What exactly is the purpose and future of on foot game play in ED?

[Muzz UK]

Space legs and on foot game play was a good edition to Elite Dangerous it opened up a lot of possibilities. Mechanically and graphically it is good I'm not questioning that but I'm wondering what the purpose is long term. We are a few years down the line since Odyssey dropped but I am struggling to understand the value and what it adds to the game other than something for explorers to do... exobiology etc.

Undertaking on foot warzones for example, they take far longer to get to than space ones. The rewards both personal for players and the contributions to system states are far less than space missions the added time isn't worth it. The AI isn't great in on foot conflict zones the bots do not provide a challenge. I made several earlier posts on this many moons ago and the majority of players who replied agreed they are dull and need a lot of improvement. We've all spent some time performing ground missions, looting settlements and upgrading our gear. Sadly none of this on foot game play adds anything to the ship gameplay which is a major part of ED. I've not touch on foot for a year or so. The rumoured on foot Thargoid play never arrived and its not like our suits and upgrades give us some value defending our ship from being boarded and there's no looting, raiding or attacking stations to earn rewards or boost background sim etc.

There needs to be some cross game interaction between both game modes because they feel entirely separate I can only find value or reason for explorers. I think the potential is there.

 

[Robert Maynard]

We've all spent some time performing ground missions, looting settlements and upgrading our gear.

We haven't all spent that time, because not all players own a copy of Odyssey.

 

[Jaffz]

I haven't got round to the on foot stuff yet but I will, only started playing again a couple of months ago. Is it grindy?

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

My primary answer would be: Because it's fun?

Undertaking on foot warzones for example, they take far longer to get to than space ones. The rewards both personal for players and the contributions to system states are far less than space missions the added time isn't worth it.

If you evaluate activities only by their reward and efficiency, then you might have a problem here. On the other hand I just with the current CG read players bragging how many bonds they collected in how little time and how on foot CZs are so much more efficient than space ones.

I know I'm an old fart and probably in a miniscule minority, but I really dislike the reward driven nature of gaming as it is today. Personally, I do on-foot stuff when I find it fun - which actually does happen from time to time. Can I make more credits doing <x>? Probably. Is grinding <y> as satisfying as sitting on the highest perch of a settlement and picking NPCs off one by one with the sniper rifle? Hardly.

The AI isn't great in on foot conflict zones the bots do not provide a challenge. I made several earlier posts on this many moons ago and the majority of players who replied agreed they are dull and need a lot of improvement.

In the long run, I think no NPC opponent will pose any kind of challenge to a human player unless their difficulty is cranked so far up that the average player (or below) will quit. On the other hand Odyssey is also just an on-foot extension of the game and not a hardcore FPS. If you want challenging FPS combat, Elite will probably be the wrong game for that.

I haven't got round to the on foot stuff yet but I will, only started playing again a couple of months ago. Is it grindy?

Depends on who you ask and what's your goal is, as with all the parts of the game. If you want to have all the stuffz as fast as possible, it will burn you out. If you set realistic goals and "just play the game", it's fun.

 

[wrmiller]

What's the purpose? How about money?

Using the same tired grind mechanics used to fly spaceships.

 

[Starshot_Jigawatts]

The thing I hate the most about Odyssey is the HORRIBLE inexcusable performance hit, even when not being on foot. And of course the butchering of the System Map that came with it.

It's sort of just something to do.....but it doesn't really fit in with the core of the game all that well.

 

[SlickPBW]

I enjoy doing Ody missions because I find it fun. I have several suit/weapon load outs that are optimized for different situations and missions. I enjoy learning all the different settlement layouts in detail: NPC patrol routes, location of alarms, data ports, PP2 lockers, charging ports, med kits, level2/3 NPC’s, etc. I like to optimize my approach at each settlement type to be able to do the mission and get away quickly. I prefer stealth approach but some are better accomplished with overwhelming firepower. As a side benefit I sell excess assets/goods/data on my FC to anyone so that they can easily get over the initial grind of unlocking engineers and upgrading their first set of suits and weapons. To hone skills and force alternative gameplay I will frequently use the flight suit or Artemis suit with suboptimal weapons to force a different set of tactics to achieve the mission objectives. So yeah, I find it fun. To each his own.

