Starting over again, my impressions

[Jorlin]

Today my savegame was cleared, back to the standard Sidewinder.
Wrote Ticket, included a humble request for reimbursement (Anaconda and 5mio. cash), cursed a little....and started over.

After two hours of play, i added a note to the ticket to please NOT reimburse me.

It was....fun.

Now i have to say, i'm quite conditioned by MMOs after after 20 years playing them. Grinding is something i'm used to (at least i don't have to kill space rats in front of eranin with a club). And i like the feeling of actually "progressing" in some kind. With an Anaconda and that amount of credits...there is no progression, no short- to midterm goal.

So i jumped into my Siddy and headed off to try starting with cargo scooping at signal sources. Soon gave up, not my style.

Went to a "low intensity" combat zone and killed four or five enemies and then, with some cash for a start, went to trading.

After 183 Minutes of playtime i "amassed" 16k credits.
No hurry, no trade calculator, no speeddocking...just cruising around verry chilled.

I have to admit, i did "kamikaze trading" ...always investing everything i had. Nothing i would advise for everybody. But i had nothing to lose...since i already did. I gambled..and was lucky

I think it had been faster to buy a second laser and do a bit more hunting for a while...but it worked this way and that was what i wanted to test.

I'm looking forward to the reset at B1

 

[l1nk-dna]

I feel ya ,
I went from 924k in the bank , a Cobra MkIII 2 x class 3 gimballed pulse and 2 x class 1 giballed pulse, military spec bulkheads, repair bot and heat sink launcher to Sindwinder and 1000CR today also.

I’m still shaking my head.

Back on th Lepidolite and Explosive runs.

I said in a slight rage of disbelief "#¢∞§ this, i’m not playing again untill Beta1” , yet here i am.

 

[Stachel]

I haven't logged in since week 2 of Prem Beta tbh. Ain't nobody got time for dat.
I'm amazed so many Alphas and Prem Betas are still playing!

What is the draw?

I lost interest in trading after a 24 hr binge on release day and lost interest in shooting NPC's a day or two later. Then I got wiped out following the name change bug, ground back another 50k or so half heartedly, got reimbursed 300k or so a week later after filing a ticket for the name change bug and got all excited about getting a Cobra but have been happily not playing ED since ..

No idea why, I guess its just not fun? I think missing the Alpha was a mistake as there was a deal of fun in that but by Prem Beta it was just a grindfest and too buggy to support a decent return on time invested (for me at least). Waiting for more stability and more content personally. If that means release day, then so be it. I got other things to do.

 

[nats]

Yeah this sort of thing is what I am getting worried about, if so many people are getting turned off the game after only a few weeks of playing there has to be something wrong with the fundamental gameplay mechanics. I know at the moment all there is to do is fight and trade I do wonder how this will be improved on when the game is released other than making money will be more difficult. I think the true sign of whether the game is likely to be any good will probably come in the standard Beta next month when those who are a little less fanatical about the game start coming on board.

But this video says it all really and its a definite danger in this project that most of the fans will be burned out on the game before it is even released:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmLz00L6CmY&list=UUCODtTcd5M1JavPCOr_Uydg

I really hope this game is successful and continues to grow over time but problem I see is that by adding the multiplayer aspects into the game the core gameplay of Frontier, the concepts that made Frontier so great, has been changed so much that I wonder if this game is really going to be very fun at all?

Maybe this game is meant to be more of a remake of the original Elite than Frontier but, other than being the first of its kind, was Elite all that great? Surely Frontier was a better game overall, certainly in my mind it was. So losing Frontiers concepts and concentrating on Elite instead may well be a mistake. Every space game that came out since has been a clone of Elite, nobody has ever remade Frontier.

So exactly what is going to make this game so great? Hmmm.

 

[prasak]

I also have not spent the credits I got during the PB2 wipeout untill yesterday. Sidewinder gave me a freedom and fun I can hardly find in other ships because its free !

 

[Ixnatifual]

The mission system isn't even in yet so there's little to do except trade and grind those static farming areas which I think are placeholder anyways. I think people are playing mainly for the enjoyment of combat and working towards the Anaconda. The fact that you can PvP probably provides a lot of longevity for a beta that doesn't have too much content yet.

 

[blacky75]

reading all this is sometimes... freightening! Why? Will it be as good as expected? Will you play more than only a week (with at least 4h a day)? ...

Getting people into games and harder: keep 'em stick into... is just a thing of taste.

I see 2 categories of gamers, if I can say categories to it:
C1: I want the best, and now!!!!! (best and heaviest ship)
C2: I enjoy what I have right now, and curious on what's coming next...w/o googeling into forums to find the fastest way up (little ship starting and enjoying, working slowly for better ships...)

Not sure if I'm clear, so here an example:
I played WOW (world of warcraft, remember ^^) ... the first years, the game was damn hard, challanging, rewarding! You needed to be at a certain level to gain acces to a mount (horse or whatever), and it costs you crazy!!!! You were even thinking twice before getting one! Now? The horse is sooo easy to get at even lowlevel, that all fun's just gone! Way to fast for me, it kills the game (IMO).

