Ship cost scaling in this game needs to be leveled out.

[Lestat]

A mix between my Viper and my Cobra, depending on what I'm doing.

So your looking at cost due to the fact you have a small ship. If you stay with a Cobra or viper It will take longer. But we will have 30 ships. Larger ship will be able to transport a lot more stuff Like the lakon 6 I think can hold up to 100 cargo. That close to 3 times the amount of the cobra.

 

[Amaze]

First off Stop comparing Elite (Flight sticks)with EVE Point and click). Stop asking for a easy mode. Question for the Op. What are you flying right now?

Just because something take a very long time to do doesn't mean it's hard.

Faster progression into bigger ships and then better things to do with those bigger ships doesn't mean "easy mode"

 

[Ruskodisco]

More than 980cr, yes. Was doing trips for 1100 one way, and 800 the other a few weeks back, and that was with the screwy economy. During beta I had a 1500/1100 loop, no reason to think that won't return.

Smoothing out the ship progression is tricky, because different people use different ships for different tasks. I think it's pretty smooth for traders. An L7 more than doubles your cargo capacity, and should not be cheap. It's the first (as in cheapest) 'Big Ship' unless I'm mistaken. It was a lot of work to get it and now that I have it, even though it flys like a fat cow and can't land on outposts, I'm proud of it. I'm eyeing an L9 now, which looks equally difficult to obtain but still isn't out of reach, especially from within my L7.

I think fighter ships are missing some progression steps, which will almost certainly be part of the 30 total ships they're working on.

yeah but there is a weird gap between the type 6 and type 7 but after type 7 ill be fine.
but as far as making credits go.....in the beta i was making 1600 profit one way and about 200 back....

but now i have traveled to about 100 planets i have not made more profit then 970 with one lap, meaning i would make 865 per unit one way then 100 or so the other...
i mean of course ive seen really low prices on things that would make me about 1000 profit maybe alittle more but they are about 100 Ly away. so it just wouldnt be worth it...

i wouldnt really care about this if there were other expansions with the interiors of ships and orbitals and then of course the planetary landings but good god, its so boring going back and forth on the best routes....and trying to force us to go to different routes by changing up the economy would just annoy us or me at least. cause id rather go exploring when i want to...not when they want me to.

 

[Apollo Cochrane]

Personally, I think the cost of ships now is way too high. It's not so bad if you have all day, every day to play and make credits, but for those of us who don't have as much time for gaming as we'd like, it puts a lot of the better ships almost out of reach. I thought they were more reasonably priced during the Beta. I think that starting with the Cobra Mk III and up, they need to be half the current price. That would be a nice Christmas gift from FD

 

[Lestat]

Just because something take a very long time to do doesn't mean it's hard.

Faster progression into bigger ships and then better things to do with those bigger ships doesn't mean "easy mode"

But making the cost of the larger ships lower is Easy mode.

They should have about 13 ships now But they should be releasing 17 more ships soon.

 

[QziQza]

Hi OP, I'm new to the game too, it's been a pretty exciting week I've worked my bottom off and succesfully managed to trade my way up to a Type 6, should hopefully get an ASP in the next couple of days, well, if i can keep up the pace lol. All it took was a little research, organisation and many many cups of coffee.. Many cups!!

So, why am I willing to undergo the epic grind for a top tier ship? If I'm honest, its pretty much down to the fact that they are always going to be exclusive. The only folks that will have them, will be those who are willing to put in the seriously long hours and hard work to get them. There is no 'pay cash to have' here, it's grind..grind..grind!

We all start the same, have access to the same earning potential, with no quick 'pay to win' button (thats worth the massive price tag right there) It all boils down to how much you want something? How much hard work are you willing to commit to getting it, and how organised and methodical you are. The game rewards those who put in the grind!! That's how it should be, and as you say, in this game you dont actually need the top tier ships to be effective, they are, by design, a luxury item. Now, I can think of a few reasons that could make a player feel that these ships are out of reach..

