Asking again, the problem has gotten worse

[J0shle0]

What do you do with money?

I am about 40h into the game. I have a fully kitted Leviathan, and I mean fully kitted, anti-missile system, plat mining laser, canon heat sink, everything... I also have a Chimera in my hangar.

Additionally, I have about $70,000,000 in cash just lying around. What should I do with it? I am maxed out as far as ships go, and I am unsure what else there is to spend it on. Ideas?

[XenonSurf]

I think your question is the most fundamental one of all space games...
That's why they are 'only' space games and not some "do-it-all-in-one" games, which would include complex economic projects to accomplish, complex battles with changing alliances, complex building projects à la Sim City etc.

You can try to get a better overall rating by better flying your ship, winning more individual battles, discovering all secrets, but as for the money: there is no answer I think.

If you take all money away from Bill Gates, he still has his garage where all has started...

XenonS

[Edited on 4-6-2016 by XenonSurf]

[Marvin]

Start by paying AI for information. They'll be happy to take some of those credits off your hands ... and sometimes you get nothing for your trouble. But, only sometimes.

[Sinbad]

Why not try shifting the balance of power for whichever faction you're flying? That'll cost a fair bit... combat expenses (fuel, missiles, repairs) and extensive station construction. See how many systems you can take control of before your money runs out

[Marvin]

Hire a crew and pay them something other than slave wages (you're rich - you can afford to be generous).

[J0shle0]

Why not try shifting the balance of power for whichever faction you're flying? That'll cost a fair bit... combat expenses (fuel, missiles, repairs) and extensive station construction. See how many systems you can take control of before your money runs out

I think that'd be really fun on multiplayer with a group/guild/team/corporation/clan or whatever. How are the multiplayer servers?

[XenonSurf]

Your surplus of money highly depends on your playing style. Simply flying around will cost you about 5000-10000 credits / 10 minutes if you don't use the fuel converter which also takes time. I'm only 6 hours in EL, but I realize that easy "give-aways" like easy to spot containers on planets containing value of millions are now rare... According to forum info, you now have to speak to NPCs, find secrets by exploring more accurately, solve puzzles. Just take a look at the heated post about the Terrain Walker on Steam, lol...Vice has just put some medicine in his latest update...

In short, I don't expect to do all these things and have tons of money left...EL is not Panama...The more you do in EL/EM the more it costs you, and IMO that's how it should be.
Also it appears that the station buildings and related operations are far too cheap. Maybe some parts of the game will be re-balanced in the future. What about more aggressive pirate gangs stealing your cash? Or hostile ships from IRS... Rest assured: It's possible to add plenty of 'features' to not make you sleep on your money
Question is if such features will be added, caus' I can see a torrent of complaints comming if they will.

XenonS



[Edited on 4-7-2016 by XenonSurf]

[DaveK]

30+ things to do in the game after you finish the quests and made your fortune:

1. learn to survive combat - the new game combat is really mean
2. hone your combat skills in MP, then do the hard (multi waypoint) combat contracts solo - many bragging rights!
3. go to Sol system, also Riftspace and Vonari space and the Andromeda Galaxy!
4. go to Sol system and land on Earth (in one piece!)
5. learn to use the Weapon Lab and then write a tutorial to help the rest of us!
6. take over one (or more) of the other faction's gated system deep in their space
7. get maximum rank both for civilian (Legend) and for military (Fleet Admiral)
8. get into orbit around a star and a planet - learn for to refuel with a deploy station near a star
9. change the economy of systems by building stations (of all types) in those systems (trade stations, research stations, ore stations, energy stations, etc.) See what kind of impact that has. Raise economies!
10. find an uncharted system with a planet or two and upgrade the technical level in one part of it. You have just created a trading system where decent profits can be made in a quiet environment for newer players (or for you!) Post its location in the forum as aprt of a treasure hunt or cryptic clues
11. find the places where you can get the blueprints for equipment that can't be bought.
12. become a baddy and claim to be a Vonari in disguise
13. fly around and help pilots (SAR missions and general help and assistance)
14. explore, looking for new systems on your own (especially by using a deploy constructor which you can use both for refuelling, and the sensor array which helps you scan the present sector for other AI and human ships) or look for strange artifacts or find rare templates
15. just load up coordinates from the many hidden systems already found by other players who have published their locations (rarer in EL than EM at present) and go there, see what's there. Just because a pilot found it doesn’t mean they’ve explored it!
16. succeed at the bird catching contract whilst making a profit and/or drinking less than 5 cups of coffee
17. find all the places that sell a rare equipment e.g. Stealth Generator - the reusable sort - and other bits of hard to find equipment
18. there are hundreds of uncharted systems, several asteroid caves with a variety of goodies inside, wrecks with goodies inside and other wonders to seek
19. try flying straight through a trade station @ >5000. Don’t forget to switch of auto-docking first (alt-F3 toggles it) or you’ll end up smeared on your windscreen as you stop dead!
20. visit the server (9999,9999,9999) and say thank you in person to the person hosting your fun. Leave a station there for future visitors to have a coffee and refuel
21. run your own MP server - create a Universe that's a bit different
22. try doing contracts in different ways (try a scanning contract without firing a shot)
23. organise community activities like a "last man standing" competition or treasure hunt or PvP contest
24. do the player created quests - write a story about it - the community loves FanFic
25. create a quest - there are people who will help you code it and beta test it when you've got the story line sorted. in EL the quest script opportunities are much much better than in EM
26. check out some of the "facts" bandied about on the forum; how long can a C1 particle cannon fire for non-stop. Does it depend on the frame? How does it compare to a C10 etc Does a beam weapon really hammer shields? Does a beam weapon really not touch hulls? Where's the sweet spot for taking a capital ship down?
27. if you have the flair, turn some of your adventures into stories for others to enjoy. The community loves FanFic but it’s become a rare commodity recently
28. create the ultimate cannon and/or missile in the Weapon Lab - sell it for fame and fortune or just brag about it!
29. organise a combat contest in the atmosphere of a planet or on the surface (TW vs ship; ship vs ship; TW vs TW. Or just hang around in a hostile system and fight whoever shows up
30. organise a combat contest in an asteroid cave – Last Man Standing
31. learn how to jump through the wormhole found in the centre of many blackholes (though not all!) – really satisfying if you can work it out for yourself
32. be a tourist and possibly create a tourist guide or coffee table book of the wonders you discover (beware of creating a spoiler though – a piccy or vid to whet the appetite but no details of locations or names)
33. become really really rich - I’ve got 18 billion at the moment (OK, it's in a bank in EM but ... ) but some pilots have more than 50 billion! It can be quite therapeutic! However, no-one has ever become rich enough to bribe Vice

