Stealthie Was Right, Again.

[Ralph Vargr]

I picked up my second alt account on sale a week or so ago.

Stealthie had advised me the honeymoon would be a short one. He was right.

I took a carrier ride to Colonia with my new account. My ship was an A rated Cobra 3, with no engineering. I found the mining great, but the third time in Colonia simply didn't have the new car smell to it.

The BGS wars had continued unabated, but there really wasn't a big difference in the gameplay from the bubble- except limited jump range for my un-engineered Cobra. Going exploring for long distances wasn't in the cards. Neither was mining, due to limited cargo space. The stations were paying high prices for tritium, and painite. Despite the richness of my old pristine spots, I could get good quality material, but not enough in cargo space. Being limited to ten or twenty drones sucks.

What I really wanted was an engineered Python. The ship for Colonia. But not worth the hassle of getting one out there, carriers or not. Mining is becoming quite tedious, for me.

Tedious is not what this alt account is for. Just flying around can be done in the bubble, cheaper and easier. Time to cash out, and return to the bubble.

 

[Mercury7]

I think the mistake was probably flying out to Colonia so early. It just isn't viable at the beginning.

I still haven't been there and I have the longest jump-range ship there is (and before the updated Engineer blueprints I had one of THE longest jump-range versions - I ranked 16th on the list at one point).

I want to head out there, but not yet.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

I think the mistake was probably flying out to Colonia so early. It just isn't viable at the beginning.

I still haven't been there and I have the longest jump-range ship there is (and before the updated Engineer blueprints I had one of THE longest jump-range versions - I ranked 16th on the list at one point).

I want to head out there, but not yet.

All too true. The temptation to take a free ride was too strong.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

I parked my alt there with the goal to work on the ship I'm flying via engineering through the local Colonia engineers. To be able to do this, you have to have those unlocked first. I forgot to do this properly for one of them, so had to go back to the bubble again, and back to Colonia. This was prior to FCs so no easy travel without at least some grindy gameplay involved (and I subsequently wiped the alt account again lol - this time I won't though).

All engineers (bar Petra who I need to rank up combat for first) are now unlocked, but I could only engineer my ship to G2/3 at most due to a severe lack of G4/5 materials.

As a result, I haven't bothered playing much on that account, although just flying around the region and taking in the sights is still worthwhile now and then, and a welcome change of scenery from the bubble.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing with that account though - although one idea is to go on a rampage and clock up the highest possible bounty, which could be interesting from a survival point of view since the ship isn't exactly invincible.

All in all though, I do find myself playing on my main account mostly now, thanks to the convenience of my FC and the additional options I have on it, such as AX combat, which I got more into again recently.

 

[goemon]

well, i moved my tertiary account resetted and horizoned after FC update to colonia, after getting the invites for three of the engineers out there. loving it. cobra, t6, DBS. might be that none of the others two is set up to fly aimlessly.

 

[Ydiss]

I remember getting my alt account early 2015 when it was still edgy and cool (some were waiting for a second commander slot but of course that never materialised). It was a bit out there. Innovative, even.

Now I sit here, my single alt account untouched for years while you lot talk about your third, fourth and fifth accounts and I feel so out of touch

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Well, buying the second account prevented me from wiping my main one, so money well spent for that alone

Wouldn't do it again though, and I do feel a bit dirty for supporting the status quo by throwing money at FDev just for a second save slot essentially.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Stealthie had advised me...

He was right.

Stealthie is always right....


Apart from the times he is wrong, of course

 

[Kenneth McGrew]

I started an ALT account but gave up when i realised i needed to unlock all those sodding engineers again...

you called it out correct, too much hassle, limited fun and novelty factor.

 

[Ydiss]

Well, buying the second account prevented me from wiping my main one, so money well spent for that alone

Wouldn't do it again though, and I do feel a bit dirty for supporting the status quo by throwing money at FDev just for a second save slot essentially.