They may be put off by the scale of the grind, unable to picture the epic journey as nothing more than many little steps. Oh, and resisting the urge to spend/waste credits along the way.

They may simply lack the knowledge or the skill set to organise and undertake said, epic journey.

OR

They may just lack the desire, ambition and motivation that is needed for such a journey.

I'm a massive fan of just getting stuck in and making as many mistakes as i can in the 1st few days of a thing. For me its the best way to learn, and that approach helped keep me smiling when I blow up.. repeatedly! lol. There are also many online resources and guides, alongside this great community that seems eager to help.

So if folks are stuck and struggling with the 1st couple of reasons, fear not, help is out there

However, if the 3rd reason is holding folks back, its all on them, they need too either create the desire, or shortern their reach.

 

[schuesseled]

Personally, I think the cost of ships now is way too high. It's not so bad if you have all day, every day to play and make credits, but for those of us who don't have as much time for gaming as we'd like, it puts a lot of the better ships almost out of reach. I thought they were more reasonably priced during the Beta. I think that starting with the Cobra Mk III and up, they need to be half the current price. That would be a nice Christmas gift from FD

The game is grindy, true. But your money earned ain't going anywhere, so what if it takes you a year to get that anaconda playing an hour a day.

 

[Kramster]

Personally, I think the cost of ships now is way too high. It's not so bad if you have all day, every day to play and make credits, but for those of us who don't have as much time for gaming as we'd like, it puts a lot of the better ships almost out of reach. I thought they were more reasonably priced during the Beta. I think that starting with the Cobra Mk III and up, they need to be half the current price. That would be a nice Christmas gift from FD

If ALL the ships could be achieved easily via casual play then there would be nothing to work toeards for the players that can commit more time.
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In games such as WoW, or any MMO for that matter, it is a given that if you don't commit substantial time to raiding you don't get the gear in fact often if you don't do enough you can't even get into a decent raid group. It doesn't stop players enjoying the game.
.
Enjoyable gaming doesn't come from having the best gear or doing the biggest dungeon, or at least it shouldn't
ED is just as much fun in and Eagle as it is in an Anaconda, sometimes it's more fun!
High cost, in both time and credits, is the norm in online games and I don't think ED should be any different

 

[Moses Lanknau]

its easy enough, once u get the zorgon hauwler trading and frieghtmissions offer alot payment for beginners, so u could easiely afford a viper or even larger craft very soon, just sell its schield in ecange for addiotional cargohold ... as an alternative since the craft is very light, and so not deamanding much fuel to move it, its a perfect explorer so u scan evrything on your journey and sell the data 20 lj further ...


and i agree that some of the smallest ships r the ones that do the most fun in combat, cause thiey r more easy to handle than the larger ones in those fatas ships u tend to feal like whale not able to follow the action ...

 

[Amaze]

If ALL the ships could be achieved easily via casual play then there would be nothing to work toeards for the players that can commit more time.
.
In games such as WoW, or any MMO for that matter, it is a given that if you don't commit substantial time to raiding you don't get the gear in fact often if you don't do enough you can't even get into a decent raid group. It doesn't stop players enjoying the game.
.
Enjoyable gaming doesn't come from having the best gear or doing the biggest dungeon, or at least it shouldn't
ED is just as much fun in and Eagle as it is in an Anaconda, sometimes it's more fun!
High cost, in both time and credits, is the norm in online games and I don't think ED should be any different

I didn't think E D was gong to be like the "norm of online games" such as WoW, or any MMO for that matter.

If obtaining high end ships that takes many months is the only think to work towards then a lot of people just wont bother at all.

 

[Kramster]

I didn't think E D was gong to be like the "norm of online games" such as WoW, or any MMO for that matter.

If obtaining high end ships that takes many months is the only think to work towards then a lot of people just wont bother at all.

