Yeah, I seem to remember I fitted them to take out the bigger ships, but it has been a looong time since I played. It was really fun trying to take out the Vipers and Sidewinders with it, though. Good practice!
If anyone is willing, I could use some advice on how to make some money with where the game sits now. I would prefer they are combat related, but I am willing to do some trade runs if it helps me get some more ships to try one day. The Vulture is still the most expensive ship I have ever been able to afford and I have like 14 mil in the bank. The Vulture itself is kitted out well, though, and probably have just under 40 mil into it (insurance is just under 2 mil - not sure if they still have the alpha/beta bonus there). I really don’t want to fly a more expensive ship with crap components on it, but a budget next tier ship/build to shoot for would be cool. The Krait looks like a cool ship to try one day. I would have to check my ranks to see if I could purchase any faction ships.
What about missions? I saw some very good payout missions called Massacre missions, I believe. Are those worth doing? I used to go to those combat zones before and seemed to hold my own most times, although I would have to warp out periodically.
Anyone have a good link that explains engineering? I still don’t know what that is all about. I will have to check around to see if it is worth it for combat ships.
It isn’t combat, but some of the best money I’ve made has been passenger missions. Robigo Mines to Sothis for Sirius Atmospherics runs a really good profit.
So if I’m good with just jumping in and playing an hour and enjoying the sights, I’ll have stuff to do and won’t feel the pressing need to upgrade my ship?
If you just want to sight-see, you’ll be fine. Beyond the “I’m flying a spaceship” experience, the game can be pretty thin where all you can really do is upgrade your ship. That’s where it feels grindy for some people. I do have to say, though, that the flying a spaceship part is absurdly well done.
I know you weren’t impressed with your VR experience in an arcade, but this is something else with a headset. I can’t even play in pancake mode anymore, it feels dumb. Flying your ship in VR is breathtaking.
Yeah, if you don’t like the actual game play, you are likely to be frustrated. I still like the combat a great deal, and even the travel and exploring although I rarely do it. I even used to like mining and should look into the new mining features and rare items to mine.
For passenger missions I can probably only afford a Dolphin right now, so will look into that and see if it is still worthwhile and maybe try a few combat missions to see if I can do them.
I wish the community goal was a combat one right now! I like those!
So if you were to compare this to Privateer, how would it fare? Privateer had a minimal storyline you could follow, plus a bunch of random encounters, and I guess the main difference is that travel times could be skipped. Do you spend most of your time traveling in Elite?
I never played Privateer, so can’t really compare.
It really depends, though. I find a system that has almost everything I need nearby and rarely move around unless it is to find a rare module or ship or to participate in a community event or something. I found a place where I could run missions, do various combat encounters, and mine and could travel between them in just a minute or two (or at least seemed quick like that - may be more like 5 minutes sometimes). It can take a bit to find a system tailored to your needs, though, if you don’t know where to look.
Obviously, if you like exploring or running transport missions, you will be doing a lot of travel. Travel takes some work and planning, though. Making sure your ship/fitting can get you jump distances that are satisfactory along with learning how to plan routes and making sure you have enough fuel can be either an enjoyable learning process or very frustrating depending on how you look at it. The sense of scale of the universe can either be awe inspiring or an incredible pain in the ass, or both!
Exactly opposite then. No storyline, just random encounter. You are a small fish in a big sea. You get bigger by eating other fish, going boldly where you haven’t gone before or hauling trash. If those things fall under your definition of grind, then this game is nothing but.
There is no goal, there is only the journey. Very zen.
I’m a fan of Privateer too. If you want that kind of experience, I recommend waiting for Rebel Outlaws. I think that game specifically caters to us Privateer fans.
Elite is more about the nuts and bolts gameplay of actually flying a ship. The actual universe isn’t flavored in all that well. Unlike Privateer, there’s no real establishment of a universe. When you land at a port or a space station, it’s all just automatic machinery and a menu, you don’t actually talk to any people or see anything that gives evidence of humans. It’s all pretty mechanical.
The thing that is fun is just actually flying your ship. They got that part right.
Yeah, different bests. Like @Rock8man man said, if it’s Privateer you’re looking for, wait for Rebel Galaxy Outlaws (or get Rebel Galaxy today). This is basically Elite for a modern age, with no story except the one you make.
Wut. Privateer had a bit more than a minimal storyline. If you want “minimal”, play an X game. If you want none, play Elite Dangerous.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Even our most ardent supporter here talks about firing up podcasts when playing Elite Dangerous. Why? Because there are so many stretches where nothing is going on.
Look, ED does a few things so very, very correctly. But it really is an 80s game updated to modern fidelity.
That’s a shame. Sounds like the game could benefit from an auto-travel function, which was available back in the first Wing Commander. I don’t get developers who eschew such basic quality-of-life features.
Searching the googles for ‘autopilot elite’ led me to a whole bunch of forums that completely turned me off of getting the game. Even early simulators used to understand that people don’t want to sit there and do nothing – that’s why they had time acceleration and the option to skip to the encounters. Somehow we’ve regressed now and feel like it’s wrong to skip to the interesting parts of the experience.
I do understand that time dilation can mess up multiplayer, but I’m sure creative minds can find ways around that, particularly when you’re talking about traveling in empty space which is basically all the same.
