Support NeoGAF

[Zalusithix]

Decided to use my smuggling gravy train gains towards trading the Python for a Type 9. Took a while to find a 6A FSD for the pig though. While the thing has pretty horrible jump range with the 6A fully laden, with the 6B it has shit range even while empty. Getting around looking for the FSD was painful. Jump a short distance, slooooowly turn to the next waypoint, jump another short distance ... On the plus side, yay to 500t of cargo capacity, and probably the best overall cockpit visibility in the game. That and there's just something strangely satisfying about piloting the monster into port.

Anyhow, assuming the trade route doesn't collapse overnight (anything is possible lately), I should be good for somewhere between 7 and 8.5 mil cr/hr tomorrow.

 

[Shifty76]

Touched down in Goldstein Port in Lembava after two months in the black.

Ship integrity 0% and 2.2m to fix it.

Selling this data is proving to be a pain in the ass. Sold one page so far and it's error'd out with "unable to get cartography listing from the webserver" 3 times already, followed by "you have no cartographic data to sell at this location."
It's taken me 10 mins so far just to sell that one page.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

+450 PP points fucking with Alliance diplomats.

Then I realized I made no money tonight. :-/

 

[Orgun]

How's that for radar identification? Particularly interested in how well hostile targets stand out as that neon blue would go nice in my FDL.

I haven't really done any combat yet so I'm not sure

 

[Klyka]

Destroyed a few Delaine unlicensed trade ships tonight --felt good, bro. That 15 merits per makes it feels really rewarding, especially since you're also getting a fat bounty on their head. Interesting mechanic to spice up your life...

Don't know if we'll be able to save Lusonda, klyk :'( I have no idea how to read the opposing graphs. We're only 1000 merits behind Delaine but like 200% behind them??

If we are only 1000 behind that we already caught up a lot! We were behind 2200 when i called for help.

What you want to look at is the actual amount. The % are for the "triggers" which have both been reached, but different to Fortification they do not cancel each other out by just the triggers being reached. We actually need to have more points than Delaine when the new cycle starts for him to have failed his expansion!

 

[DrBo42]

If we are only 1000 behind that we already caught up a lot! We were behind 2200 when i called for help.

What you want to look at is the actual amount. The % are for the "triggers" which have both been reached, but different to Fortification they do not cancel each other out by just the triggers being reached. We actually need to have more points than Delaine when the new cycle starts for him to have failed his expansion!

What faction are you two? I'm almost willing to come help from Aisling territory (working to destroy the Empire from within) just to put down that pirate scum.

 

[Klyka]

What faction are you two? I'm almost willing to come help from Aisling territory (working to destroy the Empire from within) just to put down that pirate scum.

We are Hudson!
Feel free to come by and destroy pirate scum!

 

[DrBo42]

Is there an easy way to find these undermine targets? Do I have to wait for them to spawn in SC and interdict them every time?

 

[Klyka]

Is there an easy way to find these undermine targets? Do I have to wait for them to spawn in SC and interdict them every time?

You wait for them in SC and interdict them.
They have very specific names and are aligned with the faction you try to undermine.

 

[DrBo42]

Okay cool.

Anyone know why these ship integrity prices are outrageous and wtf they are?

 

[Klyka]

Okay cool.

Anyone know why these ship integrity prices are outrageous and wtf they are?

It's a bug. They don't really matter anyway cause low integrity just means you have less maximum hull. But seeing as hull doesn't matter but all that matters is shields and shield cells, you can just ignore it till they fix it.

 

[DrBo42]

It's a bug. They don't really matter anyway cause low integrity just means you have less maximum hull. But seeing as hull doesn't matter but all that matters is shields and shield cells, you can just ignore it till they fix it.

Fuck. Spent like 5 million on it today.

 

[Klyka]

Fuck. Spent like 5 million on it today.

Don't worry about it, it's just credits.

Just have fun playing the game

 

[Dreams-Visions]

It's a bug. They don't really matter anyway cause low integrity just means you have less maximum hull. But seeing as hull doesn't matter but all that matters is shields and shield cells, you can just ignore it till they fix it.

