Mining missions: a bit of ED gamey cheesiness?

[DukeIronHand]

To keep from getting in a rut I always try new things - right now mining. Been doing it off/on for 5 months so I like to think I know what I am doing.

Anyway the Mission BB at whatever station.
When I am bringing in a load of whatever minerals/ore I always check the mission board first to see if I can turn 5,000 credits of ore into a 200,000 payout. The problem is it never happens. Seems like whatever I have - or how many different kinds - no mission parameters fit.

This came up in another mining thread (as I was not the only one to notice) and a Cmdr said the game, obviously knowing what you are carrying, intentionally skews missions from what you have to what you don't.

At first I thought that was kind of like "tin-foil hat" stuff but after all these months I am starting to wonder.

Does the game do this? Skew missions from what you are quite randomly arriving with?
If so that's awful gamey if true....

 

[CMDR-AD]

Back in 1.4 this certainly worked. I knew a few systems that had frequent missions for specific metals, and I'd go to each and check before selling.

Since 2.1 I cannot recall the last time I found a mission matching my mined cargo, though.

 

[Privata]

To keep from getting in a rut I always try new things - right now mining. Been doing it off/on for 5 months so I like to think I know what I am doing.

Anyway the Mission BB at whatever station.
When I am bringing in a load of whatever minerals/ore I always check the mission board first to see if I can turn 5,000 credits of ore into a 200,000 payout. The problem is it never happens. Seems like whatever I have - or how many different kinds - no mission parameters fit.

This came up in another mining thread (as I was not the only one to notice) and a Cmdr said the game, obviously knowing what you are carrying, intentionally skews missions from what you have to what you don't.

At first I thought that was kind of like "tin-foil hat" stuff but after all these months I am starting to wonder.

Does the game do this? Skew missions from what you are quite randomly arriving with?
If so that's awful gamey if true....

Hope not.

You know , FD said DDF members will get godlike powers lol , normal players have them.

Lets see... what powers do we have?
-SRV death does not kill us
-Magic ship transportation soon
-The power to manipulate space time in order to spawn in ships based around our current ship and loadout as well as rank
-Being the only ones that can change the BGS (why dont NPCs change it?)

And it seems we can add mission manipulation to the list then.


I understand it when the game takes realism shortcuts (instant refuel , instant cargo load)
But bending the rules of reality to degrees that make no sense is scary.

I remeber a time when david braben talked about watching ships get loaded up with cargo in real time...

I hate being negative about elite , but I am unsure of if its the game I backed anymore.
I still play it , I still love it.

But its going down such a gamey direction.

Please , no one say it should be gamey , this is elite we are talking about.
The first game in history that dared not be gamey and created the open world genre and the space trading genre , games like GTA only are here today thanks to elite.
It being gamey is horrible.

Maybe 2.4 is going to be a 10min timer and 3lives system?

 

[The Tick]

I would be very surprised. Before 2.1, it was quite easy to get mining missions for commodities you had already in your cargo hold. But that was when there were only 3 different types of minable-only ores (Painite, Platinum, Osmium). Now we have many more. Plus a lot more mission variability. So pure maths/statistics dictate that the likelihood of getting the right missions should be massively lower.

 

[CMDR-AD]

I would be very surprised. Before 2.1, it was quite easy to get mining missions for commodities you had already in your cargo hold. But that was when there were only 3 different types of minable-only ores (Painite, Platinum, Osmium). Now we have many more. Plus a lot more mission variability. So pure maths/statistics dictate that the likelihood of getting the right missions should be massively lower.

I also notice lately that on the mission board, there are many factions with zero missions on offer. Not certain whether this is by design, but if not, it may also play into things.

 

[Cmdr Zach]

No idea where I saw it now, but I recall a dev comment about this.

It was something like, between docking and the commodities market the station knows what cargo you have. Before you get to sell, your cargo is already factored in for commodity prices and missions available.

If everyone knows you are bringing in several hundred tons of X ore, no one will maintain a desperate advert paying over the odds. This means these missions are always fetch missions. If you plan to mine, spend a while first hoovering up these missions and mine to order,

 

[DukeIronHand]

Well I thought someone would bring that up. Logical...I guess...but a little much.
Thanks though!
Guess if I thought I could screw them up I wouldn't sell - that'll show 'em!

Ultimately, in a sci-fi universe, anything can be explained away I suppose.