Newcomer / Intro My first hours impressions

Monsoon

Monsoon
Here are my first impressions about the game as a new player...take it with a grain of salt because this comes from a total noobie so there may be obvious stuff I missed but that feedback is not to get ghelp on how to do things it is to tell Frontier what a noob feels like and needs

1) No idea what to do and how to find stuff to do
I know it may be obvious to those of you who have played before but I can t figure out how to get missions or how to start exploring. You should copy EVE starter missions that take you by the hand and train you slowly. I love the sandbox but not knowing what to do and having to come to the forums and ask questions on twitch is annoying. Yes I read the manual

2) No idea how to upgrade a ship and what is needed first. I remember in the first station I was there were upgrades. Now I am lost in space and stations wont allow me to dock and don t know where to go and how to select a station on the galaxy map that will welcome me

3) No idea who is an NPC and who is a player yet
I got attacked by something what asked me to drop my cargo even when I was in a ship with no cargo and taked to the guy for 5 minutes until I realized it was an NPC. Training needs to teach you how to recognize a NPC as it is not obvious or have a certain marker on the target that makes it clear it is an NPC. You could target this marker off later for immersion if you wantt

4) Lost in space with no idea of how to go back to the starter station
Unless I missed it there was no way on the galaxy map to put bookmarks or markers to navigate back to where you started or had been. Maybe I should try destroying the ship

5) Galaxy maps
Long jumps can t be done automatically and need to be done manually and then you need to scoop fuel. Boring, I would like as in EVE to be able to program a destination and fire and forget...unless the point is to stop this so that people can t explore too far too quickly. The manual selecting was annoying every jump unless I missed how to do it. Anyway the game was telling me I had not enough fuel when it was full I guess it was because of something

6) Sometimes distance markers are totally wrong
At one point I was in friendship drive and the distance was showing in KM instead of Light years or something...was weird

7) I d like to be able to pick missions from the left panel
If it is possible I don t know how

8) Station is full
Got to a station but could not dock for 10 minutes because someone was blocking the access port. Very boring. Yes I know it is life like and people can grief you that way but that was bad, there should be a better way to dock to stations. Also it took me almost 9 minutes to dock because the game would not lock me. Sometimes you have to face one direction sometimes another...not obvious

9) Sometimes when there are several things on the radar the my FPS drops to 1 per second in Friendshipdrive (yes I know but that s what it sounds like lol)

10) New player missions
I feel new players should be taken by the hand like in EVE and given very basic missions they HAVE to do because as I mentioned I am lost and can t figure out where to go to pick missions

11) Scooping cargo
I have no idea what I should buy to increase my cargo space or where to go to do that. Not sure if I have to go to a particular station to buy cargo space so I can scoop stuff an I would like to be able to browse potential upgrade on left screen instead of having to dock to a station...maybe I missed that option somewhere

12) Mining
No idea whatsoever how to start mining (no training) where to buy stuff, what to bu, what ship is needed etc. There should be a basic mission like in EVE where you are taught the basics. again apologies if I missed it somewhere

13) Combat
No idea where to go if I want to start fighting NPCs. I jumped somewhere and was immediately killed buy Jack Something in about three shots. No idea who this was, no idea where I was, why the person attacked me (NPC?) and no recap of what happened unless again I missed where that data is located. I would have like to be able to bookmark the name in a black book to pay revenge later on but could not figure out where I got killed and by whom

14) love the ship floating in space and 5 mins of oxygen left before death when too damaged from heat

15) Fuel scooping is not intuitive, there should be a training mission for that

16) I have zero idea on how to make friends inside the game beside randomly messagin someone (which I don t know how to do yet)
A global channel would allow you to talk with people and pick people as friends or ignore. How do you create guilds/corporations/groups if you do not have other friends playing the game?

So these were my first observations after a couple hours. I love the game and will play it religiously but I really really wish you guys looked at the EVE started missions and implemented something like that. The training missions do not completely teach you what buttons to use for what. You get combat and docking landing but no cargo scooping not fuel scooping no find-the-bad-guy no screen to see available missions while in space (again unless I missed it). No global help channel (there should be one or several like in EVE so you can communicate if you want or need help)

The game has massive potentials and these are my first impressions. Again they are not meant to be questions I want answers but more to tell Frontier what a new player feels is missing

Thanks
 

mistohise

mistohise
Sounds like you want to go and play eve.

Most of your questions are answered in the manual or in some of the guides posted on this forum. Some quick bits, though :
Human ships have hollow icons, NPC ships are solid. Triangles are weapons ready ships.
Fuel scoop in super cruise by getting close enough to a sun slowly until the scoop engages, then angle away from the sun so you don't crash out of hyperspace.
 

Monsoon

Monsoon
Again I am not complaining, this is so that Frontier can see what are the first impressions from a noob...those are not complains, they are my own comments. I am not interested in EVE but since I played it I can compare my first impression from it to ED. I prefer ED but I would like to see the equivalent training missions applied instead so that it improves the game in the sense that the ED training missions are on their own. Adding the training missions within the game would be cool
 

Barking_Mad

Barking_Mad
Missions can be found on the bulletin board at each station. They vary but basic 'take x and deliver to y' should be fairly easily found.
 

