Timers

[Clygorn]

Missions timers are the reason I'm not playing this game anymore. Imagine this, you have 1-2 hours free on a Sunday night, how could you take on most missions when

1. You know you'll need more than 2 hours to complete
2. You're working the next day and the mission timer is below 24hr
3. Even if it's more than 24hr, maybe you won't feel like playing the next evening.

Its design is unhealthy and encourages people to prioritize game objectives instead of real life objectives.

Missions timers should be remove or the timer should represent game play time instead of real life time.

 

[Cavindar]

Agreed I have the same problem it sucks.

 

[ExoForce]

Kill 186 Pirates...

Missions timers should should represent game play time instead of real life time.

Agreed.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

Kill 186 Pirates...

Missions timers should should represent game play time instead of real life time.

Agreed.

I see no reason for some of these missions to have timers at all.

Even wartime massacre missions should no longer have a timer. If the war runs out, either wait for the next one or abandon it.

 

[Misty_Dark]

I see no reason for some of these missions to have timers at all.

Even wartime massacre missions should no longer have a timer. If the war runs out, either wait for the next one or abandon it.

I agree, and in those cases where timers make sense for the mission, it should only count in game time.

 

[Clygorn]

Another bump, hoping the working people will push this idea for 2019

 

[Lestat]

Here the thing. Timers are fine. A little common sense helps. If you are accepting a mission without reading the mission first. The fault lies with you. We can look at wartime missions. What happens if they're in a cease-fire? Or the war over. No mission timer means you can still attack even if the war is over?

 

[SpaceScania]

I agree that mission timers as implemented make the game less real-life friendly for little gain gameplay-wise. This has been discussed many times before, but I still feel like the missions system could be better in Elite Dangerous and this is one important step the developers could take. Please don't punish me in the game because I am a responsible adult who will step away the instant my family needs help with something.

 

[Lestat]

I agree that mission timers as implemented make the game less real-life friendly for little gain gameplay-wise. This has been discussed many times before, but I still feel like the missions system could be better in Elite Dangerous and this is one important step the developers could take. Please don't punish me in the game because I am a responsible adult who will step away the instant my family needs help with something.

They give you a full day to complete the mission. If the family comes first. Than accept fewer missions so if something really was an issue you only lose a little rep.

 

[Misty_Dark]

They give you a full day to complete the mission. If the family comes first. Than accept fewer missions so if something really was an issue you only lose a little rep.

Does still not help that you had planned to have a couple of hours to play, so you picked 1-2 missions, that should be no problem to complete in that time frame, and then something unforeseen happens, and you have to leave, this was supposed to be your time, and tomorrow you do not have time, so having 24 hours does matter.

 

[Manawydn]

Mission should be viable until bgs change makes it unavailable. For example, a wartime mission should be on your panel until the bgs changes the faction state out of war. A boomtime mission should last as long as boom state is up.

 

[[VR] Goooost]

There could be a in-game time limit and a much longer (1 week) real life timer perhaps.

 

[Clygorn]

Another bump for this idea.

I really have no clue why the current mission system persists and why there's no pressure to improve it.

Maybe people don't do missions or maybe they only do missions that gives a quick payout or maybe the majority are unemployed.

 

[Lestat]

Here an issue with your complaint. When you accept a mission. You should read it before accepting it. 90% of the time you can tell you can finish it in less than 2 hours. Accepting a mission that requires you to ship 6,000 cargo common sense would tell you um I can't finish that mission so I should not accept that mission.

 

[Enderby]

Maybe the timers are supposed to give things an air of excitement?

They don’t.

 

[SpaceScania]

Yeah, I am much less confident that the missions system will get any enhancements this year sadly. I like doing missions but the system could be so much better. Here's hoping there are some useful tweaks this year.

 

[Watcher]

Missions timers are the reason I'm not playing this game anymore. Imagine this, you have 1-2 hours free on a Sunday night, how could you take on most missions when

1. You know you'll need more than 2 hours to complete
2. You're working the next day and the mission timer is below 24hr
3. Even if it's more than 24hr, maybe you won't feel like playing the next evening.

Its design is unhealthy and encourages people to prioritize game objectives instead of real life objectives.

Missions timers should be remove or the timer should represent game play time instead of real life time.

I have complained at length about this on many occasions.

There are times where real time timers make sense, such as for CGs, but in most cases they don't. If you have an unpredictable schedule they just make the game arbitrary and unfair and lock out certain activities. In game timers would be fair to all and not really detract from anything, certainly relative to all the other gamey wandwavium we have.

FDs response to date has been to extend most timers quite a lot, this sort of helps but doesn't solve the underlying problem for people with unpredictable play patterns while simultaneously making the timers sort of pointless for anyone who can log long and/or consistent hours - the worst of both worlds!

Way back when someone at FD also suggested it should be in game time based but that is in the mists of the past and seems very unlikely to be realised at this point... Then again, you never know, all the current updates are based on new player experience and this is annoying...

 

[SpaceScania]

Does still not help that you had planned to have a couple of hours to play, so you picked 1-2 missions, that should be no problem to complete in that time frame, and then something unforeseen happens, and you have to leave, this was supposed to be your time, and tomorrow you do not have time, so having 24 hours does matter.

This is the core issue. Elite would be a much friendlier game for those with busy schedules if Frontier would change this one thing.