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Newcomer / Intro TIP OFF
- Thread starter tclancey
- Start date
I see Tip Off missions as a way for the game to try and push newer players out of their local "bubble" that they may have become comfortable in. A tip off mission goal is usually a fair distance away, requires some thought and preparation and skill in execution, with the possibility of some light combat. It pushes the "Planet Express" players into trying something different.
Plus they are kind of fun. Unless you're in a ship that would need 50 jumps to get there, of course. Don't do anything you'd find tedious. That's the second rule of happy Elite player. (The first being "Don't fly without an insurance")
They are challenging to find and usually really cool. Crashed ships, battle debris, that kind of stuff. The only thing that bugs me a little that they are not always profitable. I had tip-offs that gave me 1M+ credits for simple scan and delivery, but I also had some that contained just a couple of cargo containers sometimes some engineering data.
So ultimately, they are just a hobby to me. I do lots of missions, so I usually receive at least two or three a day. Sometimes I just delete them, sometimes I go for it. If I have the right ship and at least an hour of time.
Also it would be fair to point out that multiple commanders can receive one tip-off. I met some overly proprietary commanders who claimed the area and were reluctant to let me land, but I also met a very cool adventurous people and one really awesome lady whom I totally SHOULD HAVE asked out.
They are challenging to find and usually really cool. Crashed ships, battle debris, that kind of stuff. The only thing that bugs me a little that they are not always profitable. I had tip-offs that gave me 1M+ credits for simple scan and delivery, but I also had some that contained just a couple of cargo containers sometimes some engineering data.
So ultimately, they are just a hobby to me. I do lots of missions, so I usually receive at least two or three a day. Sometimes I just delete them, sometimes I go for it. If I have the right ship and at least an hour of time.
Also it would be fair to point out that multiple commanders can receive one tip-off. I met some overly proprietary commanders who claimed the area and were reluctant to let me land, but I also met a very cool adventurous people and one really awesome lady whom I totally SHOULD HAVE asked out.
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...and one really awesome lady whom I totally SHOULD HAVE asked out.
[woah] [sulk]Silly jellyfish.
How long do these things last?
I got a tip off yesterday while doing the LP 339-7 CG. It gave me planetary coordinates, but warned me to be as "quick as I can". Maybe I'll go today or tomorrow after I transfer a better ship with an SRV.
It also said I might get a "warm reception". But there's no way to tell if this might be a novice Cobra or a fleet of Anacondas.
I got a tip off yesterday while doing the LP 339-7 CG. It gave me planetary coordinates, but warned me to be as "quick as I can". Maybe I'll go today or tomorrow after I transfer a better ship with an SRV.
It also said I might get a "warm reception". But there's no way to tell if this might be a novice Cobra or a fleet of Anacondas.
They time out after a week or so. Be aware that some of these are currently bugged and lead to nothing.
Here's how one should look.
https://youtu.be/SFXR6MdtCEc
Here's how one should look.
https://youtu.be/SFXR6MdtCEc
Well I went to my tip-off site. No, this wasn't some crashed ship on a lonely moon. It was a medium size well defended ground base, with rocket launchers, laser turrets and a security ship.
Foolishly I decided to attack it anyway in my Cobra. Within seconds my shields were down, hull down to 11% and all weapons disabled completely, and sensors disabled. I was able to boost out of there into another system, and reboot to repair enough just to request docking.
Oh well, lived to tell the tale. Probably won't be back though.
Foolishly I decided to attack it anyway in my Cobra. Within seconds my shields were down, hull down to 11% and all weapons disabled completely, and sensors disabled. I was able to boost out of there into another system, and reboot to repair enough just to request docking.
Oh well, lived to tell the tale. Probably won't be back though.
That a first. Never heard of anyone finding an active base in such place. Are you sure you had the right coordinates?
Yea, I'm sure. It is in the Nguna system (Nguna 1, Lat 18.39, Lon 50.61). I did a search on these forums and found a bug report where someone else got the same tip off and found the same base, Fancher Park++. Looks like some of these tip off missions are bugged.
On the plus side, the nearby station Biggle Hub sells a rare item Nguna Modern Antiques, whatever a modern antique is. Too bad I'm now wanted in that system.
Hehe, an occupational hazard for an explorer, I'm afraid. And I love the names of the rares. They're so random.
These missions are apparently for newcomers indeed. I had never got one (2000+ hrs) and got two today. One the Nguna and one to Torno. I went to both. They were both simple 'scan the data core' excursions. One also had 2 mining bases you could shoot/take the minerals from.
Why? I don't get it. You can scan data cores anywhere. You can find mining outpost anywhere. Is this just telling you specifically where, instead of you finding at random?
The only reason I can see is if you are brand new to the game and have not seen this stuff yet.
It's a bit of a bummer, as I was expecting the downed ship scenario, and maybe a scan there telling me to deliver the data to someone/somewhere.
