Engineers 2.1 Beta - findings so far

[Walter]

It's beginning to look as if you can't ignore the Engineers, unlike PP. If you want to hold your own you're going to have to enter the arms race, even in Mobius.

700Ly+ round trip visit to the nearest for me - upgrading a FdL or Vulture or anything smaller is going to be a lesson in patience.

[Phillipus]

It's beginning to look as if you can't ignore the Engineers, unlike PP. If you want to hold your own you're going to have to enter the arms race, even in Mobius.

I agree. I upgraded the Power Plant, thrusters and FSD in my Cutter as proof of concept. There didn't seem to be any downsides. Whether this will be a grind to gather the actual materials remains to be seen.

[charlie2alpha]

I do not have access to the beta nor I am interested to pay to become a beta tester instead of the opposite.

Aside that, this will definitely become the next grind, it seems to be the easy solution implemented from most game vendors in order to keep the player engaged. Nothing new, I'm seeing it in all major mmo games for many years now. Notable exception is Diablo III in which Blizzard chose the opposite path during the last year, you can find everything you need easily.

[Xebeth]

Some random thoughts

Distance to Engineers - from a story perspective this kind of makes sense, they are meant to be mavericks so having them at the edges of the bubble is logical, from a game play perspective DB has publically said that he feels that players should move about more, I wonder if this, along with having to 'hunt' for materials, is part of 'forcing' that ethos. Of course this doesn't help the BGS players, where playing in a small area is kind of the point.

Materials for Engineers - This will be the new grind, but will it be a bad grind? In theory we'll be getting stuff from the things we do now (missions, blowing stuff up, mining, looking for stuff on planets, etc), the question as yet unanswered is how quickly will we get stuff, and how targeted can we be? They are going to be putting 'clues' to where to find stuff on the blueprints, and some have stated that there is a logic to it, I wouldn't think it will be long before there are guides a plenty on how best to get stuff.

I guess there are three approaches to this, there is the Max/Min Elitist approach where huge amounts of time are spent getting the best possible upgrades, and agonising over every percentage. Or the "I'll get it when I get it" approach where one just plays the game and sees what happens. Finally there is the middle ground, just playing the game and when one is close to something a little mini-grind or a bit of focus, then back to just playing the game. This last one is my favoured approach.

Engineers and RNG - RNG in MMOs is nothing new (rotten Mysterious Eggs anyone? (bonus internets to anyone who gets this reference)). I like the idea that every ship will be different, but we'll have to see how bad the RNG is.

Modifications in General - so for PVP I can see this as being the new meta-game, but for PVE I'm not so sure, it'll come down to how many NPCs use mods, MB have said they will, but that it will be rare, but how rare is the question, I'd expect to see it more often on elite NPCs, but I guess we'll see, the new AI is possibly more of a threat.

Any hoo, just some thoughts

[Phillipus]

Tested the NPC AI in beta 4 in Haz RES. They no longer run away, but they are very agile and slippery. Their main tactic seems to be flying a circle around you, right out of your firing arc. Not complaining about the AI being harder, but my Cutter and Corvette are not really suited for this type of fighting. When 2.1 goes live, I'll be mainly flying a FDL.

[Walter]

Distance to Engineers - from a story perspective this kind of makes sense, they are meant to be mavericks so having them at the edges of the bubble is logical, from a game play perspective DB has publically said that he feels that players should move about more, I wonder if this, along with having to 'hunt' for materials, is part of 'forcing' that ethos. Of course this doesn't help the BGS players, where playing in a small area is kind of the point.

Exactly so. As a player of the BGS who is further from the centre of things than OoM, everywhere is a long way away. And if DB think players should move around more, why all the promotion of PP and the BGS - both of which demand a stable population - let alone the 'blaze your own trail' mantra.

Tested the NPC AI in beta 4 in Haz RES. They no longer run away, but they are very agile and slippery. Their main tactic seems to be flying a circle around you, right out of your firing arc. Not complaining about the AI being harder, but my Cutter and Corvette are not really suited for this type of fighting. When 2.1 goes live, I'll be mainly flying a FDL.

If you damage one and take down shields it will fly away until healed and then return and attack you, just like the NPCs in CZs that remember if you hit them. If you work it right you could take on your second victim as your first is on the touchline. By the time your first is back in play, the second's shields will be down, giving you the opportunity to return to the first without taking on two at a time. A sort of Box and Cox for the interstellar era.

[Phillipus]

If you damage one and take down shields it will fly away until healed and then return and attack you

Not in beta 4. They changed the behaviour so that they stick around.

[Cmdr Kharma]

"Stick"

Being the operative word there.....

Like close in......

Luckily I was in my modified ASP.......

So "Stick" in their case meant "Dead".....

[Roger Wilco Jr]

It sounds like they fixed the cannons.

I'd rather have the AI run away when their shields go down than circle and shoot at me (just not so damn fast). At least the smaller ships, where it doesn't make sense for them to stick around vs. a Corvette or Conda. I'll have to give it a try tomorrow - no time today.

[charlie2alpha]

It sounds like they fixed the cannons.

I'd rather have the AI run away when their shields go down than circle and shoot at me (just not so damn fast). At least the smaller ships, where it doesn't make sense for them to stick around vs. a Corvette or Conda. I'll have to give it a try tomorrow - no time today.

Actually, it does sound kind of realistic to try and circle you staying away from your firing arc. Smaller ships have only one advantage, their agility and speed, so they have to use it.

It just means we may have to put some turrets in our big ships from now on to handle such situations.