As an honorary returnee noob player, I thought I'd post reflecting on my experience of playing 4.86 for the first time as a player.
You should bear in mind:
a) I last played close to a year and a half ago; I was an admin then. Real life became far too demanding.
b) I have lost all my characters. That included a character from when I first started playing which was around six months before I joined the forums. So I am starting with nothing. No Cap 8 or cap 6 (they were nice), none of my lovely bombers, fighters, freighters, no Shire. None of the shared ships I had access to. So my experiences will have to be measured against my first experiences all that time ago.
c) I am on a laptop with no mouse, so I am pretty weak at controlling using this set-up.
Some initial observations:
Mod install: Compared to other mods, install was a breeze. Couldn't be easier. Big kudos for this.
Restarts: I'm not sure how well publicised these are but luckily I remembered them. They made starting out far less of a grind.
Trade: Plenty of variety so far. A nice balance of trade within a house or more profitable longer routes.
Missions: Plenty of high earning ones. In fact I have relied completely on these, doing a trade run with passengers when I move to another house. I really like how these little details contribute to roleplay.
Zoom/turret steer: Having seen this initially in the form of a cheat two or more years ago, I am thrilled to see a feature like this in the game. Now don't get me wrong, I was a big fan of fighters, bombers and swarms. This feature means that what was previously a mere step to bigger things is now an end in itself.
At the moment I have managed to acquire a dromedary with some decent guns/turrets, a decent shield but no armour, and I have enough creds that mean I wont have to return to grindsville. (I have probably less than six hours played. This rapid rate of early development is a real success, as it means that the acquisition of new ships is more about exploration and roleplay than getting higher up the cargo hold ladder.
Interactions: Generally low levels get ignored. The only people to interact with me so far have been non faction ( with one exception ). I can't understand why. Unless everyone is cloaked.
NPCs: The flavour of the game is much improved thanks to the greater variety in npc ships. Gone are the days of looting H fuel from transports. (For a while at least)
Pirating:....seems to be the same as always. Gimme the money. Pew. As tempted as I was to try to get to the nifty 400k cruise, I thought better of it.
...but what's next?
I know cloaking, ship docking and jumpdrives are in the game. Is the latter why the lanes are relatively quiet? By which I mean, where are the pirating capships and can I kill them with turret steer?
Thoughts are welcome. I'll be posting as I explore more.
(11-20-2012, 11:11 PM)Altejago Wrote: Welcome back Athenian, good to see you here.
You weren't that dromedary pirated for his wallet in Cali, were you?
If so, I thought I could smell a veteran
Good to see you about, anything you would like help with please don't hesitate to ask!
I was indeed.
Changing keys to make turret steer easier and less likely to damage my fingers meant that I forgot which button was for "Decrease throttle". Which is not wise when you are pirated. I fondly recall ripping up the hulls of people who were reluctant to stop...
Can I have my money back? Or a rematch when I have armour so I can see if freighter combat is all it is cracked up to be...?
Mining is still a rather quick way to make money. Not sure if you've had a taste of the new mining system - it's pretty nifty, it teleports the mined cargo straight into your hold rather then leaving it floating. And if you use a mining combination that yields a bonus (mining turret, mining ship, ID/IFF that has a bonus for whatever you're mining) you can even target another player within 1K of you, and have the mined goods go to him/her instead.
If you enjoy hauling more, hook up with some of the IMG| crew if you need a cargo of ore. There's usually a miner in Omega 7 or Tau 23, and if not, asking for a miner can get you one where you need it.
As for the cloaks - fighters and gunboats can't cloak very long due to the fuel requirements. Transports and battleships is another story. It's a new toy and the kinks haven't quite been ironed out. I've not yet tested player docking but am hearing no problems with it. Jump drives can be fun, but when using them for group trading, it tends to take the fun out of it as you've got NO chance of being pirated. At all. No encounters = easy money but very dull.
As for being ignored as a low level - where are you at, and are you attempting to initiate an interaction? Usually a "hey there" to a lawful on patrol or a trader waiting for cargo or such tends to get you a neat response. Although I hear Liberty space is still a bit... well, shall we say, a learning pool for new players?
PS your avatar's a dead link Athenian.
Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.
Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.
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