So easy for beginners now!

[Pyrotiger]

Well, it's been a year since I bought ED and started playing it. Over 1200 hours, and I'm closing in on the triple Elite, as well has having finished extensively engineering the best part of 20 ships.

For the most part, I've taken on a rather 'grindy' playing path (although it has been sprinkled with fun), and perhaps I've been in too much of a rush to 'tick off the achievements'. I know many posters here talk about the journey rather than the destination, yada yada I thought but...well, I've a second account so I decided that yesterday, I would just go Iron Man on it and restart. And do most of what I did before differently.

My rules would be:

- Iron Man
- Nothing that is an exploit (or could be seen as an exploit by some board members) - no skimmers, no mode switching etc.
- No outside programs like EDDB etc.
- 100% open (when I've only ever spent under an hour in it!)
- Obsess as little as possible about Engineers and the like.

So far, I have played about 4 and a half hours. Apart from some twonk banging into me in his Viper in a station just for the lolz, I have been interdicted...0 times. Zip. Zilch. I can't believe it. When I started last year, I was interdicted every two minutes!

I did delivery missions, light cargo missions...and soon found two stations just 8,000 kilometres next to each other. Round trip profit of 3,000 and with the potential of over 30 jumps (can't really even call it a jump!) an hour...tasty! So I'm in a T6 already with over 3 million in assets! However, I'm wary of getting stuck into this playstyle for too long - why restart just to do the simplest A B trade route.

My point is - so far, it's a doddle. OK, so I've some skills I learnt from last time, but anyone with half a brain should be able to thrive compared to a year ago. Literally, I was crawling back to stations with 13% hull just for a tiny handful of credits, wondering when I could afford to upgrade to that shiny Cobra MkIII, and then mine my way to an Asp. And this was in Solo!

Back then, the danger looked for you, and it seemed to be round every corner. Now, you look for the danger, if you want it.

Overly friendly to beginners?

 

[Jaiotu]

I've done a few restarts of my own ... and plan on restarting one of my alt accounts once 2.3 lands.

Interdictions? The key is to keep your combat rank at Harmless. Hardly anyone (NPC-wise) will interdict you if your combat rank is Harmless. If they do interdict you it's pretty easy to evade the interdiction or just low-wake out if by some miracle they do pull you out of supercruise.

2.3 is going to make exploration a paying profession. Start with a sidewinder and just add a 300 credit fuel scoop. Even with just the Basic Discovery Scanner you'll be able to make bank.

Too easy? Maybe. Or maybe this is how Elite: Dangerous should have been from day one. I'm kind of on the fence on that one.

 

[Soopyyy]

This time a year ago, the interdictions were out of control. How it is now, is how it was when the game launched. You've got a skewed perspective.

 

[Vandaahl]

How can you say something objectively about beginners when you have burned 1200 hours in this game?

Have you ever tried to introduce someone new to the game? I bought the game for a friend of mine, and after a month of lecturing and teaching, I have come to realize how much there is in this game, how much knowledge I gained in the past years and how difficult things are for a beginner. He learned he still has a long way to go, and after seeing him try to evade an interdiction I agreed

Beginning with 0 experience and a vet starting over again are 2 extremes. If the last one wants things to be hard when starting all over, the first one won't even last a week.

 

[through the hole backwards]

I couldn't agree more with what Vandaahl has just said . I have about 700 hours in game and like yourself am approaching triple Elite, and have explored all aspect of the game mechanism. I am not planning on going ironman although I appreciate the enjoyment of those who do , I value my achievements more highly than that. You should temper your assertion that the game is easier safe in the knowledge that your 1200 hours of gameplay has given you a significant advantage over a player who plays for the first time. I will add that the benefit provided by outside programmes, EDDB, INARA , this very forum , should not be underestimated and I would imagine that without them or your 1200 hours you would be in a very similar position to a new player freshly started. Do you include the future refusal to use these forum as part of your ironman strategy, given that by your own stricture it is an outside program?

 

[Jaiotu]

How can you say something objectively about beginners when you have burned 1200 hours in this game?

Have you ever tried to introduce someone new to the game? I bought the game for a friend of mine, and after a month of lecturing and teaching, I have come to realize how much there is in this game and how difficult things are for a beginner. He learned he still has a long way to go, and after seeing him try to evade an interdiction I agreed

Beginning with 0 experience and a vet starting over again are 2 extremes. If the last one wants things to be hard when starting all over, the first one won't even last a week.

