Newcomer / Intro My problems as a beginner with ED.

[trigun539]

I really want to like ED, and I have spent good amount of time on it. But I don't have hours and hours and hours to spend doing nothing. As I see it, there is very little value whatsoever to long travel. Once you go from once system to another is the same thing again and again and again... extremely boring (There should be a option to automate this, or skip the trip). Also, you should be able to switch ships on the fly at a station (Why way for a ship to transfer from where it was previously stored... Just making players waste time for no reason).

There is way too much repetition...

As a beginner you are extremely screwed, no way to make any money to do fun stuff. Every decent money making tactic has been nerfed... I have no idea why would they nerf this ways of making money, it is just a way to make the game less fun and have players just spend time doing tedious boring missions. Instead of saying, well if money was easy everybody would have an Anaconda (This is a short-sighted vision). There should be a ton more ships that each have their unique strengths.

The game should be very generous with money, doing a 20 min mission for like 100K is just outright frustrating. It is totally the opposite, donation missions (only ok, if you have nice ship and can get money easy), paying for your ship when it gets destroyed, and very low paying missions.

Just some of my thoughts as a beginner with the game and as somebody that doesn't have hundreds of hours to play a game...

 

[Chris Simon]

Some thoughts on this

1) Yes, repetition is a big part of the gameplay. Just like in any other game. The big thing in Elite is - you, yourself, choose what you want to do and how you get there. All grind is on you.

2) What exactly is that "fun stuff" you need big money for? I have billions, yet when I want to have fun, I still use my Eagle or Courier for that.

3) The game is VERY generous with money. The fact that you can earn enough money to buy a T6 in one single mission is the bane of Elite. Or earning enough for a new Cobra by killing one pirate. The only thing you need to do for that is to stay in one system and gain some repoutation, which is a matter of an hour. People complained so much about not being able to earn money that money earning has been made so easy that credits lost meaning. And it made all small ships obsolete after an hour of gameplay, which is a real shame. I remember times when I was earning 100k a week (!) You people have no idea how lucky you are, now.

It really all boils down to choosing goals that are in line with time you are willing to spend on the game. If you want an Anaconda in a week, but only have three hours to play, then you're going to get frustrated. If you, however just want to have fun piloting a ship, just take whichever one you have for a spin and have a good time. It's that easy. There is nothing that a big ship does that small ship couldn't. That's the whole trick. There are no newbie ships and endgame ships. Just ships. Every one of them good at something. And there is more to life than earning money. That is true in the real one, and doubly so in the game. Focusing on money instead of life itself cause frustration, depressions and leads to altogether crap experience.

 

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Chris, as much as I agree it takes a moment for newcomers to find their feet and discover the rapid money making methods. Also at the start you can not help but to be cash focussed, I remember trying to ensure I could afford the fuel to do the next mission! OK money earning is MUCH faster now but still the focus will still be on cash for the first few hours of game play for most people.
.
I relax once I have about 10 times my ship rebuy cost in the bank, at that point cash doesn't matter that much and it is a strong motivation not to buy the next big ship. Part of the reason I rarely fly my Cutter...

 

[Para Handy]

.............. (There should be a option to automate this, or skip the trip). Also, you should be able to switch ships on the fly at a station (Why way for a ship to transfer from where it was previously stored... Just making players waste time for no reason).

.................

You are definitely in need of a different game and not one which simulates life as a freelance space-ship pilot in the galaxy of the future.

 

[Chris Simon]

Chris, as much as I agree it takes a moment for newcomers to find their feet and discover the rapid money making methods. Also at the start you can not help but to be cash focussed, I remember trying to ensure I could afford the fuel to do the next mission! OK money earning is MUCH faster now but still the focus will still be on cash for the first few hours of game play for most people.
.
I relax once I have about 10 times my ship rebuy cost in the bank, at that point cash doesn't matter that much and it is a strong motivation not to buy the next big ship. Part of the reason I rarely fly my Cutter...

Yeah, I probably sounded too harsh.

 

[trigun539]

Yeah, it's probably not the right game for me. Just don't have much time to put into it. Too much stuff going on, it's a shame because it is/could be a really cool game. To me it seems like it should be way more fun. Like, why would anyone even need to grind at all? You need 500K to get a nice FSD, then do a harder mission with *any ship or easily attainable ship*. But the only option you have is to either, do same 2/3k missions for weeks or grind at some higher paying mission. Same goes for a better ship, need 100mil, grind it somehow and even when you get it you need to have like 5x ship cost to upgrade it. [noob][knocked out]

Stuff like travel, it would be a great usability feature for players to fast travel to a place (If they get interdicted, maybe they get pulled out of fast travel). If you know you are just going to a place far away, why make players go through the motions of doing the same thing over, and over again (having an option is the key here, if people just want to go from galaxy to galaxy, let them do it, that would be for users that want to experience that. If this were a racing game, it'd be like hey, drive for 2hrs to get to the race and then get stuck there or spend another 2hrs driving to another place.

