I've been around Elite since.....1.2? Wings had just come out and Powerplay was on the Horizon 
D). I had tried the tutorial because it was free, and I was sold just flying out of the station. It felt so gratifying to fly around, and the flight engine is probably the thing that's carried this game as far as it's been. There wasn't a whole lot to do though. Elite felt like such an amazing game....it's aptly described as 'the most fun game to think about playing.' As soon as you outgrow the sidewinder and realize that yes, there are other ships, and they're better so get em, it's on. It really had its rough spots, since the best ways to make credits were the most independent of factions and missions....get out there and bounty hunt, or explore, or war, or trade, whatever. I ground out an Anaconda, reset my save for Horizons, got back up to about an Asp, then stopped.
I came back a month ago? I got the itch and decided to hit up Sag a* since I'd never before. I made the trip, and it was wonderful! It was the same grindfest you'd expect from any other area of the game, although damn if I wasn't astonished at the innate beauty of it all. One day I'll go crash into Sag a* because that's what you do with black holes duh.
Around that time I learned about Beyond, and was absolutely floored to hear the changes that were coming. It's so much of what this game's needed all along! I decided to....you know, grind, like you do. I got some faction in Empire to get a Clipper that I stopped caring about because as it turns out I suck too much at combat to use anything with less than 2000mj shields and 10 guns or so. But I had a system or two that I'm allied with and they grew on me in a weird distant way. I did the same thing with Feds so I could get engineer access and the legendary Hutton runs. Aside from the typical mode switching and donation nonsense, I picked up a few varied missions....scanning base data, assassinations, black box rescues, tour guide....they were all rather pleasant to an extent. As much as they were a time-consuming distraction in my quest to max out rep or get mad credits or whatever, they also had a charm to them. NPC's are a little more interactive. Missions seem like they matter just a little bit more. There's way more polish than there was and it pays off.
While I still believe that those who fly to Hutton should get a bobblehead or mug or decorative doohickey for ship decor, I'd say Elite has made huge strides and that they've made a much more beautiful game. I'm doing the engineer grind so I can actually do combat, because that's a thing I realized I needed apparently. It's nice having a shiny 6A FSD with a sweet hi jump roll. It's nice that I can choose between hunting down modules and sending myself something from my stored modules. It's nice that nav beacons have a meaningful use now. I learned a few things offhandedly about Sirius during my grind, and it snaps a few things into perspective, and I sort of even want to do Powerplay now. It's nice than I can buy a ship and just play in it. I BOUGHT A SIDEWINDER AND IT'S A FUN SHIP. Can you believe it?! I still have it now, I'm probably gonna name it and keep it and stuff.
I'm pretty excited that I may be playing this game right up to and through the launch of 3.0, due to the fact that wow, it's actually a good game.
Since I made a thread for this rant, have any of you had a similar experience, where Elite's improvements sort of snuck up on you personally?
D). I had tried the tutorial because it was free, and I was sold just flying out of the station. It felt so gratifying to fly around, and the flight engine is probably the thing that's carried this game as far as it's been. There wasn't a whole lot to do though. Elite felt like such an amazing game....it's aptly described as 'the most fun game to think about playing.' As soon as you outgrow the sidewinder and realize that yes, there are other ships, and they're better so get em, it's on. It really had its rough spots, since the best ways to make credits were the most independent of factions and missions....get out there and bounty hunt, or explore, or war, or trade, whatever. I ground out an Anaconda, reset my save for Horizons, got back up to about an Asp, then stopped.I came back a month ago? I got the itch and decided to hit up Sag a* since I'd never before. I made the trip, and it was wonderful! It was the same grindfest you'd expect from any other area of the game, although damn if I wasn't astonished at the innate beauty of it all. One day I'll go crash into Sag a* because that's what you do with black holes duh.
Around that time I learned about Beyond, and was absolutely floored to hear the changes that were coming. It's so much of what this game's needed all along! I decided to....you know, grind, like you do. I got some faction in Empire to get a Clipper that I stopped caring about because as it turns out I suck too much at combat to use anything with less than 2000mj shields and 10 guns or so. But I had a system or two that I'm allied with and they grew on me in a weird distant way. I did the same thing with Feds so I could get engineer access and the legendary Hutton runs. Aside from the typical mode switching and donation nonsense, I picked up a few varied missions....scanning base data, assassinations, black box rescues, tour guide....they were all rather pleasant to an extent. As much as they were a time-consuming distraction in my quest to max out rep or get mad credits or whatever, they also had a charm to them. NPC's are a little more interactive. Missions seem like they matter just a little bit more. There's way more polish than there was and it pays off.
While I still believe that those who fly to Hutton should get a bobblehead or mug or decorative doohickey for ship decor, I'd say Elite has made huge strides and that they've made a much more beautiful game. I'm doing the engineer grind so I can actually do combat, because that's a thing I realized I needed apparently. It's nice having a shiny 6A FSD with a sweet hi jump roll. It's nice that I can choose between hunting down modules and sending myself something from my stored modules. It's nice that nav beacons have a meaningful use now. I learned a few things offhandedly about Sirius during my grind, and it snaps a few things into perspective, and I sort of even want to do Powerplay now. It's nice than I can buy a ship and just play in it. I BOUGHT A SIDEWINDER AND IT'S A FUN SHIP. Can you believe it?! I still have it now, I'm probably gonna name it and keep it and stuff.
I'm pretty excited that I may be playing this game right up to and through the launch of 3.0, due to the fact that wow, it's actually a good game.
Since I made a thread for this rant, have any of you had a similar experience, where Elite's improvements sort of snuck up on you personally?
