Whats with these Mission Signal Sources ? Why are they made this way?

[supermoneylife]

Hi all. I've enjoyed Elite Dangerous basically since it came out (on and off) , I've tried the majority of ships and mission types (excluding the 100M+ Cr ships).

Every time I take a break from the game because a few little things really annoy me to the point where I need a break, then after a short break, I miss the game and come back. The same loop tends to happen.

Mainly I have found this is because of these Mission Signals you have to find to assassinate/find people.

I get that we are supposed to be hunting this person, but really? You just scan a nav beacon, then u travel to the suggested point in space (all fine so far). Then you have to just glide around for sometimes 10 minutes. This is the part I dont like, I end up opening web browser and looking at google, youtube, making forum posts like this , and just generally losing immersion in the game.

Let me clarify though, I love the game, it is almost everything I want from a game (and with news of the Thargoid attacks I'm proper hyped!)

Really, I think the nav beacon should then spawn the 'Mission Signal Source' at whatever point its going to be, and you just go there and fight. I don't see any point in making us cycle around randomly until it appears.

Just wondered you guys as hardcore players thoughts. And also if anyone knows if this is ever likely to change. Its a bit of a buzz-kill to say the least and at some points I'm proper into the game (feeling like I actually am flying around in my ship taking down badguys and doing a bit of sneaky trading etc).

Its sad that you have to avoid assassination type missions because really they should be one of the most fun things to do.

 

[Shadowdancer]

It's a bit annoying and could be more straightforward (IMO planet surface "search"/follow-the-circles is way better), but then again I've never had to wait around for more than a minute or two.

 

[Powderpanic]

I believe they are made of a substance known only as "Place Holder"

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

The Mission USS's do need some gameplay added to them. Sitting twiddling your thumbs until they spawn is not fun. Lol

Mission targets in general need looking at.

The new surface POI detector is 'meh'.
I'm not fond of having a big "this way!" sign, I actually preferred the old blue circle method, it just needed refining a bit more to be more likely to spawn the correct POI.

Maybe the both need a sort of "hotter/cold" mini game to hone in on them. The surface one being 2D, and the space ones being 3D.
Or something like that, then finding them is about skill, not patience.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[supermoneylife]

Glad i'm not the only one to think this. I think if they can make these little things a lot more interesting then we have a game of the century contender right here Also these little things are always why people ive recommended to the game have disliked it and stopped playing

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Hi all. I've enjoyed Elite Dangerous basically since it came out (on and off) , I've tried the majority of ships and mission types (excluding the 100M+ Cr ships).

Every time I take a break from the game because a few little things really annoy me to the point where I need a break, then after a short break, I miss the game and come back. The same loop tends to happen.

Mainly I have found this is because of these Mission Signals you have to find to assassinate/find people.

I get that we are supposed to be hunting this person, but really? You just scan a nav beacon, then u travel to the suggested point in space (all fine so far). Then you have to just glide around for sometimes 10 minutes. This is the part I dont like, I end up opening web browser and looking at google, youtube, making forum posts like this , and just generally losing immersion in the game.

Let me clarify though, I love the game, it is almost everything I want from a game (and with news of the Thargoid attacks I'm proper hyped!)

Really, I think the nav beacon should then spawn the 'Mission Signal Source' at whatever point its going to be, and you just go there and fight. I don't see any point in making us cycle around randomly until it appears.

Just wondered you guys as hardcore players thoughts. And also if anyone knows if this is ever likely to change. Its a bit of a buzz-kill to say the least and at some points I'm proper into the game (feeling like I actually am flying around in my ship taking down badguys and doing a bit of sneaky trading etc).

Its sad that you have to avoid assassination type missions because really they should be one of the most fun things to do.

10 minutes! I get them in a about 20 seconds. And it is far better then what we had before, just flying around going into random USS's just hoping it would be the one you where looking for, I remember doing that for over hours. It's not perfect, it could be a lot better, but it is far better then what we had before.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

10 minutes! I get them in a about 20 seconds. And it is far better then what we had before, just flying around going into random USS's just hoping it would be the one you where looking for, I remember doing that for over hours. It's not perfect, it could be a lot better, but it is far better then what we had before.

The variation in spawning time is too high.

