What Kind Of Game Is Elite Now?

[joshman72nd]

depends on what you do...... since im elite in combat even if i downgrade into a hauler and take cargo im going to be interdicted every return run or the main run when i trade.......


dont know how it is with the smaller ranks but the only way i make money and have a way to completely avoid combat is to go out into the black and even then thats probly not going to be safe soon.

and how the hell does the ai know i have cargo when no ai was there when i mined it from the point i jumped in to the point i jumped out of system.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Last night i switched from my Vulture to the trusty old Cobra Mk3.

Was interdicted by a Novice DBScout. I thought, i'll have a piece of that. Was doing well, had his shields down, hull was down to 9%, then i noticed my shields dropping, then gone, and hull taking damage. What the hell? I'd failed to notice another enemy arriving, i hadn't watched my 6!!!

No time to check them out, but i had one last shot. Missiles were locked on to the DBS, launched them, and boosted. A second later, i get the bounty awarded notification, and with the speed of the CM3, i was away without further damage. The PDT took out the missiles that were sent after me nicely, and chaff saw off any shots that were sent my way.

My heart was pounding, it was a thoroughly exhilarating experience.

Just then, i got a comms, another NPC wanted some of my tasty cargo... shields were about half recharged. Hmm... i might fight this interdiction. Oh, no need, NPC flew right into the planet besides me trying to get behind me.... LOL. I was on my way to the next station without further problems.

What can i say to the OP then? Since 2.1 landed i've done mining, combat zones, and ran lots of missions in a variety of ships. Therefore my money has to be on open world multi-role space game.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

FYI... PvP used to be a profitable venture before gold farmers ruined it, forcing FD to cap all player bounties...

Man, that was over a year ago. Time to move on.

 

[z4.MAFIA]

Man, that was over a year ago. Time to move on.

Why would I move on? Doing so is embracing defeatism. PvP should become profitable again.

 

[thorn-]

Originally Posted by thorn-
It's heading quickly towards Farmville in Space.

Can you elaborate?

Sure.

The only key to success in Farmville lies in 3 steps:

1. Plant seeds repeatedly, one square at the time.
2. Remember to log in to the game every day or so, and water the plants so that they don't die.
3. Harvest crops, sell them, purchase more seeds and return to Step 1.

The key to Engineers follows roughly the same steps.

1. Search random places for random materials.
2. Find them, and take them to an Engineer.
3. Spin the Wheel of Unfortunate, and see if you get an upgrade that made it worth your trouble.

Most of the things required to do this don't take any particular skills. They just take patience. Shoot rocks for 2 days until you find a ton of polonium. Haul 200T of brandy from a station to an Engineer. Search on USS after the next for a UA - and when you find one, bump into it and collect a fragment. (Do this until you have 25. Really? Does anyone think that takes skill of any sort?)

But.

Now that I think about it... Farmville at least offers a better success rate, based on your actions. Plant crops, you'll get in Apples. In Elite - collect materials, spin wheel... and you might get an upgrade you want. Or not.

 

[babelfisch]

It hasn't become anything in my opinion, it's still the same game I started playing 1.5 years ago. Just with a few more bug fixes and features (some of them are great, some of them don't interest me, but I am happy for those who do).

 

[Marc_Hicks]

I voted the top one, but it is true that one role-explorer-still remains weak in terms of having multiple facets to it.

This could be easily fixed by having non-human PoI's for the player to discover and interact with, non human derived dangers for explorers to encounter ( in both space and on planetary surfaces) & missions specifically aimed at short, medium and long distance exploration.

 

[babelfisch]

I voted the top one, but it is true that one role-explorer-still remains weak in terms of having multiple facets to it.

This could be easily fixed by having non-human PoI's for the player to discover and interact with, non human derived dangers for explorers to encounter ( in both space and on planetary surfaces) & missions specifically aimed at short, medium and long distance exploration.

Yes, I don't understand why this isn't a thing yet. It can't be too hard to implement a mission that asks you to cartograph system X. You could even have missions with a client suspecting an earth like in a specific region and he asks you to find it. I think stuff like this would be very welcome to explorers and maybe some people who aren't interested in exploration would join too.

