All of these offers are always nice, sadly I didn't receive any pay for this whole month. Also I know for a fact that I won't be getting any 30th birthday party or any 'big presents' like an expensive game or so. I might be able to get ED if I save a little and pay part of it myself. The reality is, this fucking game company bullshit has destroyed me financially. Often my pay is less than my rent and my dad has to help as Mrs. doesn't make even as little as I make. Spoiler: Rant To be honest, if there was an offer to get an Idris today for 20$ I couldn't get it. I have literally 3€ and change on my account, I have enough food to last until I get a salary in February but even if I got 20€ right now I couldn't spend it on a game. Because no one is willing to fund an unknown indie startup. Even companies that have paraded on the news as "we fund new starting game companies" just ignore calls and mail, one place said that "We don't invest on PC and Mobile platforms, we only invest in new platforms". Yea, because small companies are constantly developing new platforms. "We only say shit like that on media trololol". Shit, I would've got SC in Dec if I could. Just, if I can get any game at all I can get one game and not today but in a month or so. I think ED has a good value for the money right now, but if you guys think it doesn't have a lot of semi-sp content and things to do then I will seriously reconsider getting anything at all. I'm fucking sorry for the rant but fuck. I spent the afternoon checking out available jobs and I only qualify for phone sales. Same as every time I check the situation. Despite my experience I suck as a programmer, I haven't even learned PHP or how to use databases. I've never tried any and I haven't written many lines in C# and I've never touched C++. Like I said, terribly sorry. I'm just very tired of all the bullshit and lies on media and in public and having to live with the gritty and painful reality without a way out.
So in any case, can one fare in ED by playing just a few hours per week? Or does that mean I'm still stuck with unupgraded starter ship 2 months into the game?
I play about 2-3 hours per week right now, and I'd say that's a good amount. You need at least 2 hours to get anything of substance done in the game, especially the more complex missions, but if you've got 2 hours to burn you'll never feel like you don't have enough time to get at least something done. I've played maybe 30 hrs total since release and I have a pretty kitted out Viper now, some decent federation faction, and explored a good 200-300 systems.
E: D is in my opinion one of those games that requires a bit of dedication. I've played several hours almost everyday for couple of weeks now. I think you could make some progress if you put your back into it. Starter ship is Sidewinder and it's all kinds of feeble. Takes some genuine effort to make money and get rid of it. Eagle, Hauler or Adder are huge upgrades over it. EDIT: One of the best ways to make some money at start is to do courier missions in more civilized space. They are relatively safe, fast to do and pay well for starting player. Look for them at bulletin boards of any station. At first I couldn't even understand how huge difference starting with ship like Cobra makes, but now I've started to appreciate it very much. Love my urban camo Cobra.
the Sidewinder basic is free to anyone. the Eagle basic is 40k credits the Hauler basic is 52k credits the adder basic is ???? never owned one the Viper Basic is 240k credits the cobra basic is 360k-ish credits the type-6 basic is 1.06 million credits the Asp explorer basic is 6.5 million credits the type-7 basic is 17 million credits the python basic is 54 million credits the type-9 basic is 96 million credits the Anaconda basic is 145 million credits there are also a few other ships like the orca, the courier, the dropship that have various costs that i am unsure of (some also require certain levels of reputation with different factions) *VERY IMPORTANT NOTE* the basic cost of the ship is easily outweighed when upgrading their components.... example. my Cobra, a 360k-ish credits ship has more than 12 million credits worth of upgrades. before trading it in on a python, my type-7 was worth 45 million credits. The insurance deductible is 5% of the TOTAL cost of the ship... this is cash you HAVE to keep on hand at all times as a failure to have that money available will mean in the event of a crash... you will not be able to get your ship back and will instead go back to a basic sidewinder. I would recommend never flying without sufficient cash to pay the deductible unless you are both supremely confident in your abilities and are a person that won't rage quit when (not if) you crash and burn.
Adder is 80k stock. And yeah, upgrades are the money sink of Elite. Basic ships are relatively easy to get but upgrades are the thing you "grind" for.
