Questions from a prospective buyer/player

[Spaceplant Addict]

I am a veteran of games like X3, Freelancer, and EVE (though I gave up on EVE after less than a year). I guess I want to know: SHOULD I get this game? Basically what I'm looking for is EVE but without that awful WoW style snore-fest combat system. Is there even a developing player driven economy yet or is it just all PvP pirating right now? I had fully intended to jump on the star citizen bandwagon but frankly I'm worried that game is biting off more than it can chew, I don't care how much funding you've got that doesn't mean you can successfully actually make a game that ambitious and get it all balanced........and so then I saw this game and thought hey this could be THE ONE.......

It seems at this point, though I would like to play immediately, I don't see any added value in joining the beta this late, in one more month the game will be released so I'm thinking pre-orderisng is the way to go......unless the game is already just THAT good I could be convinced, cause I don't have any other games on my list really (though of course Im sure I'll bit on something during Christmas steam sale, but like who doesn't?)

More and more these days, as I get older and it becomes impossible to maintain face to face friendships as people scatter and other adult realities set in, I enjoy the social aspect of gaming much more. I use teamspeak and Skype a lot for other games I play like Warframe, MechWarrior Online, TERA, so I am hoping to join a corp/unit/clan......does this game have a lot of that already? That aspect of doing what we HAD to do to survive in a wormhole in EVE was the whole reason to play, you really developed a relationship with your corpies in EVE because of that......granted I hated the gameplay mechanics so I quit, but I do miss that.

One last question is: what happens when your ships get blown up? Is there an insurance system or do you just respawn at you last saved space station? I also hated in EVE that loss of hours and hours and hours of your life thing.....I mean yea its just pixels but those pixels took forever to acquire. So does ED also follow the rule of "don't fly what you can't afford to lose"?

 

[_Flin_]

Is there even a developing player driven economy yet or is it just all PvP pirating right now?

Player driven economy... no. There is no crafting system, the commodities are all set in stone. You can haul stuff around and the prices will get influenced by this. But not really a player driven economy.

It seems at this point, though I would like to play immediately, I don't see any added value in joining the beta this late, in one more month the game will be released so I'm thinking pre-orderisng is the way to go......unless the game is already just THAT good I could be convinced, cause I don't have any other games on my list really (though of course Im sure I'll bit on something during Christmas steam sale, but like who doesn't?)

Gamma starts on 22nd November. So no wipe after that. If you buy Beta now, you will be able to start on 22nd. Your choice whether it is worth it.

More and more these days, as I get older and it becomes impossible to maintain face to face friendships as people scatter and other adult realities set in, I enjoy the social aspect of gaming much more. I use teamspeak and Skype a lot for other games I play like Warframe, MechWarrior Online, TERA, so I am hoping to join a corp/unit/clan......does this game have a lot of that already? That aspect of doing what we HAD to do to survive in a wormhole in EVE was the whole reason to play, you really developed a relationship with your corpies in EVE because of that......granted I hated the gameplay mechanics so I quit, but I do miss that.

Social is lacking as of now. Hardly any communication and grouping features. No player groups that can share bounties or missions, or jump together into a system, or interdict a vessel together. No Station chat, no system chat. No clans.

One last question is: what happens when your ships get blown up? Is there an insurance system or do you just respawn at you last saved space station? I also hated in EVE that loss of hours and hours and hours of your life thing.....I mean yea its just pixels but those pixels took forever to acquire. So does ED also follow the rule of "don't fly what you can't afford to lose"?

You have an insurance to pay, which is 10% of your ships value. You spawn at the last station. So yeah, don't fly what you can't afford to insure.

Where ED shines, imho, is the immersion, the scale, the "One pilot, one ship, and a thousands credits" aspect. It is great as a solo game. You can explore, trade, fight. Fighting is quite hard imho, but fun. I like cruising around and discovering new planets. There is Mining. And the scale is immense.