Stuff like fights, got a Viper MKIII with just about the best I could buy. I am probably not very good** (trying really hard), but it took like two hits from some other ship to destroy me. First hit, shields off. Second hit, dead. How is this fair to new players? They just have to avoid "conflict zones" and any other fights because they can't do them.

Using stored ships, I just need to change to my other ship. Well, you gotta wait 1hr for it to get there! (too bad if you don't have an hour to spare) Why would anyone want to wait to use their other ship? It's a simple usability thing that would make the game more fun.

Well, just some thoughts as a newbie.

 

[Ashnak]

..You need 500K to get a nice FSD,

That made me smile. A "nice FSD" for my current ship is at 50 M.

then do a harder mission with *any ship or easily attainable ship*. But the only option you have is to either, do same 2/3k missions for weeks

Which missions pay just 2 to 3 k? Even the basic, infinitely stackable report deliveries usually yield at least 10k.

or grind at some higher paying mission. Same goes for a better ship, need 100mil, grind it somehow and even when you get it you need to have like 5x ship cost to upgrade it. [noob][knocked out]

The grind is in your mind. Find something you like doing. If you don't like it, find something else. If you can't find anything, you won't find it either with more money or a "better" ship.

Stuff like travel, it would be a great usability feature for players to fast travel to a place (If they get interdicted, maybe they get pulled out of fast travel). If you know you are just going to a place far away, why make players go through the motions of doing the same thing over, and over again (having an option is the key here, if people just want to go from galaxy to galaxy, let them do it, that would be for users that want to experience that. If this were a racing game, it'd be like hey, drive for 2hrs to get to the race and then get stuck there or spend another 2hrs driving to another place.

Why are you going to a far away place then? ED isn't a racing game - it's more of a race organizer's game.

Stuff like fights, got a Viper MKIII with just about the best I could buy. I am probably not very good** (trying really hard), but it took like two hits from some other ship to destroy me. First hit, shields off. Second hit, dead. How is this fair to new players? They just have to avoid "conflict zones" and any other fights because they can't do them.

Exactly. Conflict zones are for experienced players. Which is why there also are interdictions, various signal sources and resource extraction sites. You don't have to avoid all fights, just those where you are definitely outclassed. If you want fights, you can find them at all levels. Or, to put it differently, if you bring a knife to a gunfight, you'd better be really good with it.

Using stored ships, I just need to change to my other ship. Well, you gotta wait 1hr for it to get there! (too bad if you don't have an hour to spare) Why would anyone want to wait to use their other ship? It's a simple usability thing that would make the game more fun.

That was an issue that was discussed by the time it was introduced to the game, and put to a vote. The majority of players voted for the delay, because immersion, and FD followed that vote. Just do some local missions with the ship you took to get there while your other ship is on the way. In any case, 1 hour waits are rare. Inside the bubble, it's usually more like 30 minutes, to Colonia it's a bit longer than that.

 

[firemane]

Perhaps you are too obsessed with progression. That's not uncommon, but it is perhaps the wrong way to approach a game of this type.

Once you have a Cobra MKIII, the game is pretty much open to you. You can stop grinding at that time and start having fun with the game. Just do what you want, and the money will follow.

I'd suggest you go around, and get involved in the storyline. Visit the alien ruins, bases, crashed ships, barnacles, asteroid bases, and all the other anomalies in the game. Investigate the megaships, and other mysteries. Join a player group and get involved in faction building. There is plenty of stuff to do that doesn't require you to just go back and forth.

ED is certainly not a game that will direct you. It is a sandbox that helps you make your own story.

 

[D.G.Cerberus]

Chris, as much as I agree it takes a moment for newcomers to find their feet and discover the rapid money making methods. Also at the start you can not help but to be cash focussed, I remember trying to ensure I could afford the fuel to do the next mission! OK money earning is MUCH faster now but still the focus will still be on cash for the first few hours of game play for most people.
.
I relax once I have about 10 times my ship rebuy cost in the bank, at that point cash doesn't matter that much and it is a strong motivation not to buy the next big ship. Part of the reason I rarely fly my Cutter...

True - I remember being wholly cash focused initially, striving solely for that Cobra! Took weeks back then, along with a veritable forest of Spreadsheets I maintained with commodity prices and trade routes! (Much in fact like I did back in 1984!).