I agree.
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I was actually trying to make the point that it isn't like other games in the respect that getting the big ships is not actually a benefit and certainly not the point of ED.
I used the analogy to point out that a game requires targets, aims and objectives at differing levels...I played wow for 3 years and never raided and didn't expect access to the raid gear.
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Having everything in easy reach is not right either....If you want a Ferrari you have to work for it or stick with the Ford focus.
ED isn't about raiding or gear progression but a multi gunned leviathan of a ship should cost a fortune in my opinion.
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As others have said there are gaps in the ship line up which will explain some of the admittedly huge gaps in the prices.
I don't see the prices changing now, unless they give people huge paybacks for the ships they own and have owned since November

 

[MrReynolds]

Giving the Asp back it's 64t cargo slot would help improve matters ever so slightly for now.
Maybe the manufacturer could say they're testing the configuration but when the type 6.5 eventually gets released there could be a safety recall or something......

 

[ravenstar68]

Well, if ships aren't the goal, then what is? Your rank? Please. I could care less about my ranking and standing with any of the factions. My concerns are making money,

While Elite rank is more about how well you're doing in the game, your standing with the factions affects your money making potential, as if they don't like you you get less missions offered, you're more likely to be scanned for illegal cargo etc.

Ravenstar68

 

[InfiniteGremlins]

I think the pricing structure scales very well for what the game actually is. Each class of ship has a very different approach to the game. I haven't gotten up to Anaconda-levels of cash yet, but as far as I have progressed, the costs seem to be right in line with keeping me engaged. When one way of making money seems saturated, I switch over to another.

There might need to be some more money-making opprotunities that can only be done in the really big ships, or maybe some new modules that are too big to fit in the smaller ships but open up new kinds of gameplay. Carrying passengers for example, or some kind of research lab for when exploring frontier planets becomes a thing. Maybe a special terraforming module to help with newly colonized planets, or shipping station parts to new stations. But that's down the road.

 

[Ransurias]

If ALL the ships could be achieved easily via casual play then there would be nothing to work toeards for the players that can commit more time.
.
In games such as WoW, or any MMO for that matter, it is a given that if you don't commit substantial time to raiding you don't get the gear in fact often if you don't do enough you can't even get into a decent raid group. It doesn't stop players enjoying the game.
.
Enjoyable gaming doesn't come from having the best gear or doing the biggest dungeon, or at least it shouldn't
ED is just as much fun in and Eagle as it is in an Anaconda, sometimes it's more fun!
High cost, in both time and credits, is the norm in online games and I don't think ED should be any different

In general, I believe the argument that larger ships should cost more because they're something to aspire for testifies, if anything, to a lack of overall content. There's not really much to invest in or purchase besides ship-related stuff. It's extremely hollow right now, and it hearkens to the broader problem currently facing the game -- it's bare-bones and highly repetitive.

I honestly don't think ships should cost an exorbitant amount of money simply because they can be perceived as something to work for -- they should take time to earn, but it shouldn't be completely unreasonable for casual players. As a concession, there ought to be much more to work toward in the game -- for instance, the ability to invest in colonization efforts for newly-discovered planets for X / Y / Z reward, the ability to fund war efforts for different factions and groups to increase their presence and dominance in the galaxy, and other awesome stuff that would understandably require big money and huge commitments. However, I think huge investments shouldn't stem to mere ships themselves -- I think nearly every ship in the game needs to be within reasonable reach to casual players, save for maybe capital-class ships or something if they're ever released. A piloted vessel is a very superficial way of giving players something to work for.

 

[talshiarr]

I've resigned myself to the fact that unless something changes in what we can do with credits or how we earn them there's no chance I'll ever have anything larger than an Asp. I simply don't have the play time, or patience, to endlessly grind trade routes to pay for the upkeep to do what I prefer doing in game that pays far less. Some day if I somehow have tens of millions of credits laying around and nothing to do with them I'll buy a bare-bones Python and park it somewhere, knowing it'll take ages to even start kitting it out.

