I've been primarily doing mining lately, and working out how to make the best use of collection limpets in the process. So since I have now posted, that's at least one non-metagamer in this thread, by your definition. Or perhaps the fact that I am trying to maximize my production via efficient use of limpets makes me a metagamer as well?
Meta-gamers burn out very quickly in this game
- Thread starter Joel Elks
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I've been primarily doing mining lately, and working out how to make the best use of collection limpets in the process. So since I have now posted, that's at least one non-metagamer in this thread, by your definition. Or perhaps the fact that I am trying to maximize my production via efficient use of limpets makes me a metagamer as well?
if you are applying strategy in your mining and are weighting several different strategical options against each other to find the most efficient way to do your mining, then yes, you are a meta gamer.
and if you find that there is allot of different strategical methods in your mining rather than only one correct way to do it then that also makes mining into good meta gameplay.
Still lost, is it wrong just to play the game?
Am I not trying hard enough for the optimal results....is that what this is all about?
Am I not trying hard enough for the optimal results....is that what this is all about?
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I metagame once; let her stroll away to her herd, though.
first question: no
second one: depends on what "this" is
-a) Metagaming: NAND
-b) this thread: no
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Well said, that man! I've traded rares, traded normal commodities, shot criminals in RES, done missions and sometimes just flown around. Each time it was because I wanted to do it, not because some overarching meta determined that I could only do it THAT way!
One of the problems is that many people set themselves a goal, and forget that the journey to reach that goal is the fun bit!
Scudmungus
Banned
In mi day, wi callin it Strategy an Tactics.
Aal dis 'Meta' talk? HA!
Aal dis 'Meta' talk? HA!
Deadlock989
Banned
I'm not a meta-gamer but I also burned out relatively quickly.
The question is, what kind of player doesn't burn out quickly in this highly repetitive environment?
Perhaps I lack "imagination".
The question is, what kind of player doesn't burn out quickly in this highly repetitive environment?
Perhaps I lack "imagination".
Ahh yes, the old "Imagination" tag............"here is an empty box, go play..........".........
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I really liked the idea of mining when the game came out....make a "Career" out of it they said, blaze your own trail............I figured I would start with a shovel and a sifting tray, find a few nugeets to buy some better kit......make a few more digs and upgrade to a prospecting/explorer ship......go find a pristine metal ring "out there" filled with the good stuff.....then be able to ship out containers and better equipment so I could make more money......then maybe get serious and put a mining station down, maybe employ playuer miners. Then hire defence forces to protect our claim, colinize another few 0.000001% of the Galaxy.............and then maybe, expand............you know, start in the post room and work my way up to owner/operator of a large mining business..........well, that's what my "Imagination" wanted to do.....
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But the game "career" is shooting at rocks, collecting rocks, selling rocks, and it NEVER changes..........A career to me is something you progress through........but in Elite, they never change or alter.....Mining is shooting rocks.....for me, and for you....shooting rocks....don't matter what you fly, how much you earn...all you can do, is shoot rocks............some "career"...........Maybe I have too much "Imagination" and as such, the provided "career" just does not fit the bill......cuz no matter how much I "Imagine" that I will one day create enough business that someone else might want to buy me out or set up a major station near by, or rival companies...etc........it just aint happening....all I can do, is shoot rocks.....
It seems to me as though the OP doesn't know what metagaming is, but I wasn't going to be the first to point it out.
Making optimal use of in-game time isn't a "meta" activity. Research isn't automatically "meta" research. *shrug*
That's the thing though. Some of us, after seeing how dull the minute to minute gameplay is, expected that instead the devs spent all their efforts into creating some complex, overarching dynamic to entice people into playing despite the simplistic base mechanics. Some games are like that, exceedingly simplistic mechanics supporting a more complex layer above them. Not Elite, not at the moment.
That could to some extent be addressed by the background simulation and powerplay, giving people the sense that what they're doing matters, since what they're doing is not very exciting after the nth hour doing it with little variation (and how could there be variation when the mechanics are so simple)... Sadly, even if you ignore all the bugs (which you can't really tell are bugs or not considering how cryptic FD are about how everything should and shouldn't work), the impact a single player has on the is so insignificant it might just as well not be there. Though honestly I feel like if people at least knew what actions loop into the , how and to what extent, you would hear a lot less about lack of things to do.
