askavir]

+1

To me, having more unique special places with unique special services is a major plus. It's the thing I like the most about the engineers. I hope there's more of this kind of places in the future (hinting at all those CQC assets that currently serve no purpose, or powerplay capitals, or superpower homeworlds, etc etc etc).

If everything was available everywhere, then every single place would be exactly the same as all others, making the galaxy feel much blander and tasteless.

 

[Genus]

Lol, damn permits.

 

[Goblin949]

It seems like the implications of the instant Hyperdrive have not really sunk in.

What instant Hyperdrive? There will be no countdown anymore?

 

[MadDogMurdock]

What instant Hyperdrive? There will be no countdown anymore?

No, the fact that jumping does not add hours or days to the clock as in previous games.

 

[Goblin949]

No, the fact that jumping does not add hours or days to the clock as in previous games.

Oh... leave these fancy relativistic effects to hippies. Countdowns of countdowns are still a thing, yay!

 

[Blackcompany]

I'm seeing quite a few threads...

<snip>

This thread is not about the mechanics of SC or Jump,Jump,Jump - save that for another day.

Oh but it very much IS about that. Thats the only thing it IS about.

Because you cannot talk about how much people dislike travel in this game, and do those same complaints the disservice of refusing to speak about WHY travel is so much disliked.

And that is very much down to the fact that travel in Elite largely isnt travel. Its just a loading screen. No interaction. Just waiting. And we have do A LOT of it. I mean, Bethesda RPG levels of loading screens. Like every system is another building we have to enter from the "world map" levels of loading screens.

That IS the problem. I mean, you dont hear people bemoaning the travel times in Subnautica. Or even No Man's Sky. I am not complaining about how long it takes to cross Europe in ETS2. Because in those games, travel means DOING SOMETHING. INTERACTING (sorry, Italics arent working terribly well) with the game.

In Elite...travel is just...waiting. And that IS the problem.

Oh... leave these fancy relativistic effects to hippies. Countdowns of countdowns are still a thing, yay!

Also this...like "background loading" hasnt been a thing in games since...well, probably since the time in between 1984 and now, from which FDEV havent bothered to take even a single game design lesson...

 

[MadDogMurdock]

Oh but it very much IS about that. Thats the only thing it IS about.

Because you cannot talk about how much people dislike travel in this game, and do those same complaints the disservice of refusing to speak about WHY travel is so much disliked.

And that is very much down to the fact that travel in Elite largely isnt travel. Its just a loading screen. No interaction. Just waiting. And we have do A LOT of it. I mean, Bethesda RPG levels of loading screens. Like every system is another building we have to enter from the "world map" levels of loading screens.

That IS the problem. I mean, you dont hear people bemoaning the travel times in Subnautica. Or even No Man's Sky. I am not complaining about how long it takes to cross Europe in ETS2. Because in those games, travel means DOING SOMETHING. INTERACTING (sorry, Italics arent working terribly well) with the game.

In Elite...travel is just...waiting. And that IS the problem.



Also this...like "background loading" hasnt been a thing in games since...well, probably since the time in between 1984 and now, from which FDEV havent bothered to take even a single game design lesson...

And those criticisms will continue, but asking for everything to be available in the same place is not the correct response.

 

[Majic-12]

The station bar is the only reason I travel at all -- to make money to support my out-of-control drinking habit.

I mean seriously, 1600cr for a pint?

Believe me, you don't need to leave the station to be waylaid by pirates.

 

[Faded Glory]

No, the fact that jumping does not add hours or days to the clock as in previous games.

If you're talking about the previous Elite games (which I assume you are), then sure, a hyperspace jump could take up to 7 days... Game time. Real time a few seconds. ED's jumps take a lot longer from charging your FSD to arriving in the new system.

And those criticisms will continue, but asking for everything to be available in the same place is not the correct response.

No it isn't, but it's difficult to separate out the fact that making a process inconvenient, a time sink or simply not much fun might be the reason that players are ignoring content that FD want them very much to engage in.

Giving players choices can help improve that surely.

For example, be able to do any upgrades locally if you have the right materials (with some restrictions, such as no secondary effects), or make a trip to an engineer who happens to have a material broker on site if you have mats but not the right ones and would rather not go out hunting (or if you are looking for a secondary effect). Making players travel to a third location just to see a broker is really just making them travel for the sake of it.

The fact that FD have introduced the possibility to do some rolls at any outfitting indicates that they are aware that travel might be putting some players off. At the moment, what they have introduced is probably not going to make much of a difference, too restrictive with having to have exactly the blueprint you want to roll pinned, so perhaps they will look at some of the suggestions floating around and improve the usefulness of what they are trying to introduce.

 

[MadDogMurdock]

If you're talking about the previous Elite games (which I assume you are), then sure, a hyperspace jump could take up to 7 days... Game time. Real time a few seconds. ED's jumps take a lot longer from charging your FSD to arriving in the new system.



No it isn't, but it's difficult to separate out the fact that making a process inconvenient, a time sink or simply not much fun might be the reason that players are ignoring content that FD want them very much to engage in.

Giving players choices can help improve that surely.

For example, be able to do any upgrades locally if you have the right materials (with some restrictions, such as no secondary effects), or make a trip to an engineer who happens to have a material broker on site if you have mats but not the right ones and would rather not go out hunting (or if you are looking for a secondary effect). Making players travel to a third location just to see a broker is really just making them travel for the sake of it.

The fact that FD have introduced the possibility to do some rolls at any outfitting indicates that they are aware that travel might be putting some players off. At the moment, what they have introduced is probably not going to make much of a difference, too restrictive with having to have exactly the blueprint you want to roll pinned, so perhaps they will look at some of the suggestions floating around and improve the usefulness of what they are trying to introduce.

Like I said, I have no intention of getting into SC or Hyperspace game mechanics.

The basic point is that travel now takes very little 'real time' so the in-game reasoning to co-locate all services is minimal.

 

[Faded Glory]

Like I said, I have no intention of getting into SC or Hyperspace game mechanics.

The basic point is that travel now takes very little 'real time' so the in-game reasoning to co-locate all services is minimal.

Depends on which engineer you are after, what ship you are trying to engineer and where you happen to be in the game.

I'd agree that there's no reason to just 'put everything in the same place', but doing something like I described above, which would give players some choice, some control over their game time by offering alternatives would be better than just putting a middle man somewhere that you have to travel to, 'just because'.