The pain of starting over or... a second pilot slot?

[Ceo]

Playing from the start, the PB, has been a joy. My journey from a beginner to a vet has been full of tense, adrenaline fueled moments and I loved (almost) all of it.

Now, as I (infrequently) cruise around in my top of the line Conda and fleet of parked ships at the Founders world, I feel an urge to start over again when 2.1 comes out. I've yet to invest myself in factions, missions or the military, as I always felt that what we have right now were placeholders, and I didn't want to touch them, despite being one of the main things I was looking forward to in Elite.

But, I feel going at them from a position of strength as opposed to one of weakness (as a "fresh" poorly resourced pilot) would not be as enjoyable.

However, I'm only human, and I know that as soon as I delete my save, I'll be hit with that dread - 2+ years worth of progress lost! COUNTLESS hours gone. Not an easy thing to swallow (could you?).

So here it is that I wonder, why are we not allowed a second pilots slot? Allowing us to pursue different paths with a different pilot is not immersion breaking. We are playing a game, we can't ever forget that. I wonder is the reason we cannot have a second pilot a technical limitation? Or one purely of design choice. I feel that, if it were the latter, it is one that may start hindering the game. As more and more people reach this stage, the inclination to play may lessen. Not due to the game being poor, but due to human nature. Many of us strive to improve and grow. In games like Elite, the ability to do this has a strong hard cap.

Anyway, this isn't a rant. It's a plea and a hope. Allow us to have a second pilot, don't force us to go through the pain of deleting our current pilot and the hundreds of hours poured into them.

 

[Troubletcat]

This gets requested a lot.

Frankly I have no idea why an account isn't allowed to have as many saves as a player wants (or some reasonable limit like 5 slots). Just seems silly.

 

[Stigbob]

I've been playing since gamma and have reset twice, one on release day and once for the wings upgrade. Haven't regretted either, and it really revitalized my interest in the game. I'm considering doing it again, it's fun being jumped in a noob ship with a low rating by gankers and handing them their behinds.

But I'm more attached to my exploration firsts and my ratings this time around. I could go deliberately bankrupt and keep them I suppose.

The one pilot limit could be a cheat/exploit/grief prevention thing or just a way of making you care about your game.

 

[CMDR Heisenberg B. Damned]

I've got several accounts. I know, I'm lucky to be able to afford them.

One account I use for testing when it's not clear if a newcomer could achieve a certain task (mainly if taking part in a CG is viable). Anyway, starting again is massive fun, you'll be wiser so it's not as hard as the your first CMDR found it but it is great blasting around the started system in sidewinder.

If you have the funds I'd recommend getting a second account. You just need a separate email (I just get an extra gmail account - setup in about a minute). Once you buy the new account you can just log out of your account in the loader and log in as your new account. Not sure if this works for xBox users (I'm on a PC).

For what it is Elite is very cheap, no subscription just a season pass to effectively massively increase where you can go in the game. I have no issue adding to FD's funds with extra accounts but as I said I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it.

Even if you can't get another account starting from scratch is nothing to be afraid of, it really is fun.

 

[bamber]

Only you can decide whether to "clear save" or not
.
I have done so 4 times now you say you are a "vet" now as in veteran I hope not a james herriot type with the space cow? Thing is if you start again you are still a vet you are just bankrupt. You know how to play the game and though it says Mostly harmless your skills are much in excess of that
.
In an evenings play I can usually get myself a good ship within a few hours.
.
The other advantage is you learn about the new features - Horizons I saw loads of complaints about but as a vet newbie I loved it its a great way to make money in a small ship and if you have a planet with an orbiting station that wants whats on the planet its lucrative
.
You can also change your style - very first time I just went "CHARGE" to get to an anaconda - got it and clear saved - never felt the urge to get one my style has changed and I have highly specialised ships. Its more fun now I can change roles as I see fit now and depending on how I feel
.
Several accounts is not needed - clear save isn't the pain some would make it out to be in fact it shows up strengths

Clear saving for 2.1

 

[d8veh]

Why not buy a second commander. They're not exactly expensive. From time to time FD reduce the price, like on Black Friday. I bought two extra commanders for £10 each. I have one for grinding that can do anything, one for PvP and one for exploring.. When you know what you're doing, it doesn't take long to get everything you need with a new commander. About 24 hours gets you 200 million.