Indy Original

Indy Original
Monsoon said:
So these were my first observations after a couple hours. I love the game and will play it religiously but I really really wish you guys looked at the EVE started missions and implemented something like that. The training missions do not completely teach you what buttons to use for what. You get combat and docking landing but no cargo scooping not fuel scooping no find-the-bad-guy no screen to see available missions while in space (again unless I missed it). No global help channel (there should be one or several like in EVE so you can communicate if you want or need help)

The game has massive potentials and these are my first impressions. Again they are not meant to be questions I want answers but more to tell Frontier what a new player feels is missing

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi Monsoon! I can't help you with everything, but I can tell you a couple of things:

1) You can pick up missions from the Bulletin Boards, found at stations. Note that some stations may not have a Bulletin Board, and some missions will be unavailable to you anyway (you can't accept a cargo mission unless you have some cargo space, for example).

2) Some stations (the small outposts) only have a few landing pads, so if there are a lot of ships around you may have to wait for a while before you can get docking permission. (I agree, it should tell you WHY it denied you landing permission, but it doesn't yet... maybe it will in a future update.) If a station is too busy, you could try switching to Solo mode and asking for permission to dock... this is only a work-around, but it usually works. Also, you must be close enough to the station to ask for docking permission - I think within 7km. If you are too far away, you will be denied automatically every time (unless you are friendly with the station, apparently!)

3) Players show up as hollow shapes on your scanner, in front of you - NPCs are solid shapes. Most of the ships you encounter will be NPCs, unless you visit a busy system where there has just been a gold rush or a war or something. (Incidentally, lots of people have requested the ability to turn this off, just as you suggest, for immersion reasons - but as of this moment, you can't!)

4) Bookmarks are supposedly coming, but they're not here yet.

5) On the galaxy map, there is a 'Plot Route' option, just to the right of whatever star you have selected - so just pick a star you want to go to, hit 'Plot Route', and your ship's computer will automatically select each star for you from your present location to your chosen destination. You still have to fly all the way manually, but you don't have to select each star in turn - they will be automatically selected for you, each time you drop out of hyperspace. Just make sure you don't overheat on the journey!

6) Distance markers are sometimes measured in light-seconds, and sometimes in 'Mega-metres' - that is, millions of metres. It's a real measurement, but Elite Dangerous is the only time I've ever seen it used anywhere.

8) Yes, each landing pad has a control tower, and you have to be facing it when you land... and yes, the game's tutorials should explain this to you, but they don't. Sorry about that!

For what it's worth, I agree about the new player missions... I think there should be a much more in-depth tutorial for new players to use, which explains everything in the game, step by step, in the form of missions (so that it is immersive as well as informative). Will we get something like this one day? I honestly don't know, but if I could talk to Frontier this would be the first thing I would recommend to them!

11) Some stations have an 'Outfitting' option in station services, and here you can buy new weapons, new modules, and new 'Cargo Racks' for carrying more cargo. However, the starting ship only has room for the cargo rack it comes with, unless you sell your shield generator to make more room - not recommended! Buying a better ship, like a Hauler, in a station with a shipyard is probably your best bet.

12) You can mine in any ship, but you need at least one Mining Laser, and a Refinery, both available from the Outfitting option at some (probably industrial or extraction?) stations. Mining is pretty basic at the moment, and not very profitable even if you know what you are doing... but there is some skill involved, and some people enjoy it. For more information, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZAyvBswZp0

13) Most star systems have a Nav Beacon near the star, where you can find all sorts of ships - both Clean and Wanted. Destroy the Wanted ones to claim the bounties on their heads! Alternatively, some systems have Resource Extraction Sites in the rings of various planets, where you will find Wanted ships preying on the innocent Miners. And finally, if you can find a system that is in a state of war, you can drop into a Combat Zone, pick a faction from the right-hand menu in your cockpit, and then kill things that show up red on your scanner! The third option is risky, but can be very profitable...

(Incidentally, NPCs are not persistent, at least not yet - so unless the guy who killed you was an actual player, there is no point trying to get revenge. If you were hunting an NPC and they escaped, they would still exist, and you could try to chase them down and attack them again - but if they kill you, the game forgets them when you die.)

15) Fuel Scooping is pretty simple - the nearer you get to the star, the more quickly you take on fuel, but the more your ship heats up (and if you heat up too much, you take damage). Staying further from the star is safer, but takes longer. Yes, it would be great if there was a tutorial for this, but never mind.

16) There's a place here on the forums where you can join groups with other players: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=65 However, apart from that, randomly messaging people is the only way I know of. I think the developers wanted to avoid a 'global channel', since it would make no sense in-game, but you can speak on an 'open channel' to every player who is nearby. But I've never done it myself, so I don't know how it works!