I just hope ED won't be that sort of game, but I admit that the frontier ( <- not the game!) must be very HARD for devs to find out, between the very hardcore gamer, and the others arcade gamers who wants all right now...

Oh, another easy example which highly disappointed me: Diablo3! Way more constrained on path following than anything else, too easy to get very powerfull, the difficulty levels are way too easy (compared to D2... the hardest being D1!!!). I remember D1, for me, at first difficulty level was already very challanging!!!! In D3, you can finish the 2 first difficulty levels way too fast and easy.

But, I'm happy ED will come out... and for sure can't wait to jump into the sidewinder and hit the space! (still holding my fingers back from clicking "buy the premium beta" right now )

For me no other game could replace Elite (or frontier) so far in it's genre, looks like ED will... (x-rebirth: no comments!!!!).

Hmmm, maybe a bit of OT, sorry bout that

PS: and I hope it's all understandable, english isn't my mothertongue ^^ (german and french are)

 

[Half Giant]

No idea why, I guess its just not fun? I think missing the Alpha was a mistake as there was a deal of fun in that but by Prem Beta it was just a grindfest and too buggy to support a decent return on time invested (for me at least). Waiting for more stability and more content personally. If that means release day, then so be it. I got other things to do.

Not saying it solves things for you but in my experience stability is simply not an issue at the moment. There was a point in PB1 where the best option was to SC in and out of an instance after 3 kills or so. Since PB2 I haven't given it another thought. Congratulations to teh team for such an improvement.

 

[Slythe]

Burn out is always a problem and no games last forever, especially a game like this that is still at a fairly early beta stage. Personally I don't usually like playing games at alpha or beta stage for precisely this reason; I don't want to have burnt out by the time the game goes live. In this beta I am pacing myself; playing for a few days to test something or achieve something, but making sure there is always some aspect of the game still untouched that I can try later. Up to now I have visited the combat bonds precisely once only, and I have not seriously considered grinding using them. I have flown the Sidewinder (obviously! ), Eagle and Cobra. I've done quite a lot of trading. I've been to all the unidentified signals, I've hung out at the mining areas and I've tried smuggling illegal goods (not worth it at the moment as the profits are worse than trading normal legal goods). What I am currently interested in is testing different weapon loads on the Cobra, but I probably need to do a little more trading to get the cash to try them all. Beyond that I may grind to get the Lakon Type 9, just to see how difficult/easy it is to dock for my skill level.

 

[Slythe]

Not saying it solves things for you but in my experience stability is simply not an issue at the moment. There was a point in PB1 where the best option was to SC in and out of an instance after 3 kills or so. Since PB2 I haven't given it another thought. Congratulations to teh team for such an improvement.

I wish I had the same experience. PB2 hasn't been any better than PB1 for me, stability wise, unfortunately.

 

[Stachel]

Getting people into games and harder: keep 'em stick into... is just a thing of taste.

Speaking personally, and entirely subjectively, for me the game feels too much like an anonymous MMO grind fest at present. I don't feel connected to anything, or any other player(s). I don't derive any enjoyment from playing grind games on my own tbh.

Now, there's a ton of content to come hopefully and a lot more tools to be implemented so I am not saying the game sucks and I am disappointed at this stage as its still way too early.

But, yeah, I don't enjoy playing games like this 'alone' and with no social tools, no guilds, no co-op, no proper pvp (ganking people is not pvp) and nothing to do but shoot NPC's and move things from one station to another, my enthusiasm for the beta was measured in hours.

EVE was like this when I tried it at first: I spent all my time in high sec grinding away, doing missions, trading, hauling, manufacturing etc. It was mind numbingly boring and only appeals to autists.

Only when I left high sec and got in to small gang PVP and to an extent the meta game and stopped doing all the grind (I bought or stole isk) was it something I enjoyed. The social /team work aspect in conjunction with the competitive nature of PVP and the high skill threshold kept me hooked for years. I hope ED has some of that, or I don't think I'll be playing it much because there are a ton of other games that offer it in spades ..

 

[Jorlin]

Captains Log: "A new start", Day 2

Made enough money to trade my old, trusty Sidewinder in for a Hauler.
I think, i will miss "Dusty"

Never flew a Hauler before.
What can i say? I hate it.
I hate every single screw and plate.
The way it sounds, the way it looks...
Maybe i just don't want to be seen in it.

Decided to name her "Little Miss Piggy", have yet to find a station selling pink spraycans.
At least she will help me to get rid of her quickly.

End of entry.

 

[Viajero]

I haven't logged in since week 2 of Prem Beta tbh. Ain't nobody got time for dat.
I'm amazed so many Alphas and Prem Betas are still playing!

What is the draw?