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Before posting I've read a lot this forum, mainly because after I lost the "sandbox" feeling I tried to decide what to do in this game (what is FUN to do in this game, see the problem?). "Setting your own goals" seems like a very popular opinion when someone asks "what to do in ED", but that is an answer mainly given for sandbox games. I have no problem imagining subfaction A has a century-long vendetta with faction B and I'm caught in the middle, I play pen and paper long enough. The reason I pay for games is that someone designed a story, setting, or even goals I find appealing.
What goals have you guys set for yourselves?
Do you know what kills this game? Expecting money and big ships will make it fun. That's what kills the game. I have countless folks on my friends list who never play anymore because they got their 'conda and don't know what else to do. They, like you, are missing the point of Elite.
Elite isn't a race to get the biggest ship. Well, I guess it can be. It isn't my place to tell you how to play. But, I feel that you're missing the best parts of Elite if that is all you're hear to do. Getting the best ships is simply farming credits and there are fastest ways to do this if you really want it. They also happen to be boring.
I gauge Elite by how much fun any activity gives me. The money is a nice extra perk. On occasion I'll farm a RES site to get some extra cash (like the last couple of weeks waiting for the 20 ton fix that is coming), but for the most part, everything I do is for fun.
This also means I'm relatively poor, monetarily. But that's okay! I'll spend some nights having fun for the sake of it and lose money! But it doesn't bother me. I had fun. And with the limited time each and every one of us have, what is more important? Digital credits earned through boredom... or fun life experiences earned through... fun?
I'd argue the latter is worth far more.
Elite has tons of fun in it. You simply need be creative but there's a lot of it out there.
all I have to say is +rep for your sig.
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Deadlock989
Banned
What goals are there, that I can't achieve by sitting in a darkened room and dreaming?
So please give an easy to reason and easy to understand example of 'meta' in ED. And try not to burn yourself out in the process of figuring the 'meta' in the question!:S
Yes, like I said, meta nonsense!
[]
Since there seems to be quite the quarrel regarding what metagaming is (and I really think this will turn to "how accurate wikipedia is" and no, wiki is NOT where I learned what metagaming is) I will deflect a bit in order to clarify what it means for me and how it is used in this thread.
Metagaming is any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game. Another definition refers to the game universe outside of the game itself. Metagaming differs from strategy in that metagaming is making decisions based upon out of game knowledge, whereas strategies are decisions made based upon in-game actions and knowledge.
In simple terms, it is the use of out-of-game information or resources to affect one's in-game decisions.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metagaming
If we're gonna do this, please read the above sentences carefully and not just by trying to find the bits and pieces that will disagree with everything that this thread stands for. It will be best to read the full page but I know how lazy ppl can be.
Now, what I did and why is it considered metagaming.
Firstly, in my very first hours of playing this game I explored the "career options" in order to find the one I feel will be more fun for me. I didn't go for the obvious no-nos, as I know my playstyle (avoided mining altogether). Secondly I quickly read some guides about credits in game, found that the game has changed a lot in the last months, proceeded to the forum. Found that there are a few tools for this game, most of them about trading. Checked 2-3 of them for accuracy, found the best considering my options, some trial and error quickly showed the best to use.
Let me make this clear: Without logging into the game, doing research with OUT OF GAME TOOLS, which provided information that otherwise would take me MONTHS to acquire and by that time would all be obsolete, I found the best way to achieve a certain goal (credits). Now this, by definition is metagaming.
Please take the time to explain to me where I'm wrong, I'll be happy to admit it and learn something new in the process.
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It seems to me as though the OP doesn't know what metagaming is, but I wasn't going to be the first to point it out.
Making optimal use of in-game time isn't a "meta" activity. Research isn't automatically "meta" research. *shrug*
metagaming can be applied in so many different ways,
but to make this simple - metagaming is the use of out-of-game knowledge to affect in-game decisions.
but here is where the tricky part comes in that leads to so much confusion - when does it become out-of-game knowledge?
most gamers think that is when a strategy becomes a known strategy, and when we follow that trail it can easily lead us to the min/maxing way of talking about metagame and how metagame can be made harder by balancing strategical options.
Edit: ninjad by Joel Elks since i had to take a phone call while writing this
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