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Elite Dangerous- What's the point?

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  • Elite Dangerous- What's the point?

    Hawg and Vash were very helpful in getting me my first upgraded ship in ED, the Cobra III. Sounds like running passengers is the next thing to do to earn some CR. But I guess I don't understand why? In GTA, the only other similar games that I have used, the sights are amazing and I even like the shoot 'em up aspect. But even in GTA, doing the missions is too much like work. That is why I use a cheat menu.

    I understand the why is a very subjective thing. But I don't understand the pleasure in earning enough CR's to have the every one of the best ships.

  • #2
    We all want different things from games, and we select our games accordingly. We tend to keep coming back to those games that satisfy our needs. Very few games manage to satisfy all needs for all potential players all of the time. Good game design considers this when identifying a target market.

    What are these different player needs? This was researched over 20 years ago by Richard Bartle, and he produced what has become known as Bartle's Taxonomy to classify different player types. More details of this:
    And take a test to find out how you fit it! There are several online. Here's one: http://www.4you2learn.com/bartle/

    Finally, which of Bartle's groups do you think Elite Dangerous is aimed at? And how well do you think it fulfills its aim?

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    • #3
      Interesting Storm. Guess I'm not surprised that someone did a test such as this. I am a little surprised to know it was done 20 years ago. I found the test @ http://matthewbarr.co.uk/bartle/ .

      My results from that was:

      47% Socialiser
      47% Achiever
      13% Killer
      This result may be abbreviated as ESAK

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      • #4
        And the Explorer score?

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        • #5
          This is just what that one site provided. I noticed it's absence in the list. I guess the "ESAK" references the priority for me in playing games like these with the "E" meaning that exploring is the highest priority for my. I didn't want to take another site's test to see if it showed that. I sure there are other's out there.

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          • #6
            I think you may have looked without seeing! (The results for this particular website get split up, rather oddly.) For example, I just took the same test for the link you supplied and got this result:

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            • #7
              Probably. I shouldn't have taken the time that I did. I just skipped to the summary, copy/pasted, and had to leave to do what I should have been doing in the first place

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              • #8
                Haha. Here's mine: You are 87% Killer

                What Bartle says:
                ¢À Killers get their kicks from imposing themselves on others. This may be "nice", ie. busybody do-gooding, but few people practice such an approach because the rewards (a warm, cosy inner glow, apparently) aren't very substantial. Much more commonly, people attack other players with a view to killing off their personae (hence the name for this style of play). The more massive the distress caused, the greater the killer's joy at having caused it. Normal points-scoring is usually required so as to become powerful enough to begin causing havoc in earnest, and exploration of a kind is necessary to discover new and ingenious ways to kill people. Even socialising is sometimes worthwhile beyond taunting a recent victim, for example in finding out someone's playing habits, or discussing tactics with fellow killers. They're all just means to an end, though; only in the knowledge that a real person, somewhere, is very upset by what you've just done, yet can themselves do nothing about it, is there any true adrenalin-shooting, juicy fun.


                You are also: 73% Achiever

                What Bartle says:
                ♦ Achievers regard points-gathering and rising in levels as their main goal, and all is ultimately subserviant to this. Exploration is necessary only to find new sources of treasure, or improved ways of wringing points from it. Socialising is a relaxing method of discovering what other players know about the business of accumulating points, that their knowledge can be applied to the task of gaining riches. Killing is only necessary to eliminate rivals or people who get in the way, or to gain vast amounts of points (if points are awarded for killing other players).
                27% Explorer

                What Bartle says:
                ¢¼ Explorers delight in having the game expose its internal machinations to them. They try progressively esoteric actions in wild, out-of-the-way places, looking for interesting features (ie. bugs) and figuring out how things work. Scoring points may be necessary to enter some next phase of exploration, but it's tedious, and anyone with half a brain can do it. Killing is quicker, and might be a constructive exercise in its own right, but it causes too much hassle in the long run if the deceased return to seek retribution. Socialising can be informative as a source of new ideas to try out, but most of what people say is irrelevant or old hat. The real fun comes only from discovery, and making the most complete set of maps in existence.
                13% Socialiser

