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Lach - go out and explore - find those nice spots in the universe... Make that great money run, find those hidden things and systems... And then come back and post again...

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2 small questions

what I do than with the big money?
and
how much more than about 25k every 8 minutes is out there? (8 minutes include the way emty back, and all the stuff on the 2 stations)
I am sure my little standart trade run is not the best, but it was the fastest I found in less than 1 hour.
So I am interested abit how much more money lays around in those nice spots you speak of.

Supporter and Founder of the :p for smilies Campange

We want :p

Edited by - Apocalypse on 25-02-2003 00:07:49

I think the main thing that Lach and those like him(myself included) dislike about freelancer is the complete lack of interactivity you have with the universe, as well as the totally static nature of the universe in general. Trade routes are set in stone, and there will ALWAYS be a freighter going from one place to another if you wait long enough. Patrol routes are simiilarly set in stone, and there will always be a fighter squadron following a patrol route you know about. You can have absolutely NO effect on either of these things, or on a great many others. Further, NOTHING can have an affect on them - the universe, at the time of you starting a game (multiplayer or single player) is exactly the same as if you looked at it 100 hours of play later. Police forces cannot find and kill pirate bases, stop pirate patrols or similar things. Pirates can't have any real effect on the trade lanes or police force strength. Houses can't have any sort of interaction between each other. Merchants will sell exactly the same goods at exactly the same prices.

And thats the rub - this was supposed to be a dynamic universe. Its not, and even though you may have a dynamic interaction (the reputation system) with the universe, the universe is unchanging. Nothing you do matters at all, and that seems to be missing the point of a freeform game. Sure you can go out and do anything, but whats the point if the only effect this has is for you to possibly be a little richer?

Thats not to say the whole game is horrible. I actually like the combat interface for the most part, now that i've remapped some controls. The sideslipping and engine cutoff functions give fights a very distinct feeling as opposed to things like tie fighter or wing commander. Also, at least the illusion of a dynamic universe would probably not be impossible to patch in (or expand in) through things like planetary emergencies, predetermined commodity price changes over time, and multiple patrol routes that a fighter squadron can choose between based on enemy activity on a given route. Hell, even giving a half dozen more types of missions which you can accept at bars (like trader escort or smuggling runs) would add a lot.

The real point of criticisms like this isn't catharsis, its the hope that some of what people find wrong in the game can be corrected.

Laz

I think the main problem is that this game took to long to make. The one thing we have heard over and over through the years was it was a dynamic universe. Now many of us played Privateer 1 and 2, which were made by many of the same people who did Freelancer. In those 2 games we had more varied job board missions and the economy was more dynamic. Now I only played Privateer 2. My favorite part of that game was looking at the news and seeing that there was a disaster on some planet and they needed some med supplies. So I hired a frieghter and loaded it up with med supplies. It was intense going from Planet A to Planet B, not knowing if I would have to fight off pirates from attacking my Freighter. I had to take a chance at losing my investment in the freighter. But in Freelancer I am the one caring the cargo. If I get attacked I can just High tail it out of there, not have to worry about losing my investment. With some cargo runs when I got to a certian planet that gave me a great increase in the past many now be lower then what I bought it for, and I may not be able to find some planet/station that would give me a profit, there for I lost money in Freighter costs, ammuntition costs, and problably selling the commodities at a lower price then I paid for it.
Well anyways I think I just rambled. But the point is the game took to long to make, and alot of us had high expectations based off of past games done by the same team, and we were a little let down.
But this will not stop me from buying the game. I know I will love this game. I will judge it off its own merits. And I will hope that they make a patch or Add-on to bring in the stuff that some of us enjoyed in their past games.
I am so ec\xcited about this game by the way.