For me is the dogfighting. It is so fulfilling trying to outmaneuver both AI or PC and trying to get better at the intricacies of dogfight for each of the 3 ships available for it so far! Trying to get the best use out of FAOFF, take the right decision at the right moment depending on your ship state and loadout, and your opponent's etc etc. Also, when a friend manages to log in in the same server, dogfighting with a wingman takes it to another level.

I dont care for gold tbh. Anacondas must be cool, Im sure, just not for me. Im happy being a poor man with my Sidey or Eagle. No grind required on my world... except to get some Cr for insurance! or a ship weapon/upgrade here or there.

Only when I left high sec and got in to small gang PVP and to an extent the meta game and stopped doing all the grind (I bought or stole isk) was it something I enjoyed. The social /team work aspect in conjunction with the competitive nature of PVP and the high skill threshold kept me hooked for years. I hope ED has some of that, or I don't think I'll be playing it much because there are a ton of other games that offer it in spades ..

Indeed, I also hope FD "reserves" certain areas of the huge galaxy for PVP (as in primarily PC driven) territorial gameplay at some point with time. Such areas will, if at all, be tiny minute when compared with the rest of the galaxy. The beauty of ED's unbelievable scale is that this kind of gameplay does not need to cannibalize the lone wolves or explorers or PVE' ers of this world. There is fortunately plenty of room (understatement of the year) for most gameplay styles in the galaxy if FD so wished.

 

[Jorlin]

Commanders Log: "A new start", Day 3

Still don't like "Piggy", but i don't have to worry about that anymore.
She was a proper tool for the job and now gone for good.

I'm back!
Starting the engines of my brandnew Cobra.
Still needs the outfit she deserves, so a bit more trading needed before i take her out for a real walk.
Shouldn't take much time though.

End of entry.

 

[Stoo]

Commanders Log: "A new start", Day 3

Still don't like "Piggy", but i don't have to worry about that anymore.
She was a proper tool for the job and now gone for good.

I'm back!
Starting the engines of my brandnew Cobra.
Still needs the outfit she deserves, so a bit more trading needed before i take her out for a real walk.
Shouldn't take much time though.

End of entry.

Nice

 

[Rickenbacker]

Captains Log: "A new start", Day 2

Made enough money to trade my old, trusty Sidewinder in for a Hauler.
I think, i will miss "Dusty"

Never flew a Hauler before.
What can i say? I hate it.
I hate every single screw and plate.
The way it sounds, the way it looks...
Maybe i just don't want to be seen in it.

Decided to name her "Little Miss Piggy", have yet to find a station selling pink spraycans.
At least she will help me to get rid of her quickly.

End of entry.

Don't worry, if you have enough money to fill the hold with something useful, you won't have to do many trips before you can afford a Cobra.

 

[Jorlin]

Don't worry, if you have enough money to fill the hold with something useful, you won't have to do many trips before you can afford a Cobra.

too late
to be honest, i thought it would take one more day.

 

[Jorlin]

oh, and whoever fixed the title, thanks

 

[Shepard]

I am personally not playing right now because:

1. There are still a lot of old bugs
2. There is nothing in game yet that rewards you based on risk v reward scheme.
3. Most of the profitable systems in game and even stations are camped by little kids or very immature adults in Cobras and Anaconda's looking for easy prey to have their short time of triumph since they won't be able to do it after game is in Main Beta.
4. I am waiting for my DK2 Oculus Rift.
5. I have life.
6. I don't wanna burn out on a game that is not even in actual Beta yet.
7. Game has way too few star systems to consider exploration fun.
8. Game has only basic features in which only promote grinding and griefing.
9. Elite is not really game yet and testing is no longer fun since there is nothing new to test, the only things left - grief others or grind trade runs or distress calls.
10. I just had some BBQ ribs!

 

[Jorlin]

I am personally not playing right now because:

1. There are still a lot of old bugs
2. There is nothing in game yet that rewards you based on risk v reward scheme.
3. Most of the profitable systems in game and even stations are camped by little kids or very immature adults in Cobras and Anaconda's looking for easy prey to have their short time of triumph since they won't be able to do it after game is in Main Beta.
4. I am waiting for my DK2 Oculus Rift.
5. I have life.
6. I don't wanna burn out on a game that is not even in actual Beta yet.
7. Game has way too few star systems to consider exploration fun.
8. Game has only basic features in which only promote grinding and griefing.
9. Elite is not really game yet and testing is no longer fun since there is nothing new to test, the only things left - grief others or grind trade runs or distress calls.
10. I just had some BBQ ribs!

1) true...but many got solved
2) i don't see it as a game right now. things i'm interested in are not even remotely in yet. (missions, factions)
3) not ONCE i have been attacked in the past three days. did not go to Freeport though
4)
5) me too...but i got too much time at the moment.
6) i don't feel getting "burned". it's not that i play the whole day. If i get bored, i look for something to test...or more often: just stop and do something else.
7) see 2).
8) grinding: yes, Griefing: did not come across it lately.
9) see 8) and 2)
10) WANT!