Why Elite has pushed me away

[Mobius Oblidus]

Ok - so, wow! This post got a lot of attention; or at least far more than I was expecting when I wrote a whingey 'I lost - so unfair!' seen-it-for-the-millionth-time post a couple of days ago.

Thank you to all of you who took the time to post a reply - many of you have been really quite incredibly encouraging, as well as helpful and informative with your time.

It just proves that there are still games out there with fantastic communities.

All of you that gave positive, encouraging, uplifting, humorous posts, or even good, solid advice - I've had to +rep you all, and made you a list of fame and glory as humble thanks:

So thank you. (Here's proof that i read every single one of your replies.)

Spoiler

Zangief
Jynnan Tonnyk
Devil's Refuge
Surly_Badger
Crazy_Mayes
Drunk Si
malkythealky
Nutter
Jason S
MilkyBarKid
Falcon Fly
S.P-A. [DF Yeah!]
robbyp
alexnode
Kashre
blitzspear
HectorW
Chirru Starlight
AuGuR
Raybe
Globus diablo
New Years 1978
Amaze
Emanon
drwoo
Brewer george [Paranoia - Yeah!]
MrWoof [Excellent points]
Pete [Video is incredible. You win the internet.]

And, special thanks to these peeps:

Spoiler

Uncertain [Thanks for standing up for me dude! ]
Pil Karrde [Same Pil, thank you for standing up & speaking out.]
Vincent Starson [Thank you for the Rare Trading Guide link. Actual help is much appreciated!]
Arithon [The Anaconda Kill guide. Thank you for taking the time. I'll be using these next time!]

And the offers of actual in game help (!)

- EddyRockSteady
- von Dutch
- Zylark
- Falcon Fly

Well gents (or ladies!) - I never expected to have that kind of help offered. Thank you, even if they were just words. Time spent = always appreciated, IMHO.
We'll see about it actually happening though simply because:
1. I'd find it hard to actually take anything off you. If you let me earn it, by flying with you for a while and helping out in any way I could, then sure.
2. I wouldn't want you to have to come out of your way to meet me. Elite is a *BIG* place after all.

You’re pretty cool folks for even offering that kind of help though. Would be more than a pleasure to meet you in the 'verse.

Also - thanks too to the people who found it hard to be positive, or type anything of even the slightest use or value at all. Besides 'you deserved it.', or even better 'you're an idiot - here's why'.
All you managed to do was make the people who decided to try and give a damn in this - a mere games forum thread - more kudos in comparison to yourselves. Fly on, jerks.

Upshot: I'm back in tomorrow night. Time to have some fun.

Have a great week all, and fly well.

 

[EddyRockSteady]

Well gents (or ladies!) - I never expected to have that kind of help offered. Thank you, even if they were just words. Time spent = always appreciated, IMHO.
We'll see about it actually happening though simply because:
1. I'd find it hard to actually take anything off you. If you let me earn it, by flying with you for a while and helping out in any way I could, then sure.
2. I wouldn't want you to have to come out of your way to meet me. Elite is a *BIG* place after all.

You’re pretty cool folks for even offering that kind of help though. Would be more than a pleasure to meet you in the 'verse.

Not just words - As a start, I have 250 tons of Palladium written off against expenses a while ago and at present the containers are gathering dust in one of my cargo holds. My in-game tags are as my sig, CMDR # G # and I am currently toddling about in the vicinity of Achenar, with Shapsugabus a good a place as any for a meet. Or wherever else - does not take long to traverse Elite's habitable space these days.

Regarding quid pro quo, I was serious when I stated that there's no strings attached. You accepting the proviso of 'no strings' will accordingly be sufficient to discharge the debt. Should you still feel uncomfortable, note the following: There is nothing I really need help with at present so nothing you could do for me at present, but if you would keep the offer in mind and if I could call on you for an armed escort run or the like in the future sometime then that would be me considering the debt paid in full.

Let me know.

 

[madmann135]

There is a lot of potential to ED but, a lot of potential does not make a good game.
This game is getting "balanced" to the point that it is not worth playing.

I agree that the AI needs work, the missions are only good for beginning game.
And the mail slot is probably my least favorite place to be for one reason. There is only chaos going through that thing. If ED had some sense of normalcy there would be one mail slot for entering the station and one slot for exiting the station and there would be a launch and docking que in order to prevent what happened to you.

As is the mail slot is a suicide run.

 

[Globusdiablo]

Ok - so, wow!....

One hell of a post.

Fly safe Commander.

 

[Hawkmoon]

Got to about half point of OP post.

Get to Solo/Mobius -group.

Face it, you are either doing it wrong if you sink into debt and/or cant recover from a loss, or not just that good pilot.

Btw. Trade being grind, but profitable, actually makes sense as long as other careers have more "fun-factor" in them (through patches, expansions and so on).

Did you even read the OP he had issues with NPCs how the hell is solo or Mobius going to help with that....DOH!

 

[Whiterose]

Nothing in this world, even in nature is perfect. A perfect rose may have a blemish on a leaf.

 

[r4nger0]

...the missions currently on offer are stale and boring, and endlessly recycled.

Why do missions anyway? This is a sandbox. You have unlimited freedom to chart your own course. I've played everyday since launch. I've never done a single mission. I thought to myself, "What's something crazy as hell to do? Why not cross the galaxy in a Sidewinder!" That's what I've been doing. I've been having a ball, especially since I stream all my gameplay. I'm currently 43,000ly from colonized space and heading to the far side of the galaxy... in a Sidewinder! I made my own 'end game'.