I couldn't agree more with what Vandaahl has just said . I have about 700 hours in game and like yourself am approaching triple Elite, and have explored all aspect of the game mechanism. I am not planning on going ironman although I appreciate the enjoyment of those who do , I value my achievements more highly than that. You should temper your assertion that the game is easier safe in the knowledge that your 1200 hours of gameplay has given you a significant advantage over a player who plays for the first time. I will add that the benefit provided by outside programmes, EDDB, INARA , this very forum , should not be underestimated and I would imagine that without them or your 1200 hours you would be in a very similar position to a new player freshly started. Do you include the future refusal to use these forum as part of your ironman strategy, given that by your own stricture it is an outside program?

Yep. You can reset your game save but you can't reset your experience. You keep that.

 

[Frank]

It could be considered an exploit to use all the information and skills you have amassed while playing the game. There is only one true way for you to restart as a beginner. Just look into this light...

 

[tafkabb]

You're not a beginner, you're an experienced player with a new account. They are two entirely different things. For beginners, no, Elite definitely isn't too easy

As has already been said, except I used far fewer words [haha]

 

[Noddie]

I've always played in the "semi-ironman" mode of using nothing outside of Elite, other than looking up questions on the internet about how to play. For me, the first few days of play were some of the most confusing but fun days.

I really enjoyed tarting around in a ship I barely knew how to fly, let alone fly in combat. High comedy moments like deploying weapons to destroy a pirate ship.... Only to find my shields went down as I'd not set my power priorities and couldn't actually afford to run the lasers I'd been saving up for - winch them in again boost boost boost, weave... boost.... JUMP! Moments like realising I was holding my breath whilst docking in silent running with a hold full of...... something illegal..... I remember losing my canopy in combat and it seemed do dramatic racing to get the battered ship back to a station before the oxygen ran out! - docking and seeing "atmosphere restored" was SUCH a relief. Also less fun moments like boosting away from a station in a T6 with a hold full over - pretty well - everything I owned. Straight into an arm of the station (boom.....), then realising I had rebuy so could get the ship back, but had to strip some modules off to raise funds for more cargo.

I recently wiped my beta save to start again, and it's not the same at all. It's still fun, but since I know all this stuff already it's not the same as someone who gets into combat and thinks "well, how do the smegging lasers work???" - which was, in many respects, even more fun. Certainly parking a military ship in a HazRes, popping the turrets and watching pirates suicide against you isn't much fun.

 

[Vasea Azure]

Its easy for you because of your past expiriance and knowledge of the game. Complete noob would have much harder time staring his journey.

 

[DaveB]

I've never resset my save - I'm too attached to my cmdr - name, rp bakstory, everything else I've put into making them a character I can "play as" - but I HAVE sold off all my fleet but one ship then gone be silly with that expensive ship until I successfully zeroed out my credit balance and the next prang put me back in a freewinder twice.

It's not the "true beginner experience" but the fact that I still have my ranks and reps and what the game throws at me matches those goes at least some way towards offsetting the knowledge and skills I still have from my previous hours playing. I don't exploit or grind so the rebuild process isn't as rapid as it could be but I do have fun

 

[bubbabenali]

When I was a noob, I didn't even knew about the 3 diferent ways of travel. It took me several days to travel to another system.

I'd say 80% of the noob troubles are "not knowing" instead of "not possible"... ever since.

 

[CMDR Heisenberg B. Damned]

I fully appreciate I'll never get back to that vertical learning curve that starting Elite Dangerous is but surely there's something wrong with a new player being given a mission that's worth 10,000 Cr, driving them immediately to the mission board which is full of delivery missions for 2 units of a low value commodity 8 ly away for 100,000 Cr +.

All the smaller ships are instantly available right up to an Adder, do those a few times, or get lucky and get a couple of 160,000 Cr missions and they're in a Cobra or above.

If they manage to get a passenger mission they can be 300,000 Cr +.

Yes it's unlikely a new player will know to do these things but they are steered to the mission board.

From a purely selfish point of view it kinda ruins doing a clear save. There's no effort, no risk, no flying around the starter system in Open worrying about the hollow icons.

It just seems wrong for a faction to say "Hey, no idea who you are but take these 2 units of water to the next system and here's enough cash to buy a much better ship.".

 

[Wyaston Hypatia]

Is the game too easy for a New starting player - No.
Is the game too easy for a Re-starting player - Yes.

Knowledge of the game makes the start easier that it should be for a player who understands the game, it's mechanics, what to do and not do, etc. The OP illustrates the point exactly as he knows what he is doing.
I would like there to be some form of choice of variable (harder) difficulty with the restart, probably unlocked after a certain number of hours/Weeks play time, that made the game treat you with a higher rank that you posses for NPC spawns and mission difficulty but not mission rewards. So new players can learn the game, but restarting players are challenged.

