I really dont know what to do with my hangar ATM. I can easily shuffle some stuff about and get a $250 BMM, but can I actually manage that on my own with a few NPCs? Will I be able to afford to fill it with cargo and make money?
Probably not initially, but IDK
I'm starting to regret being this deep in now, mainly because I'm not sure I even want the more expensive ships? Part of me just wants to start in an Aurora lol.
Crew & NPCs, im with you on that. I love the huge ugly ships, and them getting bigger and bigger is a concern. Its something thats going to take a long long time to get a reasonably accurate account of how good NPCs are (can they really evaluate and make the right decision, or will they stick to the first task they identify?), and do i really want to play the game with randoms? cos thats 100% not me. We just have to hope that orgs can be reliable and worthwhile, that cooperation isnt complicated.
My/our org only has a few people in it, but im fairly sure i'll be playing with those guys when they're around, as well as with you guys on OCUK and those over on Bit-Tech when i can too. I also suspect alliances will exist, and orgs will have a couple of orgs they're friendly with.
Playing solo with NPCs might be tricky and restrictions on how many NPCs you can manage could prevent you doing large-scale stuff, but i think if you're willing to get in with a decent group it shouldnt be a problem, as long as everyone is interested in doing the same thing/mission.
In terms of starting from the bottom, thats definitely something i want to try and do with an Alt at some point, but its still fairly complicated.
- If you start with an Aurora, after a month you work your way up to a Constellation, and then CIG does a wipe... doesnt it make it somewhat meaningless? I mean, you have that experience of owning a Conny but dont have it now. How is that different to owning a Conny and not using it and just pretending to be poor with an Aurora?
- By the time we get close to release, we'll have had dozens of wipes, chances are we've seen a hell of a lot of what the game has to hold to that point (ie you've experienced most ships, been to most planets, know what the good trade routes are). Its essentially riches to bankruptcy to riches again.
To me, the only way to really go rags to riches is to not play the game until its released, otherwise you know the pitfalls, theres no curiosity to buy a ship that ends up being a bad choice, you know all the right moves and its not the same journey. Thats something that SC being in early access is going to devalue somewhat, there wont be 100 systems to explore, there'll be 1, then 3 a few months later, then a dozen... we'll flock to new features because its new content and the old content was hammered last month because we needed something new then too.
It probably doesnt help much, but something ive decided i want to do is rather than pick a selection of decent ships so i can do a variety of things on release, ive decided i want a few flagship... ships. It somewhat removes the journey earning them, but it also means when im using them, while i lose the 'i grinded away and earned this' feeling, i'll at least have the satisfaction that this ship helped pay to create this universe, and i wont outgrow it and leave it in a hangar collecting dust. It'll have sentimental value and pull its weight at the same time, it'll be with me throughout my journey.
This is one of the reasons I have only gone as far as two seater ships, I can easily manage them right now and with an NPC that should be fine... I really like the constellation but I know I'll never have a permanent crew for one and if I get one it will be in the game.
Im pretty sure you could manage a Constellation or Freelancer with just NPCs, obviously not right now as we dont have them (which does largely make these ships pointless without friends/randoms) but something which needed a crew of say 8 might be a challenge, especially when something that big almost certainly needs escorts. A Constellation is probably on the limits for flying alone and using NPCs. I wouldnt want to fly a Carrack with just NPCs for example, even if it should be safe alone provided it flees from danger.
Not that you should buy anything larger, i just think theres a few safe small multicrew who could operate fine. Time will tell though.
Having said that I haven't been on for a few weeks busy on projects and seeing family again just now
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