FWIW, in PvE it's still worth it to upgrade your hull. NPCs still attack your hull rather than modules. But for PvP yea, mine as well ride with minimum hull.

 

[Anton Sugar]

If we are only 1000 behind that we already caught up a lot! We were behind 2200 when i called for help.

What you want to look at is the actual amount. The % are for the "triggers" which have both been reached, but different to Fortification they do not cancel each other out by just the triggers being reached. We actually need to have more points than Delaine when the new cycle starts for him to have failed his expansion!

Oh shit! I was going to ask, I just learned the "cancel out" aspect of fortification last night. Alright, we can do this. I have a free evening, so I expect to put in some time.

 

[Pomerlaw]

 

[Shifty76]

Ok, so selling exploration data is utterly FUBAR'd.

1. Click Universal Cartographics
2. Wait 2-3 mins for it to load
3. Get error about being unable to retrieve data
4. Go back to step 1 and repeat steps 1-3 several times
5. Eventually I can click sell page
6. Wait 2 mins
7. List of first discoveries pops up (takes 2 mins)
8. Wait another 2-3 mins
9. Get unable to retrieve cartographic data error again
10. Back to step 1 for the next page of data.

All told it took me 20 mins or more to sell 3 pages. Given that I have another 220 or so pages to sell I'm looking at 25 hours just to sell it all.

So I guess that's what my "play time" will consist of for the next month

 

[Zalusithix]

Ok, so selling exploration data is utterly FUBAR'd.

1. Click Universal Cartographics
2. Wait 2-3 mins for it to load
3. Get error about being unable to retrieve data
4. Go back to step 1 and repeat steps 1-3 several times
5. Eventually I can click sell page
6. Wait 2 mins
7. List of first discoveries pops up (takes 2 mins)
8. Wait another 2-3 mins
9. Get unable to retrieve cartographic data error again
10. Back to step 1 for the next page of data.

All told it took me 20 mins or more to sell 3 pages. Given that I have another 220 or so pages to sell I'm looking at 25 hours just to sell it all.

So I guess that's what my "play time" will consist of for the next month

Just go back out exploring for another month. Maybe they'll have it fixed by the time you get back again. Either that or you'll get blown up and lose everything... Rather sucks that you're basically held hostage by that data. Willingly going out into combat is financial suicide. Further exploring and trading still carry a risk of death and data loss.

 

[Raticus79]

Ok, so selling exploration data is utterly FUBAR'd.

1. Click Universal Cartographics
2. Wait 2-3 mins for it to load
3. Get error about being unable to retrieve data
4. Go back to step 1 and repeat steps 1-3 several times
5. Eventually I can click sell page
6. Wait 2 mins
7. List of first discoveries pops up (takes 2 mins)
8. Wait another 2-3 mins
9. Get unable to retrieve cartographic data error again
10. Back to step 1 for the next page of data.

All told it took me 20 mins or more to sell 3 pages. Given that I have another 220 or so pages to sell I'm looking at 25 hours just to sell it all.

So I guess that's what my "play time" will consist of for the next month

Gross. Can you macro it? Sometimes the keyboard input works out so that enter will sell or cancel any error messages. (just keep an eye on it so it doesn't wind up launching you or something...)

 

[Zalusithix]

Gross. Can you macro it? Sometimes the keyboard input works out so that enter will sell or cancel any error messages. (just keep an eye on it so it doesn't wind up launching you or something...)

Heh... Getting killed by the station would be the ultimate kick you while you're down moment.

Reminds me of the time my throttle wasn't recognized by the game for some strange reason. Hit the launch button and my ship sits there twisting around to joystick commands but not moving forward at all. So I have a full load of high value goods, am immobile, and the station is counting down the time to my demise. I took a gamble and quit out of the game and started it back up - hoping that there would be time left to get my ass out of there. Turns out the game placed me outside the station in one piece during the logoff.

 

[DrBo42]

Courier

Great shot. Courier is a blast to fly but so underpowered in combat. Not sure how much of a future fighters have in this game. Maybe if the small profile affected gimbal ability to track a bit more. Dunno.

