The 3 most lazy things about Elite Dangerous and how to fix them

[MACMAN86]

Valid points but you are telling DEVS how to write their game. Added interest seriously? You can not force us to have to play longer in our real lives. You got carried away in writing your rules. Surely they just need to tweak a few things we do not like as fair play. Yes, change cargo in space as found NOT stolen but illegal goods are correctly illegal goods to smuggle. In life a bailiff (is issued by a court and not the same as what you suggest which is a debt collector) can simply take away from you what adds up to cover the fine plus his own costs. You just learned something and is the reason we hate bailiffs - they can on a 2nd visit break into your home legally! Look it up.

 

[PhanttoM]

Good constructive criticism, despite that I don't agree with all of them.

There many things in this game thatmay seem like pure laziness, but honestly I've found so many "small things" that could use improvement, that the sum of them just piles up to a ton of work — Ultimately I think they went wth the best choice: Stability first.


My personal recent "lazy thing" gripe is turret control modes, where I would like a simple option to manually fire them, rather than autofire which can result in friendly fire.

 

[Hexen]

Wrong when it comes to how things work, but neither is the game doing these things right.

There's not much you can do to prevent exploits and abuse. But given the time I'm sure it will all get more... reasonable. Just need to flesh out things a bit, make gameplay more fluid and there will be no need for such draconic measures. But this is how it is for now. No reason to call this "lazy".

 

[TUXER]

I take issue with the word 'lazy' in this string.

destiny = 500 million to make

everyone should be able to fill in the blanks with my meaning

 

[Ghostile]

I take issue with the word 'lazy' in this string.

destiny = 500 million to make

everyone should be able to fill in the blanks with my meaning

Neither has a story.
Destiny has some of the best game mechanics around.

 

[Zenicetus]

Regarding salvage... I believe the current setup is intended to prevent a 2-player piracy/smuggling exploit. If dropped cargo wasn't marked stolen, then a pair of friends could operate as one "dirty" player committing piracy and racking up fines/bounties, while a friend in a freighter remained "clean," grabbing the loot and easily running it into a station to sell. As it is now, it's a risk for anyone to pick up dropped cargo.

IIRC, the DDA's mention the possibility of buying a salvage license, which would allow a "clean" player to pick up cargo in that one system only. That hasn't made it into the game yet.

 

[Eidolon]

+1 OP For the Salvage scanner idea. I have mentioned this type of thing before myself. It will add more to the game for sure. Plus it adds Salvager to the list of trails to be blazed, trader, pirate, bounty hunter, miner etc

 

[Antenociti]

Regarding salvage... I believe the current setup is intended to prevent a 2-player piracy/smuggling exploit. If dropped cargo wasn't marked stolen, then a pair of friends could operate as one "dirty" player committing piracy and racking up fines/bounties, while a friend in a freighter remained "clean," grabbing the loot and easily running it into a station to sell.

isnt that more accurately called multiplayer gameplay.... ?

 

[Deleted member 38366]

-- Deleted --

 

[Zenicetus]

isnt that more accurately called multiplayer gameplay.... ?

Multiplayer gameplay still exists within the game's context of crime and punishment, as long as you're operating in a government-controlled star system. The driver sitting in a getaway car with the engine idling outside a bank heist, serves the same jail time as the actual robbers if they get caught.

In fact, this was a consideration in the original DDA about the Alliance/Wing mechanic. It was planned that when one member of a current Wing got a fine or bounty as a result of an action, all other members of the Wing would also be tagged with the fines and bounties. Wings will arrive (according to FDEVs) sometime in Q1 2015, so it will be interesting to see if it will still work this way.

 

[Geers]

The only thing making all cargo that you didn't buy "stolen" is remove salvaging from the game. There is no salvaging, it's all theft. Which is bad, because this game desperately needs to expand heavily on its mechanics. Not entirely realistic? Well not really, because there are actual laws which cover salvage and do offer reward for successfully salvaging and bringing in lost equipment. Even if those laws didn't exist, so what? Neither do FSDs, music does not play when you get into a big fight in reality, there's no reason a spaceship would struggle with yaw, and so on.

