03-23-2016, 08:27 PM
Getting back into Discovery after a very long hiatus.
Where have I been? Besides working my butt off for a several years to get to a pretty comfortable spot in my career, I've been playing Elite Dangerous for almost two years now.
I find the game really fun, but I also feel it is an entirely different sort of space game from Freelancer. In FL and especially DiscoRP, I feel like I'm playing a character in a staged setting. In ED, I feel like myself exploring the galaxy in MY spaceship. What ED does for me is give me the feelng of being there...even more accentuated when you get a chance to see it in VR.
However, it does have some major drawbacks. Interaction with other players is limited. There is no such thing as creating a bottleneck to catch pirates or traders. It is pretty easy to avoid anyone. I've been asking on the forums that they have hyperjumps end in normal space at nav beacons, giving pirates, hunters and traders an opportunity to interact but that doesn't seem to get any traction. Social aspects of the ED just don't hit that multiplayer string for me. Without some kind of system chat, it is impossible to call for help when interdicted by a pirate, unless you are in a wing. But, you still can't get help from folks just passing through.
Weapon variety is still very limited. The next update promises more variety with crafting but I'm always suspicious of crafting (no way I'm spending an hour clicking a button to turn Iron Ore into Iron in a space game).
Ship selection is fine. These are pretty detailed ships, so I can understand the pipeline for them being slow.
Even with those gripes, I still very much like Elite Dangerous. Elite Dangerous: Horizons added the ability to land on airless bodies and get out and about in a surface vehicle (SRV). It is a cool feature, but mostly it adds a ton more places where I can land my trade ship (Type 9) and reap profits. (landing a fully loaded T9 on a planet with earth-like gravity is deceptively tricky...if you aren't careful you will enter an unstoppable free fall into the ground)
Also, the first expansion after the initial release of the current season, 2.1: The Engineers, is due out this spring/summer. It looks like it is going to massive overhaul missions and aims to improve a lot of the core features of the game. Hopefully it makes the game content more engaging and interesting. As it is, I'm mostly enamoured with the flight model. Flying slow lumbering ships like the Type 9 is a real test of forethought and spatial awareness. Conversely, flying a combat ship demands quick reflexes and smart power management.
You can find me on the Frontier forums as Monk, surprise!
In game, I am Monk Edgecomb (any folks from the BAF that flew with me back in the day will remember that one)
My Viper Mk III
![[Image: attachment.php?attachmentid=26677&d=1428068477]](https://forums.frontier.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=26677&d=1428068477)
My Anaconda and SRV
![[Image: attachment.php?attachmentid=78646&d=1448958496]](https://forums.frontier.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=78646&d=1448958496)
Where have I been? Besides working my butt off for a several years to get to a pretty comfortable spot in my career, I've been playing Elite Dangerous for almost two years now.
I find the game really fun, but I also feel it is an entirely different sort of space game from Freelancer. In FL and especially DiscoRP, I feel like I'm playing a character in a staged setting. In ED, I feel like myself exploring the galaxy in MY spaceship. What ED does for me is give me the feelng of being there...even more accentuated when you get a chance to see it in VR.
However, it does have some major drawbacks. Interaction with other players is limited. There is no such thing as creating a bottleneck to catch pirates or traders. It is pretty easy to avoid anyone. I've been asking on the forums that they have hyperjumps end in normal space at nav beacons, giving pirates, hunters and traders an opportunity to interact but that doesn't seem to get any traction. Social aspects of the ED just don't hit that multiplayer string for me. Without some kind of system chat, it is impossible to call for help when interdicted by a pirate, unless you are in a wing. But, you still can't get help from folks just passing through.
Weapon variety is still very limited. The next update promises more variety with crafting but I'm always suspicious of crafting (no way I'm spending an hour clicking a button to turn Iron Ore into Iron in a space game).
Ship selection is fine. These are pretty detailed ships, so I can understand the pipeline for them being slow.
Even with those gripes, I still very much like Elite Dangerous. Elite Dangerous: Horizons added the ability to land on airless bodies and get out and about in a surface vehicle (SRV). It is a cool feature, but mostly it adds a ton more places where I can land my trade ship (Type 9) and reap profits. (landing a fully loaded T9 on a planet with earth-like gravity is deceptively tricky...if you aren't careful you will enter an unstoppable free fall into the ground)
Also, the first expansion after the initial release of the current season, 2.1: The Engineers, is due out this spring/summer. It looks like it is going to massive overhaul missions and aims to improve a lot of the core features of the game. Hopefully it makes the game content more engaging and interesting. As it is, I'm mostly enamoured with the flight model. Flying slow lumbering ships like the Type 9 is a real test of forethought and spatial awareness. Conversely, flying a combat ship demands quick reflexes and smart power management.
You can find me on the Frontier forums as Monk, surprise!
In game, I am Monk Edgecomb (any folks from the BAF that flew with me back in the day will remember that one)
My Viper Mk III
My Anaconda and SRV
