Elite: Dangerous. I broke down.

[republic]

There really needs to be a bonus to profits made while playing online, otherwise your best defense is just to play in solo mode.  I know when my funds are low I play in solo, but when I've got a cushion I'll pop into open play.  There's also the issue with the docking lottery when in open...I don't mind to wait a bit but after a five minutes the novelty wears off.

[undercovergeek]

There really needs to be a bonus to profits made while playing online, otherwise your best defense is just to play in solo mode.  I know when my funds are low I play in solo, but when I've got a cushion I'll pop into open play.  There's also the issue with the docking lottery when in open...I don't mind to wait a bit but after a five minutes the novelty wears off.

youre doing yourself out of the beauty of the game in solo, thats the gift of playing online - no need for bonuses

[Jarhead0331]

This game really takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride.

My goal now is to save up enough money to get an Anaconda. Its a beautiful ship with deadly lines. It literally slices through the void. It has a massive hold, can dock smaller craft and has a tremendous bite. I was just gearing up to start making some heavy trades. I went to my local bulletin board and saw a courier mission for $172,000 credits running gold to a port only 6 LY away. I'm drinking champagne all the way there and smelling the cigar I'm going to smoke once I get paid. I make my uneventful and very lucrative delivery and stop by the local shipyard. Sure enough, the Anaconda is in stock and for sale for the low price of $147,000,000!!!!! That's One hundred and forty-seven MILLION credits! WTF!?!?!?! How am I ever going to afford that?

Looks like I'll be flying Cobras and Vipers for the rest of my poor life. What a let down...I hope these things will go on sale from time to time, otherwise I'm never going to get one. 

[mikeck]

Maybe the better plan is to upgrade to a lakon 7 or other medium freighter and upgrade so 200 cargo space. You'll be making tons of cash each run

[Jarhead0331]

Maybe the better plan is to upgrade to a lakon 7 or other medium freighter and upgrade so 200 cargo space. You'll be making tons of cash each run

I think that is the only way to ever amass that kind of wealth. I guess I can get a medium freighter for what? $7,000,000? I think that is what the Type 6 go for. I think the type 7 jumps up to $17,000,000 which also seems like a long way off for me.

[MikeGER]

how about an ASP as an intermediate stepstone?  ....i bet that vessel will suit your playstyle more then a freighter

[Jarhead0331]

how about an ASP as an intermediate stepstone?  ....i bet that vessel will suit your playstyle more then a freighter

Its actually the ASP that costs almost $7,000,000...the Lakon Type 6 is much cheaper.  I don't think trying to get a multi-role craft is the way to go in Elite. I think you either dedicate a craft to combat or to trade. The Lakon Type 6 has the same size cargo hold as the Asp. Yes, the Asp has six weapon hardpoints, but it also costs more than $5,000,000 over the Lakon Type 6. Hell, insurance on an Asp is over $330,000!  Not sure it makes sense. We'll see...I have to think about it.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I'm playing solo.  Does the mission clock keep ticking down even when you aren't playing?  It seems to me that it does,  I took on a delivery mission with a 4 hour time limit.  I had to jump 3 or 4 times to reach the destination and I ended up saving for the night when I was halfway to my destination with about 3.5 hours left.  When I started again the next day, I had to pay a fine for late delivery.

[Jarhead0331]

I'm playing solo.  Does the mission clock keep ticking down even when you aren't playing?  It seems to me that it does,  I took on a delivery mission with a 4 hour time limit.  I had to jump 3 or 4 times to reach the destination and I ended up saving for the night when I was halfway to my destination with about 3.5 hours left.  When I started again the next day, I had to pay a fine for late delivery.

yes. clock keeps ticking.

[undercovergeek]

I'm playing solo.  Does the mission clock keep ticking down even when you aren't playing?  It seems to me that it does,  I took on a delivery mission with a 4 hour time limit.  I had to jump 3 or 4 times to reach the destination and I ended up saving for the night when I was halfway to my destination with about 3.5 hours left.  When I started again the next day, I had to pay a fine for late delivery.

