Requesting feedback regarding 'part time' players

[StiTch]

But please... PLEASE!!! Trust me on this. Listen to what a lot of people here ARE suggesting. The Anaconda is WAY better for exploring with than a Cutter. The Cutter is the worst of the three big ships for jump range. It is far more expensive to equip and upkeep. If I could give you mine I would. I don't like it. It is only a trading vessel for me.

Wrong.

The 'conda is a better exploration vessel when stripped down to have less defenses and equipment than the starter sidewinder. It's notably appealing to those that labour under the delusion that exploration is best done in 60LY jumps, in a ship that breaks when you touch a planet surface, look at a star, or fart.

I used an iCutter for my exploration trip. 35LY jump range, nearly 2k shields with resistances, weapons, fighter for protection and zipping around asteroid belts in, basic hull reinforcements, best screenshots ever.

The best thing? All the extra equipment barely touched my jump range. See, the 'conda utilises a bizarrely low hull mass so it can achieve a strong jump range even with its low class FSD; however this comes with the drawback that as you add weight, the jump range decreases drastically. A defensively laden conda therefore jumps about as well as a defensively laden iCutter.

So yes, the 'conda is the best choice if you are desperate to brag about your jump range or go to the very edges of the galaxy and actually need it, provided you don't mind losing your ship on a slightly rough landing and complaining to support you want your money back. Otherwise, use yer noggins; I went in a ship that can defend itself, can take very harsh collisions, gathered twice as much data as a 'conda on my trip, and looked better in the process.

However...that isn't to say the iCutter is an essential exploration ship by any means. The only issue there is people shoehorning themselves into a self-imposed prerequisite on expensive ships to do a job they aren't needed for. For general purposes, I will recommend an iClipper as one of the best exploration ships going. Much cheaper, quick in an assault, looks great, nice view, and the mental pitch rate means that rather than handling like a lumbering brick in SC, it handles like a modern sports car in space. You don't need something bigger until, well, you actually need something bigger.

In short, I'd say the 'conda is simply heavily overrated for exploration unless you're really pushing boundaries at the edge of the galaxy.

 

[Dharrch Streynjer]

Wrong.

The 'conda is a better exploration vessel when stripped down to have less defenses and equipment than the starter sidewinder. It's notably appealing to those that labour under the delusion that exploration is best done in 60LY jumps, in a ship that breaks when you touch a planet surface, look at a star, or fart.

I used an iCutter for my exploration trip. 35LY jump range, nearly 2k shields with resistances, weapons, fighter for protection and zipping around asteroid belts in, basic hull reinforcements, best screenshots ever.

The best thing? All the extra equipment barely touched my jump range. See, the 'conda utilises a bizarrely low hull mass so it can achieve a strong jump range even with its low class FSD; however this comes with the drawback that as you add weight, the jump range decreases drastically. A defensively laden conda therefore jumps about as well as a defensively laden iCutter.

So yes, the 'conda is the best choice if you are desperate to brag about your jump range or go to the very edges of the galaxy and actually need it, provided you don't mind losing your ship on a slightly rough landing and complaining to support you want your money back. Otherwise, use yer noggins; I went in a ship that can defend itself, can take very harsh collisions, gathered twice as much data as a 'conda on my trip, and looked better in the process.

Hey StiTch,
I would agree with you but I haven't tried it in my rigged out X-Conda yet. I'll let you know when I get going, which will be soon.
One definite advantage the X-Conda has over the X-Cutter thought is the greater number of internals.
I don't know about you but when I go on a long distance camping trip, I like to pack everything including the kitchen sink. That makes the X-Conda an attractive proposition.
However, the prospect of being attacked by aliens make the X-Cutter argument more persuasive.

For the OP I offer this:
I own an Asp-X, Cutter, Anaconda and Python.
I kove the cutter but very rarely take it out in Open unless I'm in a wing and have at least C200 Mil credits for rebuys which will get me 5.
Everything costs a massive amount of money, as an example a class 5 scoop costs more than C200 Mil and don't even think about upgrading your bulkheads.
In any combat you will become the target for everybody not allied to you... Literally!!!
Don't expect any help from NPCs in CZs
Big ships fly like Ocean liners. Fast when going forwards, or backwards, but they have a crap turn rate, drift for miles and the brakes are non-existent.

Even so It's my favourite ship.
Nevertheless I often get into my other ships especially the Asp-X which I will always enjoy using for missions that you need a smaller ship for. Bearing in mind that I would make C10 Mil/hour in that ship, and I rarely make more in the Cutter because of the restrictions it's size applies.

