This game just isn't worth playing at the moment

[Aashenfox]

No, that is a terrible idea. Frontier should simply balance their game to be rewarding to play. Mission payouts are currently all over the place and many missions are riddled with bugs, but sidestepping the issue by selling credits in the store doesn’t solve anything.

The OP’s sentiment has merit, and it’s not hard to understand why someone might feel that way about the game today. I wish I could understand why everytime Frontier fixes one bug they create another somewhere else. The updates often feel like Frontier is playing Wack-a-Mole with the bug reports. The game code must truly be a mess, or they just don’t have sufficient controls in place for a project this large. It’s frustrating for us players, but man it must be really frustrating for the devs too.

It;s not a 'terrible' idea, it's just a potential answer, and moreover, to one of the most important problems this game faces, retention of players who are not used to the MONUMENTAL level of grind and slow progress that Elite represents. If I had said 'allow people to buy Fed or Emp rank', or 'allow people to buy engineer unlocks' or 'allow people to buy Elite ranks', I'd expect a huge and justified backlash, but CREDITS AREN'T CONTENT, they are merely an enabler.

If you sit and think about what other game is closest to Elite in its gameplay, you have to really look at Grand Theft Auto. Look at how the online thrives in that game by offering choice (in terms of buying game content).

 

[Aashenfox]

You know as much as I dislike the principle of it, I'd still welcome it. As it stands Frontier are trying to balance progression for all kinds of different people, and they're failing at it.
Letting people buy credits and ranks in the store would allow them to focus on setting the pace of progression as they meant to initially (that is, back to 2015 levels), and then offer the option of fast-tracking for those who can't bear it.

Thank you.

To me the benefits of this are obvious. I'm not going to defend it further as an idea from people who really, are not capable of evaluating it beyond their initial "money for game stuff, GTFOH!!" reaction. It is what it is, it's unlikely to happen, but you know, you sow the seeds, some water them, some pee on them, and you hope that one day, a tree might grow and bear tasty fruit. Cos this tree is BARE.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Making 10 m credits? Early on in the game? Are you serious?

Ok, for one thing, it'll cost you closer to ~20 Mil to get an Asp halfway decently equipped, but that's besides the point.
But honestly:
- find a boom system within your jump range
- rank up with the local factions through low level delivery missions (report or small cargo)
- that should give you access to reasonably well paid and easily stackable delivery missions, so 100 k per run isn't unreasonable
- 20 runs (which, honestly, you'll need anyways just to get comfortable with maneuvering and docking), and you should have 2 M cash available
- outfit your Sidey/Hauler/Adder with ADS and DSS
- scan 20 systems on the RtR route
=> you got your 10 M

Even better: do the RtR route to the Pleiades, get the Alloy, unlock Felicity. RtR to the Pleiades should yield ~30 MCr.

If you are a new player and don't want to do that on your own, just drop a couple of lines in the Newcomer's forum or the Galactic Academy. Setting you (you know what I mean...) up with 10 M through one or two wing cargo missions won't be a problem. It won't solve anything with regards to the game's accessibility, either, but I'm paying more than that to that lazy bum in the crew quarters.



I don't think so. I could even make a case for the opposite point. Starting with 10 M and buying an Asp would lead to even more reviews about the game being inaccessible -the learning curve wouldn't get any less steep with that Asp, but you would crash much harder when you get that Asp shot out under you and realize that you perhaps should have kept the money for the rebuy. Or when, after the fourth rebuy, you simply don't have that money any more.
The perceived inaccessibility is due to ED's learning curve - ED simply is not a game you walk in and stay victorious in every challenge.

An Asp? that is a high end ship tho..... it must have took me 100hrs to get to mine, and by that point i was way beyond the initial "What the hell" point in the game.

ships like the sidy, eagle, hauler, adder, cobra iii, DB scout are all cheap as chips and 10 mil would go a long long way to kitting out any one of them... indeed imo early game progress is FAR FAR to fast now imo. FD need to consider how to slow down early game progress and get players to learn the game in throw away ships, at the same time as keep progress faster more like it is now, in the larger more expensive ships imo, so as to keep cheaper ships relevant but make the more expensive ones still accessible (but without making them disposable commodities)

the carrot to the stick of a cash shop however must surely be cosmetics earnable in game?

@aashenfox, peeing on seeds actually can be a good thing. its great for tomato plants

(you should see the amazing fruit on them at our local sewerage plant... not that i fancy eating them!!!!)

 

[Aashenfox]

Alternatively, Frontier could improve the new player experience, smooth out the learning cliff and make the early game less of a slog.

If people feel compelled to pay money to bypass parts of a game, money isn't the problem.