I reckon you'll get the hang of things soon enough... it would be good if the tutorials were better, but for now the game is like Minecraft used to be - you just have to watch 'How to survive your first night' videos on youtube, I'm afraid! It's not perfect, but coming to this forum was the right thing to do - and hopefully, the developers will pay attention to what you and others have said, and make things better in the future.

Good luck out there!
 

purf

purf
Hi Monsoon,

the key to Elite is to not see it as a game with rules one needs to be told but as a simulation instead, the rules of which (most of them, at least)
can be understood by common sense and by observing cause and effect. Take Fuel Scooping for instance. You go too low and/or fast, your heat rises.
Simple. Heat makes damage, as indictaed by smoke and sparks. Smoke and sparks can't be good, right? Do you really need a tutorial for this?
Plus, you are VERY likely to make your first Fuel Scooping experience in a Sidewinder, a ship you get for free - just in case you need to make a second
observation.
Personally, I congratulate Frontier for taking Elite's players for adults.
 
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the100thmonkey

the100thmonkey
[video=youtube;xqxny4PLZfs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqxny4PLZfs[/video]
The temperature ranges are a bit different these days, but the basic principle is the same.

I pull out of the scooping and go vertical (relative to the star, at least) at 75% heat - the values were patched to make more sense (in the video, Nutter went to about 130% - don't do that; you'll die. Horribly)

WRT to friends and open channel, you can join a group as recommended (and it is highly recommended that you do) or you can form ad hoc wings with players in the comms menus. Wings are useful when trading, as you can escort each other. Stations will also give you a trade bond that you can cash which will add to your profits at no one's expense in your wing. It's a sweet little inducement to team play. Upgrade your ship in outfitting, buy a new one in the shipyard. The prices seem unobtainable initially, but you'll soon make enough to get out the Sidewinder, and the amount of credits you can make scales fairly well so you'll find you make more as you make more.

Wings are also really useful when flying with clanmates.
 
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Ophion

Ophion
Monsoon, your problem is that you played for couple of hours. It's normal to have so many questions after that little amount of time in the game. Most of us asked ourselves same questions when we where starting to play. I agree that some things need to be explained better for new players but most of the problems in the game you can resolve by yourself using common sense. And that's the beauty of it when you realize how stuff works by thinking about it, solving the problem. I remember how happy I was for figuring out something myself. Sure, sometimes you need help of others and this forum is a great place for that.

So what I'm saying is put a little more time and effort to it (if you're willing). I say that because many of your questions have very simple answers using common sense. For everything else, we'll be glad to help, some already did (they speak better English then me)!
I hope you'll enjoy the game soon!
 
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Anhydrite

A
Im really excited to try this game! Never played the original and am wondering how in the world I missed it way back then.
This has givin me a reason to upgrade my PC. Trying to decide if I want a full Desktop or a laptop.
 

the100thmonkey

the100thmonkey
Anhydrite said:
Im really excited to try this game! Never played the original and am wondering how in the world I missed it way back then.
This has givin me a reason to upgrade my PC. Trying to decide if I want a full Desktop or a laptop.
Click to expand...
I'd say if you're questioning a desktop or laptop, you'll get much better performance for the same price as a laptop from a tower.

The community here will basically build your PC for you if you give them a budget. You'll have to put it together yourself, but you'll get great advice on the parts you need to put together a desktop specifically for this game.

Only go mobile if you need to be, well, mobile.
 
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Monsoon

Monsoon
the100thmonkey said:
I wonder where people who hear it as "friendship drive" come from. I'm British, and never heard it as anything but "frameshift".
Click to expand...

hehe...I just think it sounds funny. Imagine a rainbow behind the ships as they are charging and then as they launch there is space glitter everywhere
seriously I am not english and that s what I heard the first time I saw the game on Youtube
 

Drizzt Do Urden

Drizzt Do Urden
I m Greek and i caught myself a couple of times saying flameshift or friendship drive on voice attack.

So yes i know where u re coming from
 

Galdatron

Galdatron
To the OP, you pretty much summed up my first couple of weeks in the game.

Stick with it, read forums / watch youtube videos and it will eventually start to fall into place.

The good thing is there's not too many ships / modules / setups like say eve online so once you get past the initial learning curve, the rest is much more simplified.
 

ceetee

C
This game has quite a learning curve so don't expect to learn everything you need to know in the first week. I have been playing steady for about 3 days now and have established a simple trade route for making money. Watch Youtube videos, they were a big help to me getting started
 

Myrm

Myrm
the100thmonkey said:
I'd say if you're questioning a desktop or laptop, you'll get much better performance for the same price as a laptop from a tower.

The community here will basically build your PC for you if you give them a budget. You'll have to put it together yourself, but you'll get great advice on the parts you need to put together a desktop specifically for this game.

Only go mobile if you need to be, well, mobile.
Click to expand...

I have a custom built labtop which I play ED on, and it plays it perfectly. :)
 
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