Evochron is a freeform space-sim, a sandbox, so you can do whatever you want.

A comment from Vice: And believe it or not, there is also a sizeable number of players who want (and have even demanded from me, lol) that they be given the option to have 'no hardship'. They literally want to fly around in peaceful space as much as possible just to calmly mine asteroids, explore caves, traverse planets, deliver items, transport people, find lost items, design ships, race, and/or recover/sell fuel. It's part of the reason why there are significant areas of peaceful space in the game along with hardship bypasses like high speed travel and stealth/cloaking devices.

Hope this gives you some ideas ...

[J0shle0]

30+ things to do in the game after you finish the quests and made your fortune:

1. learn to survive combat - the new game combat is really mean
2. hone your combat skills in MP, then do the hard (multi waypoint) combat contracts solo - many bragging rights!
3. go to Sol system, also Riftspace and Vonari space and the Andromeda Galaxy!
4. go to Sol system and land on Earth (in one piece!)
5. learn to use the Weapon Lab and then write a tutorial to help the rest of us!
6. take over one (or more) of the other faction's gated system deep in their space
7. get maximum rank both for civilian (Legend) and for military (Fleet Admiral)
8. get into orbit around a star and a planet - learn for to refuel with a deploy station near a star
9. change the economy of systems by building stations (of all types) in those systems (trade stations, research stations, ore stations, energy stations, etc.) See what kind of impact that has. Raise economies!
10. find an uncharted system with a planet or two and upgrade the technical level in one part of it. You have just created a trading system where decent profits can be made in a quiet environment for newer players (or for you!) Post its location in the forum as aprt of a treasure hunt or cryptic clues
11. find the places where you can get the blueprints for equipment that can't be bought.
12. become a baddy and claim to be a Vonari in disguise
13. fly around and help pilots (SAR missions and general help and assistance)
14. explore, looking for new systems on your own (especially by using a deploy constructor which you can use both for refuelling, and the sensor array which helps you scan the present sector for other AI and human ships) or look for strange artifacts or find rare templates
15. just load up coordinates from the many hidden systems already found by other players who have published their locations (rarer in EL than EM at present) and go there, see what's there. Just because a pilot found it doesn’t mean they’ve explored it!
16. succeed at the bird catching contract whilst making a profit and/or drinking less than 5 cups of coffee
17. find all the places that sell a rare equipment e.g. Stealth Generator - the reusable sort - and other bits of hard to find equipment
18. there are hundreds of uncharted systems, several asteroid caves with a variety of goodies inside, wrecks with goodies inside and other wonders to seek
19. try flying straight through a trade station @ >5000. Don’t forget to switch of auto-docking first (alt-F3 toggles it) or you’ll end up smeared on your windscreen as you stop dead!
20. visit the server (9999,9999,9999) and say thank you in person to the person hosting your fun. Leave a station there for future visitors to have a coffee and refuel
21. run your own MP server - create a Universe that's a bit different
22. try doing contracts in different ways (try a scanning contract without firing a shot)
23. organise community activities like a "last man standing" competition or treasure hunt or PvP contest
24. do the player created quests - write a story about it - the community loves FanFic
25. create a quest - there are people who will help you code it and beta test it when you've got the story line sorted. in EL the quest script opportunities are much much better than in EM
26. check out some of the "facts" bandied about on the forum; how long can a C1 particle cannon fire for non-stop. Does it depend on the frame? How does it compare to a C10 etc Does a beam weapon really hammer shields? Does a beam weapon really not touch hulls? Where's the sweet spot for taking a capital ship down?
27. if you have the flair, turn some of your adventures into stories for others to enjoy. The community loves FanFic but it’s become a rare commodity recently
28. create the ultimate cannon and/or missile in the Weapon Lab - sell it for fame and fortune or just brag about it!
29. organise a combat contest in the atmosphere of a planet or on the surface (TW vs ship; ship vs ship; TW vs TW. Or just hang around in a hostile system and fight whoever shows up
30. organise a combat contest in an asteroid cave – Last Man Standing
31. learn how to jump through the wormhole found in the centre of many blackholes (though not all!) – really satisfying if you can work it out for yourself
32. be a tourist and possibly create a tourist guide or coffee table book of the wonders you discover (beware of creating a spoiler though – a piccy or vid to whet the appetite but no details of locations or names)
33. become really really rich - I’ve got 18 billion at the moment (OK, it's in a bank in EM but ... ) but some pilots have more than 50 billion! It can be quite therapeutic! However, no-one has ever become rich enough to bribe Vice