I just read a review basically saying that the guy played the game for decent amount and made some 500k over two weeks. Not that he'd disclose the amount (pelit-magazine reviewer) but that sounded pretty alarming. Otoh, he also said that it's a lot like a single player game except you get to fly with friends if you want to. That does sound pretty attractive even though "cynical grind design" didn't sound too exciting. But listening to you guys, I suppose I could be getting various stuff like upgrades on a pretty decent rate even with my 'half assed barely present' style. That and the fact that it's pretty much the only space game that's even remotely finished at the moment at least if you narrow it down to space games finished since 2010 or so.
It's a quite good game even now, no denying that. And they will keep improving it. But, as I said before, it gives you as much as you put into it. It won't hold your hand or tell you what to do. It's not romantic space opera so genuine interest in space in general is a plus. I'll still recommend it. With reservations. EDIT: Think that I hope they will look into soon, something the Pelit magazine also noted, is the huge gap between Cobra and Asp. There needs to be several fighter and multipurpose ships available in 1-5 million range. Lakon 6 can be used for mining and exploration but it's still mainly cargo ship. There's several ships coming up so hopefully they will fill some of that space. Fer de Lance is looking mighty fine so far.
Well, my love of space is partly why I went through the effort to become a games programmer from a position of not knowing any programming and not having funds for it. I'm also a realism fan. I really like the balance of physics & gameplay they've struck in ED. I also like the existence of NPC craft for some relatively quick action when one has a better ship. Now I just need to figure out how to get that head movement thing working fluently. I guess I'll start seeing if I can get this one. I really liked the X-series despite it's many flaws, up to the point when the campaigns broke apart and they decided it was 'fun' to fill every sector with randomly attacking hostiles that destroy everything.
I am currently testing (closed Beta style) the newest build for Elite... i made a mad dash of 1180 light years to the system that i used to hang out in for the initial release. Ai seems to have been ramped up a lot... i used to be able to take out Pythons ( 56 million credits for the base hull) and Anacondas' ( 147 million credits for the base hull) with my 12 million credit fully tweaked out Cobra.... Yeah, my ass is running from bigger ships now...they are scary good ... this Beta build is setup sans normal background mechanics... so no economy manipulation... seems the Devs are concentrating on Combat, i cant personally test the co-op mechanics as i dont have any friends .... but i will report the findings of other players as they come available. as noted earlier.. the AI used to be a push over... .. now it is quite a bit stiffer... although the bad pirates ( NPC's) seem to be a little more rare. but when they are there... they are quite a bit more aggressive ... system cops are also a bit more responsive... arriving within 3-5 minutes of me being attacked. tomorrow i will start testing the other side on the law. i will pirate both NPC's and PC's.. testing the response of the NPC traders and the time that i need to bail out of a situation ... also will test just how serious the NPC cops are... can i just whack them...or will i need to bail outta the system
I gave the beta a try last night, and I love the changes they made to the AIs in combat. It feels like enemy pilot skill means something now. The new sounds are really good too (not that they weren't before). I love how the burst lasers go, "SHOOM SHOOM SHOOM sheew sheeew sheeew sheeeeeeew" when they are running out/run out of power now. Also some cool new ambiance in supercruise and also when your ship is <33% hull (not that I'd know from experience or anything >.>)
is this update you guys are discussing include the "wings" multiplayer updates? i've got a CH combatstick coming in the mail anyday and a Pro Throttle ordered (though it may be months before I actually get it with their backorders). i might start to feel like i'm wasting all this gear if i don't get it ...
Changes: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=108887 Just a bunch of bug fixes and cosmetic things so far. I'll probably play 5x more than I do now when they release the multiplayer module!
looks like the wings update with 1.2 will be hitting beta in march. you guys that have done testing - any word on how long these patches usually stay in testing before moving to the live servers? http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dcbf6b86b4b0c7d1c21b73b1e&id=3624a673f0 http://www.pcgamer.com/elite-dangerous-12-preview-flying-together-with-wings/
The update in march should bring about wings and propper grouping options. Having to sync into the same instance and scan down wakes will be a thing of the past to fly with friends.
Yup, the next patch should be very good for peeps who want to do some flying together without any stupid hassle. There's also gonna be two new ships. Fer De Lance and Vulture.
yeah.. most of these tests usually run a week in duration . The Vulture looks interesting as it only has 2 weapon ports, but those are of the larger variety. i'm guessing , paired with a chaff launcher and a Point defence, this this will be a python/anaconda hunter.