In other news:

Murdered an immense amount of Archon Delaine's supporters tonight. That 50 mil bonus doesn't feel hopelessly far away anymore. A bit too much grinding for my taste though.

The servers will be down from 4PM BST for approximately 30 minutes to allow us to update to Elite: Dangerous 1.3.02

See the full changes below:

New features/Updates

- Updated to Oculus SDK 0.5

Fixes/Tweaks
- Added custom decal slots to Courier
- Various text fixes
- Added Power insurance discount information to death screen
- Fix for resource extraction sites using repeating ships when spawning new ones
- Fix for the various intensities of RES locations. High, normal and low now mean high skill, medium skill and low skill, which they didn't before
- Tweaks to collector limpets behaviour; prevent them spinning in circles when trying to collect
- Fix for collector drone attempting to grab the same asteroid fragment repeatedly
- Reduce time it can take to enter Supercruise
- Tweak refuel costs when adding more fuel tanks to the ship
- Reduced the amount of wear damage taken from emergency super cruise drops
- Reduced the amount of wear damage taken when interdicted
- Fix for randomly losing rank
- Players no longer receive a bounty if they ram a ship near a starport, and the starport kills the ship for another, unrelated offense
- Fix missing Russian glyphs
- Tweaks when using control pad to navigate Power Play screens
- Add ability to scroll cartographic data list with joystick or keyboard
- Fix for overlapping community goal on bulletin board

 

[Dreams-Visions]

- Fix for the various intensities of RES locations. High, normal and low now mean high skill, medium skill and low skill, which they didn't before

I guess we'll see what this actually means. Part of what makes RES sites worth going to as a bounty hunter is the density of targets worth killing. Having more challenging NPCs but not more of them only provides benefit to the combat ranking; not the pocket book. Ideally, a "HIgh Intensity" RES site would have a steady flow of Wanted ships of Federal Dropship-class and up, at Dangerous and up difficulty levels.

If it's that ideal version, I'll be back to RES hunting. If not...well...idk what I'll do to generate income. I really only enjoy fighting, so I guess I'll be back to Conflict Zones. I like those too, but I like the change of pace RES sites have where it's not 100% action all the time.

 

[ANuclearError]

Gonna go back to this after having not played since March. Anything I should keep in mind regarding changes etc, been a bit out of the loop.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Gonna go back to this after having not played since March. Anything I should keep in mind regarding changes etc, been a bit out of the loop.

1.) watch the 4 Power Play training videos and decide if/how much/with whom you want to participate.

https://www.youtube.com/user/FrontierDevelopments/videos

2.) Ways to make money are back to being roughly the same as they were pre 1.3 (pending RES sites are back to normal after today's patch).

3.) Trading is still the most lucrative profession depending on the size of your ship's cargo hold, up to idunno...4-5 mill/hour.

4.) Conflict Zones are about double the value they were when you were last playing, where you can average about 2-2.5 mill/hour. RES sites are still a bit of an unknown until we've had time with today's patch.

5.) Going through missions for faction ranks is faster now, for whatever reason.

6.) A couple of new reasonably priced ships were added for exploration and scouting/fighting. One is on a 20% discount at Wolf 406 - Hamilton Gateway (IIRC). If you want to buy the new Diamondback, get it there and save some money.

7.) Mission targets can spawn in Supercruise now, so you'll want to make space for a Interdictor module.

8.) The best way to get points in PowerPlay is to go to enemy faction space and murdering their messengers. Those net 15 points per kill. The risk is real though, as your bounty begins to add up and you become a juicy target for other human players. But it is decidedly the best way to get PP points.

9.) Framerates have been improved.

that's about all I can think of.

 

[Zalusithix]

3.) Trading is still the most lucrative profession depending on the size of your ship's cargo hold, up to idunno...4-5 mill/hour.

That's about right for the ships up to around the Python in size. The T9 and Anaconda can pull in more. If I had more time to exploit the trade route last night, I'd have been looking at least 7 million credits an hour conservatively in the T9. Granted, that route had a very nice profit per ton, but a Python in the same situation would have netted less than 6.