 

[Shadowdancer]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, my advice would be to give things a few days after the proper release and then maybe get it for christmas (though it looks like price will go up a little bit when preorder closes). The state of the beta builds does not warrant buying in or preordering in my book, although I hope to be positively surprised.

 

[Spaceplant Addict]

Thank you for the honest feedback.........the fact theres mining gives me some hope, I don't expect or really want the game to be QUITE as deep as EVE with the economy and crafting (doing P.I. in EVE blows unless you're doing it in a wormhole, but then it became a requirement to feul your towers). Hmmmmm the fact the game shines as a single player experience is really appealing to the side of me that loves X3, yet the crushing lack of social abilities for when I want that is also simultaneously disappointing. So I guess then the question is: are the devs planning on actually incorporating a more robust social system? I can live without a lot of this stuff, but is the game just basically non-stop one on one piracy then? It seems like then you'd just wander around and get ganked and have no recourse for revenge. Like a single player game where actual people can just happen to interrupt and kill you at any time for no reason. Is that what its like? Also, is there enough content right now to keep one occupied acquiring assets for a good amount of time? I know they are planning on releasing new ships, but are there other player owned assets available or in the works?

 

[_Flin_]

So I guess then the question is: are the devs planning on actually incorporating a more robust social system? I can live without a lot of this stuff, but is the game just basically non-stop one on one piracy then? It seems like then you'd just wander around and get ganked and have no recourse for revenge. Like a single player game where actual people can just happen to interrupt and kill you at any time for no reason. Is that what its like? Also, is there enough content right now to keep one occupied acquiring assets for a good amount of time? I know they are planning on releasing new ships, but are there other player owned assets available or in the works?

You can read up what the Devs are planning in the Designer discussion archive. There is actually voice comm in the game. And you can talk to other players. The social and group features are some of the most vocally demanded on the forums, currently. I hardly think that they won't be added.

Most of the players do not pirate, but trade, explore, bounty hunt. You can bounty hunt versus NPC as well, by scanning whether they have a bounty on their head. From what I read around here I'd say 45% are trading and mining and running missions, 30% are fighting (bounty hunting, PvE events and piracy), and 25% are exploring.

Acquiring assets won't be a problem for the next 2-3 months, even if you are hardcore with playing 40-60 hours a week. There are quite some different types of ships, some very costly (150m Cr., with maximum earnings so far in the 3-4m / hour range). And they differ in the trading / fighting / exploring roles. There have been plans (or lets say happening discussions) announced to let players being able to have some kind of inflatable mini-space station, but when and if this will actually happen remains to be seen.

The current amount of features is great for fans of the brand, o.k. for fans of the genre. In my opinion it will definitely be worth the money, since I think one will play it and have fun for at least 50 hours by getting new ships, trying out different things like fighting, mining, exploring, mission running and PvP. So the pricing imho is reasonable and the game offers a lot.

Whether it will be motivating to play for more than 3 months... we will see. This is, after all, a pay once, play forever title, not a subscription based MMO.

EDIT: I already bought it. I really like it and want to play it like all the time. There are things that get on my nerves bugwise, but then this isn't the live game yet. Some things I find lacking feature wise, but then... there aren't all features in yet. I am positive that I will play this at least 3 months on a regular basis, probably more. The universe is huge and I want to travel around a bit, make some money, equip a few ships, then travel out a few thousand lightyears, come back with valuable exploration data, only to die in a fire 5 lys from my home (which is how it will happen, because reasons).

 

[Tiamat]

the crushing lack of social abilities for when I want that is also simultaneously disappointing. So I guess then the question is: are the devs planning on actually incorporating a more robust social system?

I would say yes but most players are using a HOTAS and/or an Oculus Rift so few want to use the keyboard at all. At present NPCs tens to spam comms a bit too much so most of us have trained ourselves to ignore comms chatter. Those social players tend to use voice comms instead.

I can live without a lot of this stuff, but is the game just basically non-stop one on one piracy then? It seems like then you'd just wander around and get ganked and have no recourse for revenge. Like a single player game where actual people can just happen to interrupt and kill you at any time for no reason. Is that what its like? Also, is there enough content right now to keep one occupied acquiring assets for a good amount of time? I know they are planning on releasing new ships, but are there other player owned assets available or in the works?

