What do you guys think about the real-time aspect of Elite Dangerous?

[Butter of Sorrow]

I mean, I can see how for some people it could add to the immersion of the game or something, but on the other hand at times it does make the game seem a bit like a chore at times. I mean, if you have a massacre mission or something with 6 hours remaining at 3AM you can't just be like "Oh, I'll finish that tomorrow." If you go to sleep instead the game punishes you with the usual mission failure penalties.

Hence the title. Just note that I'm asking because I don't exactly feel like complaining about this, mainly because I could've considerably reduced the chance of that outcome by simply not trying to bite more than I could chew, although on the other hand there's also the matter that I'm not a clairvoyant: It's not impossible for me to pick up a mission I think I have time to finish only to get something else come up IRL, which the game punishes me for. This is coming from a 22-year-old student by the way, I'm sure there's plenty of people around here who tend to have much busier lives than me.

However, I'll say it again, I'm not saying it's a game breaking feature or bad game design. I'm sincerely asking what other people think about it.


EDIT: OH, I almost forgot. Community goals. The real-time aspect serves them nicely, so that's one thing worth mentioning in contrast to the criticism.

 

[goemon]

the game does not punish you for failing a mission.

you are not loosing progress in the game by failing a mission, you just don't get paid. that's a difference.

there are even a few missions which you can't suceed in, if you are sitting in the wrong ship. it's fun to try it repeatedly and fail it - and to find out, what you would need for it to do it. high security settlement attacks, i'm looking at you!

the hit on reputation is very minor if you fail or abort a mission, much less than you gain from a single data delivery mission - and even when you get hostile by failing hundreds of missions - that's part of the experience, not punishing. it's fun to fly in space where you have a bad reputation.

the game provides you with the challenge to finish a mission. failing a mission is part of the game, as getting shot, biting more than you can chew, etc. otherwise there wouldn't be a challenge.

i have very often aborted a bunch of missions, because i got sidetracked, was tired, family businness, or the latest episode of my favourite tv show was just to good. i also have failed missions for a bunch of ingame reasons.

i don't think the game is designed with a 100% success rate in mind.

 

[Andovar]

I agree with goemon.
The rep hit is small enough that it's not that big a deal to recoup. I recently had to abandon 6 missions due to a bug, which dropped my local allied status down to friendly. Only took one delivery mission to get back to allied status.
There are also some missions that impose a credit fine on failure, but it's usually extremely small, so again of little consequence.

So I really don't have any issue with the time constraints of missions.

 

[DukeIronHand]

I like the "real time" aspect of the game...just like "real life."
I have had to turn down plenty of missions just because I did not have the time (in the "real" world) to do them.
Part of the ED charm IMHO.

 

[Tarman]

This is a very dangerous topic for some reason.

Personally I usually research the type of game I'm playing in general for whether it fits into my lifestyle. There's reasons I never played SWG and it wasn't that I don't like Star Wars. I just knew better than to even start, because I had to do other things like eat and sleep. The game as it was did not fit my lifestyle no matter how much I wanted to play. That however is not the fault of the game, nor mine; it's just how it was.

The concept of the game "punishing" you for not having the time to play it is one I strongly disagree with, as the potentials are always known beforehand that they may occur. Yes it's annoying WHEN they occur but they are not a surprise in that you didn't know of their existence and possibility of occurrence. That's part of the risk of participating in timed activities; you might not actually finish in the allotted time due to Reason X. Otherwise the timer is meaningless. As there are other activities in Elite specifically that aren't timed, I don't see this as a punishment by games as much as I see this as a point for the player to make wise temporal decisions.

I think the concept extends to Elite as a whole, and other kinds of larger-scale time investment games; it's not the game's fault if it doesn't fit into your timeframe. I don't play much Crusader Kings because I rarely have the time to sit there and really strategize to that detail amongst the rest of my life. Doesn't make it a bad game, it makes it incompatible with my current timeframes. This is from the same guy who used to have enough time to have Civ, SMAC and GalCivII games going at the same time, with mixed doses of those detailed Steel Panther retool tactical wargames inbetween. I personally have lots of time for Elite in the long term because I don't have to brain so hard at it per-session and at all inbetween, especially with INARA support; it's more visceral than plotting how to control an empire across centuries or tactically moving hundreds of military units each with 100 stats.

 

[Lobstris]

This is a very dangerous topic for some reason.

