New player here - am I missing something?

[cmdrGVO]

Hello all,

I decided to give ED VR a go. I looks amazing in VR and runs very smooth.
I've played 25-30 hours but something seems to be missing. I find myself just going from spacestation to spacestation doing missions but without any idea of where and who I am doing it for and everything looks the same.

I know it might seem a bit strange but I feel like I am missing something in this game. When I think back on other games I played, like X Rebirth, despite it's many flaws I still felt "like I was in the game" if that makes any sense. I had an idea of the different systems, different empires, what to expect etc. Some were very populated, some not so much. In ED everything (so far) seems like a copy of the other.

It's difficult to explain but it seems like going from one sets of pixels to the next.
I have a feeling, I will be doing the exact same thing, seeing the exact same systems 100+ hours down the road just with more money and bigger/better ships.
I definitely don't mind the steep learning curve or the grind, but tbh the game seems very boring and repetitive.

Is it something I am missing or are just in the wrong place in the galaxy?

Have a nice evening.

 

[Krieger]

You have to set your own goal(s). In this game there is no single overarching story line.

A few options: getting that big beautiful ship, getting really good at combat (PvE and/or PvP), helping to solve the mysteries around Thargoids or Guardians. joining a player group to expand a faction, pledging to a Power to win territory on another Power, exploring the outer rim of the galaxy, etc, etc.

After playing for a while you'll probably find something.

o7

 

[Askorti]

This game is as sandboxy as sandboxes get. There's no goals set by the game, you have to set them for yourself. You want to become a trader? Your call. A mercenary? Your call. An explorer? Once again, your call.
But it is true, that after some time it does start feeling pretty "samey". There's not that much diversity and whether youre in the Federal or Imperial space, you don't get to feel much difference.

 

[777Driver]

I spent 10 years with the X-series, the goal is not so much about skill progression, more about building the ultimate megacorp and expanding across systems.

ED is about skill progression (Although I would advise not taking much notice of the Elite ranks unless you want founders world and certain engineer access) 25 hours is nothing in this game, there is a massive amount to learn, how the BGS works, optimal ship outfitting, combat tactics, finding trades routes, 3 years in and I am still mastering flying the ships learning new stuff.

Forget about being some kind of hero owning a megacorp, you set your own goals and deal with the learning curve, you can't rush skill progression, a lot of it is about building up experience and learning from past mistakes.

 

[Hell Razor5543]

There are no goals, and there is no end game. The Galaxy does not care what you do. It is up to YOU to decide what you want the Game to be.

Saying that, there are waypoints along your journey through the Game. If you set specific targets it can be an anti-climax when you achieve them. When the Game first started one of the common targets was to get an Anaconda. When some people did this they felt they had nothing more to do. Don't set targets; set waypoints. I have an Anaconda (fully A Rated), and she has helped me to proceed further through the Game. I am Elite in Trading, and working towards Elite in Combat and Exploring, but again, these are just waypoints. When one activity in the Game bores me I will switch to something else.

Whatever you decide to do within the Game, my Rule 2 is; Have Fun (it is just a Game, but WHAT a GAME!). Rule 2a is; In VR have LOTS more fun!!!

 

[jonluv]

Do what you want—-Mine—Trade—Explore—Skimmer missions—Scannning missions- Engineera a special ship( for your needs)
Join a Faction and get a “Reward”—- Hunt ruins( Thargoid or Guardian ——Gain rank —- Kill others—Etc
Perhaps there is too much to do and that is confusing you

 

[Arkadi]

I can understand OP very much. I had the same impression at start and I still think it's true to some extent, that there is not much variety in display of different locations and factions, some flavor so to speak...

But the more one plays the more comes to one eyes. If you keep doing the same things all over again, there will not be much difference, if you are bountyhunting in the Federation or the Empire ... it will be looking the same.

But if you start to vary your playstyle and try mining for a change... or you chose a faction and try to get this faction stronger by doing missions exlucivley for them... or trying to get an exploration ship and visiting some of the remoter regions of space and see some nebulas and alien sites...

This is just some things. You could also decide to go the pirates way and make a living from stealing cargo.

So the point being, although many places look and feel quite "the same" - there is lot's of different things to do. And flying a spaceship does not get old quickly. You could well consider to join a playergroup and do some PvP, or get invested in powerplay or racing or CG's.

just make me stop to list all the different things you could try to do... : )

 

[PiLhEaD]

The key to enjoying and understanding Elite is the recognition that it is a toy box, not a game.

Come to terms with this, and you'll get along just fine.

Welcome aboard Cmdr o7

 

[Urbanski101]

Welcome to ED.

Your observations are correct. The minor factions are all cookie cutter RNG and there is no info on what any of them are doing or why. Apparently it's designed like this on purpose, we're supposed to work it out for ourselves or 'just use our imagination'. If you want a one liner to cover the whole thing - minor factions are all struggling for dominion over each other and the systems they occupy.