 

[Mister5150]

Well, if ships aren't the goal, then what is? Your rank? Please. I could care less about my ranking and standing with any of the factions. My concerns are making money, and having the biggest ship to help me make money. If you're not prepared for the grind, to reach that "end game" then why are you here? If your focus is on combat, and the best options are the "inexpensive" smaller ships, then focus on those ships.

This game has to have some reason to keep you hooked and playing. If everything is handed to you too quickly, you'll throw in the towel in a couple of months and never play again. This game is trying to establish a level of longevity. Trying to keep people playing, so that when the DLC comes out, you'll be ready for it.

Could certain ships be cheaper? Of course they could, but this game shouldn't be held to any other games but the previous Elite games. Those games were simulators. Pure and simple. This is a simulator. If you're looking for the logic of EVE, go back to EVE. You're in new territory friend. Time to change your mindset.

^^^^^^ this, ship pricing is perfect, when you finally do see a player in an anaconda you know what he went through....I fear this game will no longer be Elite Dangerous when it's all said and done...

 

[Mister5150]

In general, I believe the argument that larger ships should cost more because they're something to aspire for testifies, if anything, to a lack of overall content. There's not really much to invest in or purchase besides ship-related stuff. It's extremely hollow right now, and it hearkens to the broader problem currently facing the game -- it's bare-bones and highly repetitive.

I honestly don't think ships should cost an exorbitant amount of money simply because they can be perceived as something to work for -- they should take time to earn, but it shouldn't be completely unreasonable for casual players. As a concession, there ought to be much more to work toward in the game -- for instance, the ability to invest in colonization efforts for newly-discovered planets for X / Y / Z reward, the ability to fund war efforts for different factions and groups to increase their presence and dominance in the galaxy, and other awesome stuff that would understandably require big money and huge commitments. However, I think huge investments shouldn't stem to mere ships themselves -- I think nearly every ship in the game needs to be within reasonable reach to casual players, save for maybe capital-class ships or something if they're ever released. A piloted vessel is a very superficial way of giving players something to work for.

A casual player will get casual results.

 

[Ransurias]

A casual player will get casual results.

Give me a break. That's all you have to say? We're at fault for wanting one of the extremely small handful of interesting ships in the game (which aren't functionally that much better than ships like the Asp or the Cobra) without having to invest exorbitant amounts of time and effort into the game? Since we don't feel like investing countless hours into the bare-bones and disgracefully repetitive ways of making reasonable income, and since we're not willing to dedicate a major part of our lives toward the singular goal of a bigger vessel through mindless, burnout-inspiring trade grinding or mining, we shouldn't have access to bigger ships without entertaining the grueling game of efficient credit grinding? What about the lack of overall content? What about the overall lack of anything meaningful to invest in that can potentially have an influence on the ED universe as a whole? What about the lack of viable ways of making decent money within what's considered to be a reasonable span of time?

Take your blinders off. The concrete ship price barrier is an issue in the game for a number of legitimate, well-founded reasons, and "hurr, casual players should go home" isn't a valid answer to anything. The game needs to be harder than it currently is, but it needs to be more accessible and more varied and content-rich. It needs to have an expanded, well-defined and accessible sense of progression and scale at some level or another within the context of a sandbox -- otherwise, it's nothing more than a meaningless, empty, hollow, superficial experience that nobody in their right mind will want to play for months or years on end. In this respect, there's nothing "perfect" about a ship costing hundreds of millions of credits to buy and outfit with the current system in place, and unless you're being paid to argue otherwise, you'll agree.

 

[MaruKage]

It's easy to make 1200+ profit per 1t with palladium. Apathaam(anarchy sys. with station) --> Morana (Empire space). Only 16ly appart so only one jump for Cobra Mk lll. Easy to make 70k profit with 1 jump.