Kinda miss that tbh

 

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Yeah, it's probably not the right game for me. Just don't have much time to put into it. Too much stuff going on, it's a shame because it is/could be a really cool game. To me it seems like it should be way more fun. Like, why would anyone even need to grind at all? You need 500K to get a nice FSD, then do a harder mission with *any ship or easily attainable ship*. But the only option you have is to either, do same 2/3k missions for weeks or grind at some higher paying mission. Same goes for a better ship, need 100mil, grind it somehow and even when you get it you need to have like 5x ship cost to upgrade it. [noob][knocked out]

Stuff like travel, it would be a great usability feature for players to fast travel to a place (If they get interdicted, maybe they get pulled out of fast travel). If you know you are just going to a place far away, why make players go through the motions of doing the same thing over, and over again (having an option is the key here, if people just want to go from galaxy to galaxy, let them do it, that would be for users that want to experience that. If this were a racing game, it'd be like hey, drive for 2hrs to get to the race and then get stuck there or spend another 2hrs driving to another place.

Stuff like fights, got a Viper MKIII with just about the best I could buy. I am probably not very good** (trying really hard), but it took like two hits from some other ship to destroy me. First hit, shields off. Second hit, dead. How is this fair to new players? They just have to avoid "conflict zones" and any other fights because they can't do them.

Using stored ships, I just need to change to my other ship. Well, you gotta wait 1hr for it to get there! (too bad if you don't have an hour to spare) Why would anyone want to wait to use their other ship? It's a simple usability thing that would make the game more fun.

Well, just some thoughts as a newbie.

FYI, the learning curve is near vertical in ED, don't despair if you are struggling at the moment.
.
I also have limited play time (2 small children take most of my time) but this is not a barrier to playing ED. You do not need to invest huge hours to enjoy the game, once you get over the learning cliff at the start it gets easier. Hint, the higher your reputation with a faction the better the missions they give you so doing some missions in one place to raise local faction reputation will result in them giving you higher paying missions.

 

[NW3]

I really want to like ED, and I have spent good amount of time on it. But I don't have hours and hours and hours to spend doing nothing. As I see it, there is very little value whatsoever to long travel. Once you go from once system to another is the same thing again and again and again... extremely boring (There should be a option to automate this, or skip the trip).

I understand, but many players like the slow travel times. (Really.)

Also, you should be able to switch ships on the fly at a station (Why way for a ship to transfer from where it was previously stored... Just making players waste time for no reason).

There was a vote on this and the players wanted slower, cheaper transfer. Instant transfer was considered, but only at a MUCH higher cost.

There is way too much repetition...

True. If you don't like repetition, you're probably not going to enjoy this game very much.

As a beginner you are extremely screwed, no way to make any money to do fun stuff. Every decent money making tactic has been nerfed... I have no idea why would they nerf this ways of making money, it is just a way to make the game less fun and have players just spend time doing tedious boring missions. Instead of saying, well if money was easy everybody would have an Anaconda (This is a short-sighted vision).

Actually, earning money has been buffed many times (although "exploits" have been fixed). When I first started playing, money was much harder to earn.

There should be a ton more ships that each have their unique strengths.

Agreed.

The game should be very generous with money, doing a 20 min mission for like 100K is just outright frustrating.

When I first started playing, I was happy to earn 10K in an hour.

Just some of my thoughts as a beginner with the game and as somebody that doesn't have hundreds of hours to play a game...

ED isn't really a "game". There's no winning or losing. There are no goals, except those you set for yourself. Consider ED to be a "toy to play with" or a way to "pass the time". It's less frustrating that way.

 

[lokvette]

The thing with ED and I have over 1200 or so hours might even be 1400, is there is no rush to get anywhere as there is no where to go bar the goals you set for your self. Im no billionare and I dont have a massive fleet not been to Sag A or Beagle point, never done PVP, never seen let alone shot a Thargoid. Still have only a few engineers unlocked, only Elite in one of the three, Duke in the empire but I dont own a Cutter, Fed rank is way way down the line I think you can see where Im going with this, snd I do have a lot of time to play (when I play that is).

The thing to do if money is your concern is to get the rep up with the local factions in your system of choice, it might be worth looking for one that has a few factions thus making your mission list slowly get more and more jobs on it. Better rank = better pay last time I was doing passenger misions, with just one first class cabin I was pulling in up to 20 mill for a quick runaround. (not sure if they have changed its been a while since I did one)

Also get a T6, log into solo and run Imperial slaves, not slaves per say as they are more trouble than they are worth, but Imp ones are legal all over Empire space and you can make a nice buck running them for a while, its only a game no pixals where harmed in the moving of said Imperial slaves from A to B.