I could work with that too, but rediesinging parts of this behemoth of complexity seems to introduce as many problems as it solves, so I'm really starting to favour band-aid solutions.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Alternatively, Frontier could improve the new player experience, smooth out the learning cliff and make the early game less of a slog.

If people feel compelled to pay money to bypass parts of a game, money isn't the problem.

I don't see these things as mutually exclusive though. Improving new player experience is always a welcome thing, but let's be frank there's difference between new casual player experience and such player who looks for easy ride. Second one won't be satisfied because his beef is not with new player experience, but game itself.

People want to bypass parts of the game, because they don't want to play it. They want to dip into small part of it. ED isn't built for that. End of story.

 

[Aashenfox]

Instead we'd have complaints about P2W and MTX greed and intentional tweaking of game mechanics to fuel store sales. Not a great alternative.

I'm completely ok with that, those knee jerker opinions could not be weighted any lower as far as I'm concerned. What their ethos boils down to is 'I ground for it, so everyone else should suffer the same, it's not fair". pffff. That's called cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

[Ninj]

I'm very disappointed.

No-one has asked if they can haz OP's stuff yet.

I feel let down and this forum isn't worth viewing at the moment.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

I never really felt credits are the problem. Well, not alone - it was more about impossible to raise rank and the huge engineer time-sink for incredibly OP powercreep equipment.

 

[Aashenfox]

People want to bypass parts of the game, because they don't want to play it. They want to dip into small part of it. ED isn't built for that. End of story.

Quite, so perhaps we should offer a shortcut to allow them to sample only the bits they want. If they can get into THOSE parts, maybe they'll be encouraged to try other parts. Anyway, like I say, I've said enough, there's no convincing some people (not aimed at you personally eagleboy).

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Quite, so perhaps we should offer a shortcut to allow them to sample only the bits they want. If they can get into THOSE parts, maybe they'll be encouraged to try other parts. Anyway, like I say, I've said enough, there's no convincing some people (not aimed at you personally eagleboy).

I can be easily convinced about lot of things

But this is certainly one hill I am getting seriously wounded upon

I am just feeling it that way, that's all. And besides, what I am - just chatty guy who has zero leverage on development or future of ED.

p.s. just to clarify - during KS I had zero issues with credits for real money concept FD pitched. My current POV has been formed during last three years.
p.s.s. maybe FD needs to hire more devs and create some arcade style game with ED assets...don't know. CQC failed.

 

[Aashenfox]

I can be easily convinced about lot of things

But this is certainly one hill I am getting seriously wounded upon

I am just feeling it that way, that's all. And besides, what I am - just chatty guy who has zero leverage on development or future of ED.

Fair comment.

 

[Valorin]

It is almost like...having other games...and hobbies...and real life...makes Elite not a grind, but actual game to enjoy!

Shocking! You heard it here first!

Shocking indeed!

I don't see these things as mutually exclusive though. Improving new player experience is always a welcome thing, but let's be frank there's difference between new casual player experience and such player who looks for easy ride. Second one won't be satisfied because his beef is not with new player experience, but game itself.

People want to bypass parts of the game, because they don't want to play it. They want to dip into small part of it. ED isn't built for that. End of story.

Unfortunately I can't rep you anymore. Why can't threads not just end with comments like this?

 

[Conch]

So OP, you come on the forum & whine like a b***h about it? No one cares!

My ignore list gets longer by the day!

And you think anybody cares who you have on your ignore list? Grow up.

 

[orange_apecs]

Just one thing on the P2W, buying credits argument!
I never started in a Sidey
I started in a Cobra with 10t of Gold in the hold. As a backer it was an optional starting point in the game.
Frontier could make possibly make a Commander pack (for a nominal fee, say £5) as an add-on for new commanders that don't want to do that initial Sidey to Cobra transition.
I don't know if that made the game any better for me, but it did allow me to try all activities fairly quickly.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Just one thing on the P2W, buying credits argument!
I never started in a Sidey
I started in a Cobra with 10t of Gold in the hold. As a backer it was an optional starting point in the game.
Frontier could make possibly make a Commander pack (for a nominal fee, say £5) as an add-on for new commanders that don't want to do that initial Sidey to Cobra transition.
I don't know if that made the game any better for me, but it did allow me to try all activities fairly quickly.

You can get Cobra in few hours in nearest RES.

When I started I went trough Sidewinder, upgrade it, then got into Hauler (awesome little ship), upgrade it, worked enough money not only getting Cobra but outfitting it properly.

It took me several months of casual play. And most of it was fun (before everyone thinks I am complaining new players have it too easy).

In fact my major complain is that easy credits delude experience. People skip gameplay and experience because they can. This is absurd but that's how lot of Western entertainment now serves people, while doing them disservice.