I don't begrudge the cost (I paid a lot more for mine than anyone would need to pay now too, think it was the original retail price). I threw my money at them because I felt they deserve it.

But I'd place their refusal to add even just one extra commander slot after 6 years (even at a low additional cost would have been acceptable, like £4.99) quite high on my relatively short list of disappointments.

It's largely been forgotten now but it's a pretty naff move. Having two commanders would have been enough. I can't imagine it's that technically difficult to implement and it'd have been a nice gesture. But it seems the community's acceptance of the incredibly clunky method of literally saving multiple copies of the game, after buying the game again (or entering two factor login details every time you switch) has been taken as granted by fdev and they've just taken it happily as a win, not even bothering to acknowledge that massive loyalty with support for more than one seamlessly logged in and switchable account!

Disappointing.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

I don't begrudge the cost (I paid a lot more for mine than anyone would need to pay now too, think it was the original retail price). I threw my money at them because I felt they deserve it.

But I'd place their refusal to add even just one extra commander slot after 6 years (even at a low additional cost would have been acceptable, like £4.99) quite high on my relatively short list of disappointments.

It's largely been forgotten now but it's a pretty naff move. Having two commanders would have been enough. I can't imagine it's that technically difficult to implement and it'd have been a nice gesture. But it seems the community's acceptance of the incredibly clunky method of literally saving multiple copies of the game, after buying the game again (or entering two factor login details every time you switch) has been taken as granted by fdev and they've just taken it happily as a win, not even bothering to acknowledge that massive loyalty with support for more than one seamlessly logged in and switchable account!

Disappointing.

Yeah, plus you have to re-buy DLCs and cosmetics all over again on top of the base game. I did my best to not purchase a lot of cosmetics, by sticking to very few and only buy PJs that I don't have on my main account.

I 100% won't be buying Odyssey for my alt though, which means the alt account will be used even less once that goes live.

 

[Rat Catcher]

I 100% won't be buying Odyssey for my alt though, which means the alt account will be used even less once that goes live.

Nor me for my 2 alts - I just can't justify the outlay, perhaps when there is a sale on and I can buy for £4.99 or similar...

Even today, I'm not certain that Odyssey will make it onto my main account - being on a fixed income (pension) it all depends on the economic climate when the expansion drops, certainly a 'wait & see' situation

 

[Stealthie]

Trouble is, every secondary ED account should be supplied with either a dose of Torchwood's Retcon drug or an MIB Neuraliser.

When you first play ED, you don't know what's out there so discovering engineers, guardian stuff and faction-locked ships is a journey of wonder and surprise.
Second (or third) time around, anything different you do is just "treading water" before you, inevitably, get back on the treadmill to gain access to all the stuff.

+EDIT+

Also, I should probably invite Ralph over so he can tell my missus I was right about something.
Bring a crash helmet.

 

[Mercury7]

I remember the early days (both my own journey, and the literal beginnings of ED back in the Beta days), and it has definitely morphed over that time.

ED hasn't quite taken the direction I thought it might, and it will be interesting to see where Odyssey goes.

I think as well as adding new features, now would be a great time for FDev to add some "more meat to the bones" of what they've already created.

I'm making a point of following GalNet much more closely this time, considering it a form of interactive e-book.

One thing FDev need to address is how players can affect story progression through factions, and work on a way that the story moves with the player a little more.

As it is, if you start playing now, you've missed all the stuff that went before, which while not necessarily being a bad thing, does mean that new players are being dropped into the middle of an existing storyline.

 

[znôrt]

I did my best to not purchase a lot of cosmetics,

you didn't use the force ...

by sticking to very few and only buy PJs that I don't have on my main account.

... and failed.

Spoiler

never really understood alt accounts. for me if a game needs/encourages alts then it would be best to stay away from it, it's broken in a sense. it's pervasive, though. the way i deal with those when i do want to play for some reason is just ignoring most of the fancy carrotty stuff and sticking to the basics and my fun.

some extra slot for a friend or experiments would be nice but that's too much complication for the added value. otoh alts make extra money and inflate sales doing nothing, so i understand it's a pretty popular option for developers nowadays. don't feed the trolls!