I remember playing the orignal game and spending hours running meat to Earth and Tec back to Bernards star, the new game is hard to get going in if you haven't played its like before, as said played the orginals and all of the X games, Freelancer, Privater, etc..so the game wasnt such a OMG. But yeah if you have time limets then sure its going to take a bit longer for you to get to where maybe you want to be, but as said find a system with a few factions the odd Res site, for bounty hunting and make sure within a jump range that wont eat all of your time have a little trade network set up. the links below might help so even if you only have an hour to play you can jump in blow stuff up or run some cargo both making you some cash and the feeling of "yeah I did somthing with my gaming time" rather than spending it all in SC.

https://eddb.io/trade/single

http://etn.io/

https://inara.cz/galaxy

(sorry for any spelling mistakes no spell checker on my Swedish chrome book for an english google..)

 

[Seizewell Warrior]

Re the OP, I alluded to this in the most recent Steam thread. If you never played the original Frontier Elite 2 then, from the publicity, you're probably expecting a variation on one of the X games which took the new player by the hand and offered a variety of single player objectives (albeit still with a steep learning curve). However Frontier was pretty much the same as ED - started out in a small basic ship and by way of trading, fighting and exploration gradually progressed until you became a competent warrior with a potent ship at your command.

Even though I've been playing for a week and thoroughly enjoying doing so in a style that emulates the old Frontier, the wider aspects of the game are a bit foreboding, particularly if you're not a fan of multiplayer or co-operative, PvP etc. It's a bit like arriving late at a party where everyone else is already half slammed and formed up in their social groups and you're the sober outsider. Perhaps FDev *do* need to revisit the possibility of a better single player/off-line mode if, as seems the intention, they want to attract former or current X, Freelancer etc. players into the fold. At the least a campaign or mission series that can be done within Solo Play against bots but would still interact with over-arching dynamic progress of the whole. Or perhaps a sim within the sim?

 

[Imo]

If you are familar with the movement of your ship and supercruise navigation just meet a friend in a nice combat ship and do bounty hunting with him. You should get between two and four million credits within 15 or 20 minutes this way!

 

[Deleted member 115407]

I really want to like ED, and I have spent good amount of time on it. But I don't have hours and hours and hours to spend doing nothing. As I see it, there is very little value whatsoever to long travel. Once you go from once system to another is the same thing again and again and again... extremely boring (There should be a option to automate this, or skip the trip). Also, you should be able to switch ships on the fly at a station (Why way for a ship to transfer from where it was previously stored... Just making players waste time for no reason).

There is way too much repetition...

As a beginner you are extremely screwed, no way to make any money to do fun stuff. Every decent money making tactic has been nerfed... I have no idea why would they nerf this ways of making money, it is just a way to make the game less fun and have players just spend time doing tedious boring missions. Instead of saying, well if money was easy everybody would have an Anaconda (This is a short-sighted vision). There should be a ton more ships that each have their unique strengths.

The game should be very generous with money, doing a 20 min mission for like 100K is just outright frustrating. It is totally the opposite, donation missions (only ok, if you have nice ship and can get money easy), paying for your ship when it gets destroyed, and very low paying missions.

Just some of my thoughts as a beginner with the game and as somebody that doesn't have hundreds of hours to play a game...

You just need some coaching, OP. My friend started in a sidey just like everyone else. We coached him, no exploits, and he was in both n a Cobra and a T-6 in no time, an AspX in a couple of weeks, and now he's six months in with a Python and at least a couple hundred million under his belt. Like I said, no exploits. He just played the game.

 

[Winterwalker]

Stuff like fights, got a Viper MKIII with just about the best I could buy. I am probably not very good** (trying really hard), but it took like two hits from some other ship to destroy me. First hit, shields off. Second hit, dead. How is this fair to new players? They just have to avoid "conflict zones" and any other fights because they can't do them.

You can do them, you just can't sit there for hours, taking on all comers in your small ship. I have quite a few hours in game (which happens because I've been in the game three years, not because I have lots of time to play each week) and don't go into CZ's in anything other than Imperial Eagle mostly because the pull out game is as much fun - imo - as blowing up ships. If I get someone firing on me - from my six o'clock - I have to get out of there, yes and I might not make masses of credits but boy, is it fun.