Get outside your comfort zone. Do something crazy. #FTDG

 

[Hawkmoon]

These might have already been addressed; but with the poster's tone and complete lack of consideration toward another community member, I have to take a stand before I've read the rest of the thread. I'll update accordingly should I myself be jumping the gun.



Shooting an NPC and an NPC getting shot can be two very different things in this game. I've experienced this many times myself: on target, good thrust and speed management with the target's destruction unavoidable; only to have a System Authority Vessel fly at speed directly into my fire lane without warning. This is not my mistake and indeed in the OP's case, not player error.

Would you willingly fly into another ship's fire lane? No. Of course not. It's an AI issue. To then have the game punish you for its own inadequacies is a kick in the teeth.

Let's look at it from another perspective. You are NPC bounty hunting at a Nav beacon; as am I with a group of friends. We are both on the same target and in my eagerness to get the last hit, I pull in to your fire lane without warning and you hit me, picking up a bounty in the process. As you are now fair game, me and all my friends turn on you and render you to space dust without you having enough time to escape or any hope of fighting back.

Some people on these boards would call that griefing. It is the NPC's fault it got hit. Not the player's.



Again, this is the NPC's fault. If you see a ship docking in front of you, you match speed to avoid collision, right? If I was docking in a Cobra and you were behind me in an Anaconda, you wouldn't plough straight through me. You'd slow down. NPC's don't because they are idiots. Again, the game punishes you because of its own inadequacies.

Your other points RE: insurance are fair enough but there's no reason to get all haughty about it.

See you don't really get it do you, bounty hunters have not automatic right to hunt wanted ships, whereas local authority vessels do it is their job. As a bounty hunter you are just one step above the scum that you hunt, really you just kill for money and never ask why the poor slob has a 30k bounty on his head. He just got in a bad spot, was lat with a delivery of gold got a 15k late fine then as he was about to dock (late) he got scanned and his client had reported the cargo stolen, so he then got a 20k fine for the stolen cargo in his ship, he was just about to make enough with this run to pay off the fines when you blasted the poor slob, leaving his wife a window and his kids fartherless.

OK so after that I have played exclusively as a bounty hunter, the golden rule is SWITCH OF "REPORT CRIMES AGAINST ME" that will stop the authority vessels showing up when you interdict/drop into a USS to hunt. The second rule is COPS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY, by all means hang back and go for the kill shot, but don't get into a fur ball along with them if you don't have good situational awareness and cannot control your fire. The third rule is always have enough to cover the insurance, even attacking a low level ship can end in disaster or the wife can call you to deal with the cat puke on the sofa.

 

[Pil Karrde]

See you don't really get it do you, bounty hunters have not automatic right to hunt wanted ships, whereas local authority vessels do it is their job. As a bounty hunter you are just one step above the scum that you hunt, really you just kill for money and never ask why the poor slob has a 30k bounty on his head. He just got in a bad spot, was lat with a delivery of gold got a 15k late fine then as he was about to dock (late) he got scanned and his client had reported the cargo stolen, so he then got a 20k fine for the stolen cargo in his ship, he was just about to make enough with this run to pay off the fines when you blasted the poor slob, leaving his wife a window and his kids fartherless.

OK so after that I have played exclusively as a bounty hunter, the golden rule is SWITCH OF "REPORT CRIMES AGAINST ME" that will stop the authority vessels showing up when you interdict/drop into a USS to hunt. The second rule is COPS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY, by all means hang back and go for the kill shot, but don't get into a fur ball along with them if you don't have good situational awareness and cannot control your fire. The third rule is always have enough to cover the insurance, even attacking a low level ship can end in disaster or the wife can call you to deal with the cat puke on the sofa.

There are a few issues I'm having with your reasoning. Firstly, you are justifying a game design decision with your own meta narrative. That's fine; but the problem with meta narratives is that I might have my own, and others theirs, that do not synchronise. 'You', the bounty hunter, are maybe only a step up from the pirate you hunt. 'I', the bounty hunter, on the other hand is a pilot who had a previous career in the Federation's Navy and I work as a sanctioned bounty hunter for myriad Federation systems where the local authorities are unable to tackle the pirate presence on their own. 'I' am valued by the system authorities because I am able to operate out with their jurisdiction and bureaucracy.

So, system authorities having right of way doesn't work in my own meta narrative. It might be that Elite's established lore says otherwise, but that isn't accessible in game and therefore does not exist in game as far as I am concerned.

To your other points, there may still be a system authority presence even if you have 'report crimes against me' off. Regardless, other NPC bounty hunters are more than happy to break from their 40,000 credit bounty target to grab your own 200 credit bounty when you do hit a clean target in an accident.

Lastly, I do have good situational awareness. I do check my fire. NPCs on the other hand do not have any situational awareness and can often be found repeatedly bouncing off rocks at RESs. I come back to the main point I made in my last post - no pilot that values their life, ship or paint would willingly fly into the fire lane of another ship. Even if a ship is not firing its weapons, I wouldn't fly in front of it if it were merging with or intercepting a target.

When an NPC boosts along the length of your ship from behind, pulling a 45-90 degree turn across your bow and into your fire lane, it is absolutely not the fault of the player if that ship gets hit.