So yeah, trading has great payout, but that's the price paid for having basically zero combat capability. (Pythons and Anacondas being the exception to that rule, but a Python wont make as much an hour and the Anaconda damn well better be an exception for the exceptionally high price.)

 

[Faith]

I sold my DK2 some weeks ago. Never played the game without the rift. Is it playable? How do I look around?

 

[Zalusithix]

I sold my DK2 some weeks ago. Never played the game without the rift. Is it playable? How do I look around?

There's a mouselook function I think. The best options for monitor play, however, are going to be things like TrackIR and the free alternatives. They will net you everything the Rift does in terms of looking around, but lack the immersive feeling of actually being there in the ship. For reference, I tried playing the game without TrackIR after days of exclusively using it... Suffice to say I don't know how anybody can enjoy the game without head tracking. Seeing as how you are coming from the Rift, I don't see you being able to tolerate it either.

 

[Faith]

There's a mouselook function I think. The best options for monitor play, however, are going to be things like TrackIR and the free alternatives. They will net you everything the Rift does in terms of looking around, but lack the immersive feeling of actually being there in the ship. For reference, I tried playing the game without TrackIR after days of exclusively using it... Suffice to say I don't know how anybody can enjoy the game without head tracking. Seeing as how you are coming from the Rift, I don't see you being able to tolerate it either.

So I shouldn't even bother? Well I will wait till I get my CV1 then

 

[Anton Sugar]

So I shouldn't even bother? Well I will wait till I get my CV1 then

I mean, if you have $50-60 to spend, you can get a pretty effective IR headtracker. Otherwise, you might wanna wait, haha.

I say that, but I don't use my headtracker all the time.

 

[Zalusithix]

So I shouldn't even bother? Well I will wait till I get my CV1 then

Well, you can always give it a shot. It's not like it'll take more than a few minutes to see if you'll be OK with it or not. It's just that after you get used to looking around freely, it feels so claustrophobic when the option is stripped away. This is especially true on the ships with open cockpits. In something with a restrictive view like the Adder, it won't make much of a difference, but in a Lakon ship? You'll be instinctively trying to look somewhere in vain.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

That's about right for the ships up to around the Python in size. The T9 and Anaconda can pull in more. If I had more time to exploit the trade route last night, I'd have been looking at least 7 million credits an hour conservatively in the T9. Granted, that route had a very nice profit per ton, but a Python in the same situation would have netted less than 6.

So yeah, trading has great payout, but that's the price paid for having basically zero combat capability. (Pythons and Anacondas being the exception to that rule, but a Python wont make as much an hour and the Anaconda damn well better be an exception for the exceptionally high price.)

Since I'm new to trading, what is your process for actually finding a route that works financially? I could buy a T9 right now, but I don't know how I'd find a route worth a damn.

 

[Zalusithix]

Since I'm new to trading, what is your process for actually finding a route that works financially? I could buy a T9 right now, but I don't know how I'd find a route worth a damn.

I'm hardly a veteran trader at this point, but I use a combination of Thrudds and manual records for most of my trade route calculations. For smuggling routes like the one last weekend, it's mostly old fashioned in game map analysis as black markets aren't really tracked. Things can also change rapidly with high value routes - especially ones that'll come up high on the simple path lookup on Thrudds. Either prices will change, or supply will be too low to make it viable even with high profit per ton. Thus, sometimes you have to look for larger trends and modify things a bit and get a path that doesn't have everybody sapping dry.

Edit: I should also mention that getting the T9 isn't something that I'd recommend doing unless you really want to get heavily into trading. The ship has serious drawbacks in handling and jump range. Optimizing routes is more difficult and the experience in general isn't ideal for the casual.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I'm hardly a veteran trader at this point, but I use a combination of Thrudds and manual records for most of my trade route calculations. For smuggling routes like the one last weekend, it's mostly old fashioned in game map analysis as black markets aren't really tracked. Things can also change rapidly with high value routes - especially ones that'll come up high on the simple path lookup on Thrudds. Either prices will change, or supply will be too low to make it viable even with high profit per ton. Thus, sometimes you have to look for larger trends and modify things a bit and get a path that doesn't have everybody sapping dry.

