Newcomer / Intro That "Space Sim Comparison" Thread

[nrainha]

So here's the deal. I literally just registered not even 5 minutes before starting this thread, but I want to lay out my dilemma for you guys so that you might potentially give me some constructive and helpful information to aid me.

As of yesterday, I bought a ship package for Star Citizen because I respect their vision and goals blah blah blah.. I was aware of the problem that the game essentially has no exploration feature yet, so that's okay - but what lured me into the idea behind the game is that the amount of "meta" is incredible. The game allows you to develop a living social system within the game's already established systems. For example, organizations that are mining companies that in turn hire 'private military contractor' security details so that they have protection from pirates and raiders. Essentially EVE on a much less clunky platform. I was military in real life, so I figured it would only suit me to continue that kind of work in a video game setting, too. So PMC it was. I was sold, bought a package and invested in the future of the game for when it's ready to be released.

That's all great, but today I'm focused on the 'now'. What I've come here to ask you all is whether that same kind of meta exists in this game and to that degree? Is the universe fairly limitless in regards to player interaction and freedom? Is the algorithm strong enough at the moment to make each new, unexplored solar system different from the last?

Any help with this topic would be greatly appreciated, and you might just have a new invested player after all is said and done!

Thanks everyone!

 

[Smauler]

There are 400 billion star systems, most of which no one's ever been to (and obviously no one's in).

If you want to stick to the inhabited systems, bounty hunting is generally where the money is made, especially early on. Pirating is harder, and you need a decent setup. Missions are a generally crap way to make money.

There are 3 set civilizations, Federation, Empire, Alliance. You can advance militarily in the federation and empire. You can do both at the same time, or decide to be just one. There are more than enough inhabited systems.

There's currently a community goal in quivira, which is setting the empire against independents, which I have helped in. Reneging on debts is not acceptable.

However, all this being said, I've spent most of my time exploring the galaxy thus far. You can get decent rewards for exploring.

 

[nrainha]

So is bounty hunting done on real players, or just NPCs?

This 'quivira' thing you mentioned sounds like a player driven / player created story arch, is that correct?

Also, I've been trying my best to scour the internet and the forums both for this bit of information that I asked in my original post, and can't find one ounce of information on it: like in SC (hate to bring up outside games), there are outfits/organizations/companies that essentially have made their own meta objectives. Security, mining corporations, explorers leagues, etc etc and have in turn made their own branch of economy due to player-run 'companies' and suppliers. Is this something that's common in ED at all or is the whole "Hire us to protect your freight" thing too role-play'ish?

 

[slightly.distant]

So is bounty hunting done on real players, or just NPCs? - Either one.

This 'quivira' thing you mentioned sounds like a player driven / player created story arch, is that correct? - In some ways yes...players did do the leg work to make the event possible, but far as I know it was set up by FD.

Also, I've been trying my best to scour the internet and the forums both for this bit of information that I asked in my original post, and can't find one ounce of information on it: like in SC (hate to bring up outside games), there are outfits/organizations/companies that essentially have made their own meta objectives. Security, mining corporations, explorers leagues, etc etc and have in turn made their own branch of economy due to player-run 'companies' and suppliers. Is this something that's common in ED at all or is the whole "Hire us to protect your freight" thing too role-play'ish? - Youre able to do all of those things, and there are groups that do them, but I don't think it is exactly how you are explaining it there.

Check the bold bits

 

[nrainha]

Okay, I appreciate all that info you bolded for me, but do you mind expanding a bit on what you mean by your last statement saying it isn't exactly how I explained it? How do people go about that in this game? I look at a game like EVE and can respect the system they have set up in which players are given the ability to create their own hierarchies. I was hoping for something similar where, yes, obviously the game has set factions and goals, but players can essentially create their own "RPG within an RPG" scenario like I listed above. Pirates seem to exist in this game, and mining seems to exist in this game - BUT can players make a guild or whatever and label themselves as a "company" that specializes in mining or exploration or security or even piracy, and offer their services for payment from other guilds or 'companies'?

 

[Smauler]

There aren't player guilds, if that's what you are asking.

(at least not in game)

 

[nrainha]

There aren't player guilds, if that's what you are asking.

(at least not in game)

That's interesting... so how do players recognize each other as an organized unit?

 

[cmdr lowest]

That's interesting... so how do players recognize each other as an organized unit?

There are no player driven heirarchies or anything like that in Elite. However (to my knowledge) there's nothing like that in SC either, it's all theory on paper. What you may end up getting is nothing like you were imagining either. I am not buying into any of the SD hype until they deliver something. The week trial I played was extremely weak and disappointing.

There is a powerplay update due to launch in ED in May sometime which will see all the players choose sides throughout the galaxy so this area may be expanded on. Not sure how powerplay is going to work yet.

 

[TiberiuS]

That's right. There are no player driven guilds or companies in ED (and most probably never will be in game). The maximum number you can 'team up' right now is 4 players in a wing.

The economy in ED is kind of player driven, not without limits though. Demand and supply are there, but also in specific boundaries.

Bounty hunting is most of the time vs. NPCs but if you encounter a player with a bounty you can also claim that one. Why not?!

 

[faluc]

In short: there is no in-game support for player organizations. Best you can do is team up in a wing of max 4 players and fly around together. The idea of Elite is that you are just one man in the big Galaxy. Think of it like this: you can be the Ace Pilot but you'll never be the General.

That being said there are numerous player organizations that have well defined agendas. These range from pirate factions to mercenaries to explorer groups. They organize outside of the game in forums and their own websites. Look up the sub-forum here "Dangerous Groups"

The in-game political simulation is very basic as of now. A group of players can influence the affiliations of a star system by helping one of the minor factions in a system against another minor faction to gain control of said system. This is done by doing (very boring) missions and killing off the opposition. It involves a lot of imagining in your head, as you'll just see influence percentages going up and down
The 1.3 update "Power Play" promises to bring more depth to this part of the game. See the newsletter about it. If you look for participating in more structured power struggles maybe it is worthwile for you to wait until 1.3 is released.