In 100+ hours you will be doing exactly the same thing as you correctly surmised, just in in bigger, better ship....same in 1000+ hours.

To be fair missions are only part of the game, there is trading, mining, bounty hunting (sort of), exploration, engineering, Power play (chuckle) and doing tourist stuff with guardians / thargoids etc.

If you really want more out of the missions you could read up on how the BGS works...there is a section in these forums with lots of threads explaining the whole thing...tbh I found it turgid beyond measure and couldn't be bothered with it.

Good luck.

 

[CMDR Sheriston]

When I think back on other games I played, like X Rebirth, despite it's many flaws I still felt "like I was in the game" if that makes any sense. I had an idea of the different systems, different empires, what to expect etc. Some were very populated, some not so much. In ED everything (so far) seems like a copy of the other.

I remember the first time I left Teladi space in X-BTF and saw a whole other set of station types that I didn't recognise. It was so alien in the Boron sectors. Magical moment I wasn't expecting, and it blew me away. In Elite: Dangerous, all the systems are human (or Argon if you prefer) so you're right that the systems all look the same. You'll find other structures eventually, if you look on planet surfaces, but you have to look in the right places. Enjoy your time here

 

[ZeroAi]

Hello all,

I decided to give ED VR a go. I looks amazing in VR and runs very smooth.
I've played 25-30 hours but something seems to be missing. I find myself just going from spacestation to spacestation doing missions but without any idea of where and who I am doing it for and everything looks the same.

I know it might seem a bit strange but I feel like I am missing something in this game. When I think back on other games I played, like X Rebirth, despite it's many flaws I still felt "like I was in the game" if that makes any sense. I had an idea of the different systems, different empires, what to expect etc. Some were very populated, some not so much. In ED everything (so far) seems like a copy of the other.

It's difficult to explain but it seems like going from one sets of pixels to the next.
I have a feeling, I will be doing the exact same thing, seeing the exact same systems 100+ hours down the road just with more money and bigger/better ships.
I definitely don't mind the steep learning curve or the grind, but tbh the game seems very boring and repetitive.

Is it something I am missing or are just in the wrong place in the galaxy?

Have a nice evening.

Totally hear you.

I've been asked many times by friends what's the point/goal of the game?

First I tell them there are several milestones in the game that many set as goals to achieve, including
- Elite rank for combat
- Elite rank for trade
- Elite rank for Exploration
- Fed rank of Admiral
- Imperial rank of King

Unfortunately, as you work towards any of these there is no fanfare. The best we get is sometimes a message with a little animated graphic :-(

I also tell friends Elite is an open "space ship driving" world (Galaxy) with many different careers which you can switch between at any time to keep things interesting.

But to your point, if you just hop from system to system doing missions it's kind of like driving cross country - everything city looks pretty much the same from the highway.

If you would like a deeper solo experience, check out how to effect the BGS and read about what's going on in the systems you're in. Maybe even try out powerplay.

And during your journey I'd recommend switching up careers often, as well as trying to buy and fly every ship. Doing so should help ward off the Highway Hypnosis.

 

[Krieger]

To be fair I think you've missed the point the OP is making. He/she didn't complain about it being a sandbox. The complaint was that every station/system etc is pretty much the same. This is true, more or less. The missions do seem inconsequential and it's the same thing over and over again. It's all about credits and material resources. The impact of having a different power or faction isn't noticeable. I'm a big fan of the game but I do think this is a legitimate criticism. I suppose once you engage with the slowly unfolding story arc (thargoid/guardians) there's a bit more to it.

Space legs and atmospheric landings will sort all of this out though. ;P

I didn't miss the point OP is making. Apparently I drew a different conclusion about what causes the complaint than you did. There is no single "right" answer for this type of question. OP will pick from our answers what makes sense to him and ignore the rest.

 

[Lightspeed]

The present game has inherited its past ... in which all stations were the same.

But the game we have now should have more delineation of station designs between super powers. When you approach an Imperial station, the facade should have more than "all hail the Emperor !" .... there's no strong visual difference between Fed, Alliance and Imperial stations except that now the voice from traffic control makes it clear what kind of station you are approaching. So good on FD there !

The problem comes, of course, when one station changes alliance.

 

[Krieger]

Jesus chill out.

???

--edit:
There seems to be a total breakdown of communications between us. I wasn't attacking you. I just tried to add an observation.

 

[Bill Clement]

OP- I hear you, GVO. It's not going to change, that's the way the game was designed. To cram the whole Galaxy into an x-box Frontier had to rely on procedural generation. Everything made using the same toolset tends to end up looking the same.

Having said that, the game responds to your actions. Some people find that very dull- see Urbanski above- but you can manipulate the background simulation by your actions. You can start wars or end famines, build or ruin minor factions, you can control the fate of millions. Just don't expect to see much of a change in your game interface- the stations will look the same, even when there's a war raging. Just like real life, in a lot of ways. There aren't a lot of differences between sea or airports around the world and those that are there are fading by the day. I can't remember the last country I visited where you couldn't buy a Coke and a McDonalds...