 

[Ydiss]

Yeah, plus you have to re-buy DLCs and cosmetics all over again on top of the base game. I did my best to not purchase a lot of cosmetics, by sticking to very few and only buy PJs that I don't have on my main account.

I 100% won't be buying Odyssey for my alt though, which means the alt account will be used even less once that goes live.

Actually, that's why I stopped the alt... No Horizons.

Yeh, can't justify the continued cost of expansions for alts.

 

[Ydiss]

you didn't use the force ...



... and failed.

Spoiler

never really understood alt accounts. for me if a game needs/encourages alts then it would be best to stay away from it, it's broken in a sense. it's pervasive, though. the way i deal with those when i do want to play for some reason is just ignoring most of the fancy carrotty stuff and sticking to the basics and my fun.

some extra slot for a friend or experiments would be nice but that's too much complication for the added value. otoh alts make extra money and inflate sales doing nothing, so i understand it's a pretty popular option for developers nowadays. don't feed the trolls!

I got it for one reason, I was exploring but still wanted to play with my friend in the bubble.

The game is set up to be ideal to have an alt. Just doesn't support it.

 

[goemon]

well, i think i use alts to circumvent travel times.
always loved exploring. started very early to play the bgs. those two don't go together well already.
so, after buckyballing back from an expedition 3 times for bgs reasons i decided to get a second account, cheap sale, no horizons.
later, when thargoids and guardian where introduced, i needed a horizons account in the bubble ... there was a sale. now that bubble account has a FC and is bound to the bgs, so i upgraded the third account to fly aimlessly with horizons and resetted it.
non of that would have happened with less travel time, but as an explorer i won't complain.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

you didn't use the force ...



... and failed.



never really understood alt accounts. for me if a game needs/encourages alts then it would be best to stay away from it, it's broken in a sense. it's pervasive, though. the way i deal with those when i do want to play for some reason is just ignoring most of the fancy carrotty stuff and sticking to the basics and my fun.

some extra slot for a friend or experiments would be nice but that's too much complication for the added value. otoh alts make extra money and inflate sales doing nothing, so i understand it's a pretty popular option for developers nowadays. don't feed the trolls!

I was initially completely against even entertaining the idea of buying the game a second time, but the alternative would've been to wipe my main account - this was around last December so we didn't know much about FCs and I was bored stiff with 'having it all' - I would've regretted that more I'm pretty sure now. And while you can tell people that starting from scratch won't be the same experience as the first time you go through it, it's still worth doing it regardless, if even just to confirm it for yourself. And as I said before my alt is now a handy fast-travel option to Colonia, as I enjoy spending time in that part of the galaxy now and then, while being able to keep my main account in the bubble where all the FC action is.

As for cosmetics, my goal was to have a minimal number of cosmetics attached to that account, and as far as I'm concerned I succeeded in that Steam reckons about 200 hours that I got out of playing that one, all in all I must've spent about 40 Euros on that copy which is quite frankly peanuts compared to what I dumped into my main account (which nears the 3,000 hour mark, and still gets played daily). If there are any regrets with regards to cosmetic purchasing, it's various kits and PJs that were low effort/poor quality for ships I no longer fly, or for which I bought better PJs since. But, sunk cost and all that.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Trouble is, every secondary ED account should be supplied with either a dose of Torchwood's Retcon drug or an MIB Neuraliser.

When you first play ED, you don't know what's out there so discovering engineers, guardian stuff and faction-locked ships is a journey of wonder and surprise.
Second (or third) time around, anything different you do is just "treading water" before you, inevitably, get back on the treadmill to gain access to all the stuff.

+EDIT+

Also, I should probably invite Ralph over so he can tell my missus I was right about something.
Bring a crash helmet.

I had to turn mine in forty years ago.