What a difference in progress

[jijik2]

Hi all,

What a difference the game is compared to a few years ago.
Chrystal Shards easy mats, trading for mats. Advanced Discovery scanner installed by default.
I was always afraid to start anew.... but now with a 2nd account (from epic), what a difference in progress.
Took me ages to get my first Million. now half hour a day after 2/3 weeks, credits come so much easier then before.
Totally different feeling of the game..

 

[rrobes]

So this is better?

 

[ebbrell]

So it easy now then?
And safe, not dangerous

I want dangerous

 

[thistle]

Better and easier are two different things.

Is it better? Yes. Better systems, more content, the difference between release and early Horizons to now is huge.

Is it easier? Probably, although I'd describe it as more user friendly rather than easier. Also a good thing.

So I agree with jijik2.

 

[Muetdhiver]

So it easy now then?
And safe, not dangerous

I want dangerous

It's not easier or less dangerous than before. It is however, much faster.

Let's not confuse time spent and difficulty. There was little skill involved in the grind that was the game at launch.

 

[ebbrell]

I think due to increase in speed of getting money, access to A modules and better ships is quicker.. therefore game becomes easier.

The combat at early parts of the game is hard or feels more differcult. People are skipping this due to the rapid speed of making wealth.

Sad really, these are some of the best parts

 

[Ydiss]

I think due to increase in speed of getting money, access to A modules and better ships is quicker.. therefore game becomes easier.

The combat at early parts of the game is hard or feels more differcult. People are skipping this due to the rapid speed of making wealth.

Sad really, these are some of the best parts

The game becomes easier faster. Having 500bn in the bank doesn't make the game easier than having 500m. It's just faster to get to your chosen activity.

I don't advocate get rich quick schemes, definitely not those available on day one for any new player; blasting through the early game in a day or two is detrimental to the experience in my opinion. But I've played through the early game with a new commander recently and the overwhelming impression I got is that earning credits is scaling up really well doing missions. They still don't earn as much as my main because my main is Elite, but they're earning millions now as opposed to tens of thousands on day one, which I think is perfect.

The problem is all that good progression structure got skipped by a number of new players because YouTube showed them you could skip it. Their perception of the game is skewed, likely indefinitely, by that.

The op has it spot on. And now things at the "top end" are getting closer together too. Still work to do but fdev said they are continuing with it.

But if you were to ask me to describe the difference between the early game when I started playing (beta/gamma) - where the best way of earning credits was ABA trade and that was only, top end, 6-7m credits per hour (everything else was trash, less than 500k/h) - to now...?

The word I'd use is not "easier". Yes, it's easier in a lot of ways but that's not the first adjective I'd think of. Probably not even in the top 5 list of adjectives. And I'd say it's easier only because fdev have improved the new player experience immeasurably since then and that's not a bad thing.

Earning millions at launch wasn't "hard". It just took more time. The fact that only one activity made it possible was not a good thing.

 

[Stellar Shepherd]

The combat at early parts of the game is hard or feels more differcult. People are skipping this due to the rapid speed of making wealth.

Kinda yes and no, power creep leans to engineering. That's why having any kind of trade between credits and engineering will always be a bad idea.
I'd say it's more accessible now.

 

[Lyvan Kitaen]

Hi all,

What a difference the game is compared to a few years ago.
Chrystal Shards easy mats, trading for mats. Advanced Discovery scanner installed by default.
I was always afraid to start anew.... but now with a 2nd account (from epic), what a difference in progress.
Took me ages to get my first Million. now half hour a day after 2/3 weeks, credits come so much easier then before.
Totally different feeling of the game..

A big part for me in how fast I can advance an alt is simply the fact that I know the game better. I know what activities pay the best, I know about 3rd party tools, and I better understand the mechanics of the game. I don't have to get over that initial steep learning curve.

 

[Old Duck]

I'm glad I joined the game earlier on when it felt like a real accomplishment to finally (after months of hard work) be able to hand over the credits needed for a D-rated Anaconda, or to finally (after traveling half the galaxy) make Elite in exploration. The journey and sense of accomplishment is what made the game great for me. I would not have all my fond memories had I started playing ED today rather than 3.5 years ago. One man's obstacle is another man's challenge

 

[d8veh]

Combat against NPCs is much harder now than it was in 2015. First of all, the big ships used to give up half way through the fight and do that death spin. Even without that, I could kill an Anaconda in an A-rated Sidewinder. They buffed combat with Engineers, but then had to wind back a bit because too many complaints. At that stage, you vould kill any single NPC with an unengineered A-rated Vulture, even if you weren't an expert. It was fairly easy to stay behind Anacondas and Gunships. The Vulture is still one of the best unengineered combat ships, but there's not much that it'll win against in a high RES one-on-one battle now unless you practice a lot first. I would say that killing bigger ships using today's fully engineered Vulture is a bit harder than using an unengineered one in 2018.

 

[dekot]

It's not easier or less dangerous than before. It is however, much faster.

Let's not confuse time spent and difficulty. There was little skill involved in the grind that was the game at launch.

I dont think the divergence is based on skill. Rather the game went from a sim where you struggle to move up in the world to a game where you can fairly easily amass a fleet of spaceships and have fun decking them out.

Just two different visions within the game.