Polishing the Game Experience

DiabolusUrsus

D
I really enjoy Elite: Dangerous as it is, but whenever I play there are always tiny frustrating issues that stand out. If these rough edges were polished off a bit, I believe the overall game experience would improve significantly.

NOTE: It should go without saying that this is entirely subjective opinion; if something I'm asking for would somehow ruin the game experience for you I'd like to hear about it because in all likelihood it simply hasn't occurred to me. I form my opinions based off of my own experiences, and can't really have any insight into anyone else's unless they share it.

  1. Engineers are way too arbitrary.
    • Blueprint pinning should be removed. It's fine to require visiting the Engineer to unlock them and level up their BP access, but once unlocked everything they offer should be accessible through the remote workshop. Engineers like Petra Olmanova and Marsha Hicks existing extremely far from the starting point are fine in terms of getting players to explore... but asking them to make the trip again just to pin something different is a pointless hassle.
      • Experimental effects should also be available remotely.
    • In-game information regarding where to find materials needs some serious expansion. Yes, I can simply pop over to a wiki or other unofficial resource, but that's about as immersion-breaking as you'd expect. For example, as-applicable:
      • Direct search function for raw materials across known systems.
      • Type of USSes where data/materials can spawn.
      • Differentiate material traders by type. The Extraction overlap between Raw/Manufactured can be annoying.
    • Engineer bases should get shipyards to support transferring ships there.

  2. Inventory/ship management is needlessly convoluted and time-consuming.
    • Allow checking station inventory remotely and searching for specific parts/ships across known systems.
    • Trim the overly-long transitioning and hardpoint animations.
    • Either provide group module transfers (space is shared between stations anyway) or just treat the space as properly shared with no transfer needed.
    • I understand the need to support consoles/controllers, but the number of clicks needed to navigate or switching things around could be reduced.
      • Shared hotkeys for swap/store (e.g., nested toggle and next/previous page, which are unneeded for outfitting.)
      • Display modification grade and name on the main module page instead of just an icon.
      • The option to zoom out from hardpoint/utility previews would be helpful.

  3. Similar to the issues with engineering materials, material traders, and outfitting, intuitive in-game equivalents of tools like INARA and EDDB would help a lot with immersion.
    • Limiting searches to known systems is fine.

  4. Please implement native support for joystick curves; I think this is pretty self-explanatory. Are there alternatives? Yes. But potentially minimizing the number of 3rd-party applications involved in playing the game is always appreciated.
With the major stuff out of the way, a few things that occurred to me as potentially beneficial:
  • ARX should be earned at faster initial rates with diminishing returns per activity/action. For example, dying might yield 10 per death for the first 5 deaths (examples only) before decreasing to 5, so on and so forth.
    • The weekly cap is okay, but the diminishing returns should reset every day or so.
    • This would prevent any single grinding strategy from completely dominating acquisition.
    • It would encourage (but not require) players to diversify their gameplay and check out different parts of the game.

  • The option to hire NPC wingmates would be nice.
 

myothershipisacobraiv

myothershipisacobraiv
I really agree on the mats. The game does in fact tell you where to get mats but only once you've discovered them and can mouse over them in the menu. Mat farm should be made a little more clear. What is the Codex for?

As for Arx, I think it already works that way. I noticed my usual trading returned less and less Arx as the days went by, until Wednesday hit and suddenly the game decided to drop the rest of it in my lap. So I think it might be possible Arx payout is already gamed a bit.
 

DiabolusUrsus

D
myothershipisacobraiv said:
I really agree on the mats. The game does in fact tell you where to get mats but only once you've discovered them and can mouse over them in the menu. Mat farm should be made a little more clear. What is the Codex for?

As for Arx, I think it already works that way. I noticed my usual trading returned less and less Arx as the days went by, until Wednesday hit and suddenly the game decided to drop the rest of it in my lap. So I think it might be possible Arx payout is already gamed a bit.
Click to expand...

Thankes for your response!

1. With regards to materials, it's true that the game does provide some information on where to find them. However, that information is fairly vague and rather limited. To give a clearer picture of what I had in mind, let's say I'm looking for Arsenic. I could a) check system by system and planet by planet in the map by looking at the detailed information tab to find where it drops, or b) run a quick google search and find it instantly. I would really rather have that "search" option integrated into the game based on acquired exploration data.

For materials not tied to a specific location, a bit more information would be helpful. For example, rather than "signal sources," something like "High Grade Emissions" or equivalent would be nice.

2. With regards to Arx, it'e good to know that there is some degree of diminishing returns. However, I feel like this needs some further adjustment and weighting. For example, I've heard reports that a PVP kill is worth 1 Arx. Unless that's already at the tail end of diminishing returns, there isn't much diminishing that can be done.

In other words, up-front gains need to be increased and the diminishing returns need to be adjusted to prevent players from simply flocking to whatever activity repeats the fastest with the least effort.

The idea being that, depending on playtime availability, players can find a grind that suits them:

Combat/Trade/Exploration spanning a shorter play session.

For extended play sessions, switch between the three as-desired if Arx is your priority... Or stick to one activity if that's what floats your boat and absolute optimal efficiency is less important.

Having the daily refresh means something like trading can be viable throughout the week while still limiting how much you can grind in a single session.
 
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