Edit: I should also mention that getting the T9 isn't something that I'd recommend doing unless you really want to get heavily into trading. The ship has serious drawbacks in handling and jump range. Optimizing routes is more difficult and the experience in general isn't ideal for the casual.

Roger that. I'm about....eh...about $30 mill from a fully outfitted trade Conda with a B7 FSD. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and try not to die in this $9 million rebuy Python. I wish the Community Goals weren't dead or I'd be well on my way. But with PowerPlay literally nobody is doing them. After like 4 days, neither Conflict Zone CG has even reached Tier 1 last time I checked. Those CGs reach 20 mill+ when people are working them.

 

[Shifty76]

Since I'm new to trading, what is your process for actually finding a route that works financially? I could buy a T9 right now, but I don't know how I'd find a route worth a damn.

I know you didn't direct your question at me but here's my process. Used to use Thrudds but any fool can run that and dry out your route so I prefer to find a route manually and then check Thrudds afterwards to make sure it's not on there.

1. Find 2 high pop systems within 2 jumps of eachother and with stations under 500 LS from the star.
2. One system should be high tech, the other extraction. Agriculture can work if shipping Imp slaves too.
3. Check prices at each station on goods valued >5000 cr and see if you can make 2500 cr/t profit on any of them between the two systems. Eg: 1200 one way, 1300 the other.
4. If no, move on. If yes then profit!

Best I had was a few systems in close proximity. One loop was imp slaves one way, perf enhancers the other. 2900/t profit but supply and demand usually exhausted after 2k tonnes or so.
Other loops were 2600-2700 so I'd switch between them as supply and demand required.

 

[Zalusithix]

Roger that. I'm about....eh...about $30 mill from a fully outfitted trade Conda with a B7 FSD. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and try not to die in this $9 million rebuy Python. I wish the Community Goals weren't dead or I'd be well on my way. But with PowerPlay literally nobody is doing them. After like 4 days, neither Conflict Zone CG has even reached Tier 1 last time I checked. Those CGs reach 20 mill+ when people are working them.

I think you mean 6B FSD? Either that or 7B thrusters. I'm about $40 mil away from being able to afford the Conda and outfit it, but I'll still need another 18 million or so for insurance and cargo. So around $60 million total.

I know you didn't direct your question at me but here's my process. Used to use Thrudds but any fool can run that and dry out your route so I prefer to find a route manually and then check Thrudds afterwards to make sure it's not on there.

1. Find 2 high pop systems within 2 jumps of eachother and with stations under 500 LS from the star.
2. One system should be high tech, the other extraction. Agriculture can work if shipping Imp slaves too.
3. Check prices at each station on goods valued >5000 cr and see if you can make 2500 cr/t profit on any of them between the two systems. Eg: 1200 one way, 1300 the other.
4. If no, move on. If yes then profit!

Best I had was a few systems in close proximity. One loop was imp slaves one way, perf enhancers the other. 2900/t profit but supply and demand usually exhausted after 2k tonnes or so.
Other loops were 2600-2700 so I'd switch between them as supply and demand required.

Most things are on Thrudds, but not everything shows up on the easy route guide due to the data time out. Once the data is beyond a certain age, it gets culled regardless of whether the route is still useful. But yeah, any super high value route that shows up on Thrudds will get hit hard. The less extreme ones tend to last though, and will still pay out more than pretty much anything else you can do in the game.

There's also a bit more to consider when manually creating a route now with power play in effect. What power has influence over the station can have considerable effect on the prices. Rather than stabbing in the dark with stations, it's best to play smart and consider the exploitation and control effects.

Edit: And speaking of routes, last night's route is still viable tonight - albeit a bit less valuable. Only 3300/t now - still good enough that I'm not about to search out another one.

 

[la_briola]

So I shouldn't even bother? Well I will wait till I get my CV1 then

Its perfectly playable without, just harder (in combat).
If you have some cash to spare, look at the EDTracker, that's what I use most of the time.

