4Game

The title of this post repeats a common description of ED (whether ED:O or ED:H). And I disagree.

{TLDR: because this post grew too long, here is my conclusion: ED offers well-integrated and accessible gameplay, where you can choose to take on tasks that will advance several different long-term goals (rank, credits, influence, reputation) simultaneously. ED gameplay is as complex, as multi-level, and as fun as any other comparable RPG, even if you only go solo.}

Consider my last few hours in the game (I am running Odyssey without difficulty)

— in my Corvette, I run a large handful of assassination missions. In some cases, the targets find me, delivering themselves up to death. In others, I have to go to another system and pursue an NPC who shares information about my target's location. I go there and and find and kill the target. All of the targets were 'deadly' or 'dangerous,' and I am rated 'deadly': so every kill adds value to my combat ranking. The missions, combined with the bounties, come to about 15 million credits, over half of my weekly carrier upkeep.

— I decide to move to my favorite system to stack massacre missions. So I send my carrier ('Zeke's Haven,' named for my border collie) ahead to that system. But before it leaves, I swap into my utility Python for missions along the way.

— It turns out the system I am in is selling silver for 10K less per unit than the next system in my route to join my carrier. So I load up 96 tons into my Python and take the first hop, selling off and pocketing c. 960,000 in the next system and so adding to my ranking as a trader which is currently at Elite II thanks to the recent CG.

— in the next system, scanning as I go, I find two earth-like worlds, within 2K of the star. I scan them both, easily achieving the maximum value with my engineered surface scanner. That will add another 1.5 M when I get to my destination and build my exploration rank. Four more hops to go before I get to my carrier.

— two more hops, and I am in an unfamiliar system that turns out to be in a state of civil war. I find a station that offers conflict zone missions (and pick up a level 3 weapon that no one else had found as yet.) I take the shuttle to the conflict zone (still on 'easy,' I'm afraid: I am still learning on foot combat) and help the squadron win the zone. Not much of a reward (150K at best), but the bounties add another 340K or so and it adds a full 10% to my pitiful 'Mostly Defenceless' mercenary rank.

— in the next system, after a routine scan, I see a planet that has 4 biological signals. That's worth a look, so I scan the planet and find that all four species have overlapping zones. So I land, swap my L3 Dominator suit for an L3 Artemis suit and start roaming in my SRV. It's a desert planet with tan-colored flats and deep orange mountains and a strikingly, sharply lit light blue sky. Lovely. I find all of the species readily in the same zone, successfully scan all four, take a few pictures, then head out. Those bio-scans will help build my pitiful 'Compiler' rank in exobiology.

— I finally get to my carrier and swap back into my Corvette. I decide I will work the massacre missions on a different basis, so I swap out some of my optional internals, replacing shield and hull reinforcements with a cargo rack for limpets and an old-school collector limpet controller. I am foregoing quick kills and maximum credits per hour and am choosing to clean up after my kills, taking on more engineering materials through combat debris. It takes me 3-4 level 4 signals to complete the missions, taking on materials along the way.

— before heading back to turn in and collect bounties, I decide to drop in an a hazardous resource zone, to see if I can kill an Anaconda. Nothing against Anacondas; in fact, I have a well-equipped, long-range Exploraconda on which I plan to put the new double-engineered 6A FSD from the CG. But I heard (on this subreddit and elsewhere) that Anacondas drop some very rare materials when you kill them. So I work the hazrez for a while and eventually confirm that what I heard was true. In doing so, I also picked up another 7 – 10 million in credits through bounties, build up my engineering materials, and continued my snail's pace towards a combat ranking of 'Elite.'

Now, in this afternoon's jaunt, I did not do everything I could have done:

— I ignored several planets that had multiple geological signals and high percentages of rare raw materials.

— I also ignored several nice-looking pristine metallic rings, which I could have pilfered with my mining-equipped Cutter.

— I didn't do any courier missions (by ship or on foot), or settlement scan missions, or surface assassination missions, or rescue missions, or any of the 8 – 10 different types of mission offered both in space and on foot.

— I was cold-hearted and did not respond to any signals from NPC ships asking for rescue.

— I did not help my squadron expand into a new system.

— I did not join other CMDRs for wing missions and credit-maximizing.

— It's Sunday, the wrong day to help Aisling Duval's powerplay goals; but I am just 5 days short of 4 weeks and eligibility to buy a supply of prismatic shields.

— I did not go Beagle Point.

— I did not go to Dav's Hope, or the Jameson Crash Site, or a guardian ruin.

But I could have done all these things. . . . . well, maybe not Beagle Point in one afternoon. And that gets me back to my argument.

None of this was grinding for materials or rank or credits or distance. None of this was min-maxing. It was only a short trip through 6 systems, staying alert to the many opportunities along the way.

I only needed 2 ships: a combat ship that I know how to use, for me a Corvette; and a utility ship that could handle multiple different kinds of game play, for me a Python. True: having a carrier made it easier to do this; but I didn't really need the carrier if I planned ahead.

I didn't have to be an uber-player to do it. I still struggle with efficiency in mining, with finding the best trade routes, and with combat, in space and on foot. I am not even very good at flying my ship: I don't fly with flight assist off, for example. While I am well-engineered on my ships, I doubt I have the optimal build on any of them. And I have not started to try to engineer my gear for on foot.

It didn't even matter that I was in Odyssey rather than Horizons. Personally, I haven't had much difficulty with Odyssey; but I know that others do, sometimes severely so. But even if you stick with Horizons (and remove the plant-scanning or on-foot combat), you could swap those two out for a whole range of other activities.

It doesn't matter. Taken together, my experiences this afternoon highlight ED as well-integrated and accessible gameplay, where I can choose to take on tasks that will advance several different long-term goals (rank, credits, influence, reputation) simultaneously.

The 'mile-wide, inch-deep' criticism is accurate if all you look at are the gameplay systems in isolation from each other. (In an odd way, the phrase echoes the shape of the galaxy, which is far wider than it is deep.) In my experience, ED gameplay is as complex, as multi-level, and as fun as any other comparable RPG . . . and that's before you start playing with other CMDRs.