 

[Muzz UK]

I enjoy doing Ody missions because I find it fun. I have several suit/weapon load outs that are optimized for different situations and missions. I enjoy learning all the different settlement layouts in detail: NPC patrol routes, location of alarms, data ports, PP2 lockers, charging ports, med kits, level2/3 NPC’s, etc. I like to optimize my approach at each settlement type to be able to do the mission and get away quickly. I prefer stealth approach but some are better accomplished with overwhelming firepower. As a side benefit I sell excess assets/goods/data on my FC to anyone so that they can easily get over the initial grind of unlocking engineers and upgrading their first set of suits and weapons. To hone skills and force alternative gameplay I will frequently use the flight suit or Artemis suit with suboptimal weapons to force a different set of tactics to achieve the mission objectives. So yeah, I find it fun. To each his own.

There are fun aspects of course. Odyssey is a smaller part of Elite compared to flying around in space. Actions in Odyssey only benefit Odyssey and they contribute far less to the Elite game overall. War states and background sim are a massive part of Elite. Everything on the ground that contributes to background sim does so taking much longer for less reward. Even the credits earned and rep earned are far less. If they perhaps effected a different aspect of the background sim I could see the value and purpose. Trading intel directly to a person on foot for example should have more value than just dropping it off at a space station. Arguably the risk is higher you traversing space then a settlement. The same could be said for smuggling too!

 

[Jaffz]

I enjoy doing Ody missions because I find it fun. I have several suit/weapon load outs that are optimized for different situations and missions. I enjoy learning all the different settlement layouts in detail: NPC patrol routes, location of alarms, data ports, PP2 lockers, charging ports, med kits, level2/3 NPC’s, etc. I like to optimize my approach at each settlement type to be able to do the mission and get away quickly. I prefer stealth approach but some are better accomplished with overwhelming firepower. As a side benefit I sell excess assets/goods/data on my FC to anyone so that they can easily get over the initial grind of unlocking engineers and upgrading their first set of suits and weapons. To hone skills and force alternative gameplay I will frequently use the flight suit or Artemis suit with suboptimal weapons to force a different set of tactics to achieve the mission objectives. So yeah, I find it fun. To each his own.

Ok, so how much grind is involved to get all this stuff?

 

[metatheurgist]

Is it grindy?

Do tardigrades poop in space?

 

[Florenus]

That's my main complaint about Odyssey from the start - and not only mine - it's a parallel, almost separate game within Elite Dangerous, instead of expanding spaceship gameplay in all areas. And in almost all cases it's not worth actually doing (except exobiology for credit making), unless you just enjoy that FPS stuff for itself.
I suppose the main reason it feels like that is because it's designed as an optional DLC - mixing it up with main game loops too much would most likely put players not owning it at more or less disadvantage (alhough I suppose it would be doable with careful design process). That said, exobiology earns so much credits that it alone makes this DLC kind of p2w.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Undertaking on foot warzones for example, they take far longer to get to than space ones. The rewards both personal for players and the contributions to system states are far less than space missions the added time isn't worth it.

Being able to flip multiple settlements in a single conflict by winning their ground CZs is quite an efficiency bonus for those who care about such things.

The AI isn't great in on foot conflict zones the bots do not provide a challenge.

Similarly the only challenge someone in a heavily engineered combat ship is going to face in a space CZ is "can they complete the zone without needing too many synthesis reloads?".

The rumoured on foot Thargoid play never arrived

Though Frontier never hinted that anything of the sort was coming. The rumours came entirely from players making stuff up.