I've had some spawn the moment my frame of reference changes to the correct planet.
And other not spawn for 14 minutes. I actually gave up on those and left. Lol

0-60 seconds is a good time frame. But I'd prefer something more involved, like I mentioned earlier. But not a space version of the search zone. Lol

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[Sergio Smegolia]

Some people may not know but this is the improved mechanics!

I think the issue is the time you have to wait. If they spawned after a minute or so it wouldn't be an issue. Here's hoping for post 2.4 core gameplay improvements.

 

[Apsley]

Some people may not know but this is the improved mechanics!

I think the issue is the time you have to wait. If they spawned after a minute or so it wouldn't be an issue. Here's hoping for post 2.4 core gameplay improvements.

I'm with you there.

 

[Crank Larson]

I get that we are supposed to be hunting this person, but really? You just scan a nav beacon, then u travel to the suggested point in space (all fine so far). Then you have to just glide around for sometimes 10 minutes. This is the part I dont like, I end up opening web browser and looking at google, youtube, making forum posts like this , and just generally losing immersion in the game.

While I certainly agree that it would be good for additional mechanics or variations to the mission, hunting for someone in space is not really going to be that interesting anyway. Because you essentially have to fly around in space until you find them. Which is the bit you don't like. It's only when you find them that the fun starts.

If you want a mission that is just go there and fight, then you'd be wanting massacre missions. Hunting for a target needs to include some kind of hunt. Which right now, is in space.

I think the issue is the time you have to wait. If they spawned after a minute or so it wouldn't be an issue. Here's hoping for post 2.4 core gameplay improvements.

Timing does seem to be the greatest complaint for these things, and I agree with that. First time I went to collect a UP, got one within ten minutes. Couldn't find one in an hour last night, though.

 

[supermoneylife]

10 minutes! I get them in a about 20 seconds. And it is far better then what we had before, just flying around going into random USS's just hoping it would be the one you where looking for, I remember doing that for over hours. It's not perfect, it could be a lot better, but it is far better then what we had before.

I occasionally get them in 20 seconds. But mostly about 2 minutes. Sometimes well in excess of 5 minutes

Some people may not know but this is the improved mechanics!

I think the issue is the time you have to wait. If they spawned after a minute or so it wouldn't be an issue. Here's hoping for post 2.4 core gameplay improvements.

For sure. I can remember when I first played just randomly checking USS for the specific NPC. There was no blue Mission Signal as far as i remmeber. But still i think it does need some changes personally

 

[supermoneylife]

While I certainly agree that it would be good for additional mechanics or variations to the mission, hunting for someone in space is not really going to be that interesting anyway. Because you essentially have to fly around in space until you find them. Which is the bit you don't like. It's only when you find them that the fun starts.

If you want a mission that is just go there and fight, then you'd be wanting massacre missions. Hunting for a target needs to include some kind of hunt. Which right now, is in space.



Timing does seem to be the greatest complaint for these things, and I agree with that. First time I went to collect a UP, got one within ten minutes. Couldn't find one in an hour last night, though.

I see where you're coming from here, and did consider that myself. But as a quick fix like i already mentioned, I'd say it would be much better just to be: scan nav beacon > Mission Signal Spawns > Go there and drop from cruise > Heroism/death awaits. A more in depth solution would be to pay much better for an assassination, then make me have to actually trail them by visiting places to find out last known position etc and then maybe finding out he will be coming to a certain star soon (or nav beacon, or station etc etc).

After much consideration, I'd chose the quick-fix version, but of course I'm aware the game isn't created and continually developed purely for me

 

[ElectricZ]

Some people may not know but this is the improved mechanics!

I think the issue is the time you have to wait. If they spawned after a minute or so it wouldn't be an issue. Here's hoping for post 2.4 core gameplay improvements.

This. Longer term players remember a time when tracking down assassination targets or missing cargo or black boxes had the following process:

1. Jump to target system
2. Set throttle to minumum, cruise at 30mm/sec
3. Wait for the generic, unlabled USS's to spawn. (No weapon fire, no degraded emissions, no nothing, just Unknown Signal Source, later modified to be "weak/strong")
4. Enter USS and pray to RNGesus that it was going to spawn, at last, the object you were looking for.
5. Find a bunch of trash or enemies unrelated to your search, maybe get lucky and have a fun fight or find good cargo, but leave with your goal un-accomplished
6. Repeat steps 2-5 for however long it takes until your USS spawns randomly.
7. Rejoice when you find your item, but cry inside when only 2 of the 3 required targets are there and you realize you have to start back at step 2.