In short, what I'm saying is be careful of what you wish for. You just may get it!

o7

 

[Cmdr Esteban]

No, I complained about not being able to do things like exploring in a Cutter. (I believe that was here...? Currently typing in two forums about the same thing)

You work/study a total of 100 hours per week, play Elite and divide your other spare time to multiple forums at once? You must be exhausted. No wonder all this is getting you agitated.

 

[hunterm101]

You work/study a total of 100 hours per week, play Elite and divide your other spare time to multiple forums at once? You must be exhausted. No wonder all this is getting you agitated.

Yeah, probably has something to do with it. My job is 52 hours per week, and school is about 48 hours. I frequent reddit, and discord. So yes, it's a lot x.x and yes, I'm always exhausted.

 

[Falcon_D]

Yeah, probably has something to do with it. My job is 52 hours per week, and school is about 48 hours. I frequent reddit, and discord. So yes, it's a lot x.x and yes, I'm always exhausted.

Then I suggest doing what I did and take a break from the game. It's supposed to be entertaining. When it gets to the point of not being entertaining and relaxing, do something else.

I went to play Andromeda for awhile. Then realized I just prefer flying my Python more.

 

[NW3]

OP, I've been playing 1-5 hours per day for over 2 years and the only large ship I own is a Type 9. I don't care for the Anaconda and I'm still rank-locked from the other 2 big ships.

You should not expect to get a large ship without significant effort. Take comfort in the fact that they aren't needed to play the game. The small and medium ships are a lot more fun to fly than the big ships. I know this firsthand, since I've flown them in a few of the betas.

 

[Makdo]

Earn it, snowflake. Like every one else.

Always someone that feels the need to start the name calling in an effort to give their weak comment some weight.

 

[Karlos Ploryman]

How is that even possible?
Any hints would be appreciated.

Hello cmdr Brosa,

I in fact do not even know how it happened... I did mostly Bounty hunting, CZ fighting, massacre missions, pirate hunt missions, assasination missions. I like pew-pew...

I never did bulk trading. Even after I bought Anaconda, I never bulk traded, but I tried mining, which I find very relaxing and fun.



The most difficult thing was ranking up with federation. It took "for some unreasonable" time to get a rank for Corvette. I still do not have rank for Cutter.

I know, this information doesnt help, but You asked for it ;-)

Good luck to You and a lot of patience, Karlos

 

[space voyager]

@OP: Being a player with a limited time on my hands I both agree and disagree with you.

The disagree: Getting a big ship in Elite should be an accomplishment and one has to work for it. I understand you want it now, but this is not how Elite works. You'll have to do with what you have. I have never used any exploit and own a fully upgraded Anaconda. Once you get on good terms with a faction or several of them your mission financial rewards will be much higher and you'll be able to afford a bigger ship in no time. One of the fastest way to earn money are passenger missions - after you get on good terms with a faction.

The agree: Elite is simply not a good game for a casual player as the casual things you can do are very limited, repetitive and hold no story. ED promised to go over this casual gameplay after 2.4 is out, so there is hope for us both.

 

[Brosa]

Pville_Piper, Karlos Ploryman, IndigoWyrd and HAL- 9000; Thanks for your replies and suggestions!

I guess part of my problem is to find a way to scale up the income level to get leverage when moving on to bigger ships.

I could probably get myself a low spec Anaconda by now if I traded in my a-rated Python.
But whats the best way to increase incomes futher after that?

I would then be able to take more cargo and passengers. But missions, mining, bounty hunting would be the same.

Right now, I am getting 2-3 million credit runs from Tun to Hyperion in my Python. I can easily get missions from Tun to LHS 535 to fill in my Anaconda for 3-4 million.

Most missions I see pays close to nothing. I find them useful to increase rank and reputation, but not much more.

Are there any special kind of missions you look for in particular? Do you stack them?

 

[Pville_Piper]

Published Sept 10 2015 - SideWinder to Anaconda in 24hrs.

You were saying?

I was saying what I said... Exploits have been around as long as the game has. What you say proves nothing.

 

[Pville_Piper]

Pville_Piper, Karlos Ploryman, IndigoWyrd and HAL- 9000; Thanks for your replies and suggestions!

I guess part of my problem is to find a way to scale up the income level to get leverage when moving on to bigger ships.

I could probably get myself a low spec Anaconda by now if I traded in my a-rated Python.
But whats the best way to increase incomes futher after that?

I would then be able to take more cargo and passengers. But missions, mining, bounty hunting would be the same.