Yeah keeps ticking, massive bone of contention at the elite forums

This game really takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride.

My goal now is to save up enough money to get an Anaconda. Its a beautiful ship with deadly lines. It literally slices through the void. It has a massive hold, can dock smaller craft and has a tremendous bite. I was just gearing up to start making some heavy trades. I went to my local bulletin board and saw a courier mission for $172,000 credits running gold to a port only 6 LY away. I'm drinking champagne all the way there and smelling the cigar I'm going to smoke once I get paid. I make my uneventful and very lucrative delivery and stop by the local shipyard. Sure enough, the Anaconda is in stock and for sale for the low price of $147,000,000!!!!! That's One hundred and forty-seven MILLION credits! WTF!?!?!?! How am I ever going to afford that?

Looks like I'll be flying Cobras and Vipers for the rest of my poor life. What a let down...I hope these things will go on sale from time to time, otherwise I'm never going to get one. 

The exact same thing happened to me this afternoon, was checking how far I am away from a type 6 and there she was in the shipyard.... Beautiful, and then I saw the price it's also the only ship that can carry the plasma accelerator..... People have witnessed it one shot a cobra and asp!!

[JudgeDredd]

Maybe the better plan is to upgrade to a lakon 7 or other medium freighter and upgrade so 200 cargo space. You'll be making tons of cash each run

I think that is the only way to ever amass that kind of wealth. I guess I can get a medium freighter for what? $7,000,000? I think that is what the Type 6 go for. I think the type 7 jumps up to $17,000,000 which also seems like a long way off for me.

I've got about 20,000 credits...if only there was a way to gift credits, I'd help you out 

[mikeck]

Jarhead, in think your right. This cobra thing isn't working. If I want to trade, I need a ship with more holds. If I want to fight, I will get a viper. Cobra is good for pirates but seems to be master of nothing

[Jarhead0331]

Jarhead, in think your right. This cobra thing isn't working. If I want to trade, I need a ship with more holds. If I want to fight, I will get a viper. Cobra is good for pirates but seems to be master of nothing

Yes. Dedicating your ship to one role is definitely the way to go. My cobra can currently haul 36 tons. I just bought gold in Chimba and sold it in GD219. I then bought resonators in GD219 and sold them in Chimba. The whole run made me close to 75,000 in profit. Multiply that by three or four times in a larger hold and you're now talking 225,000 to 300,000 in profit per run, and these are common commodities. Do three or four runs and you're talking seven figure profits. Its still time consuming and laborious to raise serious funds, but it now seems doable.  What the game needs is a mechanic similar to the X series. You should be able to buy multiple ships, and either hire npc pilots or purchase software modules so you can be trading in multiple locations at the same time, piracy and loss will always be a risk, but a worthy one. This is a reasonable way to let the player feel like he is building a real space trading empire.

Anyway, while cruising around and taking out the trash in my viper is a blast, I don't think combat is going to earn you the kind of money that is going to get you a penthouse in Hefner Orbital and lots of bikini clad super model chicks. I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that trade is the only truly lucrative profession in the game right now.

[mikeck]

I would love Elite to add an NPC player controlled mechnic. Buy a ship, hire a pilot and give it a trade route with instructions

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I'm playing solo.  Does the mission clock keep ticking down even when you aren't playing?  It seems to me that it does,  I took on a delivery mission with a 4 hour time limit.  I had to jump 3 or 4 times to reach the destination and I ended up saving for the night when I was halfway to my destination with about 3.5 hours left.  When I started again the next day, I had to pay a fine for late delivery.

yes. clock keeps ticking.

Well shit....

I took on a mission to hunt down 5 pirates.  Got four of them before I had to save, log out and go deal with real life stuff.  Oh well, at least I still get the bounty for the four that I did get.