After 6/8h in game since the update, and reading some fierce discussions about Engineers, I felt like coming down here and voicing an opinion, FWIW. In space, noone cares 'bout what you think anyway. And I often talk to myself while in the cockpit... or is it to the ship's computer ? I'm not sure.
As often with Frontier Dev and how they market their work, we get a misunderstanding. The main problem I see is how Engineers are given such a huge importance when they're mostly adding some depth to the game mechanics and world, but in a more subtle way than it might have seemed. That + the AI overrated buff + some frustrating insta kill bugs have led to an horrible confusion ; or so it seems.
The main point I think is you're not supposed to play a game called Elite Engineers. It's still the same old Elite Dangerous (almost) ; the engineers is one of the features you can use or not. Obviously, Frontier communication has focused on this particular feature of the game as of late, but it's really just another layer. The universe is getting richer. That's mostly what I expect from updates : more different types of locations, different types of modules and ships, more different ways to interact and do things, and nothing forcing me to use any of these (I personally never cared for PP).
Now I collect the remains of destroyed ships whenever I have a chance, but I don't think about the engineers blueprints that much. At some point, I'll visit one and have him/her do his/her magic on my ship. But this is not a feature that is meant to be played as a fulltime job (unless of course you do feel inclined to do just that !). it's a background thing. Also I suppose it might help in making you care more about your ship, even more than naming it ig would, simply by planning the kind of upgrade you'd like it to have in the future.
Now there might be bugs (the main one for me is I can't play with the oculus rift dk2 any longer for now but that's another problem), and they should be addressed quickly... I'm lucky enough to have avoided the insta killers npcs so far, but I would be pretty much p-off if I had met one. Being insta killed, especially by an npc, is not fun in a game like this. Combat are supposed to be somewhat tactical ; not the results of a couple of dicerolls that decide whether you live or die.
That aside, as a PVE player, and despite not being a top fighter, I enjoy how combats have become a dangerous thing in almost every case. You can never be sure you'll get away without scratching the paint job to say the least, especially when fighting wings. Some novice pilots can be difficult to take down - before Engineers, it felt kinda weird, even a bit game breaking, to fight a guy circling around you without ever firing a shot - sure, the first two times you might have felt awesome, but then you started to feel cheap.
In engineers, the outcome of a mission was an intense, stressful and very fun fight with a deadly ramming corvette - and a message offering a bonus for not losing my ship actually enhanced the anticipation. I like how combats are almost never trivial any longer. Of course, I miss making easy money in RES and CZ ; well I haven't tried since the update, but I guess it won't be so easy now, to just go and spend hours collecting bounties like in pre-engineers. But in more ways than one, it's a good thing ! Because now, I'm actually playing the game and not grinding my way through it. If combats are more rare, riskier and more rewarding, I'm all for it. But of course there'll be some balancing to do.
I'm currently ranked Deadly in combat, at a small 15%, and when I tried the first Beta, I was concerned that getting to Elite might be near impossible, or at least way more difficult. Now I don't care that much. The game mechanics, at least for the moment, help thinking about something else. if I ever get to Elite, it will be the consequence of a more meaningful game experience.
It makes this universe a bit more believable when combats are not a casual past time, and it makes you think twice before going into any activity that might imply a fight.
All in all, I'm rather happy with this update. I understand the amount of work Frontier has done to provide us this and therefore understand why they would make such a big thing of it in the newsletter, but amongst all those enhancements, some are received with a "it's about time" and others with "much ado bout nutting". In a way, this update was overhyped, but the disappointment (or worse) is also exagerated in many cases. Nasty bugs aside, it's not breaking the game, it's mostly breaking some habits, nothing more. You'll find your marks back eventually.
As often with Frontier Dev and how they market their work, we get a misunderstanding. The main problem I see is how Engineers are given such a huge importance when they're mostly adding some depth to the game mechanics and world, but in a more subtle way than it might have seemed. That + the AI overrated buff + some frustrating insta kill bugs have led to an horrible confusion ; or so it seems.
The main point I think is you're not supposed to play a game called Elite Engineers. It's still the same old Elite Dangerous (almost) ; the engineers is one of the features you can use or not. Obviously, Frontier communication has focused on this particular feature of the game as of late, but it's really just another layer. The universe is getting richer. That's mostly what I expect from updates : more different types of locations, different types of modules and ships, more different ways to interact and do things, and nothing forcing me to use any of these (I personally never cared for PP).
Now I collect the remains of destroyed ships whenever I have a chance, but I don't think about the engineers blueprints that much. At some point, I'll visit one and have him/her do his/her magic on my ship. But this is not a feature that is meant to be played as a fulltime job (unless of course you do feel inclined to do just that !). it's a background thing. Also I suppose it might help in making you care more about your ship, even more than naming it ig would, simply by planning the kind of upgrade you'd like it to have in the future.
Now there might be bugs (the main one for me is I can't play with the oculus rift dk2 any longer for now but that's another problem), and they should be addressed quickly... I'm lucky enough to have avoided the insta killers npcs so far, but I would be pretty much p-off if I had met one. Being insta killed, especially by an npc, is not fun in a game like this. Combat are supposed to be somewhat tactical ; not the results of a couple of dicerolls that decide whether you live or die.
That aside, as a PVE player, and despite not being a top fighter, I enjoy how combats have become a dangerous thing in almost every case. You can never be sure you'll get away without scratching the paint job to say the least, especially when fighting wings. Some novice pilots can be difficult to take down - before Engineers, it felt kinda weird, even a bit game breaking, to fight a guy circling around you without ever firing a shot - sure, the first two times you might have felt awesome, but then you started to feel cheap.
In engineers, the outcome of a mission was an intense, stressful and very fun fight with a deadly ramming corvette - and a message offering a bonus for not losing my ship actually enhanced the anticipation. I like how combats are almost never trivial any longer. Of course, I miss making easy money in RES and CZ ; well I haven't tried since the update, but I guess it won't be so easy now, to just go and spend hours collecting bounties like in pre-engineers. But in more ways than one, it's a good thing ! Because now, I'm actually playing the game and not grinding my way through it. If combats are more rare, riskier and more rewarding, I'm all for it. But of course there'll be some balancing to do.
I'm currently ranked Deadly in combat, at a small 15%, and when I tried the first Beta, I was concerned that getting to Elite might be near impossible, or at least way more difficult. Now I don't care that much. The game mechanics, at least for the moment, help thinking about something else. if I ever get to Elite, it will be the consequence of a more meaningful game experience.
It makes this universe a bit more believable when combats are not a casual past time, and it makes you think twice before going into any activity that might imply a fight.
All in all, I'm rather happy with this update. I understand the amount of work Frontier has done to provide us this and therefore understand why they would make such a big thing of it in the newsletter, but amongst all those enhancements, some are received with a "it's about time" and others with "much ado bout nutting". In a way, this update was overhyped, but the disappointment (or worse) is also exagerated in many cases. Nasty bugs aside, it's not breaking the game, it's mostly breaking some habits, nothing more. You'll find your marks back eventually.