Evochron is a freeform space-sim, a sandbox, so you can do whatever you want.

A comment from Vice: And believe it or not, there is also a sizeable number of players who want (and have even demanded from me, lol) that they be given the option to have 'no hardship'. They literally want to fly around in peaceful space as much as possible just to calmly mine asteroids, explore caves, traverse planets, deliver items, transport people, find lost items, design ships, race, and/or recover/sell fuel. It's part of the reason why there are significant areas of peaceful space in the game along with hardship bypasses like high speed travel and stealth/cloaking devices.

Hope this gives you some ideas ...

This guy... This is my kind of guy.

[DaveK]

My pleasure

[GWhipple]

Yeah, you kinda need to role play the game from now on. Since it sounds like you mostly played it as a farmer, trying to get as rich as possible as fast as possible. This is not the kinda game that you really benefit from getting insanely rich, you can reach the highest "wealth" level pretty fast. And with that I'm talking about the point when more money doesn't matter anymore.


Other than the already stuff mentioned, a fun thing to spend money on is fleet members. Hire 8 of them and take over all the charted systems to start with. They are pretty expensive since you pay them per cycle. In your case probably around 600k/cycle or so. Destroy FDN (if you went with ALC ofc) stations and build your own. It wont give you anything really in return when it comes to money or gear, but perhaps you will have fun doing it!?

And about MP. There are like 7 to 9 public servers, where most of them are empty most of the time, at least when I have checked them. BUT when there are people online, they are generally chatty and helpful/friendly. For me, the biggest problem with MP is that you really cannot trust that the server will be around, or that your stuff (stations/ships/cargo) will be around. So you still need (or perhaps should) store your expensive ships/stuff in your SP world. So I use MP mostly for short term fun, popping in, chatting and perhaps doing something specific on that server.

BUT MP can be really fun if you find one or more guys to play and talk with on a regular basis. Like a clan/guild.

[DaveK]

Since it sounds like you mostly played it as a farmer, trying to get as rich as possible as fast as possible.

I guess you're from the USA, 'cos you're certainly not from the UK!

[XenonSurf]

Wow, what a list, DaveK

I think to make you spend your money, the game could add some really expensive devices, for example a Super Mantiss drive that jumps 25 sectors for a medium price of about 250 M credits, but wait...

The menu boxes in-game are too small to display such prices...
and then...

Make Vice angry and try to get the game do a stack overflow by earning credits in the Trillions...

XenonS

[Edited on 4-11-2016 by XenonSurf]

[DaveK]

I must admit that after learning about the Mantis Drive in Legends I bust a gut to get one in Legends, Mercenary and managed it in one profile in Legacy (Alliance). I tried for ages to get one for my Federation profile - without success - and then finally realised that I didn't actually need it - 5 sectors per jump works well enough and is actually better when exploring.

I suspect it would be the same with any super expensive stuff - if it's vital for gameplay and progress it will spoil things if it's too expensive - if it's not vital then I wonder how many people will try to find one.

In terms of 'making you spend your money' - Again, I got hung up on the making ... until I realised that no-one is making you earn it - as long as you have enough for the ship(s) you lust after, the equipment you want/need and enough left over for fuel and repairs then there are lots of other things to do. In fact in Mercenary (multi-billionaire) I made money to relax - the repetitive contracts with the goal of doing as many as possible in an hour I found to be very therapeutic. Having cracked 60 per hour I changed tack; I thought I might use it to pay players who would volunteer to help with my research - being guinea pigs for my measurement experiments - I offered 100 million per hour ... I had no shortage of volunteers, but only one person took me up on the offer to pay - and he wanted a stealth generator for his friend so they could do stealthy things together!

In terms of things to do, here's another one. Track down all the data-drives that contain the history of the Evoverse in the last half century or so ... Vice has scattered them around. Then write a story about that history from the POV of one of the participants and publish it in the forum.

[Marvin]

There is one beacon quest which has been discussed in great detail lately ... if you follow it, the rewards (in terms of equipment) are really worth the odyssey.