 

[markuslig]

I would probably call it a Afcafis (aerial flight combat and farmers in space)

 

[Marc_Hicks]

I can , I think. Although I am not thorn-
Farmville = no skill. Elite now = less skil than before, more RNG.
That aside the upgraded AI was needed, although I dont find it more clever , just stupid in another way.

Cheers Cmdr's

If skill is so irrelevent now, then how come some people are complaining about the "too hard AI"? It isn't nearly as much about "luck" as some would have you believe.

 

[thorn-]

If skill is so irrelevent now, then how come some people are complaining about the "too hard AI"? It isn't nearly as much about "luck" as some would have you believe.

Because they spent too much time doing other things than combat. Like flying Robigo runs, and going from a Sidey to a Corvette in a month... but never developed any notable skills in combat.

Yes - I'll freely admit - combat is more difficult now. I do like this particular aspect. It's not a cakewalk. You can actually, you know, DIE IN COMBAT if you either have no skills, or choose to keep biting when you have no chance of chewing. But CMDRs that already had good combat skills prior to 2.1 aren't dying in spades. They're doing quite well. It's a bit more of a challenge, but nothing earth-shattering.

But the rest? Gather materials? Playing the upgrade slot machine? It's just a mindless, stupid, time sink. There's no skill in collecting all that crap, turning it in, and saying "Please sir... may i spin another?" It just takes time. A fraking lot of it, for a randomly generated upgrade result.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Because they spent too much time doing other things than combat. Like flying Robigo runs, and going from a Sidey to a Corvette in a month... but never developed any notable skills in combat.

Combat is but one of the three paths to Elite and is the only one where the player needs to fire a shot.... With that in mind, how can a player spend "too much" time on gameplay other than combat?

 

[thorn-]

Combat is but one of the three paths to Elite and is the only one where the player needs to fire a shot.... With that in mind, how can a player spend "too much" time on gameplay other than combat?

Because the AI don't interact a CMDR dedicated to trading or exploration, and say "Hi, just stopping by to discuss Sag A. Got any screenshots?" or ask for tips on a good trade route.

AI only stop you to engage in combat, or take your stuff. So it's best if you've got the skills to deal with that sort of thing... running often works, but sometimes it doesn't.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Because the AI don't interact a CMDR dedicated to trading or exploration, and say "Hi, just stopping by to discuss Sag A. Got any screenshots?" or ask for tips on a good trade route.

AI only stop you to engage in combat, or take your stuff. So it's best if you've got the skills to deal with that sort of thing... running often works, but sometimes it doesn't.

Not engaging in combat is not necessarily the same as not interacting with other players.

Running will only work sometimes - just as engaging in combat will only work sometimes - both may end up meeting the rebuy screen.

 

[Arconedas]

Mostly space combat simulator. Space combat is practically everywhere you go ,and if not forced, its atleast strongly suggested (interdictions) all the time. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, i guess it depends on your point of view, what you expect from the game. But anyone who wants to play this game 'peacefully' should go and find something else to play. As i said this game is mostly about space combat...

 

[jasonbirder]

Gather materials? Playing the upgrade slot machine? It's just a mindless, stupid, time sink.

Just a thought...but if you dislike it so much...why do it?
There's no necessity to grind for Engineer Mods if you don't want to...its an activity you opt into...
No reason you can't carry on Bounty Hunting/Trading/Exploring etc etc...EXACTLY as you did before 2.1 dropped - there's no downside...

 

[Varrag]

Space dogfight combat game, mostly. And heavily PvE oriented in that.

Huge galaxy (exploration/lore), thousands of stations and resource spots (trade/mining...), and player groups are not being used nearly to their potential.

 

[thorn-]

Running will only work sometimes - just as engaging in combat will only work sometimes - both may end up meeting the rebuy screen.

Quite true... but one will improve in combat only by engaging in it.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Quite true... but one will improve in combat only by engaging in it.

If one wishes to improve in combat, of course.

 

[babelfisch]

Quite true... but one will improve in combat only by engaging in it.

Wasn't the point that some people don't want to do combat...?