OS Neutral Elite Dangerous Impressions

[Huntn]

How long have you been playing, since beta or are you new to the game? What do you think? Does ED have the legs to entertain you for a year ( my usually yardstick of a successful game)?

Sure you can make millions of credits by researching the commodities market, fly to station A, buy, hyperjump/Super Cruise to another system/Station B for 3-10 minutes watching the millions of kilometers count down to your distant destination, sell and make a profit, maybe a huge profit for rare items, Ka-Ching! No fighting required. But is that enough to sustain and entertain you?

I've all ready stated in the other ED threads, the primary attraction I see to this game is ... Dog fighting..., dog fighting AI opponents (bounty hunting at extraction sites) and maybe someday being brave enough to fight real players. It's dynamic, kind of challenging depending on how well you can fly, and extraction points offer a consistent stream of "wanted" individuals to bag. And sometimes you die, que sera.

I have been playing World of Tanks for 2 years now and never seem to tire of PVP tank battles, they are quick and the action is focused, right to the point. And... there are a variety of battlefields and tactical situations. The downside of ED dog fighting is that the environment is always the same and the dynamics are fairly consistent. I'm currently enjoying this aspect of the game as I earn credits for the next ship whatever that is, but I wonder if ED has what it takes to hold me for a year?

What other ED activities do you find interesting? I'd like to hear about them and why.


Pulled from the Tips thread:

It's a massively unfriendly game, isn't it? I admire its refusal to follow modern game design conventions, but it's certainly frustrating.

It was even worse in the 80s though. I had the original when I was a kid, and I think I managed to dock maybe a handful of times ever. My entire experience of that game was flying to a station, not being able to dock, then flying somewhere else until I got intercepted by Thargoids and killed. Seemed pretty amazing at the time.

If you're looking for a better selection of ship parts, you'll find more on sale at high tech stations than elsewhere. I don't know if the prices vary between systems - I paid 1.6 million for a frameshift drive, would be annoyed if it was available somewhere for less.

It certainly has room for improvement. In-game markets/exchanges would help a lot. I moved your reply into a new thead. What do you think are EDs best points? Do you think this game can hold your interest long term?

 

[garnerx]

I don't think I've ever played a game for an entire year!

With single-player games, when I've finished the story I probably won't ever load them up again. There's only a handful of games I've gone through more than once (Halo 3, Crackdown, GTA San Andreas, Mario 64).

Online games are different, but I usually get tired of them sooner or later. With that in mind I made sure I didn't play too much Elite during the beta so I didn't overdose on it and ruin the finished game. Not that it really feels finished at the moment anyway...

I reinstalled World of Tanks a few months ago, to see if I could play it again after an extended break. Took about five games for it to make me so angry I deleted it once more.

I find that once I'm very familiar with the way a game works and I've settled into a pattern of play that works for me, the game is living on borrowed time.