I think there are more traders than pirates but in online yes you can get hit at any time really. You can have multiple ships though and I plan on one trader, one combat ship and one exploration ship. If I get hit and can't get away then I will be either hunting them in my combat ship or possibly putting a nice big bounty on their heads so others can hunt them down. Piracy isn't as easy as it seems though as if somebody tries ripping you out of supercruise there is kind of a mini-game where you can resist and so far I have not been willingly caught. More powerful interdiction modules probably alter the difficulty there though. Even if you do get pulled you can always divert power to your engines and try jumping as a nearby ship will interfere with your jump drive making it slower to charge it doesn't prevent you jumping again.

As for content we don't know yet as we have only been given very small and simplistic bits of the game to test.

 

[Spaceplant Addict]

Ok cool, yea see I DO like just having a game to play as a solo game.....I tried Evochron Mercenary and it didn't quite cut it for me. I don't always feel like the time sink of an X game, so maybe this would be a nice happy medium for 50 bucks like your saying.......seems like a good "mood" type game to have on hand to play in bursts. My whole library is based niches and moods, lol. Ok so will I be able to pre-order the game still AFTER this supposed "gamma" build drops after the 22nd? I would like to look at that and probably pre-order at that pont.

 

[_Flin_]

Ok cool, yea see I DO like just having a game to play as a solo game.....I tried Evochron Mercenary and it didn't quite cut it for me. I don't always feel like the time sink of an X game, so maybe this would be a nice happy medium for 50 bucks like your saying.......seems like a good "mood" type game to have on hand to play in bursts. My whole library is based niches and moods, lol. Ok so will I be able to pre-order the game still AFTER this supposed "gamma" build drops after the 22nd? I would like to look at that and probably pre-order at that pont.

Yes. The preorder will be available 24 days longer than the beta. So probably until the 15th of December. Source: Newsletter #48

 

[Spaceplant Addict]

Sweet, my bad, I should have tried harder to find that on my own, thanks.

One last question I swear I'll stop: how many pilotable ships are in game and how many are planned? Seems like right now theres not that many really. It seems in a game like this there really needs to be lots to keep ya going.

 

[_Flin_]

Sweet, my bad, I should have tried harder to find that on my own, thanks.

One last question I swear I'll stop: how many pilotable ships are in game and how many are planned? Seems like right now theres not that many really. It seems in a game like this there really needs to be lots to keep ya going.

We expect 25 playable ships for release. 5 of which will be reachable in half a day of dedicated playing. These will be the starter ship (Sidewinder), the basic fighter (Eagle), the advanced fighter (Viper), the basic freighter (Hauler) and the basic mulitpurpose/exploration ship (Cobra MK III).

From there it will get steeper. And having top of the notch equipment like a class A hyperdrive is 5 times the cost of a Cobra.

There will be a line of passenger ships. Advanced fighters and multipurpose vehicles. Real gunships with rail guns and huge cannons. But all of that will cost quite some dough.

And then there are other goals. Like traveling to Sagittarius A, the black hole in the center of the Milky Way. Which is about 25.000 lightyears away. And a top notch explorer has a range of 40 lightyears max.
So not all goals need to be gear.

 

[Spaceplant Addict]

Many thanks again. That's probably a few less than I'd like.....but in this day and age I can probably safely assume there will be some DLC or something like a ship pack or hopefully if the game does well a nice content update or two......still sounds like a decent amount of content I guess.

 

[Irre]

sorry if you expect any thing deep like X3 or Eve you will be disappointed

this game as it is now is the game of 1984 edition with better textures

 

[mnemon]

Many thanks again. That's probably a few less than I'd like.....but in this day and age I can probably safely assume there will be some DLC or something like a ship pack or hopefully if the game does well a nice content update or two......still sounds like a decent amount of content I guess.

There's plans for at least few expansions with more features / ships ...

