Elite:Dangerous

[nowhere.elysium]

[metalangel]

I still play from time to time. It is indeed a colossal time sink.

I took a little vacation (the entire summer) from the tedium and flew to the galactic core and back in a Diamondback Explorer. It was fun but even that was tedious - enter new system, honk the discovery scanner horn. If anything worthwhile shows up, surface scan it, otherwise keep going.

An hour or two here and there, it was something I could do while texting or browsing the web. People mine and trade while watching Netflix, remember.

If you're curious as to what the whole process looks like (and to see what's there) without subjecting yourself, I made a video of the final few jumps prior to Saggytits A*:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmUnt3wkoWg

Note how dense the galaxy map is (Twitch's compression makes it a mess) and also how bright space itself is with that density of stars. The black holes act like a regular star and won't in fact crush you, but getting close to them does result in some cool visual effects.

I came back with only 15 million in exploration data (Elite ranking requires 160 million) but at least I can say I've done it.

The Vulture remains arguably the best ship for shooting things on a reasonable budget. Even with the tweaks to RESes I can have a good time blowing up AI Condas and Clippers solo and finally make a decent profit doing so.

Honestly, if I had the time commit, I'd play EvE. I don't so, I play Elite. The combat is fun, and it's fairly immersive if you're in the right mood.

CQC is surprisingly decent given it was written to appease console tards who apparently need to shoot everything.
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Previous: 2002 Honda CB500 (sold), 2007 Suzuki SV650SK6 (crashed), 2005 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (sold). Currently bikeless
"A faired bike will get you 10x more clunge than a unfaired one." -Marlboro Matt

[Rogerborg]

[metalangel]

If anyone is playing the Horizons beta and can't get their SRV's data scanner to do anything, Reddit has a simple fix:

TURN ON FIRING DEPLOYS HARDPOINTS

Twitch vid of arsing about figuring it all out, including planetary approaches:

https://www.twitch.tv/suicideperkies/b/684862930

It seems fun, but they are just expanding the amount of locations where you can do absolutely fuck all for very little profit. The real money remains in either trading or blowing up mindless pirates in RES.
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Previous: 2002 Honda CB500 (sold), 2007 Suzuki SV650SK6 (crashed), 2005 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (sold). Currently bikeless
"A faired bike will get you 10x more clunge than a unfaired one." -Marlboro Matt

[Musketeer]

Are you guys still playing? I am kinda back to the game after a break, I was going to buy Elite Dangerous: Horizons (I was quite excited about new 'upgraded' Cobra Mk IV) but the reviews of the game are rather poor and the new Cobra is rubbish too apparently.

So what is your opinion about ED: Horizons? I'm waiting until it's like 80% off

Oh and btw what are your favourite ships?... Cobra is my favourite ship by a mile
I've got a Vulture, yes it's a great combat ship, but flying a Cobra is so much more fun..

https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e85/motorcyclesJZ/2015-11-23_00002_zpsnng90dbu.jpg
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Current Bike: Yamaha XSR900 Previous bikes: Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, Aprilia RS125 2-stroke

[nowhere.elysium]

[MarJay]

Started the grind to afford the big ships. Found I didn't have the time to invest, got bored and haven't played since towards the end of last year. Currently don't have internet connection to my games PC so I'm a bit out of luck.

If I get some time from somewhere then I might go Horizons, but I think I'm a victim of the 'Very broad but only an inch deep' thing that afflicted a lot of people. I liked the other Elite games, but part of that was that no one else seemed to be into them at the time. Now lots of people have their opinions on Dangerous, and there are a lot of players out there with a lot of money. I can't be bothered to compete really, and as I mentioned I don't really have the time to invest.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Musketeer]

Cobra Mk III is the fastest ship in the game, able to carrry some cargo and has some weapons but rather poor shield and armour. The fact it's fast means it can get away from stronger opponents. Ideal pirate ship imho.

Cobra Mk IV has nothing that other ships wouldn't have. And it's slower than a few stronger ships in the game. Another pointless ship imho.
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Current Bike: Yamaha XSR900 Previous bikes: Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, Aprilia RS125 2-stroke

[Musketeer]

I decided to have some break from PP and do some exploration instead...

Sagittarius A*... finally

https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e85/motorcyclesJZ/Elite%20Dangerous/EliteDangerous64%202016-02-29%2003-49-11-10_zpsmkgnvtwh.png

https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e85/motorcyclesJZ/Elite%20Dangerous/EliteDangerous64%202016-02-29%2003-49-26-50_zpshsrj7uav.png

https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e85/motorcyclesJZ/Elite%20Dangerous/EliteDangerous64%202016-02-29%2003-51-22-44_zpsb7p0q69y.png
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Current Bike: Yamaha XSR900 Previous bikes: Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, Aprilia RS125 2-stroke

[nowhere.elysium]

Takes an inordinately long time to get there, doesn't it?
I'm tempted to do another exploration run to the far edge at some point, but I'm currently focusing on speccing out my Python. I'm currently sat at rank 4 in PP, and wondering if it's really worth the extra grind to get to rank 5 - the jump from 1,500 to 10,000 merits is not a small one.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[Musketeer]

[nowhere.elysium]

I had the Vulture and the FAS for a short while, but didn't really take to them. Both of them felt quite limited in scope, which is probably indicative of me wanting a more multipurpose ship. I would probably have liked the Vulture more if there was such a thing as a large multicannon, and if it had a functional jump range.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[Musketeer]

I've got a few Vultures on the edges of the bubble. I don't travel IN them across the bubble.. I use my Cobras to travel TO them Combat optimized Vulture has an awful jump range. FDL is similar when it comes to jump range.. FAS a bit better in this department.
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Current Bike: Yamaha XSR900 Previous bikes: Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, Aprilia RS125 2-stroke

[lihp]

I have a viper

Well, did a lot of bounty hunting, and bought, and kitted out a DBX and currently on my way to the core.
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covent.gardens: lihp is my most favourite member ever

[Bridgehouse]

Been playing since original beta. I have the lifetime upgrade whatever pass.