All you're doing by not putting in a salvage mechanic is reducing the amount of things players can actually do and interact with.

 

[bitstorm]

What isn't realistic is how the game deals with repayment of those fines. I left space dock with a 300 credit fine, went exploring, amassed 1.8 million worth of survey data only to be destroyed by a station over a 300 credit fine.

This isn't right, people always get this wrong. You're not being attacked because there's a fine against your name, you're being attacked because you're "wanted" there's a difference.

It's currently possible to have a fine outstanding and not be KoS (aka wanted).

Whatever you did caused a wanted status, whther it should have is a different argument.

 

[BjpMunro]

I actually agree with everything the op said

 

[Hamerstein]

Personally I don't have a problem with the current system.

All I would like is a slightly more obvious reminder of "Fined" status - akin to what we have as "Wanted". There have been a couple of occasions where I've picked up a fine and forgotten about it (or on one occasion I have absolutely no clue as to how I got it! ).

As mentioned above, fines don't get you killed - negligence does, but the current mechanic is scant on reminders. Forgetting to pay a fine (and have it become a bounty) is likely the most common occurence of player "accidental" death, and it's flipping annoying.

Make it more obvious and I'll be happy.

Regarding Salvage, there is a whole essay on the subject in the DDA. To put it simply, they ran out of time and didn't implement it. It'll see the light of day eventually one would assume, but who knows as to when?

 

[TUXER]

Neither has a story.
Destiny has some of the best game mechanics around.

Destiny doesnt appeal to me however that said I think there are a lot of people who would disagree with you on your statement.

The point I am making is that time is money. When you have around 10 million dollars instead of 500 million dollars its not lazyness because a paid developer didnt work offer to work on the weekend for free its simply that you dont have enough time to do it...aka money.

 

[Zenicetus]

The only thing making all cargo that you didn't buy "stolen" is remove salvaging from the game. There is no salvaging, it's all theft. Which is bad, because this game desperately needs to expand heavily on its mechanics.

The problem here is that salvage can't be considered apart from the crime that resulted in free-floating cargo. Nobody carrying valuable cargo ejects it into space without being threatened or killed. There is always crime involved, unless you're in an Anarchy system or deep frontier space, where it doesn't matter and the goods can be easily fenced.

Even in the case of a bounty hunter, the bounty voucher is for killing the ship, with no right to the ship's cargo. That adds an interesting dynamic for bounty hunting. Do you take the risk of grabbing the cargo, role-playing a down and dirty hunter? Or are you a White Hat bounty hunter who always remains within the law? If dropped cargo was just free salvage, it would remove more existing gameplay options than it would add.

 

[Hawkmoon]

I like some of the ideas in 2 and 3 but as for 1, I think it is ok as it is. You will not get attacked just for a fine unless you don't pay it in 24 hours, you will be attacked if you are wanted, then all you have to do is zip off to a platform or a system that you are not wanted in and pay it. Better still don't get wanted in the first place. I am a bounty hunter but I do not expect to be give any leeway, if I hit a police/civilian ship I expect the authority vessels to come after me. If I leave 'report crimes against me' on I expect the authority vessels to turn up and get in my way. What most players don't seem to realise is that bounty hunters are not nice people providing a service, they are killers who kill for money only one step above most of the scum that they prey on , they don't ask what crime has been committed all they see is MONEY. Being wanted should cause problems or there would be no point in it.

 

[Iskariot]

Hi guys,

Well Elite Dangerous has been released, so they can't claim it's a Alpha, Beta, or Gamma product with "work still left to do". This is effectively what the 1.5 million pounds have bought loyal Elite Dangerous fan, weather you love it, or hate it. It's what we got.

I will be the first to say, there are many fantastic things about the game, the graphics. The sheer vastness of the universe, the detailed ships, and the ability to play with friend and family at will. It is without a doubt one of the best PC Space Sim games released ever.

But.

There's also some very very lazy game mechanics going on as well. So lets discuss these.