At least this new system gives the illusion of having a specified target, and provides the illusion of needing to travel to a specific place to achieve a specific goal. Previously there was literally no reason to travel away from the star when doing missions. There was no point in having all of these procedurally generated systems unless they had stations because it was more efficient to just sit in one place and wait for USS's to spawn around you.

Why they make you wait for a random time for the USS to spawn is crazy, unless it's to provide the illusion that you're searching for something in orbit as you zoom around the planet, but in reality it's just step 2-5 all over again as you set throttle to minimum and browse the internet as you wait for your target to show up.

Still, it's an improvement over what it used to be. Getting rid of the random spawn time would make it much better.

 

[babelfisch]

It actually used to be worse when we didn't have mission related signal sources at all.

I agree that there is still much room for improvement though... But I'd like to see more complex mechanics rather than an even simpler approach.

 

[EUS]

Yesterday I made the mistake of accepting data finding mission.
I have to find 4 lost data canisters.
After getting to the system, and getting the update pointing to the planet around where this mission is supposed to spawn the 'stuff', I spent an hour flying around aimlessly, hit 20 or so USS that had nothing to do with my mission.
I gave up. The 5 day timer on the mission should've set off alarm bells.
FD, this is not entertaining gameplay. It sucks because it's annoying, mind-numbing, completely unrelated to skill, and kinda makes me feel stupid for contemplating trying to complete the mission again today.

Missions with USS hunt? Never again.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Yesterday I made the mistake of accepting data finding mission.
I have to find 4 lost data canisters.
After getting to the system, and getting the update pointing to the planet around where this mission is supposed to spawn the 'stuff', I spent an hour flying around aimlessly, hit 20 or so USS that had nothing to do with my mission.
I gave up. The 5 day timer on the mission should've set off alarm bells.
FD, this is not entertaining gameplay. It sucks because it's annoying, mind-numbing, completely unrelated to skill, and kinda makes me feel stupid for contemplating trying to complete the mission again today.

Missions with USS hunt? Never again.

Glad to say I have not had this issue. Also don't go in to random USS's, you need to go into the mission specific USS that will spawn (it will be a different colour).

 

[Crank Larson]

I see where you're coming from here, and did consider that myself. But as a quick fix like i already mentioned, I'd say it would be much better just to be: scan nav beacon > Mission Signal Spawns > Go there and drop from cruise > Heroism/death awaits. A more in depth solution would be to pay much better for an assassination, then make me have to actually trail them by visiting places to find out last known position etc and then maybe finding out he will be coming to a certain star soon (or nav beacon, or station etc etc).

I don't like your quick fix version (as there should be some kind of hunt involved in these missions). I do like the in depth version, though. Having to go to various specific points would be more engaging than just randomly flying around.

 

[Factabulous]

Agree with OP, that's why I tend to not do these missions (agree with ^^^^ : EUS is doing it wrong, which must make it even more painful)

 

[ElectricZ]

Glad to say I have not had this issue. Also don't go in to random USS's, you need to go into the mission specific USS that will spawn (it will be a different colour).

I believe EUS's point was that he got the mission update, went to the planet as directed by the update, and then spent an inordinate amount of time finding every type of USS except the blue mission-specific one. . I've run into that myself, though if it fails to spawn within five minutes or so I will jump out of the system and back and that sometimes gets it to spawn. Though whether or not that's actually doing something to force a spawn, or just keeping me busy until it comes in on its own I can't say.

Either way, it would be a much better mechanic to have mission information provide the exact location of a target as opposed to making you sit and wait, pretending to conduct a search for something that is really just a randomly generated event.

RNG != gameplay

 

[EUS]

Glad to say I have not had this issue. Also don't go in to random USS's, you need to go into the mission specific USS that will spawn (it will be a different colour).

Agree with OP, that's why I tend to not do these missions (agree with ^^^^ : EUS is doing it wrong, which must make it even more painful)

Beautiful.
Didn't encounter a USS with a different color.
At least I know now to ignore everything else, so thx.