 

[xondk]

This gets requested a lot.

Frankly I have no idea why an account isn't allowed to have as many saves as a player wants (or some reasonable limit like 5 slots). Just seems silly.

There's a very simple answer to that, possible misuse, some one making a throwaway commander when they want to annoy people, and then when they are done doing so, they jump onto their 'polite' commander, free from retribution in their own multi million ship.


As to if or if not this should actually prevent people from having a second commander? I don't know, but I don't think so, but I can understand why at least for now, there's a limitation on it, I can imagine once 2.1 is in, with the new crime and punishment system, then they can begin thinking about giving us more commander slots.

 

[Para Handy]

Yeah -buy a second commander / account. I did this when it was at sale price and totally love having two separate commanders doing different things as the mood takes me.

Having multiple "saves" in the one account would be a disaster - bored kiddies could go grief newbies etc all with no come-back.

 

[Mike Reacher]

Only a disaster to those like you. I would like to keep slowly building my solo cmdr.
I would also like to try a fr8er.
I would like to try a miner.

 

[DrakeAurum]

You could do a self-imposed 'reset'. Invest all your liquid assets in ships and modules until you're down to around a thousand credits, then buy a Sidewinder and store your current ship, then go kiss the station at maximum boost and choose to respawn in a free Sidewinder at one of the default starting locations. You'll still have your ranks, faction statuses and Power allegiance if any, but otherwise you'll be in the same position as a new player.

Set yourself one or more goals, whether it be raw credits, upgrading to a particular ship, or gaining a certain military rank. Until you achieve that goal, you choose not to touch any of your stored assets.

 

[Soopyyy]

I don't understand why people clear the save, just do something different?

 

[Iskariot]

Playing from the start, the PB, has been a joy. My journey from a beginner to a vet has been full of tense, adrenaline fueled moments and I loved (almost) all of it.

Now, as I (infrequently) cruise around in my top of the line Conda and fleet of parked ships at the Founders world, I feel an urge to start over again when 2.1 comes out. I've yet to invest myself in factions, missions or the military, as I always felt that what we have right now were placeholders, and I didn't want to touch them, despite being one of the main things I was looking forward to in Elite.

But, I feel going at them from a position of strength as opposed to one of weakness (as a "fresh" poorly resourced pilot) would not be as enjoyable.

However, I'm only human, and I know that as soon as I delete my save, I'll be hit with that dread - 2+ years worth of progress lost! COUNTLESS hours gone. Not an easy thing to swallow (could you?).

So here it is that I wonder, why are we not allowed a second pilots slot? Allowing us to pursue different paths with a different pilot is not immersion breaking. We are playing a game, we can't ever forget that. I wonder is the reason we cannot have a second pilot a technical limitation? Or one purely of design choice. I feel that, if it were the latter, it is one that may start hindering the game. As more and more people reach this stage, the inclination to play may lessen. Not due to the game being poor, but due to human nature. Many of us strive to improve and grow. In games like Elite, the ability to do this has a strong hard cap.

Anyway, this isn't a rant. It's a plea and a hope. Allow us to have a second pilot, don't force us to go through the pain of deleting our current pilot and the hundreds of hours poured into them.

I feel the same.
On one hand I would love to see if I would enjoy starting over, but on the other hand I do enjoy what I have now and I am afraid I would regret it.
I would be deleting almost 2000 hours of gameplay. That is hard to do.
A second CMDR slot would help.

