"Elite:Dangerous is a game, not work!"

[cyberbofh]

Hi everyone,

Not sure if you've seen this YouTube video of ObsidianAnt.
He talks about the money situation in Elite:Dangerous and the fact that the game is way too much focused on making money, which is very time consuming.

ObsidianAnt’s YouTube video:
Elite Dangerous - The Money Situation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upCSoHGLfKo

The problem is not only that time is something not everyone has plenty of, but more and more people feel the game as work. Most people just want to enjoy the wonders of the game and have fun after a busy day at work, but for some unknown reason Frontier Developers (FDev) using the “balance” excuse to remove money making from the game more and more. We’re not only talking about SOTHIS/CEOS, but also about nerfing most missions that pay out 50-90% less now in general.

Do have a look (=listen to) ObsidianAnt’s YouTube video if you have the time and if you feel the same do let Frontier know how you think about it, because I think it’s important that they know that: Elite:Dangerous is a game, not work!


Take care CMDRs! o7

[Malphator]

First thing first, don't get me wrong. I enjoy this game and do like playing it, buuut.... Heh. I gotta be honest, sometimes it feels more like a second LIFE (not job, LIFE). Be careful backing your car out of the driveway, don't wanna back into a neighbor's car! Be mindful exiting or entering stations, don't wanna crunch someone! And all the other ineffable little things that just sorta take the ease out of casual gameplay.

Guess that's what No Man's Sky is for? I dunno. LOL

[Ironbar69]

That was the initial reason I rested the game for almost a year because I as a father have a work and 2 children (13 and 5) which is enough work as it is. This endless grinding for money so you could enjoy a better ship wore me out to the point that I gave it up. I mean when I have my two hours to myself in the evening I don't want to feel like I'm the rat race again for another 2 hours until I go to bed......


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[uvelius]

No easy billionaires please! But easy money, YES please -- up to a point.

Well I think it is absolutely fine if amassing credits to buy bigger ships needs much dedication – thus time. By "big" meaning Python and up. Then it is something special to fly something big, not just "oh I go shopping". I remember well how I looked up to Python owners (let alone Anacondas) in 3301 going "oooooh look". Therefore, mass-million amassing missions should be reduced, as well as the plain stupid relog mechanics. I mean, a Cobra is a perfect ship to enjoy all sides – exploration, fighting, trading. An Asp is perfect for exploring. Et cetera. If everyone flies Anacondas, even without any deeper ingame experience, it becomes, well, stupid. And it is not necessary to enjoy the different sides of the game.

On the other hand, even comparably new players should be able to choose from the range of options for example in Outfitting or in mid-tier ships, as Obsidian Ant said. Even to own different kinds of ships. I also fully support your view concerning enhancing mission payouts and engineer materials. The former should be more satisfying so that you really want to do missions instead of basic RES hunting, and even scale more with the experience. The latter should be more flexible, so that you do not need to hunt weeks for one special material but may use different ones. And it is bad for casual players that missions still have quite a tight schedule -- Massacre Missions run out in around 20 hours, which is hard to meet for people who play only occasionally. Why not giving us more time?

Yet aside from that, since as I said all you need is basically a Cobra -- or make it an Asp or Vulture or T-6 if you are into specializing -, it should be up to yourself whether you want to make the game work-like and a grind or whether you want to enjoy it. There is indeed a hindrance in respect to the BGS and storytelling, but that is another matter entirely ...

[TorTorden]

The recipe is simple.

If your not having fun stop doing it !

That includes maybe not playing this game att all.

[Lanceor]

Whether it's experience points, available power-ups or number of kills, all games that last more than a single play session need to have some way of measuring progress. In E:D, it just happens to be money.

In most other games, you typically have fun completing various goals and you amass experience points or money or power ups as a perk. In E:D, the different ways of earning money are either repetitive or aren't particularly fun. And that's the crux of the problem.

[Loriath]

If I can run a Cobra Mk3 long enough to make over a 100 million doing missions, and having fun, then it can be done. And I will echo Tor's response. It HAS to be fun or it's not worth it.

