Overview
Hi! I’m CMDR T!ber!uS and started playing ED in the beta Nov. 2014.In this guide I’m trying to answer the most common questions of potential new players and try to stay as neutral and honest as possible.Please comment if you feel an important point is missing. I’ll add it if it fits in the “Q&A before purchase” category!
Is this game a MMO, is there SinglePlayer?
A question that comes up quite often.
First thing to know for you is that the game runs completely without Steam and you’ll have to register with Frontier Developments[www.frontierstore.net] in order to play it. Your account is stored online (online connection ALWAYS required).
The game is per definition a MMO, but not in the “traditional” sense of e.g. WoW. ED features an evolving and permanent galaxy influenced by the actions of players. There is a background story described through GalNet[community.elitedangerous.com] (which can be of course also accessed in game), and through Community Goals – big “quests” if you will – that need the help of hundreds of players to be successful.
If you expect a lot of interaction and chatting with other players in game, you might get disappointed, though, for ED is mostly a solitary expierence. This has different reasons:
The galaxy is huge. And by huge, I mean really freakin’ HUGE! It consists of 400,000,000,000 stars in 100,000,000,000 star systems spread over a disc (our Galaxy) 100,000 ly (lightyears) in diameter. Populated space in ED makes maybe only around 22,000 systems, but that’s still a lot for players in different time zones to spread. Sometimes you can fly through populated space for days and you won’t see another player.
ED features 3 different game modes. All with the same pilot/savegame and they can be switched any time:
- OPEN mode is basically free for all. You see all the other players in OPEN and they can see, interact and attack you.
- PRIVATE GROUP mode is exactely that. You can create a group and invite your friends and only play with them. You won’t see anybody who is not a member of that group. You can join more than one group but play only in one of them at a given time of course.
- SOLO mode. You play just on your own (but with NPCs of course). You can’t see other players. But the game still requires an internet connection because you are still connected to the evolving galaxy.
Players playing in OPEN tend to mistrust or even fear other players. So most try to keep player interaction at a minimum because they don’t want to get tricked by a pirate or ganked by a squad of PvP player killers. There’s nothing in the game that prevents this in OPEN and especially newbs have to fight with this. (Because pilot’s that are up to no good tend to pick the easy targets).
In my expierence in the biggest private group there is, called “MOBIUS“, where PvP is forbidden, other players are more open for chat and cooperation. Because item 3 is out of the equation.
So if you want a lot of player interaction you really have to go find it. There are some choke systems where players roam regulary. Those are starter systems (Eravate), Leesti/Lave, PowerPlay main systems and systems where community goals are going on.
ED feels a lot like a SP game with a MMO background going on. You can play the game completely on your own only doing things you enjoy. You’ll never NEED another player to get access to specific content. Best way to play it in the multiplayer aspect is to wing up with some friends. Otherwise player interaction is comparably low. An online connection is always needed to play ED.
Is ED hard? Is it a game for me?
Depends on your background and point of view. The different comments in the forums show one thing: Either you are completely immersed and positive on ED or you’ll deeply regret buying it. There’s not so much in between.
This guide from AarkTheDragon should help you decide if ED is a game for you or not: [link]
If your background is that of flight sims (MS Flight Simulator, IL2, DCS) then you’ll find ED very simple and arcardy. You’ll get a grip on ship controls fast and I’m sure you’ll also understand what to do quite fast.
If you are more a casual player and expect the game to tell you what key to hit and when or what to do, you’ll have a really hard time. The game won’t tell you a thing. It gives you the keys to your space ship and 1000 bucks and there you go. You’ll need to invest a lot of time just learning how to fly and how the whole game works. If you’re not willing to learn the game then better not touch it.
Also a kind advice to all new players: RTFM! No kidding. Read it!
[link]
Don’t even try to hop in and fly off. If you manage to leave the landing pad, you’ll probably crash, piss off the authorities who run a zero tolerance policy (loitering near a landing pad is punishable by death) or you’ll be killed by a pirate on first occasion! (One could say you’ll learn that way, too… but this really IS the hard way)
Is this like EVE Online?
