So I really am trying to follow you here. Having an FC allows you to fly in Open and get killed and not fly far to get your ship back? Players that visit these mat gathering hubs tend to do so in PG and Solo to avoid ganks, not share mats, not worry about pylon resets, and use a DBX with two pds to wipe out all missiles. I get that FCs as taxis are convenient, but there aren't any in game communication tools to offer that service. There are already in game weekly taxi services if you didn't want to do the mind-numbing 20 jumps. This just doesn't seem like a truly viable large community serving argument. Again, it is centered on the premise that the attractive feature is to reduce game play time.
What can a Fleet Carrier add to the Game?
- Thread starter Hooplah
- Start date
Unless I'm reading this wrong, and I apologize if I am, it sounds like you're thumbing your nose at this guy because he enjoys what he perceives to be quicker travel in the game?
I'm suggesting that there is an underlying problem with the travel mechanic with the game that is unrelated to fleet carriers. Fleet carriers circumvent the mechanic, creating "value" in the game.
It is the same thing a buying an experience point gain "power up" in a pay to win gaming service model. These power ups accelerate the pace at which you can proceed through the game progression, hitting achievement markers at a faster pace.
He might enjoy the benefits of the "power up" but not appreciate the underlying thinking about the game design. The devs create a boring redundant unpleasant grind loop (travel), and then a tool to circumvent that grind loop. It is a cheap and dirty way to not have to build more interesting, diverse, and engaging game loops.
Any time a dev creates a tool that allows players to avoid gameplay, it tells me there is an underlying problem with the gameplay.
It doesn't certainly does not make me excited that the new game avoiding tool or "power up" has been introduced.
I think this forum has a VERY, VERY, VERY unhealthy obsession with players achieving milestones at a faster pace than previous. This includes credits, ships, etc. Then there's the notion that a player must play a certain way, or experience something a certain way to "appreciate" the game like you might appreciate it.
The travel mechanic is a fundamental underpinning of the sense of scale we have of the galaxy. That it takes time is NOT a bad thing. As somebody who uses the mobility of my FC to "get where I want to be doing what I want to do" faster, I have to say that the FC doesn't appear to me to circumvent that. Particularly now, but even after Wednesdays patch you watch your trit reserves, you DO ask yourself the question of whether expending the fuel and maintenance costs is worth saving the time that it would take to just fly there in one of your ships. Because of that, the sense of scale is undiminished by a FC.
Lol, when I read that commander's post, I wondered how long it would take someone to comment about how long he'd played before getting a carrier. You didn't disappoint
You may have gotten your carrier at light speed, but there's no shortcuts on the forums. For some reason there are a bunch of elitist snobs on the forums who think it should take thousands of hours of game play to obtain something like a carrier, and they love every opportunity to let people know it. Well I say good for you! I hope you're having a blast in your carrier!
Lol, when I read that commander's post, I wondered how long it would take someone to comment about how long he'd played before getting a carrier. You didn't disappoint
It was very nearly me, but I didn't want to be "that guy"
. Personally I'm pleased that players can achieve something that they enjoy in the game, it doesn't bother me, but it's funny/noteworthy that FD have lost control to this extent and released "end game content" that could be achieved from a standing start in a matter of weeks. It took me 6 or 7 months of solid play to get a Python!
Lol, when I read that commander's post, I wondered how long it would take someone to comment about how long he'd played before getting a carrier. You didn't disappoint
Lol, I knew it was coming. I don't care anyways. The truth is, if it wasn't for quarantine, I would be Fleet Carrier-less given that even with the gold rush, I sunk an above average amount of time into the game to achieve the credits I have and the fleet I've amassed. Also, THANK YOU! I'm all for critiquing the game, it's mechanics and it's direction, but I find it so odd that some on the forums feel the need to diminish how someone plays and their personal goals within the game. As I've stated before, while this is an MMO, it has quite the single-player vibe about it being that practically all personal player progression has little impact on other players and the universe surrounding them. With 400 billion star systems, it's hard to really influence another players gameplay with such scale.
Lag, clutter, crashing, rainbow snake errors and imprisoned players.
I equate carrier ownership to buying a car at sticker price then financing it at infinite value.
I equate carrier ownership to buying a car at sticker price then financing it at infinite value.