 

[bamber]

I don't understand why people clear the save, just do something different?

I Clear save for a few reasons

1. To better understand how "new" features fit into the game
2. The smaller ships are fun to fly
3. I think more about the direction I want to take it (do I want another three cargo runs or do i take a cobra early and accept I have no insurance)
4. Being on the ragged edge is fun
5. Fights is a half armed asp are much more fun than in a fully armed python
6. When I catch myself thinking that 150,000 Cr mission isn't worth my while then I'm in the wrong place
7. When I wont take 20T of Biowaste with me when I can fill the space then i'm in the wrong place
8. when I runaway from a sidewinder that has interdicted me Im in the wrong place

 

[CMDR Heisenberg B. Damned]

I don't understand why people clear the save, just do something different?

Really not the same as having to start from scratch, game dynamics are totally different depending on your rank as a trader or combat pilot and likely to get a lot more so with the introduction of engineers. If the Op can afford it I'd really recommend getting a second account.

Only a disaster to those like you. I would like to keep slowly building my solo cmdr.
I would also like to try a fr8er.
I would like to try a miner.

You can do all that in your current ship though, no need to restart just outfit it differently - I've even mined in a Sidewinder [wacko]

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

I've been playing since gamma, have yet to restart, but seriously tempted when 2.1 starts.

But I think I will restart when I eventually get my oculus rift/vive. It will be like a whole new game and to experience it from the beginningin VR will be the way to go.

 

[Zebaoth]

I've cleared save 2 times.
Once at release and the second time a few weeks ago.
Didn't take me long to get up to sniff, ranks aside.
As long as you know where and how to earn some credits it's not that much of a challenge.

 

[goemon]

i got a second account when it was on sale in autumn; i personally can recommend that - i mainly got it as a bubble account while out exploring, for doing BGS tests and helping players/playergroups - but i enjoyed it thoroughly levelling up again. it's a base game account. i will probably get a third account next sale, which i will reset each major patch. because it is fun and challenging to fly without money and ranks. but i wouldn#t delete my main, or wouldn't delete my second (some BGS stuff needs pythons and money....).

 

[Chrystoph]

There's a very simple answer to that, possible misuse, some one making a throwaway commander when they want to annoy people, and then when they are done doing so, they jump onto their 'polite' commander, free from retribution in their own multi million ship.


As to if or if not this should actually prevent people from having a second commander? I don't know, but I don't think so, but I can understand why at least for now, there's a limitation on it, I can imagine once 2.1 is in, with the new crime and punishment system, then they can begin thinking about giving us more commander slots.

(note to xondk: I did read your whole post and respect it, I am just arguing your first para)

The problem with the expressed logic is that it is a "guilty, period" mindset. It doesn't take into account individual behavior, and, more importantly, it punishes the innocent far more than it prevents crimes. It takes the same mindset as arming law enforcement exclusively with grenade launchers. **foomp** I got the bad guy! Yep, and the 20 innocent people he was running through to get away.

As an example of this, I am currently involved in the FGE wing of the Distant Worlds Expedition, current on route to waypoint 20 of 23. This means that I have, by choosing to go there, been precluded from the Dangerous Games. I understand that this was my choice, but it is an exclusive mindset in the game's design, not an inclusive one. Unfortunately, by forcing me to choose which group I want to play with, I am Automatically excluded from all other activities.

That second character would make inclusion much easier, and there would be far more people that used it appropriately than inappropriately. That part of the argument is proven already through the "Mobius incident". A handful of malicious players v a 20k community.

 

[Bran Tse Mallory]

If you decide to do this I have a tune for those painful times ahead...

[video=youtube;RhlJZdQDz5E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhlJZdQDz5E[/video]

 

[Jypson]

I too got a second account for video projects that I can't use my main account for. Will I ever buy seasons with the second account? Probably not, but it comes in handy from time to time, and I won't really lose anything significant if I need to reset the Alt account from time to time.