 

[cmdrGVO]

Thanks all for some very mature and interesting comments. Cudos to the members on this forum. Not something you see everyday

I had a good few hours playing after the post, doing some bounty hunting. And at some point I definately want to explore. I do love the sandbox part of the game. It's nice for a change that no one is guiding you.

You all gave me some good insight on how to play this game and what to expect. I will try to read up on the different factions and major powers.

Again, thanks for all the informative comments.

 

[Coppermine]

What is real life if not repetitive? Boredom sets in. Even a (real ??) space trader is gonna do the same as what's in this game? He's gonna buy , fly, sell, defend himself, get chased, take on a mission. Go planet sightseeing, go for a drive across a lonely planet. I'm not sure what you want the game to give you.

 

[Laste]

It is a tough one. I've got a billion dollars and three ships, I've never mined, seen a thargoid,or an engineer.
I do have trouble at times setting up for elite as it really isn't a game for quick jaunts around the galaxy.
I have to step back and take a break from time to time when i fell i'm grinding on one thing to much.
But i'm going to go back to the bubble and maybe unlock those engineers as its something new to do.

 

[Chaz]

I know it might seem a bit strange but I feel like I am missing something in this game. When I think back on other games I played, like X Rebirth, despite it's many flaws I still felt "like I was in the game" if that makes any sense. I had an idea of the different systems, different empires, what to expect etc. Some were very populated, some not so much. In ED everything (so far) seems like a copy of the other.

It's difficult to explain but it seems like going from one sets of pixels to the next.
I have a feeling, I will be doing the exact same thing, seeing the exact same systems 100+ hours down the road just with more money and bigger/better ships.
I definitely don't mind the steep learning curve or the grind, but tbh the game seems very boring and repetitive.

Is it something I am missing or are just in the wrong place in the galaxy?

Have a nice evening.

Yes you are mostly correct. You will be doing a lot of the same stuff over and over again.

Your problem with everything looking a bit samey is probably largely due to the way the game's galaxy is created with the stellar forge. They've gone for a mostly realistic creation of our own Milky Way to a 1-1 scale. So it's unlike games such as the X series which usually have small boxy handcrafted systems that are often set in a galaxy far far away. Also games like X use jump gates to travel from system to system, so the next system over very often bears no relation to the one your in, and the artists can make them as fanciful as they like and give different corners of their universe a distinct flavour. In Elite there are no jump gates, and you move around the galaxy by jumping from system to system, which means your sky box will only gradually change as you start to move several hundred light years from your starting system. There are systems in and near nebulas that look more colourful, but you will not find the fanciful kind of backdrops that you do in the X games, as the sky box is based upon our own night sky. Think of the X universe as looking a bit like a good sci-fi painting and the Elite universe as looking more like a NASA photo. There are actually quite a few different types of stations, outposts and surface ports, but yes they do all share a common look and feel. Given that the Imperial ships look so different and stylised from their Federation counterparts, you would have thought their starports and the like would follow suit too. However I guess that even if different styles are planned for the different factions somewhere down the line, it's not going to be way up on Frontier's list of things to do right now, given that what is currently there works. Even if that does happen down the line, the systems themselves will never be jazzed up, although improvements to the planets and the lighting engine are incoming later in the year.

Personally I find the Elite universe absolutely jaw dropping to fly around. There's a lot of fantastic and beautiful sights out there and it doesn't take much to find them. Just the scale of it all is a bit mind blowing sometimes. When you're flying around at several dozen times the speed of light it's easy to lose sense of that. Park up on a moon on the edge of a gas giant ring and sit there looking at it, and it's just awesome. Or land on a planet in close orbit around it's star, get out in your SRV and look up to see it blazing away above you, amazing! I've got well over a 1000 hours in the game and it still makes me go WOW! Can it get tedious and boring at times? Yeah it sure can. But if you need a break from the grind, go out sightseeing, and when you get bored of that, go and shoot some stuff up and so on, and when you get bored of all of that, go play something else for a bit. It's the kind of game where you can put it down for a week or a month and easily come back and pick it up where you left off. I think most people who have been playing from the begining have put it down for a while and had a break from it at some point. It's one of those games you can't really finish or complete, there's no end game, it just goes on. It's like having a second life as a space ship cmdr that I can just pick up and put down as and when I want.

 

[cmdrGVO]

I am actually enjoying the game now. I did do some research about the history of the powers and other interesting facts. That made quite the difference. For this, I can highly recommend this channel

Someone in this post, said that it was just like the real world. Well, in the real world you have family, friends, a country you belong to, a favorite sports team, etc etc.
Here, you just get put in a place you know nothing about. Other games introduce you to the world you are about to enter.

They should have the option to get this kind of information when you start, just like these kind of videos

Anyway, I'm off to get my reputation up with the Alliance and get me some credits