Currently in a Python.

With regards to the question about Horizons being worth it, I think it will be after the 2.1 update - they are totally re-doing the missions system (replacing the bulletin board) and engineers are being introduced that will allow crafting of custom parts..
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2015 Triumph Street Triple - 2015 Honda CB500F - 1976 CB400 Four (Stripped - and undergoing restoration)

[Musketeer]

Have you guys tried the beta 2.1?

I have quite mixed feelings to be honest. They nerfed silent running builds which imho were adding some variety. There are things that I like ie. Small fighter ships are finally very fast, some FSD upgrades allowing longer jumps etc.
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Current Bike: Yamaha XSR900 Previous bikes: Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, Aprilia RS125 2-stroke

[metalangel]

Now that 2.1 is out, I'm finding it an even bigger grind than before - now everything you want for those engineer upgrades is spawned by a very unfriendly RNG.

NPCs are now complete bastards (and of course, they all have engineer upgrades already)
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Previous: 2002 Honda CB500 (sold), 2007 Suzuki SV650SK6 (crashed), 2005 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (sold). Currently bikeless
"A faired bike will get you 10x more clunge than a unfaired one." -Marlboro Matt

[nowhere.elysium]

[metalangel]

I ground my butt off before 2.1 dropped doing the Robigo run, and in doing so, acquired a Python and an Anaconda.

I fitted the Python to be an armed trader/miner. So I toddle along to my local RES to do some mining. The moment my refinery processes a fragment, some twattock NPC, usually Elite ranking, appears, scans, and because I have something in my hold, declares that I am "a fish worth landing", and opens up with everything they've got, much of it enhanced weapons. If I am lucky, I survive, sometimes with barely 10% hull left. I have decent shields and weapons, but being constantly attacked like this while the nearby police ships think it takes their Anaconda and half a dozen Eagles and Vipers to stop one pirate in a Sidewinder, don't come to my aid until it's too late.

Seriously, even if I immediately drop everything I'm doing and swap from my mining lasers to killing lasers the moment I receive the "Ima pirate im scan u up good" message, it's still like having a knife wielding maniac bursting in and jumping on you while you're lying in bed.

It wouldn't be so bad if there were better ways to obtain materials and commodities. You fly around space and scan every ship you see in Supersnooze, hoping for weird scan data you can save. You drop into every Degraded Emissions signal you see hoping for materials and data. You drive around on a planet in your crappy buggy that wants to swap ends every time the wind picks up, scooping up pebbles (and I only scoop up the 'rare' pebbles now) hoping one of them will be the rare materials that the stupid engineer wants. I've also had to waste a slot on my ship installing a wake scanner in the hopes of getting enough Atypical Scan Echoes to let me have another crack at an FSD range increase.

And that's the best part, you painfully gather all this stuff by RNG, and go to the engineer, and then they activate their own RNG and MAYBE you'll get a better version of your tweak. Maybe not! Your materials are still consumed even if they cock it up! Maybe the level 3 FSD range increase is actually worse than the level 2 one where you got lucky with the dice roll?

I'm a Fuel Rat, by the way. That was the only thing that gave playing the game any kind of purpose or satisfaction. Now I am grinding the BS in the hopes of boosting the range of my ship and in doing so, decreasing my response time when someone needs help.
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Previous: 2002 Honda CB500 (sold), 2007 Suzuki SV650SK6 (crashed), 2005 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (sold). Currently bikeless
"A faired bike will get you 10x more clunge than a unfaired one." -Marlboro Matt

[thx1138]

bit late to the party as usual,

Having played Elite back in the day on;

BBC Master
C64
ZX Spectrum
NES

rebooted version on PC and various less buggy versions of Frontier Elite 2.

Got it yesterday for the Xbox one. Jumped straight into it, died. Did the first three training missions, and played again.

Got blown up a few times, but got the hang of docking and landing pads relatively easily. I guess it helped that I'd played Raid Over Moscow way back when, for the landing pad bit. Docking isn't too bad, it's the landing pads that add to the hassle.

Bit of a mind spin all the different landing configurations at the different ports and stations, and it all seemed like a massive ball ache trying to get anything done at all, but I've just saved it with one small upgrade and 50k credits.

[MarJay]

[thx1138]

well i did a couple more missions, couldn't get anywhere near a system selling docking computers,

traded sidewinder in for a Hauler, upgraded bits for lighter stuff, light jumped 20years and bought a docking computer, will courier data for credits and try and get a handle on exploring

[thx1138]

Just found out about the Fuel Rats.

https://www.fuelrats.com/