Anyways the game will probably appeal more to space sim fans than EVE fans(unless you do it for the null/low sec rush rather than empire building and progression )

 

[Diziet Sma]

sorry if you expect any thing deep like X3 or Eve you will be disappointed

this game as it is now is the game of 1984 edition with better textures

Disagree.. it already has considerably more depth than the 1984 game.

 

[Dire]

Disagree.. it already has considerably more depth than the 1984 game.

The Troll? - Don't feed him - it only encourages them.

 

[Shoklar]

I'm playing open play live stream at the moment with the latest build, 3.05. If you want to tune in and watch, here's the link: http://www.twitch.tv/shoklar

Shok.

 

[Katkon]

I am a veteran of games like X3, Freelancer, and EVE (though I gave up on EVE after less than a year). I guess I want to know: SHOULD I get this game? Basically what I'm looking for is EVE but without that awful WoW style snore-fest combat system. Is there even a developing player driven economy yet or is it just all PvP pirating right now? I had fully intended to jump on the star citizen bandwagon but frankly I'm worried that game is biting off more than it can chew, I don't care how much funding you've got that doesn't mean you can successfully actually make a game that ambitious and get it all balanced........and so then I saw this game and thought hey this could be THE ONE.......

It seems at this point, though I would like to play immediately, I don't see any added value in joining the beta this late, in one more month the game will be released so I'm thinking pre-orderisng is the way to go......unless the game is already just THAT good I could be convinced, cause I don't have any other games on my list really (though of course Im sure I'll bit on something during Christmas steam sale, but like who doesn't?)

More and more these days, as I get older and it becomes impossible to maintain face to face friendships as people scatter and other adult realities set in, I enjoy the social aspect of gaming much more. I use teamspeak and Skype a lot for other games I play like Warframe, MechWarrior Online, TERA, so I am hoping to join a corp/unit/clan......does this game have a lot of that already? That aspect of doing what we HAD to do to survive in a wormhole in EVE was the whole reason to play, you really developed a relationship with your corpies in EVE because of that......granted I hated the gameplay mechanics so I quit, but I do miss that.

One last question is: what happens when your ships get blown up? Is there an insurance system or do you just respawn at you last saved space station? I also hated in EVE that loss of hours and hours and hours of your life thing.....I mean yea its just pixels but those pixels took forever to acquire. So does ED also follow the rule of "don't fly what you can't afford to lose"?

I can tell from your post that you want the game

In all seriousness - you'll never know until you try. I personally think it's great. Unlike EVE you actually need to be able to "fly" your ship, and combat takes skill. I also like the trading system - the fact that the economy is influencing by movement of product but that players don't set prices. Buzzing around is good fun, and while it's not yet totally stable/performing well technically, it does get better with each release.

 

[Spaceplant Addict]

Thank you Shoklar, I will look at that after some breakfast.

And Katkon, you are right I do WANT the game, but I've been burned very badly by pre-orders this past year. Between the launch disasters of Rome 2 Total War, X-Rebirth, Planetary Annihilation, and Starforge I just have to be a smarter consumer. And yet.....I NEED me some good space-sim action right now. X3 is great but like, it kinda ruined my life.

 

[mnemon]

Thank you Shoklar, I will look at that after some breakfast.

And Katkon, you are right I do WANT the game, but I've been burned very badly by pre-orders this past year. Between the launch disasters of Rome 2 Total War, X-Rebirth, Planetary Annihilation, and Starforge I just have to be a smarter consumer. And yet.....I NEED me some good space-sim action right now. X3 is great but like, it kinda ruined my life.

Well, the game is already fun if you just like the flying part ... there's really no deep open world content at the moment, as in no stories or empire building etc. so you won't get the best parts of X-Series(IMO) which is the bustling world where you can build your trade/pirate/whatever empire

And It's still beta and a bit buggy especially with some specific hardware configs but for an example I haven't had any game breaking bugs since Beta 1(just occasional crashes in B2 and some network issues before the patches in B3).