 

[bubbabenali]

I fully appreciate I'll never get back to that vertical learning curve that starting Elite Dangerous is but surely there's something wrong with a new player being given a mission that's worth 10,000 Cr, driving them immediately to the mission board which is full of delivery missions for 2 units of a low value commodity 8 ly away for 100,000 Cr +.

All the smaller ships are instantly available right up to an Adder, do those a few times, or get lucky and get a couple of 160,000 Cr missions and they're in a Cobra or above.

If they manage to get a passenger mission they can be 300,000 Cr +.

Yes it's unlikely a new player will know to do these things but they are steered to the mission board.

From a purely selfish point of view it kinda ruins doing a clear save. There's no effort, no risk, no flying around the starter system in Open worrying about the hollow icons.

It just seems wrong for a faction to say "Hey, no idea who you are but take these 2 units of water to the next system and here's enough cash to buy a much better ship.".

That are all valid points.
But keep in mind: Whenever you have the question in mind "But would it make sense" and obviously have the answer to that, a noob probably would not ask that question because he does not have the knowledge and doeas not know where to get that information from on top.

For example: Would it make sense to buy me an Eagle from my first 50k cr? Probably not, but hey it's a g combat ship. And then you see, that you can't even fir it out with weapons and with the next rebuy screen you also realize that you're back to the Sidwinder anyways.

 

[d8veh]

My guess is that FD are planning some new gameplay for which you need more expensive, engineered ships to participate, so they're speeding up the front end of the game.

 

[CMDR Heisenberg B. Damned]

That are all valid points.
But keep in mind: Whenever you have the question in mind "But would it make sense" and obviously have the answer to that, a noob probably would not ask that question because he does not have the knowledge and doeas not know where to get that information from on top.

For example: Would it make sense to buy me an Eagle from my first 50k cr? Probably not, but hey it's a g combat ship. And then you see, that you can't even fir it out with weapons and with the next rebuy screen you also realize that you're back to the Sidwinder anyways.

I know but the point I'm trying to make is as soon as they realise the shipyard and outfitting can give them extra cargo space or a harder ship with better weapons they'll likely be able to buy a Cobra at least, there's no anticipation of wanting to make it to that ship. Took me a week of solid playing to make to a Cobra and loads of people on the forum were complaining about how easy it is now (back in 2015). I had to balance if an assassination mission was worth the effort for the risk in an under armed Sidewinder. Buying an Eagle was an achievement, getting the Hauler was as well.

It's the fact that FD have removed the rank from being a factor in mission payouts really, that's the big difference.

- - - Updated - - -

My guess is that FD are planning some new gameplay for which you need more expensive, engineered ships to participate, so they're speeding up the front end of the game.

Well that is a possibility, guess time will tell.

 

[Pyrotiger]

Do you include the future refusal to use these forum as part of your ironman strategy, given that by your own stricture it is an outside program?

You trying to get rid of me?

By my own stricture it's not an outside program, as this forum can be used many ways. Any concrete information obtainable from it, yes. Such as 'go with this loadout' or 'There's this great trade route from Neganhot to Fishsticks'. If you disagree with this definition, fine.

- - - Updated - - -

My guess is that FD are planning some new gameplay for which you need more expensive, engineered ships to participate, so they're speeding up the front end of the game.

Possibly so. Given what you know, I'm sure you can afford it

 

[Mikey2305]

I spent the first few weeks not knowing my aspidistra from my elbow. No thoughts of making money, just trying to dock safely. It probably is easier to make money but im sure the skills you have built up on your journey add to that.

But yes, the kids these days dont know how lucky they are...

 

[DaveB]

My guess is that FD are planning some new gameplay for which you need more expensive, engineered ships to participate, so they're speeding up the front end of the game.

That would be... "unfortunate"

The RNGineers get up my nose a fair bit so I haven't even put in the effort to unlock many of 'em. On those that I have unlocked I've gone and rolled a couple of mods when I was in the neighborhood in a ship that I'd already A-rated to the max but right now engineering is a gameplay aspect that I find a little annoying. Currently, that's fine. Choosing not to participate in one particular gameplay aspect in Elite doesn't lock you out of any other. There are things that you can do easier in an engineered ship than you can in one that's not, but there's nothing you can't do without 'em. There's nothing wrong with content that requires bigger, more expensive ships to be viable. There's also nothing wrong with being able to engineer a cheaper ship up to such a level that you can participate in that content using it. If you have to have an engineered ship to participate at all, it would be something new in the Elite ecosystem and about as welcome as a tarantula in the crate of bananas.