Most missions I see pays close to nothing. I find them useful to increase rank and reputation, but not much more.

Are there any special kind of missions you look for in particular? Do you stack them?

This post elaborates on what I have said. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...bly-too-fast?p=5993280&viewfull=1#post5993280 and should be helpful.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Wrong.

The 'conda is a better exploration vessel when stripped down to have less defenses and equipment than the starter sidewinder. It's notably appealing to those that labour under the delusion that exploration is best done in 60LY jumps, in a ship that breaks when you touch a planet surface, look at a star, or fart.

I used an iCutter for my exploration trip. 35LY jump range, nearly 2k shields with resistances, weapons, fighter for protection and zipping around asteroid belts in, basic hull reinforcements, best screenshots ever.

The best thing? All the extra equipment barely touched my jump range. See, the 'conda utilises a bizarrely low hull mass so it can achieve a strong jump range even with its low class FSD; however this comes with the drawback that as you add weight, the jump range decreases drastically. A defensively laden conda therefore jumps about as well as a defensively laden iCutter.

So yes, the 'conda is the best choice if you are desperate to brag about your jump range or go to the very edges of the galaxy and actually need it, provided you don't mind losing your ship on a slightly rough landing and complaining to support you want your money back. Otherwise, use yer noggins; I went in a ship that can defend itself, can take very harsh collisions, gathered twice as much data as a 'conda on my trip, and looked better in the process.

However...that isn't to say the iCutter is an essential exploration ship by any means. The only issue there is people shoehorning themselves into a self-imposed prerequisite on expensive ships to do a job they aren't needed for. For general purposes, I will recommend an iClipper as one of the best exploration ships going. Much cheaper, quick in an assault, looks great, nice view, and the mental pitch rate means that rather than handling like a lumbering brick in SC, it handles like a modern sports car in space. You don't need something bigger until, well, you actually need something bigger.

In short, I'd say the 'conda is simply heavily overrated for exploration unless you're really pushing boundaries at the edge of the galaxy.

Once upon a time, I thought of setting off to the far reaches of the galaxy in an Imperial Cutter.
Then I bought the Cutter, outfitted it, flew it around, had some fun blowing things up with it, painted it gold, and parked it.

I find Exploration horrifyingly tedious, and as such have made exactly 2 ventures out into the black - one to travel 5200 Ly to unlock Professor Palin.
The other I am getting close to the mid-way point of, since we can now plot 20k Ly at a time. It's a little less tedious, since I can make the enitre 6400 Ly trip on a single plot, rather than multiple 990-some plots, but...

I made my first trip in a Beluga. 128 ton fuel capacity is pretty nice when you're sitting there going:

Aww,
Better
Find
Gas...
Kill
Myself
Otherwise

after your 9th Brown Dwarf in a row, and at least one more in front of you. Jumps between 33 and 35 Ly unboosted, fully loaded, fighter bay and Luxury cabin included, plus all the scanners an explorer could hope for... it'll probably take me an hour to sell all my cartographic data and list all my First Discoveries, which might just move my Explorer rank from where it's been parked forever.

This trip? Yep, back in a Beluga again.

 

[Han Brannigan]

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/245035-Fly-our-Ship

The idea above would make it possible to fly different ships without actually having to buy them..

 

[Aidan Brooder]

There is no real gain in flying the most expansive ship.

You are a manager and a student you say, Op. I'm an outdoors trainer and a business analyst.

Trust me: There is no spoon. And enjoy the Galaxy at your own pace!

 

[Dharrch Streynjer]

Pville_Piper, Karlos Ploryman, IndigoWyrd and HAL- 9000; Thanks for your replies and suggestions!

I guess part of my problem is to find a way to scale up the income level to get leverage when moving on to bigger ships.

I could probably get myself a low spec Anaconda by now if I traded in my a-rated Python.
But whats the best way to increase incomes futher after that?

I would then be able to take more cargo and passengers. But missions, mining, bounty hunting would be the same.

They would not be the same.
You would be restricted to stations with large landing pads only, which in the majority of systems would halve the missions available.
Long distance runs would require at least double the jumps.
Enemies sent after you would be bigger, faster, more.
Rebuys would be higher.

There are good sides too.
You would look way cooler in a big ship.
Bigger weapons
SLFs
Multicrew has more seats and roles.

o7

 

[yolomcbobbinz]

Really? You think so?? Just hanging around these forums says otherwise.
There is no perfect balancing point. You'll always have some complaining it's too little while others are complaining it's too much.

