Returning after 2 years

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Hi, left two years ago before Horizons because I got bored. I see Elite dangerous was released now for 4 years and in 4 years of development, it doesn't seem like it's added a whole lot to actually do. I think if anything Elite recreated the actual game from 1980's really well, but a bilion systems to explore probably isn't as nostalgic as it might have been back then. Probably the only IP to re-create a game with new techology so faithfully.

Anyway, I was wondering if it is even viable to return. I always played in open. Now with the engineers thing, it seems I can't compete with other players or NPCS because of mods. Am I basically all but forced to grind to get mats for modding? Ordinary shields and ammo just doesn't seem to cut it anymore.

Why don't they give elite a player market? Whereby players who collected that stuff and got the final product modded, could sell it? That way the only gateway to getting this tech is cash and not just spending hours flying to find it. So there's several different ways to achieve the goal?
 
I'm not keen on threads like this.

You haven't played in two years but want the game changed to suit you coming back.

If you want to play ED you'll have to do what others have done to get the Engineering you think you need for what you want to do.

You might just find it fun if you don't rush and think you have to do it quickly.
 
Welcome back? The big danger is that if they opened a player to player market it would end up becoming tainted with real world cash transactions being used to sweeten the deals, so I could sell you a set of 6a thrusters with grade 5 dirty drive plus drag drives special effect (best mods you can make in game as it stands today) for the price of the module plus 5 million credits in the market, but I'd only be willing to do that deal if you'd already crossed my hand with $50 by paypal. It then becomes a slippery slope into (unofficial) pay to win.

Being honest with you I dont have an issue with that occuring, as long as the official/unofficially sanctioned pay-to-win systems do not offer other players anything that isn't available through in game earnings, as in no amount of money in the real world could buy a player a set of grade 6 engineered thrusters, I have no issues with how (foolishly) others chose to spend their cash on in game "stuffz".

While I hate to be the barer of bad news, I think its safe to say that without engineering mods nowadays pvp is no longer an option to you, unless you get off on getting "rekt lolz". There is still plenty, actually more PvE stuff to do in the game than when you left, and to an extent judicious use of guardian modules / weapons can sidestep the need to grind engineers, engineered equipment is better.

The good thing is most missions in game now offer some engineering materials as part or the reward options, and there are material traders where you can trade surplus of one for other materials that you do need, although the exchange rates are franktly insulting.

If you want a friendly imperial group to fly with to help you get back on your feet and up to speed, message me.
 
I'm not keen on threads like this.

You haven't played in two years but want the game changed to suit you coming back.

If you want to play ED you'll have to do what others have done to get the Engineering you think you need for what you want to do.

You might just find it fun if you don't rush and think you have to do it quickly.

I seccond this ^

Plus, you weren't here for the last two years OP and now you've been playing for what? One evening? Two? A week? And already evaluatng someone's hard work for the past two years with "there's still not much to do"?

Dude, you're just being arrogant. I have no idea what I've been doing with my evenings for the past 4 years if "there's not much to do" in this game. Don't come back. This isn't the game you're looking for.

Where's this de-rep button when needed??
 
Please don't tell people off for posting questions. No one is forcing anyone to reply to this thread. Don't like it - move along.

You're right Jenner. I'm sorry OP. It's just there was so much goin on here for the past two years. There are living people working at Frontier. Would it be nice for you if someone would evaluate your 2-years work in such a way?

Anyways, give yourself some time getting to know the game and it's all current features again. There are few recent YT videos highlighting all the features and possible careers you might have fun with nova days. Have fun!
 

Deleted member 38366

D
The Engineers thing is a valid caveat.

For PvE, it isn't a mandatory requirement - but so extremely beneficial that it has become a de facto "new normal" Standard.
The good thing is, that the Engineering process underwent several balancing adjustments and has been streamlined quite a bit.
Far easier than back when Engineers Update was released, much much less of a hassle especially for a single Ship. Very doable.

Now for PvP, it's pretty much mandatory, hands down. The performance difference between a G5 Engineered and well-designed Ship and an unengineered Ship is just massive.