1. Fines

Great! You do something wrong, you get a fine. I have no problem with that, it's great. It's realistic. What isn't realistic is how the game deals with repayment of those fines. I left space dock with a 300 credit fine, went exploring, amassed 1.8 million worth of survey data only to be destroyed by a station over a 300 credit fine.

Lets face it, if your loved one was murdered by the police for a 300 credit "speeding ticket" you would be all over that government with lawyers and press. But in the Elite universe, you have a fine? You die. It's that simple.

No, this does not happen. You do not get attacked because of fines... ever!!!
Only bounties provoke an attack. But I do like the general idea of refining the fine and bounty system.

2. Search the random zones

It doesn't matter what job you take, be it, find the black box recorder, or hunt the pirate scum. It all boils down to the same thing. The player must fly around looking for unidentified signal sources. Then hope that the rebel transmissions, black box recorder, or trader with the "system your target is flying around in" turns up.

This has to be the laziest system ever. Worse, it makes game events incredibly predictable, and totally random.

The client should KNOW where the black box or rebel transmissions are, you should be given specific location data for this.
You should also face some kind of challenge. Such as "oh no, the authority ships have just taken the box cause you took too long" or "they are in the process of doing it so you must now kill the authority ship to get it back, or scoop the cargo first while under fire" or "if you are very fast you get away clean".

Rebel transmissions, should follow the same pattern with authority ships.

Military plans should see a great big hulking warship bearing down on you if you are not fast enough.

Contact killings can have ambushes (you thought the boss was there, prepare to die.) followed by "if you spare me, I'll tell you where the boss is."

Love it. Good ideas. Will definitely improve the experience.

3. Salvage

If you didn't buy it, everything you scoop is instantly "illegal smuggling"

OMG this is the laziest thing ever. Slap a SALVAGE scanner in the upgrade list, scan the wreck and officially record that you did not destroy that ship, and that you are salvaging the cargo.

Result of action an be.

Sudden communication, OMG you found my Cargo, please return it to THIS station for THIS reward. If you run off with it THEN you are stealing it.
No communication = return cargo to station, if not claimed within 10 minutes of return you get to sell it, if you are contacted you get the value of the original haulage contract.

Discovering prototype technologies, you get contacted by the owners offering the sum of the haulage contract for it's return.
Rival company contacts you, offers you 50% more
You can open it yourself with a random result. It could be "a consumer AI toaster that sings" for example or "a prototype burst laser that delivers 5% more shield damage" or "a shield rating A+ shield generator with a random class".

This is RPG 101, I'm surprised they have not thought of this kind of thing.

How about you guys. What do you thing of Elite Dangerous, what are the three laziest things for you? How would you improve them?

Again superb ideas. This kind of stuff is definitely needed to give the game more depth. I hope and believe FD will eventually implement stuff like this. The current system is very basic.

+rep

 

[Geers]

The problem here is that salvage can't be considered apart from the crime that resulted in free-floating cargo. Nobody carrying valuable cargo ejects it into space without being threatened or killed. There is always crime involved, unless you're in an Anarchy system or deep frontier space, where it doesn't matter and the goods can be easily fenced.

Even in the case of a bounty hunter, the bounty voucher is for killing the ship, with no right to the ship's cargo. That adds an interesting dynamic for bounty hunting. Do you take the risk of grabbing the cargo, role-playing a down and dirty hunter? Or are you a White Hat bounty hunter who always remains within the law? If dropped cargo was just free salvage, it would remove more existing gameplay options than it would add.

Isn't it possible the wreckage was the result of an accident? A collision? Overheated systems? Power failure resulting in oxygen loss? USSs contain wreckage, but nobody has any idea how it came to be.

 

[TUXER]

Isn't it possible the wreckage was the result of an accident? A collision? Overheated systems? Power failure resulting in oxygen loss? USSs contain wreckage, but nobody has any idea how it came to be.

So I think the idea is based on how it works in real life. If you see a car broken down on the side of the road and you take the items it may or may not be stealing however most people know better than to do something like that.