 

[Jex =TE=]

These kind of angry threads usually do not help too much,

but the OP has a point. The rewards of missions in effort/payout have always been terrible and have never been able to be addressed in a satisfactonal quality.
I always put those things on the side and did other things in the game that worked adequately.

Now as the wing missions are there I get reminded at the terrible state of the balance and netcode quality. Netcode and building and maintaining a real working wing is really nasty. Its somehow half working, which was acceptable until the wing missions were there, because i simply did not use the wing system. But now with this missions, it makes the game again feel very faulty.

Frontier is always very fast and good in developing new stuff, but balancing and getting it along with the backgound sim -> making people feel rewarded for what they are doing (baseline of the grind discussion), have never been their strength.
So lets hope it gets someday better after the n'th iteration and reworking the mission system.

The OP is spot on - weaksauce repetitive easy missions have what point to be played? When there's other games out there to give more back than the shallow empty shell that is Elite Dangerous, not to mention the constant bugs and nerfs and payouts all over the place.

 

[Red Fox Four]

if they could skip the early credit grind to get an asp by buying 10m credits on the store for 15 euro or something.

If players are so lazy they need instant-gratification by having their mom buy them an Asp then they need to unplug the computer and stop gaming altogether.

EVERY game in existence has you start out from an easy starting point.

You start slow and then things start to go faster and faster, just like Tetris, or Pong, or Donkey Kong.
You start out weak and then grow stronger as you face more and more difficult enemies, just like RPGs, MMO's.
You start out small and then grow bigger as you obtain more wealth and skill, just like World of Tanks, Elite, EVE Online.

If you don't like this concept then you don't like gaming, pure and simple.

There are plenty ways to earn cash in the game, easiest of all is to take your Sidewinder, fly to a High-RES and then wait for police to almost destroy a ship then you tap it a few times with your pulse laser. Boom goes the ship, cha-ching goes your bank account and you got +200,000Cr paid out just from tapping an Anaconda a few times just before it blew up.

If you need your mom to buy you an Asp for real cash then you simply not a gamer, so what are you doing playing games?

 

[OHMSS]

As above. I'm gonna keep my 20 quid I was going to spend on paint and go back to TF2 for a while.

There are NO skimmer missions I can find anywhere. Planetary scans are a joke with getting a bounty and not being able to clear it without a 100ly trip. Passenger missions are beyond a joke in every way, I'm not going 2000ly AND BACK for 2.55 mil, and bulk passengers now want business class cabins which can't fit them all. Wing delivery missions (I play by myself) pay a pittance, I could make more with just selling the damn things in the market. Massacre missions that pay 2.8 mil for 90 ships?!? What are you smoking? Wanna kill Thargoids? Good luck getting 10000 bounty and paying 3 times as much in repairs. IF you live.

Yes, I want a gold rush. Money. Moolah. Not to stash under my mattress but to buy in game, ie. - to play the way I want to. You know, as it was advertised? At the moment there's no chance of that, so bye for now.

Oh yess, been waiting for one of these. I hope I'm the first..........."can i haz your stuff"

 

[Jex =TE=]

If there was money to buy in the store, Id buy it...the alternative being another 3 months of grind to outfit the ship I spent 3 months grinding for...my cup floweth over...

And you'd be one of many that falls into the grind trap - you basically give incentive for FDev to add more grind to affect more sales for cash - absolutely absurd idea. Pay money because the game is so grindy? What happened to "the grind is in your mind"?

How about FDev fix their shallow, grindy game and follow the DDF? I can't belive I'm hearig people argue to buy credits as if that's solve the issue.

Wow.

 

[Aashenfox]

If players are so lazy they need instant-gratification by having their mom buy them an Asp then they need to unplug the computer and stop gaming altogether.

EVERY game in existence has you start out from an easy starting point.

You start slow and then things start to go faster and faster, just like Tetris, or Pong, or Donkey Kong.
You start out weak and then grow stronger as you face more and more difficult enemies, just like RPGs, MMO's.
You start out small and then grow bigger as you obtain more wealth and skill, just like World of Tanks, Elite, EVE Online.

If you don't like this concept then you don't like gaming, pure and simple.

There are plenty ways to earn cash in the game, easiest of all is to take your Sidewinder, fly to a High-RES and then wait for police to almost destroy a ship then you tap it a few times with your pulse laser. Boom goes the ship, cha-ching goes your bank account and you got +200,000Cr paid out just from tapping an Anaconda a few times just before it blew up.

If you need your mom to buy you an Asp for real cash then you simply not a gamer, so what are you doing playing games?

Who do you think you are and who do you think you're talking to? I'm not dignifying any of that with a response. lol. Try harder. This was never about me. Reading comprehension for the fail? I love you triggered people, I love imagining you fuming at your monitor.

See post #46, it was written for you and everyone like you.