Positive Engineering changes in a nutshell :
- new Engineering "level-up" System guarantees improvements at every roll
- average number of rolls to reach a 100% mod is approx. 1-2-3-3-9 as per individual Grades + desired Special Effect if feasible (makes the whole process much more predictable and affords easier preparation to assess required Materials)
- The Material Traders grant some flexibility to attain needed Materials
- spawn rates of High Grade USS have been tweaked upwards (upcoming V3.3 will make finding the right Signal Sources easy, as most of the previous RNG/spawns are entirely replaced by numerous distinct and detectable Signal Sources in each System)
- availability of various higher Grade Materials and Elements got improved across the board, incl. multiple ways to attain them via different means
- Remote Transfers of Ships and Equipment to nearby Shipyards facilitate faster Engineering of multiple Ships

Some of the Guardian Equipment can be unlocked as an alternative as well (Grind got reduced significantly and has transformed from "Mission impossible" to "totally doable for select Equipment").
Once unlocked, all Classes of the respective Guardian Tech can be purchased at every place that has a Guardian Tech Broker.
Some Guardian Equipment can be used instead of Engineered Equipment, although obviously the best performance choice is to combine desired Guardian Modules with heavily Engineered Ships.
(same is basically valid for the Human Tech Brokers, although most of that Equipment seems a bit lackluster or has focus on Anti-Thargoid combat)

IMHO the best would be to see V3.3 Release and then check things out yourself.
Plenty of very good Videos and Guides out there by now, making both Engineering and Guardian Unlocks a reasonably simple process.
 
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The Engineers thing is a valid caveat.

For PvE, it isn't a mandatory requirement - but so extremely beneficial that it has become a de facto "new normal" Standard.
The good thing is, that the Engineering process underwent several balancing adjustments and has been streamlined quite a bit.
Far easier than back when Engineers Update was released, much much less of a hassle especially for a single Ship. Very doable.

Now for PvP, it's pretty much mandatory, hands down. The performance difference between a G5 Engineered and well-designed Ship and an unengineered Ship is just massive.

Positive Engineering changes in a nutshell :
- new Engineering "level-up" System guarantees improvements at every roll
- average number of rolls to reach a 100% mod is approx. 1-2-3-3-9 as per individual Grades + desired Special Effect if feasible (makes the whole process much more predictable and affords easier preparation to assess required Materials)
- The Material Traders grant some flexibility to attain needed Materials
- spawn rates of High Grade USS have been tweaked upwards (upcoming V3.3 will make finding the right Signal Sources easy, as most of the previous RNG/spawns are entirely replaced by numerous distinct and detectable Signal Sources in each System)
- availability of various higher Grade Materials and Elements got improved across the board, incl. multiple ways to attain them via different means
- Remote Transfers of Ships and Equipment to nearby Shipyards facilitate faster Engineering of multiple Ships

Some of the Guardian Equipment can be unlocked as an alternative as well (Grind got reduced significantly and has transformed from "Mission impossible" to "totally doable for select Equipment").
Once unlocked, all Classes of the respective Guardian Tech can be purchased at every place that has a Guardian Tech Broker.
Some Guardian Equipment can be used instead of Engineered Equipment, although obviously the best performance choice is to combine desired Guardian Modules with heavily Engineered Ships.
(same is basically valid for the Human Tech Brokers, although most of that Equipment seems a bit lackluster or has focus on Anti-Thargoid combat)

IMHO the best would be to see V3.3 Release and then check things out yourself.
Plenty of very good Videos and Guides out there by now, making both Engineering and Guardian Unlocks a reasonably simple process.

Great and detailed summary FalconFly! Respect Commander :)
 

Deleted member 38366

D
Forgot one other important improvement : The Remote Workshops

- once a Blueprint at an Engineer is pinned (1 per Engineer - so choose wisely), it can be Engineered basically everywhere (Stations only I believe) while docked via the Remote Workshop
- only exception : Special Effects are available at the respective Engineers only (not available via Remote Workshops)

- unlike the old Engineering System, applied Special Effects aren't RNG anymore but can be manually selected
- once applied (i.e. at Grade 1), they're maintained even if the Equipment is Engineered to a higher Grade (in old times, re-rolling killed any Special Effect)

So with the right Blueprints pinned, a whole fleet can rapidly be engineered to 100% Grade 5 (minus Special Effects) basically right at home, at pretty much any Station.
Engineering at Engineer Bases technically can be limited to an initial Grade 1 mod, application of desired Special Effects - then with the right Blueprints pinned everything else can be done over time at home via Remote WorkShop.
This provides a rather smooth Engineering Experience even for multiple Ships and if required high-grade Materials are temporarily unavailable. It can be easily done later once the Mats have been collected.
 
