Still as Inconvenient as Possible to Play

Blackcompany

Banned
B
With all the changes - and the Chieftain - on the way, I figured now would be a good time to take another look. Especially since I was excited to learn about a combat CG. In a High Tech, Empire system, no less.So I fly there. Only 3 jumps from my home base. Figured I would buy a combat ship when I get there. I mean...high tech. And Empire. Maybe grab a Courier. Or Imp Eagle...

But no. Of course not. Neither of these are available. Nor are Vultures.

so I alt+tab out...try and remember the name of the website I normally use to find information Frontier should have made available in the game literally years ago...and then I have a sudden realization:Its Friday night, and instead of playing a game, I am looking stuff up on a website, trying to get to a point where I CAN play.

Then I logged out, and loaded up a game that actually WANTS me to enjoy it.

I just thought I would come here and leave this. In the admittedly vain hope it will make a difference. Enough is enough with the intentional obfuscation of information.

The deliberate inconvenience. I can order a car online in the 21st century. And yet in Elite...I cant even see what ships a station has for sale without flying there. Its patently absurd, the degree to which technology has apparently regressed in the Elite universe. Not to mention: Its intentional inconvenience for the sake of inflating time spent "playing" the game.

Let me know when FDev actually care whether we enjoy this mess of disparate, unrelated mechanics masquerading (badly) as a game.Also...I would love to use paragraphs on the forum again. Alas, in Chrome at least this is apparently no longer possible.

Edit for Paragraphs, and: Turn Script Blocker off before posting here. Who Knew?
 
Last edited:

Kaocraft

Kaocraft
Two car dealerships on opposite sides of the world are still orders of magnitude closer to each other than any two stations in Elite. It may not be good game design but from a scenario standpoint it's not at all implausible.
 

Blackcompany

Banned
B
Kaocraft said:
Two car dealerships on opposite sides of the world are still orders of magnitude closer to each other than any two stations in Elite. It may not be good game design but from a scenario standpoint it's not at all implausible.
Click to expand...
Except...it IS completely implausible. At the least, the inability to find ships at stations close to your current system is ridiculous. If this were impossible in the game universe, economies couldnt exist. Each system would be its own island, either entirely self sufficient in all of its needs...or doomed to failure because it could not communicate its needs to a wider economy.Literally nothing about the in game economy or its markets makes any sense. Least of all this.
 

Enderby

E
No one plays ED on a Friday night. It's more of a Sunday thing.

People like to have fun on Fridays but want some quiet amusement on a Sunday.
 
Last edited:

MickyG1982

M
Captain Willard said:
OH! See the entire galaxy at the click of a button. The I want it now crowd. Hope it never happens.
Click to expand...

What isn't going to happen: (Though apparently easy mode is expected)

world-platter-serve-sun.jpg
 
Last edited:

Alodia

A
Captain Willard said:
OH! See the entire galaxy at the click of a button. The I want it now crowd. Hope it never happens.
Click to expand...

Yeah, no logic in having an absolute baseline game mechanic - where to buy ships or modules - available in game, right? Better to fly aimlessly from station to station across endless systems or start digging through a bunch of 3rd party websites instead.

Do you think it makes sense for the devs to have spent so much time and effort making this game work amazingly in vr, only to completely ruin the experience due to having to remove the helmet every 10 minutes to find out from a website where an item/ship/module is located?

If you want an even slightly less "you gotta be kidding me" experience, you have to buy ovrdrop for vive or make use of the recent oculus additions.

Hardly the "I want it now" crowd, unless you mean "I want the absolute bare minimum feature in a game about spaceships to allow me to modify my spaceship to exist" crowd.
 

777Driver

777Driver
High tech filters (with large population) is the best option in game, OP got unlucky. The shipyard side of things has always been about experience (knowing the area) Or just simply asking another cmdr or heading to a third party site.

Below are the well known stations, known to anyone with experience in the game. Do your homework guys..

Empire space

Faust 68 -
Beta-1 Tucanae,
Beta-2 Tucanae,
CD-54 9671

Fed Space

Bhritzameno
EZ AQUARII
GRoombridge 34


Guaranteed every ship

Shinrarta Dezhra
Isola-Prospect


Would definitely recommend Inara with ED market connector installed, tracks everything for you, amazing tool.
 
Last edited:

Nick Sticks

Nick Sticks
777Driver said:
High tech filters (with large population) is the best option in game, OP got unlucky. The shipyard side of things has always been about experience (knowing the area) Or just simply asking another cmdr or heading to a third party site.
Click to expand...

Yes, using the filters and then checking the systems out.
I must be odd that I like finding things like this.
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Nick Sticks said:
Yes, using the filters and then checking the systems out.
I must be odd that I like finding things like this.
Click to expand...

You're not odd. I enjoy it too.

My reaction to the trade improvements:

"Oh... just like what I've been doing for years, only easier."

Half the fun of doing trade CGs was reading the CG threads, and seeing all the whining about how there's no highly profitable commodity near the CG anymore, and then using the in game filters to get all the nearby high profits that sites like EDDB.io miss, because those sites aren't nearly as omniscient as people like to think they are.
 

Alodia

A
777Driver said:
Do your homework guys..