                What Bartle says:
                ¢¾ Socialisers are interested in people, and what they have to say. The game is merely a backdrop, a common ground where things happen to players. Inter-player relationships are important: empathising with people, sympathising, joking, entertaining, listening; even merely observing people play can be rewarding - seeing them grow as individuals, maturing over time. Some exploration may be necessary so as to understand what everyone else is talking about, and points-scoring could be required to gain access to neat communicative spells available only to higher levels (as well as to obtain a certain status in the community). Killing, however, is something only ever to be excused if it's a futile, impulsive act of revenge, perpetrated upon someone who has caused intolerable pain to a dear friend. The only ultimately fulfilling thing is not how to rise levels or kill hapless drips; it's getting to know people, to undertand them, and to form beautiful, lasting relationships.


                This result may be abbreviated as KAES

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                • #9
                  Fun! I find that if I take these types of tests, I get a different result each time, but at least certain trends develop after numerous repetitions. Here's the result from my first pass through the 4you2learn test:
                  Explorer: 67% (In ED, I was Elite in Exploring long before combat & trading)
                  Achiever: 60% (Yeah, I do get guilty pleasure out of being the first to get the new ship/weapon/upgrade/whatever)
                  Socializer:40% (Sometimes 100%, sometimes 0% -- I guess this is a fair average.)
                  Griefer: 33% (Probably explains all the inverted high-speed passes in Flight!)

                  And on the mathewbarr.co.uk site:
                  87% Explorer
                  47% Achiever
                  40% Killer
                  27% Socializer
                  (EAKS)

                  So apparently I might consistently be an EA(whatever)(whatever).

                  Anyway, Karl, perhaps the point is to find out (through discovery or apparently through taking these tests) which game mechanic in ED best matches your gamer style and go for it! For me, that means playing PVE (solo/private server) in a big ship that can do anything and doesn't leave me feeling vulnerable (for a long time, it was my Anaconda, for example), but I enjoyed outfitting it for a particular task (exploring, combat, or cargo) and achieving either my own goal (build credits for a while so I can afford that gorgeous Imperial Cutter or blast pirates all day until I hit Elite rank in Combat) or one that the game drops in front of me (community goals). The good news is that ED clearly attempts to accommodate each gamer style in some way.

                  Granted, after finding out what you like and doing it for X hundred hours, I could see how interest can wane and other games start to have greater appeal. Constant challenge is what I find lends to game longevity.
                  Take the time, a second to soar; for soon after, beckons a second more.

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                  • #10
                    That was like the "What kind of World of Warcraft player are you?" test. 90% of the questions I couldn't relate to at all.

                    67% Achiever
                    60% Explorer
                    53% Socialiser
                    20% Killer

                    For me I know it's more about the story. That is my highest playing need. Then I'm also a completionist (the Achiever part). I want to complete every side quest, and get that 100% complete. For me exploring goes into that completing stat... I want the map fully explored so its done. For my favorite single player games I'm happy to use cheats for heath or such to make my experience more enjoyable. Having to fight the same boss 20 times to beat them and progress in the story is not fun, so I'll "cheat" to get through the story.

                    I don't want to have to grind to be able to complete things, and ED feels like 99% grinding. I'd love to say I have every ship, but with how much work that would take, it turns me off.
                    - Michael
                    Check out my cockpit build!

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                    • #11
                      The good news is that experiencing (almost) everything (completing) can be done in (almost) any ship! Karl's shiny new Cobra Mk III is certainly one of those. I believe I can credit the Cobra III for being the ship that took me further along the learning curve than any other ship.
                      Take the time, a second to soar; for soon after, beckons a second more.

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