Yeah, as you say it doesn't affect other players (other than performance hit in FC heavy systems, which is FD's responsibility), but there is a broader point here. When I look back at my time in the game (2500+ hours) it was the period of slow progression at the start that was the most enjoyable and satisfying (by start, I mean the first year
). Every ship upgrade felt special and hard-earned, and offered substantially new earning possibilities. You can get to a certain point when it all feels rather empty having already achieved these things. Again, none of this is the players fault.
My trail blazed my way, over the 4 years on xbox and now 4 months on ps4, has always been exploration. I tried the carrier on beta and although I only had a week of it, I could see the possibilities it opened up, so hit the diamond grind to buy my own, which took a couple of weeks...
Fast forward to this week, where I've spent time heading out to the sanguineous rim to explore and tag some systems. Yes, I needed to mine more fuel, yes, that took up a couple of hours a session, but if i didnt have a carrier to mine for, i wouldn't have arrived back in the bubble with 400ltd, 250VO, 100 alexandrite....and more tritium than i headed out with. I never bothered with mining before, last time i did it was lasers only and that is SO boring (pardon the pun)...
I guess what I'm trying to say is that having my carrier has opened up parts of the game that i previously ignored. I jump 500ly, spend the rest of the day scanning and mapping and mining, then call the carrier in, park up, then do it all again the day after.
All i need to do now is learn how to pewpew...
Fast forward to this week, where I've spent time heading out to the sanguineous rim to explore and tag some systems. Yes, I needed to mine more fuel, yes, that took up a couple of hours a session, but if i didnt have a carrier to mine for, i wouldn't have arrived back in the bubble with 400ltd, 250VO, 100 alexandrite....and more tritium than i headed out with. I never bothered with mining before, last time i did it was lasers only and that is SO boring (pardon the pun)...
I guess what I'm trying to say is that having my carrier has opened up parts of the game that i previously ignored. I jump 500ly, spend the rest of the day scanning and mapping and mining, then call the carrier in, park up, then do it all again the day after.
All i need to do now is learn how to pewpew...
The entire gist of being in space in the future with FTL travel is to take advantage of imaginary creature comforts and reduced travel times to explore things we otherwise could not given our relatively very finite life spans. So reducing commute times doesn't reduce game play time. It reduces travel time that is being substituted for actual game play, with the convenient narrative that travel time makes the galaxy feel so big. Anyone who wants to travel slower certainly can. With faster commute times to work, I get more work done. It doesn't reduce my work time. If, in the past, it took me 2 hours to get to my office and 2 hours to get back home, and an 8 hour day, I wasn't getting 12 hours of work. I was getting 8. If I get to work in 10 minutes, I get 3 and a half more hours to get more done besides stare at a windshield. In the game, if I get to my destination faster, I get more done there since my play time is finite, and I don't consider built in grind to be gameplay. There's nothing interesting about repetitive jump screens.
This.Carriers have a lot of greatness to add to the game, both from a single player convenience perspective but also a social perspective. It is just a shame they put such a wedge in the general ED machinery. The carriers should be removed again and worked through properly. Try again FD, third time will be the charm.
I’m really happy about fleet carriers, and excited to see what else they’ll bring to the game.
BUT, all these hangs I’m getting at popular galactic spots? Not fun.
Today was particularly interesting as the infinite blue tunnel held me immobile while my heat continued to climb and climb. Felt like I was having a near death experience.
Anyhow I think some more tinkering is called for on EDs part. Fingers crossed.
As is now. Only for explorers.
No other use comes to mind, as I have ships parked all over the bubble.
Take a fleet out of the bubble to attack thargoid bases in locked systems? Now we are talking.
No other use comes to mind, as I have ships parked all over the bubble.
Take a fleet out of the bubble to attack thargoid bases in locked systems? Now we are talking.
The scale is meaningless but for fringe interests. There is nothing to see anyway. The galaxy is been created for the sake of it - not gameplay. A fraction would have done as well - but without having to press J thousands of times and watch th same loading screen over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
Please don't think bad of me for finding that hilarious, given your forum handle
I can see how. However I've had far better journey experiences in other games.Please don't think bad of me for finding that hilarious, given your forum handle
This is a design problem.