🚀 go-pugleaf

"Nats" <nstutt@nstutt.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message 
news:dl7b7k$ske$1@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...
> "Ceowulf" <ceo@NOSPAMii.ATALLnet> wrote in message 
> news:43769da9$0$9972$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
>> "Nats" <nstutt@nstutt.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message 
>> news:dl4vj4$qko$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk...
>> Elite never allowed you to start of with a Panther Clipper and a Large 
>> Plasma Accellerator.
>>
>> You had to earn those, just like you do in X3. X3 does let you start on 
>> varying difficulties, and they make a big differenec.
>
> Well that is true but then the Panther Clipper was the thing that everyone 
> aspired to when playing elite. IF they had provided it as a starting point 
> it would have ruined the sense of gaining larger and larger ships. The 
> difference with X3 is that owning a large ship or fleet isnt the end point 
> of the game its just a mid point. Owning a whole series of stations etc is 
> supposed to be the main goal. I think being given a large destroyer type 
> ship would have been a fun starting point as you could have sold it to get 
> some fast money to really enable you to get into the game. Anyway 
> progression in Elite was always second to exploration for me. But then 
> exploration was fun in ELite becuase you didnt have to go through ten 
> systems to get to your destination every time. This is a game breaker for 
> me with X3. I dont enjoy it at all. In fact its a right pain in the bum.

Sorry I could be flogging a dead horse here due to the lateness of a reply, 
but I have to dissagree with some of those comments. Firstly many people's 
penultimate ship in FFE was the Imperial Explorer ;) Hehe but in all 
seriousness. In X3 it is the fleet of big ships that's the main goal. One 
Argon Titan (Destroyer) costs in the hundreds of millions (after its being 
fully equiped). A cost of a factory empire is insignificant compared to a 
fleet of Cap Ships.

I've got to say here though, that once you've got your tremendous amount of 
big ships and several fleets patroling your space, you've got to ask... 
whats left? I find myself thinking about that a bit, because there doesn't 
seem to be a reason for that huge fleet and trading empire. I guess thats 
where the "true" fans say, its all up to you. Your imagination is the limit, 
go conquer the Split, take out the Paranid, that kinda stuff. For some 
people thats a dream come true. For others its a bit of a meh. *shrugs* To 
each their own.

> For me FFE/FE and X3 are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of 
> enjoyment.

I agree on this, they are completely different, but are still fitting in the 
space-sim genre. And X3 is a leading space-sim whether you want to think it 
or not. Once upon a time I would say I-War 2 was the boss, and is still a 
contender for "modern" (not all, as the Elite trio still win hands down 
overall) space-sims. With no other companies really taking this genre 
seriously, and fans short in supply (compare traffic of this group to rpg or 
strategic, though that's showing its age too) I am grateful that Egosoft 
have a dream and a desire to make a good space-sim. If they are still 
falling a bit short then that's cool, as long as they keep the dream or so 
to say.

Ceo-