ED is not an especially easy game, not easy to survive and definitely not easy to make big money early on. I guess if you can't stand the heat but also suggest if you're in a Viper already OP, you've already been successful. Remember too, a well equipped small ship is better than a larger ship with stock standard modules. It's really worth taking time to outfit your ships, you don't lose the money (sell the modules when you sell your ship) to get the best out of each ship. Take your time with the game too, a couple of hours here and there, adds up soon enough. Hope you stick around and good luck.

 

[Hell Razor5543]

I would make the suggest that, as soon as you have the finances to do this, put together a small fleet with each ship geared for different purposes. Then, when an activity starts to get boring, hop into another ship and do something different. When Trading starts to get boring I go off exploring. When that no longer attracts me I head back in, switch to another vessel, and make use of that for a while. You can always change the loadouts of a ship, but I find building task dedicated vessels helps make switching much easier.

 

[MickyG1982]

Given that you can get from a sidey to a hauler, eagle, or adder in as little as one jump (average 2), its only another couple of jumps to the Cobra/Viper & then maybe an hour after that into a D rated Type 6 or Dolphin (or even less for a DBS) all whilst keeping your old ships (I highly recommend doing that) it's not really all that difficult to make money.

 

[StiTch]

There is way too much repetition...

Quite.

As a beginner you are extremely screwed, no way to make any money to do fun stuff. Every decent money making tactic has been nerfed...

Because a stackable 200k+ a pop to deliver data isn't "a way to make money".

Credits are falling out of every crevice in this game, with the exception of crime based activities. If you don't know them sure, but ask for help - don't assume they don't exist.

I can assure you every Nigel and his dog does have an anaconda, and the speed players are able to acquire one at is the source of many disappointed players. No, the game doesn't become magical fireworks because you own one of the big three.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

Yeah, it's probably not the right game for me. Just don't have much time to put into it. Too much stuff going on, it's a shame because it is/could be a really cool game. To me it seems like it should be way more fun. Like, why would anyone even need to grind at all? You need 500K to get a nice FSD, then do a harder mission with *any ship or easily attainable ship*. But the only option you have is to either, do same 2/3k missions for weeks or grind at some higher paying mission. Same goes for a better ship, need 100mil, grind it somehow and even when you get it you need to have like 5x ship cost to upgrade it. [noob][knocked out]

Not true at all. Once you have the swing of things, you can be in a capable small ship in no time. The idea that you have to jump right from a sidewinder into a 100M credit ship is just ridiculous.

Stuff like travel, it would be a great usability feature for players to fast travel to a place (If they get interdicted, maybe they get pulled out of fast travel). If you know you are just going to a place far away, why make players go through the motions of doing the same thing over, and over again (having an option is the key here, if people just want to go from galaxy to galaxy, let them do it, that would be for users that want to experience that. If this were a racing game, it'd be like hey, drive for 2hrs to get to the race and then get stuck there or spend another 2hrs driving to another place.

Sorry, OP, I don't think you understand the game mechanics well enough to make an honest judgement on this one. The travel mechanics were designed the way they were for a reason. The trick is to learn how far you are willing to travel, and stick to those trips. Most stations in the game are within 2k Ls of the main star.

Stuff like fights, got a Viper MKIII with just about the best I could buy. I am probably not very good** (trying really hard), but it took like two hits from some other ship to destroy me. First hit, shields off. Second hit, dead. How is this fair to new players? They just have to avoid "conflict zones" and any other fights because they can't do them.

The last place you want to be, as a beginner, is in a CZ in an unmodded Viper III. Better to go do some bounty hunting in a Low-High RES and just assist the cops. Viper III is an incredibly capable ship once you learn how to fly and fight it... modded properly it's nigh invulnerable in PvE.

Using stored ships, I just need to change to my other ship. Well, you gotta wait 1hr for it to get there! (too bad if you don't have an hour to spare) Why would anyone want to wait to use their other ship? It's a simple usability thing that would make the game more fun.

How far are you travelling? 300 Ly? Yeah, delayed ship transfer is controversial, but it is what it is. You just have to find other things to do (in or out of game) while you wait for it to complete. Farming mats is always something to do while you wait, or you can run missions, or do whatever.

Well, just some thoughts as a newbie.

And there is nothing wrong with your observations, but I think you'll find this game is one where your early observations get blown away the more you learn about the mechanics.

Quite.



Because a stackable 200k+ a pop to deliver data isn't "a way to make money".

Credits are falling out of every crevice in this game, with the exception of crime based activities. If you don't know them sure, but ask for help - don't assume they don't exist.

I can assure you every Nigel and his dog does have an anaconda, and the speed players are able to acquire one at is the source of many disappointed players. No, the game doesn't become magical fireworks because you own one of the big three.

I don't even own one of the Big Three. My biggest combat ship is a FAS.