Plus, as has been mentioned, the credit rewards have increased significantly since release. Yet here we are, it's still not enough, and likely never will be.

Oopsies, took me a while to figure out why you went all hostile, turns out I forgot to type no in there is no balancing point.

Fixed it in my OP

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

For anyone that cares (this may shatter the narrative for some of you) but there is no massive time requirement or year long grind required to earn enough CR to afford one of the big ships. Apparently, this doesn't even require any indepth understanding of the BGS, exploits, mission board flipping, odd ball system, or some other scheme to achieve.

In fact, you can pretty much whatever you want and do something different every play session.

You can completely disregard your balance and just go from system to system, taking whatever missions pay well and look interesting. Go mining, or explore for a few weeks even, doesn'y matter.

The key is missions and CGs. I'll have better data going forward, but I've earned twice as much money from missions and CGs as I have from everything else combined. Even factoring in the first two months where I just tooled around crashing into things, my average income has been a little over $1.3 million CR per hour, and 2/3 of that from things other than exploration, BH, Combat Vouchers, trading or mining.

I've no doubt that my average over the last six months will be much higher than that, but even at that rate I could have an Anaconda in a little over a month for one to two hours per day of doing whatever looks good at the moment (if I'm not out in the black for a couple of months, this is how I play. I may stay in a system for a few days, but then I SQUIRREL!

 

[sb413197]

Elite: Dangerous is an incredible game that has an unimaginable scale. The game has a nearly endless amount of possibilities for how you can play the game. There are so many ways for you to go about exploring the galaxy. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

I am a full time manager on top of being a full time student. I put in about 100 hours per week between the two. This is a lot of work. In between the two, i enjoy sitting down to a nice session of elite.

Lately, though, I've started to desire some of the bigger ships, and the gameplay aspects they introduce. This brings me to my problem. The time required to accomplish sitting in the CMDR seat of these large vessels is enormous. As a 'part time' player, i was under the impression that this was simply something that was out of my reach (which is a poor mechanic, regardless, for a game that's not FTP.) Recently, though, there have been some possibilities that have come up that have promised expediting the process. Of course, as a 'part time' player, i jumped on this. As a person who can really only afford a couple hours per week in the game, who wouldn't?

Now, my problem lies in the fact that these possibilities are consistently being ripped away from us. Instead of promoting the development of their players, your company is intentionally putting up nearly insurmountable roadblocks to obtaining these goals. You take things away from us under the guise of it 'not being intended features'. You take, and say you're giving (in the case of the most recent patch, you've apparently fixed API problems, yet they still exist.)

So here's what i would like to know from a representative of the FDev team. What do you suggest i do to obtain the goal of sitting in a Cutter in an expedient manner, as many of us don't have nearly unlimited hours to pour into this game? This isn't a question I would like side-stepped, or answered in an indirect fashion. This is a question that i want answered directly.

Please realize, not all of your player base has the hours required to pour into the rank grind and credit grind required to sit in the CMDR seat of a Cutter.

I have a job that is not typically associated with being able to play a game like this (physician). And to be fair, I probably play more than I should. But the key to playing with time restrictions is laser-focus on a single goal at a time.

It sounds like you want bigger ships right now - this means you need money. The Ram Tah mission and regular deep space exploration with LYR powerplay 5 upon return are two of the best; if you are elite in exploration then sightseeing is good. Massacres still make ok money (not what they used to, but they are fun) when they are in the 15 million plus range.

Once you have a few billion in the bank you will want to engineer your ships. I would suggest focusing on CIF, Harry Potter's list is good (I guess he tires of being the villain occasionally).
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IVPYPqXbqC7pYY2UggEXLSO0CMaE0ksZMB2Ejlh0aYI/edit#gid=0

I suggest gather large amounts of resources - enough to engineer a fleet of several ships' components - it is more efficient that way.

 

[Tarman]

Elite is simply not a good game for a casual player as the casual things you can do are very limited, repetitive and hold no story. ED promised to go over this casual gameplay after 2.4 is out, so there is hope for us both.

This is true.

What I want from FD is more gameplay to entertain players with different game time availability. What I do not want is for them to make the current gameplay faster as it does no-one any real good. Speeding up the game will only make the game suck and burn out at a faster rate for people already not enjoying whatever's the current gameplay iteration. Elite needs more actual game which is good for everyone, not simply accelerated current gameplay.

Eating a boring sammige even faster doesn't improve its flavour, but can make you hork it up or choke; we need cheese and tomatoes and such if we want a better taste.

Now I want a sammige. >___>