Personally I usually research the type of game I'm playing in general for whether it fits into my lifestyle. There's reasons I never played SWG and it wasn't that I don't like Star Wars. I just knew better than to even start, because I had to do other things like eat and sleep. The game as it was did not fit my lifestyle no matter how much I wanted to play. That however is not the fault of the game, nor mine; it's just how it was.

Lol. That exactly sums up my attitude towards Eve. I could just see myself losing the rest of my life to it, so I've stayed away for over a decade.

 

[Infidel Deity]

I have learned....
Don't accept new missions, just before you go to bed! [yesnod]

 

[DNA-Decay]

Wait what?
I was sure all my failed missions had stymied my progress to Allied with Sirius.

Hell, I'll just fail some more then.

 

[Hooplah]

Multi-million cargo mission failures can get some hefty fines as in 300k, but by the time a player gets offered these mission consistently it's not a big deal versus the profits generated. It's balanced well across all styles of game play.

 

[Arry]

1st: If you are failing or dumping missions and you generally do a lot of missions; then the rep hit etc, is hardly noticeable.

2nd: 22 year old student. Nice work if you are eligible to have it, but at the same time; still a little young to avoid those tempting, but unrealistic opportunities that present them selves. 3am with 6 hours remaining and then failed, means you did not get up in time to finish it off.

Oh what bliss to be young, lazy and reckless and still be able to complain on the inter-web. At your age you should be fit enough to climb mountains and if you were so inclined; I would hope that before you make such attempts. Someone older and wiser; would be able to point out that now is not a good time to start; because it is 3 am and you have just consumed 10 pints of home brew.

 

[StiTch]

There are no real consequences for failure (what else is new?), so it never bothered me in the first place.

But to add, these times are generous. Like, really really generous.

Before the mission update you had a couple hours max - and this was sometimes really variable. You would actually have to double check you would have time to complete the mission starting it from when you accepted the mission, which is how missions should be IMO, with much greater rewards for ones completed with little time.

Nowdays, it's just take mission provided you have time to do it that night or can pop on before the same time tomorrow. That's not difficult. And it's certainly not worth changing. If you are going to be picking up missions and then complaining you don't have time to play in the next 24 hours, go play Progress Quest or something and let the game do the work for you.

 

[goemon]

Multi-million cargo mission failures can get some hefty fines as in 300k, but by the time a player gets offered these mission consistently it's not a big deal versus the profits generated. It's balanced well across all styles of game play.

you don't have to pay your fines ... you'll get the experience of flying around with a nice hefty bounty and bounty hunters spawning. very interesting!

 

[Garbarrage]

I think that in a game with an emphasis on realism in terms of distance, time and travel, that CZs and Res sites don't make much sense. The whole NPC farming thing in convenient locations, while serving a purpose for honing piloting combat skills, just doesn't make sense.

Surely combat in the Elite universe should be more spontaneous, with more emphasis on guerrilla tactics on the small scale, and tactical battles for strategic locations on the large scale. Why don't opposing forces ever attack stations, or settlements? Why do they never need to be defended? Why are we limited to battles in random ring systems seemingly chosen at random as the "battlefield"?

The only element of the game that annoys me in respect of travel times, is dragging a combat ship with a crappy jump range and fuel tank across space to an engineer to get upgrades. Even though there's a workaround, it's still vexatious. Other than that, any ship that needs to cover great distances, can be purpose built and do it quite quickly. I quite like the pace of the game created by this.

 

[SeaFireliv]

I mean, I can see how for some people it could add to the immersion of the game or something, but on the other hand at times it does make the game seem a bit like a chore at times. I mean, if you have a massacre mission or something with 6 hours remaining at 3AM you can't just be like "Oh, I'll finish that tomorrow." If you go to sleep instead the game punishes you with the usual mission failure penalties.

Hence the title. Just note that I'm asking because I don't exactly feel like complaining about this, mainly because I could've considerably reduced the chance of that outcome by simply not trying to bite more than I could chew, although on the other hand there's also the matter that I'm not a clairvoyant: It's not impossible for me to pick up a mission I think I have time to finish only to get something else come up IRL, which the game punishes me for. This is coming from a 22-year-old student by the way, I'm sure there's plenty of people around here who tend to have much busier lives than me.

However, I'll say it again, I'm not saying it's a game breaking feature or bad game design. I'm sincerely asking what other people think about it.


EDIT: OH, I almost forgot. Community goals. The real-time aspect serves them nicely, so that's one thing worth mentioning in contrast to the criticism.

Wondering when we`d see a thread like this. I was planning on doing one myself. It really is a 2-edge sword system that many people don`t realise until they try it. I lost my very first set of jobs because I slept on it overnight, not understanding it was Real Time.