Tip off 'missions' are a skip for me from now on. Ah well.
Why? I don't get it. You can scan data cores anywhere. You can find mining outpost anywhere. Is this just telling you specifically where, instead of you finding at random?
The only reason I can see is if you are brand new to the game and have not seen this stuff yet.
It's a bit of a bummer, as I was expecting the downed ship scenario, and maybe a scan there telling me to deliver the data to someone/somewhere.
Tip off 'missions' are a skip for me from now on. Ah well.
Well, you can really look at them as showcase missions.
But some of them are neat. Crash sites can be worth something between 500k and 1 million credits, which is not a bad income for 20 minutes of "work", plus it's a nice time off.
I wouldn't do them as a main job, but doing one now and then is nice.
Well, if nothing else, it prompted me to do a quick video on planetary navigation. I had never cared about coords before, but this forced me to 'relearn' lat/long navigation. I'll post the video when I'm done fighting Sony Vegas to get it to render.Well, you can really look at them as showcase missions.
But some of them are neat. Crash sites can be worth something between 500k and 1 million credits, which is not a bad income for 20 minutes of "work", plus it's a nice time off.
I wouldn't do them as a main job, but doing one now and then is nice.
I've had that same one (in Nguna), with the same exact bug. Yes it's a large base, and definitely not a crash you can scan
Tip Offs have been bugged since the last patch, sending you to the wrong, or even non-existent, places.
PS Here's how a normal tip-off looks, when it's correct
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFXR6MdtCEc&t=9s
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FWIW, here is video of the second of my tip off missions. The forum link is a link to a planetary navigation guide video I made.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/316722-Planetary-Navigation-Video
[video=youtube_share;UnIOE4_A5i4]https://youtu.be/UnIOE4_A5i4[/video]
[video=youtube_share;u48VkFP3CFo]https://youtu.be/u48VkFP3CFo[/video]
[video=youtube_share;u48VkFP3CFo]https://youtu.be/u48VkFP3CFo[/video]
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/316722-Planetary-Navigation-Video
Wow, I got the same mission (Nguna 1, Lat 18.39, Lon 50.61).
I spend 20 minutes trying to get the coordinates right. Only to have it turn out that it was the base all along and I could have just targeted it...
I drove in with my SRV and could kill 1 turret, then 3 skimmers attacked me and I got the hell out of there. Then I was bombed from the air. I made it back to my ship, but my ship was already damaged from the bombs. I boosted out with 40% hull and 10% modules.
Stupid mission design and implementation. Quite sad since a lot of dev time probably went into scripting and making this base and then it produces an impossible mission like that, which just wastes players time.
But I went back with with 7 SRVs. So I had 7 tries to get to it (whatever 'it' was).
This time no ship spawned though. So I spent an hour killing turrets and skimmers and generators. I scanned some stuff I did not understand. After another hour I had realized and found how to scan those 4 networks within the time limit. So I got the big price (I guess). Overall I walked away with 1.5 million in intel data and some engineering data.
So how many people collected this? Was it all instanced? Was there no race to get it after all?
Overall I rate it now better. But this is definitely not well designed to give new players a positive experience. And according to this thread the entire thing might even have been a bug.
I spend 20 minutes trying to get the coordinates right. Only to have it turn out that it was the base all along and I could have just targeted it...
I drove in with my SRV and could kill 1 turret, then 3 skimmers attacked me and I got the hell out of there. Then I was bombed from the air. I made it back to my ship, but my ship was already damaged from the bombs. I boosted out with 40% hull and 10% modules.
Stupid mission design and implementation. Quite sad since a lot of dev time probably went into scripting and making this base and then it produces an impossible mission like that, which just wastes players time.
But I went back with with 7 SRVs. So I had 7 tries to get to it (whatever 'it' was).
This time no ship spawned though. So I spent an hour killing turrets and skimmers and generators. I scanned some stuff I did not understand. After another hour I had realized and found how to scan those 4 networks within the time limit. So I got the big price (I guess). Overall I walked away with 1.5 million in intel data and some engineering data.
So how many people collected this? Was it all instanced? Was there no race to get it after all?
Overall I rate it now better. But this is definitely not well designed to give new players a positive experience. And according to this thread the entire thing might even have been a bug.
This is EXACTLY what I describe in the video. No, there is no one else looking, and there is no point to the tip off other than telling you exactly where that base is. But like I said, ANY other base like that, and there are many, many, many like it, will have that beacon to scan. Don't get too excited though, as I said, FD has said they are nerfing the payout. It used be around 700k, but will be around 7k after 2.2.03.
Just find one without the red fence along the outside (mostly med or low security) and you can scan it without firing a shot. My Youtube has videos on that, and there's a huge thread in DD about base layouts.
Until they change tip off missions to something quasi-unique or interesting, it's just a waste of inbox/time.