(Thargoid Spires did have a significant on-foot component to sabotaging them, that said)

and there's no looting, raiding or attacking stations to earn rewards or boost background sim etc.

There are several types of Odyssey settlement mission which give rewards and BGS outcomes which could be described as loot/raid/attack.



But ultimately ... Frontier introduced on-foot content, it wasn't anywhere near popular enough to justify continuing to throw money at it, they've been doing more spaceship stuff instead because that seems to be popular. If you don't enjoy what there is, then being able to entirely ignore it because it doesn't get in the way of the space stuff is an advantage.

 

[FatzDomingo]

We haven't all spent that time, because not all players own a copy of Odyssey.

Because not all players are looking for a poorly done Halo Clone, doing things in my ship is what im looking for, or even something like:-
Walking about my own ship
Boarding other disabled ships to grab cargo
Raid enemy stations
Atmospheric landings
Improved witchspace
VR Full implementation for those who dont want pancake

 

[SlickPBW]

Ok, so how much grind is involved to get all this stuff?

It’s a grind if you make it a grind. All the engineer unlock stuff and suit/weapon upgrade/mod stuff is relatively easy to come by. Do some research and then raid some settlements to get what you need. If notoriety bothers you then raid anarchy settlements. There are tons of guides for this. If you become allied with all minor factions in a system with lots of anarchy settlements, they will offer missions with very good pay out for these materials also.

 

[PilotB]

All the engineer unlock stuff and suit/weapon upgrade/mod stuff is relatively easy to come by.

They're not it's a massively time consuming RNG show even with guides.

 

[SlickPBW]

They're not it's a massively time consuming RNG show even with guides.

Well, we'll disagree. I am constantly 100% full of ody mats/goods/data and then I dump as much as I can, up to 1000 items to my FC bartender where they sell like hotcakes and in 2-3 days, I'm all full again. I have made over 30B credits selling these on my FC.

You're right, I must be doing it wrong.

 

[PilotB]

Well, we'll disagree. I am constantly 100% full of ody mats/goods/data and then I dump as much as I can,

Oh I can fill up on utterly worthless trash that's no issue at all but getting even just 10 of something you specifically want can and often is tens of hours of hoping RNG graces you even if you are nominally at the place that's easiest to find it.

Then you likely realise it's all pointless as you were already comfortably completing the missions and clearing bases so why bother. It's one of the weakest 3rd person shooters available as it's smashed into the side of a spaceship game.

 

[Martind Forlon]

Oh I can fill up on utterly worthless trash that's no issue at all but getting even just 10 of something you specifically want can and often is tens of hours of hoping RNG graces you even if you are nominally at the place that's easiest to find it.

Then you likely realise it's all pointless as you were already comfortably completing the missions and clearing bases so why bother. It's one of the weakest 3rd person shooters available as it's smashed into the side of a spaceship game.

This is why is better to have more goals as only one, and finding most of materials/data is now much easier as it ever was. Some players however want all overnight on silver plate. I enjoy do on-foot stuff too and Im perfectly fine with other player don't, there always is choice yes/no when playing a game. Playing game whare i don't have fun seems to me unnatural.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Because it's fun?

100% this...

... but, just like anything else in the game, it isn't for everybody, for whatever reason.

Fun works for me.

 

[SlickPBW]

Oh I can fill up on utterly worthless trash that's no issue at all but getting even just 10 of something you specifically want can and often is tens of hours of hoping RNG graces you even if you are nominally at the place that's easiest to find it.

Then you likely realise it's all pointless as you were already comfortably completing the missions and clearing bases so why bother. It's one of the weakest 3rd person shooters available as it's smashed into the side of a spaceship game.

I never pick up useless trash, only high value items and things that are required for unlocks or upgrades.

It's usually at this point in a discussion where I offer to assist folks with in-game activities and/or give them what they need for free. I'm not feeling that right now. You are 100% correct in everything you have said. Have a wonderful day. Cheers.