When Elite Dangerous goes on sale almost everyone will be starting from the same or very similar position.
Basic ship, not many credits, no experience.
This means that until Elite Dangerous has been online for quite a while there should be a self regulated limit to the types of pilots we encounter. And always for new players there should be a path to follow.
The first age of Elite would be the Trading Age. This is the period where all players are busy travelling from system to system trading goods, learning how to pilot the ships, navigate the galaxy, and experience some combat with NPC's.
How long will the Trading Age last?
Next should follow the Mining Age. Players have earned enough credits and experience to buy larger ships and the required equipment to start mining operations. Combat experience should still be relatively low but is now going to become more important due to the long periods away from safe zones.
How long will the Mining Age last?
The Exploring Age comes next. This requires even bigger ships to carry all the spares and equipment needed for exploration. Combat skills now become much more important because the pilot is now leaving the safer systems. By now a pilot setting off to explore is very familiar with navigation, refuelling from planetary atmosphere and overall ship functions. They will need sufficient combat skills to deal with the hostiles they are likely to encounter, whether it is for flight or fight. There's less chance of help being available.
How long will the Exploring Age last?
We now come to the Pirate Age, followed in very short order by the Bounty Hunter Age, effectively two ages in one.
Pirates need the best combat/cargo capacity ratio and the best weapons/defence ratio possible. They need excellent combat skills plus all the skills acquired during the previous ages. They have to survive on their own with most of the galaxy against them. They are probably rated at Dangerous or Elite. Bounty hunters will require combat skills in equal level to Pirates but will probably want ships that are more specialised for hunter/killer purposes as cargo collection is likely to be low down on their list of priorities.
How long before we get to the Pirate/Bounty Hunter Age?
Of course there will be players that attempt to take on rolls too early, especially players that want to engage in piracy. But worry not as when you see the alert on your screen that a mostly harmless pirate is about to attack it should bring a smile to your face when he passes you far too fast and slams in to the asteroid you were busy mining
An interesting element to this is that mining and exploration are kind of self regulating, you can't really partake in such rolls until certain conditions are met, credit wealth, ship and equipment availability. However Piracy only requires a desire to partake. If a new player decides to take up Piracy there's nothing to prevent that. It's likely that such a pilot is going to get hammered quite frequently but it won't necessarily stop him.
Should there be an obstacle to becoming a successful pirate? Perhaps a piece of equipment that can only be purchased at a certain combat level?
The lack of such equipment wouldn't actually stop players trying out piracy too early but it would focus the players mind on what should be achieved in other areas of the game before considering piracy.
Basic ship, not many credits, no experience.
This means that until Elite Dangerous has been online for quite a while there should be a self regulated limit to the types of pilots we encounter. And always for new players there should be a path to follow.
The first age of Elite would be the Trading Age. This is the period where all players are busy travelling from system to system trading goods, learning how to pilot the ships, navigate the galaxy, and experience some combat with NPC's.
How long will the Trading Age last?
Next should follow the Mining Age. Players have earned enough credits and experience to buy larger ships and the required equipment to start mining operations. Combat experience should still be relatively low but is now going to become more important due to the long periods away from safe zones.
How long will the Mining Age last?
The Exploring Age comes next. This requires even bigger ships to carry all the spares and equipment needed for exploration. Combat skills now become much more important because the pilot is now leaving the safer systems. By now a pilot setting off to explore is very familiar with navigation, refuelling from planetary atmosphere and overall ship functions. They will need sufficient combat skills to deal with the hostiles they are likely to encounter, whether it is for flight or fight. There's less chance of help being available.
How long will the Exploring Age last?
We now come to the Pirate Age, followed in very short order by the Bounty Hunter Age, effectively two ages in one.
Pirates need the best combat/cargo capacity ratio and the best weapons/defence ratio possible. They need excellent combat skills plus all the skills acquired during the previous ages. They have to survive on their own with most of the galaxy against them. They are probably rated at Dangerous or Elite. Bounty hunters will require combat skills in equal level to Pirates but will probably want ships that are more specialised for hunter/killer purposes as cargo collection is likely to be low down on their list of priorities.
How long before we get to the Pirate/Bounty Hunter Age?
Of course there will be players that attempt to take on rolls too early, especially players that want to engage in piracy. But worry not as when you see the alert on your screen that a mostly harmless pirate is about to attack it should bring a smile to your face when he passes you far too fast and slams in to the asteroid you were busy mining
An interesting element to this is that mining and exploration are kind of self regulating, you can't really partake in such rolls until certain conditions are met, credit wealth, ship and equipment availability. However Piracy only requires a desire to partake. If a new player decides to take up Piracy there's nothing to prevent that. It's likely that such a pilot is going to get hammered quite frequently but it won't necessarily stop him.
Should there be an obstacle to becoming a successful pirate? Perhaps a piece of equipment that can only be purchased at a certain combat level?
The lack of such equipment wouldn't actually stop players trying out piracy too early but it would focus the players mind on what should be achieved in other areas of the game before considering piracy.