 

[Gwarf]

Gaf, I am waiting patiently for Star Citizen but Elite Dangerous could help me wait. If it goes on sale this week I am thinking about grabbing it.

My main question:

If I don't have a controller or a joystick should I pass on this game?

 

[DrBo42]

Gaf, I am waiting patiently for Star Citizen but Elite Dangerous could help me wait. If it goes on sale this week I am thinking about grabbing it.

My main question:

If I don't have a controller or a joystick should I pass on this game?

Plenty of people play with M+KB. They actually have a significant aiming advantage over us HOTAS players. Only thing you might want to look into is head tracking for awareness and voice attack to offload your key amount.

 

[Gwarf]

Plenty of people play with M+KB. They actually have a significant aiming advantage over us HOTAS players. Only thing you might want to look into is head tracking for awareness and voice attack to offload your key amount.

Thanks!

Now to be patient and wait for a daily

 

[DrBo42]

Are High RES viable right now for bounties? Getting pretty garbage spawns

Edit: Powerplay Week 2 has begun.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Are High RES viable right now for bounties? Getting pretty garbage spawns

Edit: Powerplay Week 2 has begun.

and apparently i just got fucked out of 1200 PP points? I was out farming and suddenly my PP vouchers disappeared from my bounty list?

edit: I better get my Bounty Vouchers or I'll be taking a long break from PowerPlay. Why would it make sense for PowerPlay to end on any day but Friday considering it's a week long and started last Friday? Nah, fuck that. My vouchers better still be here somewhere.

 

[DrBo42]

So powerplay is currently fucked. They didn't fix the bug in beta where some of the preparation systems don't correctly move to expansion the next round. Patreus, Zemina and Aisling currently affected. Can't say I'm surprised at this point.

 

[Klyka]

Hudson da best

can't touch this

 

[Zalusithix]

So powerplay is currently fucked. They didn't fix the bug in beta where some of the preparation systems don't correctly move to expansion the next round. Patreus, Zemina and Aisling currently affected. Can't say I'm surprised at this point.

Did you actually think they managed to fix all (any?) of the bugs in that short beta? The fact that the game had issues regarding power play at launch that weren't even in beta should have told you that wasn't the case.

I'll think about joining a power in a month or so when they work the kinks out. Not like pledging will help me while trading anyhow. If anything it just makes me more of a target.

 

[Mengy]

I'll think about joining a power in a month or so when they work the kinks out. Not like pledging will help me while trading anyhow. If anything it just makes me more of a target.

I'm still remaining neutral and not pledging to anyone. Until the benefits of a power rank outweigh the passive benefits of all of the powers, and until the merit missions pay better, I just don't see a point to making half of the galaxy hostile to me.

 

[kvk1]

We (Winters) took the Pepper system!

It was in the face of a brutal blockade from like 3 different powers, Mahon being the most prominent.

The cat and mouse of trying to break into the stations to deliver aid with 3 different CMDRs trying to interdict you is such a rush.

Powerplay rocks.

 

[DrBo42]

and apparently i just got fucked out of 1200 PP points? I was out farming and suddenly my PP vouchers disappeared from my bounty list?

edit: I better get my Bounty Vouchers or I'll be taking a long break from PowerPlay. Why would it make sense for PowerPlay to end on any day but Friday considering it's a week long and started last Friday? Nah, fuck that. My vouchers better still be here somewhere.

Had a moderator confirm that any points you don't turn in are lost when the cycle changes. They might cave and refund them since the ended a day early but who knows. Not looking good at this point.

 

[Mengy]

Had a moderator confirm that any points you don't turn in are lost when the cycle changes. They might cave and refund them since the ended a day early but who knows. Not looking good at this point.

I don't understand, why do they need to vanish like that? What is the harm in allowing people to just turn them in for the next new cycle? Merits earned are merits earned. Taking them away suddenly and magically like that simply because some arbitrary timer expires isn't fair at all IMHO.

 

[Anton Sugar]

lolwut

We have to turn merits IN or we lose them? What the fuck kinda mechanic is that? Especially since every other mission/reward system in the game doesn't operate like that?

 

[DrBo42]

Don't shoot the space messenger. FD gonna FD.