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Welcome back, OP.

The game (if you have horizons) has changed quite a bit.
So much so I can't even list the changes this time of night! Lol

Engineering is fairly easy these days, unlocking them is still the same chore, but upgrades are always upgrades now.
Material gathering is becoming more streamlined with each update, with 3.3 next week, High Grade Emissions will be super simple to find, no more lurking in supercruise to 17 hours hoping you're in the right system, in the right state, with the right economy!

You can always find material traders to trade any surplus to get those rarer materials too.
Not to mention material storage is based per item now, no silly 500/1000 unit limit!

Guardian tech is also another route, although for PvP, I don't really know if is any good.
But the Guardian FSD booster and Guass SLF are fun to unlock, and very useful.

Squadrons are also coming out next week, so you can link up with more players like yourself, and you can help eachother achieve your goals, whatever they may be. :)

These last few months have seen some huge improvements to gameplay.

A player market though, would likely quickly descend in to chaos, I wouldn't recommend it. Lol
 
Hi, left two years ago before Horizons because I got bored. I see Elite dangerous was released now for 4 years and in 4 years of development, it doesn't seem like it's added a whole lot to actually do. I think if anything Elite recreated the actual game from 1980's really well, but a bilion systems to explore probably isn't as nostalgic as it might have been back then. Probably the only IP to re-create a game with new techology so faithfully.

Anyway, I was wondering if it is even viable to return. I always played in open. Now with the engineers thing, it seems I can't compete with other players or NPCS because of mods. Am I basically all but forced to grind to get mats for modding? Ordinary shields and ammo just doesn't seem to cut it anymore.

Why don't they give elite a player market? Whereby players who collected that stuff and got the final product modded, could sell it? That way the only gateway to getting this tech is cash and not just spending hours flying to find it. So there's several different ways to achieve the goal?

I'd advise playing the game for a reasonable amount of time and making your own judgment.

A lot has changed for the better, so who knows, you might like it. :)

Patch Notes

Other updates details for each release are in the appropriate section of the blog..
 
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I take long breaks for months at a time.
Honestly, if you haven’t played since before Horizons then you’re in for a great experience. A LOT has been added.
 
I take long breaks for months at a time.
Honestly, if you haven’t played since before Horizons then you’re in for a great experience. A LOT has been added.

Yes. Just keep in mind that you are not starting fantasy arcade space shooter 2000, but a game that roots in space sim. Everything still takes time and Elite still takes pride in it's simulation elements, even if it already compromises more than I would like.
So, as long as you are not one of those modern gamers who thinks every game whould have button prompts, achievements and top notch equipment after one week of playing, you will like the game.
 
@ the OP,

Pay-to-win is in vogue with most MP/PvP focused games, so you might get your wish at some point of ED's life? Still for me that would officially be the time i gave up hope of ever wanting to play ED at all, so it might not be the solution everyone would be happy with?
 
Since the community is as active as they were 4 years ago FDEV either added a lot of good stuff or the game never needed something in the first place. I guess it's a combination of both.

Anyway, I've always been an enemy of engineering but decided to finally do it. It didn't took me long to get from 0 to 100% and actually had fun doing it. Some of the unlock requirements are still stupid and a grind (rares for example) but overall the situation very much improved. Finding materials is easy, using material traders is easy and getting mods done feels like an accomplishment.

I don't see the need for a player market.
 
Just upgrade your FSD to be ex range, then if you want fiddle with the other things. The upgraded FSD will make getting around them easier. You don't need everything modded or for everything to be G5.
 
^^^

And I will add that you keep all your engineering mats and mods if you die so there's no reason not to fly about in a cheap ship and get killed a few times getting used to stuff again, you can rebuy an average Viper in an hour or two without having to "PowerGame" to get your money.

Chillout and see the galaxy through new eyes CMDR.
 
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