Would definitely recommend Inara with ED market connector installed, tracks everything for you, amazing tool.
Click to expand...

the endless refrain of "do your homework guys" in these threads, just like the other one about the lack of in game information about meta alloy location, instead of maybe asking the devs why you have to fly around endlessly to find basic ship prerequisites, and why third party sites make more use of this data then the game does, baffles me. those sites only exist in the first place precisely because nobody putting the game together thought it might not make sense to jump between six different systems looking for a particular size of cargo rack.

again: it is indefensible to go to all that time and trouble to make this game one of the best vr experiences around, then effectively self sabotage it by making you remove the helmet all the time simply so you're not wasting time flying in circles hoping you end up at the station selling the module you need. or discovering which station you kickstart guardian missions from. or where you buy meta alloys from. or etc etc.
 
Last edited:

777Driver

777Driver
Alodia said:
the endless refrain of "do your homework guys" in these threads, just like the other one, instead of maybe asking the devs why you have to fly around endlessly to find basic ship prerequisites
again: it is indefensible to go to all that time and trouble to make this game one of the best vr experiences around, then effectively self sabotage it by making you remove the helmet all the time simply so you're not wasting time flying in circles hoping you end up at the station selling the module you need. or discovering which station you kickstart guardian missions from. or where you buy meta alloys from. or etc etc.
Click to expand...

First thing, you don't have to fly around endlessly, that is your choice. Second, you don't have to remove your HMD, oculus dash has been around for a while.

Btw, I gave you a list of all the stations you needed, just bookmark them. Add Digaunadri to the list..

Am not making excuses for the devs, a simple list of available ships when you click on the station wouldn't be hard to implement (THey already list player ships docked) On the flip side lets not try to make this into some kind of big deal, OP got unlucky, decided to rant. Dock at a high tech system, chances are you'll find what you are looking for, or do your homework and bookmark the systems for future reference.

Regarding Meta Alloys, there has always been a single place in the galaxy that sells them - Darnielle's Progress
 
Last edited:

Alodia

A
777Driver said:
First thing, you don't have to fly around endlessly, that is your choice. Second, you don't have to remove your HMD, oculus dash has been around for a while.
Click to expand...

flying around endlessly is not a "choice", if imposed by a lack of in game information where to buy basic modules from. the choice is to keep flying to random stations, start digging through a bunch of websites that many players wouldn't even know exist, or stop playing. are you seriously suggesting "stop playing" is the solution to give to everyone baffled by this design choice instead of just improving the glaring problem?

oculus dash came out at in October last year, how long has this game been on sale by comparison? and it's still using a third party tool in order to open up websites as a crutch, instead of the game simply providing some basic information from the nearest systems.

no such setup exists on a vive, which means buy ovrdrop so you don't have to keep taking your helmet off, and functionality of said app leaves a lot to be desired, especially as not all websites work properly in it - at which point, you literally do have to fly around aimlessly or take your helmet off and load up chrome.

/ edit to reply to your additions:
1) "bookmark systems for future reference" - yes, great, how do you find said systems again? by using third party websites or flying to random stations.
2) "Regarding Meta Alloys, there has always been a single place in the galaxy that sells them - Darnielle's Progress" right, sure. and without jumping onto forums, or searching with a third party website, how do you find this out ingame without randomly flying to that one station randomly?
 
Last edited:

777Driver

777Driver
Alodia said:
flying around endlessly is not a "choice"
Click to expand...

I have never had to fly around endlessly looking for a module or ship, if I am not 100% certain a station will sell what I need, I head to I-Sola prospect or Shinrata. It is your choice to fly around aimlessly looking for a module or ship.
 

Lucifera Danzig

Lucifera Danzig
Alodia said:
the endless refrain of "do your homework guys" in these threads, just like the other one about the lack of in game information about meta alloy location, instead of maybe asking the devs why you have to fly around endlessly to find basic ship prerequisites, and why third party sites make more use of this data then the game does, baffles me. those sites only exist in the first place precisely because nobody putting the game together thought it might not make sense to jump between six different systems looking for a particular size of cargo rack.

again: it is indefensible to go to all that time and trouble to make this game one of the best vr experiences around, then effectively self sabotage it by making you remove the helmet all the time simply so you're not wasting time flying in circles hoping you end up at the station selling the module you need. or discovering which station you kickstart guardian missions from. or where you buy meta alloys from. or etc etc.
Click to expand...

It's indefensible to insist on attributing to malice or callousness on FDev's part things that EVERY MMO has been doing since MMOs have been created. The number of community sites detailing what to find and where to find it exists for just about the majority of popular games out there. The fact that third-party sites exist is because FDev made a Companion API and is giving other people the opportunity to see what they can make of it. And by dismissing them and saying they shouldn't exist belittles the effort and enthusiasm with which they created and maintain these sites. In fact FDev specifically mentioned during the livestream "we're not looking to make them obsolete." They are mindful of the tremendous effort these members of the community have put into these labors of love, and how these tools are their way of being directly engaged in the experience and having an impact on the game.

I'm in the Discord for the third-party tool creators, and a member of FDev posted that an updated cAPI document is being provided on the day of the Beta or thereabouts. Because the creators have asked for it, and are eager to have it, and plan on doing big things with it. That's blazing THEIR own trail.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom