General Overhauling Engineering: A Family's Request for a Streamlined Upgrade System

[varonica]

There is a correct answer and that is: Drop the addiction-inducing gameplay and make a decent game instead of a busywork generator for reward junkies.

No there isn't, because whatever answer you give will be to much for some people! There is no addiction inducing game play as far as I can tell here anyway.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

No there isn't, because whatever answer you give will be to much for some people! There is no addiction inducing game play as far as I can tell here anyway.

Surely there is noone compelled then to "complete" their T5 engineering.

 

[V'larr]

Though lightweighting them can help with jump range.

Aye, though that leaves you less equipped to deal with planetary approaches safely, or escaping any threats as need arises.

 

[varonica]

Surely there is noone compelled then to "complete" their T5 engineering.

Nope, they aren't compelled nor is it addictive because once you have completed it, you just stop. Addiction implies a effort/reward pattern that continuously re-enforces the behaviour, but if once you have completed all your T5 engineering and have nothing left to engineer and therefore no longer do engineering, then that's not addiction, because you have stopped, right? If it was addictive then you would continue to do engineering even when you had nothing left to engineer. Really all my T5 engineering isn't complete, but in fact I have some pre-engineered equipment, that....gasp, I never needed to engineer at all, they provided those in part I suspect due to complaints about engineering, to give players a second path to engineered equipment.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Nope, they aren't compelled nor is it addictive because once you have completed it, you just stop. Addiction implies a effort/reward pattern that continuously re-enforces the behaviour, but if once you have completed all your T5 engineering and have nothing left to engineer and therefore no longer do engineering, then that's not addiction, because you have stopped, right? If it was addictive then you would continue to do engineering even when you had nothing left to engineer. Really all my T5 engineering isn't complete, but in fact I have some pre-engineered equipment, that....gasp, I never needed to engineer at all, they provided those in part I suspect due to complaints about engineering, to give players a second path to engineered equipment.

When you've finished ship engineers you continue with Odyssey. Once you're finished with that you're primed to be a loot junkie in the next game. Maybe it will be an EA game, then.
The fact that the loot chase isn't monetised doesn't make the design less predatory. Just like deflecting the burden to be the players fault - I'm sure a smoker can also stop anytime. At least that's what the tobacco companies say.

 

[aRJay]

When you've finished ship engineers you continue with Odyssey. Once you're finished with that you're primed to be a loot junkie in the next game. Maybe it will be an EA game, then.
The fact that the loot chase isn't monetised doesn't make the design less predatory. Just like deflecting the burden to be the players fault - I'm sure a smoker can also stop anytime. At least that's what the tobacco companies say.

You miss the point I think.

Someone addicted to engineering would just dispose of fully engineered modules so that they can engineer identical replacements, to dispose of etc.

 

[Disemboweled Ego]

If it was addictive then you would continue to do engineering even when you had nothing left to engineer.

We should be grateful to frontier for making engineering so deliberately bad so we don't get addicted.

Except it started out as a slot machine thing and parts of that still remain within the presentation and mechanics and the upfront negatives on each grade motivate you to finish them once started.

Just making a number go up is compelling sometimes as incremental/idle games prove.

I deem it's not addictive in a predatory way, but bringing it up comes off as accusing players of playing the game because they feel compelled to even though they think the game is bad and that misrepresents the whole problem in a weird way while denying some room for improvement.

Someone addicted to engineering would just dispose of fully engineered modules so that they can engineer identical replacements, to dispose of etc.

I think it would manifest more as rolling alts and going through the process all over again and that's not common for its own sake as long as purely engineering progression is involved.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

You miss the point I think.

Someone addicted to engineering would just dispose of fully engineered modules so that they can engineer identical replacements, to dispose of etc.

Why would they do that when they still have to complete their collection. Dont underestimate the power of empty slots, trophy cases, achievement to unlock. There is a lot of people that dance as slave to the rhythm than simply being encouraged and enjoy a game.

 

[aRJay]

Why would they do that when they still have to complete their collection. Dont underestimate the power of empty slots, trophy cases, achievement to unlock. There is a lot of people that dance as slave to the rhythm than simply being encouraged and enjoy a game.

But those people are addicted to completing stuff, we were talking people addicted to engineering as a process.

 

[Northpin]

And there are Cmdrs who will always try to paint anyone making suggestions for changes as irrational, toxic trolls.

Designing, outfitting and engineering ships in ED is one of my favorite activities, along with flying the said ships.
And if they actually manage to actually fulfil the designed role, it gets even better

Hence me disagreeing with some of (most of?) proposed changes that seem to aim to "cheapen" my gameplay - especially since most of the changes seem to come from people that no longer enjoy the game / no longer play and there is no guarantee that, after the game is changed, they will enjoy the game for another 2 months before quitting again.

Not to mention that, at least in this very thread, the ones making suggestions start to accuse the ones disagreeing with them as being toxic - themselves actually getting toxic in the process

Telling someone that's voicing an earnest complaint they feel with the game that they're having a "skill issue in understanding and ability" is outright hostile and toxic behavior.

Well... nope, it's not.

 

[Disemboweled Ego]

Hence me disagreeing with some of (most of?) proposed changes that seem to aim to "cheapen" my gameplay - especially since most of the changes seem to come from people that no longer enjoy the game / no longer play and there is no guarantee that, after the game is changed, they will enjoy the game for another 2 months before quitting again.

So it's about who makes the suggestions rather than what the suggestions actually entail?

 

[aRJay]

So it's about who makes the suggestions rather than what the suggestions actually entail?

It’s probably about
Who
What
When
Where
Why

In the forums things are never simple.

 

[Northpin]

So it's about who makes the suggestions rather than what the suggestions actually entail?

no, it's about the changes - not the people
people come and go, the changes they manage to slip in remain to hunt us... see the broken-by-being-heat-immune-Dolphin.

 

[Jack Winter]

What's left is literally everything else in the game that doesn't involve blandly sitting in supercruise doing nothing, repeating garbage collection duties, or doing things to prepare your ship to do the things you want to do.

If you can't recognize what else there is to do in the game, then I think you've got a tinge of space madness or are otherwise lost. There is a whole lot of game to engage with in Elite that has nothing to do with any of those things - not that a new player would know, with these issues staring them in the face, as happened with the OP of this thread.

You did notice the smiley, right?