Gonna whine a little. Sorry. Please understand that my comments are regarding Exobiology only.
Just got back from 2.5 solid weeks doing exobiology. My goal, for lack of a better one, is the Elite status. I have been grinding on it for months. At first it was interesting. Now it's a grind. And that's okay, all games become a grind eventually.
I spent these last 2.5 weeks 7500+ ly out. Most of my exobiology scores were First Footfall in systems I was also the first to FSS scan. If I had an extra 45 minutes, I'd jump into the game to eke out a little more progress in addition to the 2-3 hours each evening. Weekends, I'd spend 3 hours in the afternoon in addition to the evening hours.
So, I'm keeping track and I have 135 scans in the bag, with tons of new system data to boot. Better head back and hand in, just in case.
I hand it in and get, I dunno, another 2 billion. Here's my moment of glory for all of that effort and... nothing. I left a Geneticist and I am still a Geneticist.
I have a 2 billion more credits to spend on nothing.
Instead of a feeling of accomplishment, I felt nothing but disappointment. Weeks of effort and it's like the needle barely moved on anything. No reward whatsoever.
In most games, a player's effort is rewarded in some way. Not here. I can't even use the money to purchase a faster ship. Or an exobiology scanner that can hold two samples. Or have a longer detection range. Or an onboard scanner that gives more accurate planetary data for biomes when landing. Or an advanced scanner that will show biology that a regular scanner can't see. Or access to an exclusive engineer.
Instead, there is nothing. Even money is meaningless. My reward is I have to go and do it all over again. And then have even more money I can't use to benefit my craft.
In most games, the amount of 'points' you have to score to attain the next rank increases with each rank, but it's offset by benefits of having achieved the last rank, with more effective gear etc as out lined above. Not here.
Feh. I'll stop now. Just disappointed that people who design games do not understand game design, the thing that keeps the player interested in jumping through the hoops.
Just got back from 2.5 solid weeks doing exobiology. My goal, for lack of a better one, is the Elite status. I have been grinding on it for months. At first it was interesting. Now it's a grind. And that's okay, all games become a grind eventually.
I spent these last 2.5 weeks 7500+ ly out. Most of my exobiology scores were First Footfall in systems I was also the first to FSS scan. If I had an extra 45 minutes, I'd jump into the game to eke out a little more progress in addition to the 2-3 hours each evening. Weekends, I'd spend 3 hours in the afternoon in addition to the evening hours.
So, I'm keeping track and I have 135 scans in the bag, with tons of new system data to boot. Better head back and hand in, just in case.
I hand it in and get, I dunno, another 2 billion. Here's my moment of glory for all of that effort and... nothing. I left a Geneticist and I am still a Geneticist.
I have a 2 billion more credits to spend on nothing.
Instead of a feeling of accomplishment, I felt nothing but disappointment. Weeks of effort and it's like the needle barely moved on anything. No reward whatsoever.
In most games, a player's effort is rewarded in some way. Not here. I can't even use the money to purchase a faster ship. Or an exobiology scanner that can hold two samples. Or have a longer detection range. Or an onboard scanner that gives more accurate planetary data for biomes when landing. Or an advanced scanner that will show biology that a regular scanner can't see. Or access to an exclusive engineer.
Instead, there is nothing. Even money is meaningless. My reward is I have to go and do it all over again. And then have even more money I can't use to benefit my craft.
In most games, the amount of 'points' you have to score to attain the next rank increases with each rank, but it's offset by benefits of having achieved the last rank, with more effective gear etc as out lined above. Not here.
Feh. I'll stop now. Just disappointed that people who design games do not understand game design, the thing that keeps the player interested in jumping through the hoops.
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