That was the initial reason I rested the game for almost a year because I as a father have a work and 2 children (13 and 5) which is enough work as it is. This endless grinding for money so you could enjoy a better ship wore me out to the point that I gave it up. I mean when I have my two hours to myself in the evening I don't want to feel like I'm the rat race again for another 2 hours until I go to bed......

Iron, I feel for you. But the one thing I have realised is that the time I play is not about making cash. It is about enjoying what I am doing. There are times that I have only an hour or two to play and during that time I want to enjoy it. Not feel rushed, or frustrated. So I have to tell myself its okay to not make X amount in Y time. Some of my favourite times in game was when I was making about 4K an evening. No Money but damn fun. (Lately, even tossing away rebuys has given me a hell of a lot of fun times.)

I know there are a lot of players that play by themselves and I used to be one of them. I enjoyed it a lot. I would suggest that if anyone is having trouble with the grind that they look into joining the Teamspeak or Discord servers and chat with people while they are playing or maybe joining up with some people. If you have never experienced this, it makes a HUGE difference to my enjoyment of the game. Might make a couple of friends.

I know it may not be for everyone, but if you are feeling the burnout, think about it. If you had to drive across the continent, wouldn't the drive be better with someone to talk to, or share the driving with you? (Be careful whom you let drive though, some of my "Team" mates I would NEVER trust even driving a Tricycle )

[Relix Typhon]

I'm really glad you posted this, I was going to post the same thing, with the video and everything

I agree with everything that is said in the video and also that you shouldn't have it handed to you on a plate. there is a balance but I think the pendulum has swung to far in one direction.
A small example, from my own current experience: Doing loop routes (from EDDB) I can earn about 1.8m per hour in my 244 ton Python. For just the hull of an Anaconda, it costs 147m (ref Wiki), thats over 80 hours of play. I'm not going to do 80 hours of trading, thats boring.
I think what they should've done is insead of nerf things like Ceos/Sothis, they should have somehow limited it to once a week per commander or something.
I dont see why my fun (i.e. flying every ship) should be limited by super massive time gates.

And I have to say, the main people I see moaning about there being too much money in the game are those who can already buy whatever they want.

[JohnLuke]

A small example, from my own current experience: Doing loop routes (from EDDB) I can earn about 1.8m per hour in my 244 ton Python.

Umm.... you may want to look in another area. Your results seemed light to me, so I looked at some of my old trade routes that I have saved in Inara. I verified a few 35-40ly A-B-A routes that are paying $3-4k per ton. In your Python, that is $3-4mil per hour (4 loops per hour). PM me if you want more details on my old trade routes.

Some of us 'old timers' get a little grumpy when we see some of the newer players being able to buy huge ships after just a month or two of gameplay. I'm guilty of it myself at times. I have to remember that FD changed the game to attract new players after it had been on the shelves for more than a year. You see, back in the early days, it would take a guy 6-9 months to save up enough cash for a Python. If you were flying a Conda in the early days, you were a God. Nowadays, guys are buying condas in a month. Yup, making money in the game has gotten a whole lot easier, but that's just how it is now. The great thing is that E-D continues to get new players, and Mobius gets new group members all the time.

[Kiltrathi]

A small example, from my own current experience: Doing loop routes (from EDDB) I can earn about 1.8m per hour in my 244 ton Python.

Umm.... you may want to look in another area. Your results seemed light to me, so I looked at some of my old trade routes that I have saved in Inara. I verified a few 35-40ly A-B-A routes that are paying $3-4k per ton. In your Python, that is $3-4mil per hour (4 loops per hour). PM me if you want more details on my old trade routes.

Some of us 'old timers' get a little grumpy when we see some of the newer players being able to buy huge ships after just a month or two of gameplay. I'm guilty of it myself at times. I have to remember that FD changed the game to attract new players after it had been on the shelves for more than a year. You see, back in the early days, it would take a guy 6-9 months to save up enough cash for a Python. If you were flying a Conda in the early days, you were a God. Nowadays, guys are buying condas in a month. Yup, making money in the game has gotten a whole lot easier, but that's just how it is now. The great thing is that E-D continues to get new players, and Mobius gets new group members all the time.

Ahhh, I remember admiring Golem in his fully kitted Asp Explorer when I went bounty hunting with him and how that seemed months away.