No, definitely not.
Both are very different games. Eve is a strategic 3rd person space game where you can build your guilds and empire. In ED the focus is on piloting a space ship 1st person. You cannot (yet) build or own stations and form big guilds ingame (and this is also not a feature you should expect to come in the future).
Also in comparison to EVE, PvP combat is frowned upon by most players of ED. So if you are into a lot of PvP, ED is probably not for you. Players can just leave the game or play another mode (see section Is this game a MMO, is there SinglePlayer?) and avoid PvP completely if they want. This also shows in the amount of players the PvE only group “MOBIUS” has aquired (up to this point over 30 000). So blockading systems for other players is really a useless endevor, because other players can avoid the blockade simply by playing in another game mode.
Elite doesn’t have a player run economy, which is intended. The economy in ED can be player influenced (prices change a bit according supply and demand), but only to a certain degree.
It is possible to trigger famines for example if you haul all the food out of the system. And also to trigger different “states” for a system and ultimately to help a faction to overtake a system if you put the efford into it.
Differences between EVE and ED are for example listed here: [link]
Is there a (singleplayer) campaign of some sort?
NO! Just… NO!
The game is procedurally generated. All the missions are procedurally generated and “random” (more or less… generated missions depend on system states and factions present in the station). There is no storyline besides the mentioned GalNet and Community Goals. If you expect a campaign this is not the game you seek.
Is ED finished?
Yes and no.
A lot of people complain that ED is an unfinshed game and that the Devs haven’t delivered what they promised. This is not really true.
The game is unfinished in a sense that there is a 10 year development plan for ED. This means that a lot of planned features are not already in the game. But the Devs never said they would be on first release (aka ED base game).
What does that mean to you? This means that over the year there are 4-6 big content updates coming from the Devs to flesh out the game more and more. Of course they don’t work for free. The plan is that every “season” ( = a year or more… the current Horizons Season is more like 1 1/2 years) there will be one Expansion pack / a Season’s Pass to be bought at “full price” (meaning ~ $60, 50€, 40GBP). You don’t need to buy it, but of course you’ll not get access to the expansion specific content updates then. You can also leave out one expansion completely if it’s of no interest to you and then buy the next one year later (which will probably contain the previous ones).
The price is too high you say? Then think again. Other MMOs require you to pay a monthly fee between $10 and $15. Even if you’re not playing them. And they often require you to pay additionally for the expansions and DLCs.
The model for ED is quite fair. Also you are not forced to buy the expansions. If the price is too high for you you can still wait for a SALE and pick it up then. At the end of the season the content is sold for maybe 10€.
Do I need a Joystick/HOTAS to play this?
No.
Generally ED works very well with a wide range of control devices. If Windows recognizes them, they can be used. There are people flying with XBox or Steam controllers, HOTAS of different kinds, also after some tweaking mouse and keyboard work perfect and have almost no downsides compared to a stick. Some even almost completely fly only with voice commands (e.g. with Voice Attack[www.voiceattack.com]).
Is ED very grindy?
This also depends on your personal attitude.
While ED surely has grindy mechanics it’s up to you where your goals are in the game. If you want to get rich and fly the biggest badest ship as fast as possible or you want to rank up in the major factions military rank as fast as possible then the game will be a grind.
If you do different things, enjoy the different aspects, are mostly happy with your current ship and don’t set your next goals too high, then the game might actually be fun to you. 😉
That being said, you don’t need to rush to get the biggest ship or get money as fast as possible. There is no end-game in ED. Sure, a bigger ship means often that you can last longer in a fight or have more firepower or more cargo space, but it doesn’t change the basic game mechanics. If you cannot be happy with the game flying around in a Cobra then you most probably won’t be happy flying around in an Anaconda.
Do what you like. Don’t rush with the game. Enjoy the moment. Blaze your own trail.
Is ED Pay 2 Win?
NO. Definitely not.
There is an online shop at Frontier Developments, but all you can buy there is eyecandy (paintjobs, bobbleheads) that has no influence on gameplay and some merchandise. There is no Pay2Win in ED and never will be.