Yes, it can be a bit of a chore. If you really want to complete a job, you have to stick it out for the full period. It has been annoying knowing I have to work the next day and forcing myself to fly on because the mission will fail if I leave it till the next evening. And some missions really push it, so what looks like it could be done in an hour forces you to take 3 hours, especially on those tourist missions when the guy decides he wants something or to change the destination.

It forces me to have to designate my time to the game in a way I never did unless I was on multiplayer. This means I actually have to play less as opposed to say Fall Out 4 which I can play whenever and for as short or long as I want.

But there is a plus side...
It does feel realistic, and what you do affects what goes on in the game universe, so there is a whole feeling of being in a living world.

Still wouldn`t mind a savable offline mode though...

 

[Butter of Sorrow]

Wondering when we`d see a thread like this. I was planning on doing one myself. It really is a 2-edge sword system that many people don`t realise until they try it. I lost my very first set of jobs because I slept on it overnight, not understanding it was Real Time.

Yes, it can be a bit of a chore. If you really want to complete a job, you have to stick it out for the full period. It has been annoying knowing I have to work the next day and forcing myself to fly on because the mission will fail if I leave it till the next evening. And some missions really push it, so what looks like it could be done in an hour forces you to take 3 hours, especially on those tourist missions when the guy decides he wants something or to change the destination.

It forces me to have to designate my time to the game in a way I never did unless I was on multiplayer. This means I actually have to play less as opposed to say Fall Out 4 which I can play whenever and for as short or long as I want.

But there is a plus side...
It does feel realistic, and what you do affects what goes on in the game universe, so there is a whole feeling of being in a living world.

Still wouldn`t mind a savable offline mode though...

In it's defense though it's a good system to make sure that you actually do the missions you sign up for. It would be stupid if you could accept a mission, be like "Oh I'll do it SOME DAY" and then one year later...

 

[Stealthie]

I have learned....
Don't accept new missions, just before you go to bed! [yesnod]

Same here.

Doesn't always work out but I always try to end a session with nothing left half-finished.
Whenever I do that, I always end up not getting computer time for a few days and then I come back to find a bunch of failed missions.

 

[SeaFireliv]

In it's defense though it's a good system to make sure that you actually do the missions you sign up for. It would be stupid if you could accept a mission, be like "Oh I'll do it SOME DAY" and then one year later...

That logic actually doesn`t make sense. It`s a game, a pastime. If every game forced you to complete a job in real time, especially in Solo, hardly anyone would buy a game.

 

[Infidel Deity]

Same here.

Doesn't always work out but I always try to end a session with nothing left half-finished.
Whenever I do that, I always end up not getting computer time for a few days and then I come back to find a bunch of failed missions.

Exactly! [yesnod]

Better to adjust what you take in.

 

[[VR] Goooost]

if you have a massacre mission or something with 6 hours remaining at 3AM you can't just be like "Oh, I'll finish that tomorrow." If you go to sleep instead the game punishes you with the usual mission failure penalties.

I think it should only apply to community goals. Having the clock tick while I'm not playing isn't fair. If it means reducing the available mission time but only having the clock count time played, that would be cool.

Case in point: I live in a windmill. My power goes out at least once a day, sometimes more. I've completely given up on resetting my clocks. I cant tell you how many times I've stacked missions, and then everything goes completely black. I don't have time in the morning to do the missions because its an hour commute to work, then I have to work 8 or 9 hours before another hour back. Those missions are toast by that point. One of my biggest gripes about this game is that damned clock.

 

[SeaFireliv]

I think it should only apply to community goals. Having the clock tick while I'm not playing isn't fair. If it means reducing the available mission time but only having the clock count time played, that would be cool.

Case in point: I live in a windmill. My power goes out at least once a day, sometimes more. I've completely given up on resetting my clocks. I cant tell you how many times I've stacked missions, and then everything goes completely black. I don't have time in the morning to do the missions because its an hour commute to work, then I have to work 8 or 9 hours before another hour back. Those missions are toast by that point. One of my biggest gripes about this game is that damned clock.

Good points.

It`s a strangely restrictive mechanic since if you don`t finish a job in that same session you go to bed and even to work the next day thinking about that unfinished job in Elite still pending. Realistic, but it does put pressure on you especially if you`re a completionist kind of person. Again, strange for a game. You can`t just Save and come back. I know it bugged me so much I`d stay up till 3am just to make sure that last job was done. Now I pick and choose very carefully.