I bounced of Elite Dangerous hard, guys. I’m not sure if it was one specific thing that did it. It feels like the community changed to where even the core members of it were just tired of things and never not bitching about it. I still love the game and I’m sure I’ll return to it one day, but there’s just no drive to do so.

My last post was August of last year and Steam says the last time I played was April 17th. We got a Quest 2 and I wanted to see what Elite looked like in VR. Spoiler: It’s pretty damn cool. I also checked to make sure my carrier was still okay. There’s over 5 billion in funds on there so it should be good for a while. Still, I might as well log in and disable all the modules in order to cut the costs of keeping it. Or sell it off all together.

Shortly after my last post I started playing Final Fantasy 14 and stuck with that for over half a year, running around with friends and having a good time. That is until I gave Star Citizen another go…

I first pledged to SC when they were in version 3.8 or 3.9, I think. I remember it looking pretty cool but, back then, it wasn’t enough for me. Not when I could play Elite Dangerous. Looking at my screenshot folder, that must have been in 2020. I gave it a go again at version 3.15 back in December of 2021 and it is absolutely scratching an itch.

I’ve bounced around a few different communities that were playing regularly but have since kind of fizzled, but I’m with one now that is an amazing group of folx that just like to have fun. Even if they stop playing, I’m still going to hang around and interact with them. We even started an organization: The Intergalactic Medical Gown Smuggling Ring.

SC is what has my attention now, but it’s been no picnic. I’ve spent a lot of time playing it alone and while Elite is perfectly playable alone, SC is at its best when you have friends with you. I’m happy where I am now, but there have been some moments where I almost bounced off it again. I’ve offered to help my regular group of friends get into it, even throwing out some entry level packages, but it’s just not their jam, I guess. And I can’t blame them. You have to also really like the genre because its learning curve is unforgiving and the bugs and servers can lead to a lot of frustration. SC and Elite are really what you make of them. There’s no narrative or quest line outside of loops, so I get it. Regardless, the group I’m with now is fun and engaged and I’m with them till they move on to the next thing, probably.

A pod of Buccaneers

That’s the Anvil Carrack. It’s a big boy with 4 turrets, a vehicle bay big enough for the Ursa Rover and a hanger that can fit a Pieces. All but 2 of my ships are bought in game (not using real money). The Carrack is great to haul around a bunch of people at once. We usually run bunker missions so it having a medbay that allows regen is super helpful too. We did hit a bit of frustration while the servers were being taxed last week during free fly but I’m hoping that’ll clear up. My game would crash and since the Carrack is mine, it would just up and vanish after I would try to get back in. I’m hoping there are some changes on the road map that lets a player’s ship persist if they’re part of a group… or even let you co-own the larger ships with other players.

The thought of org owned assets seems pretty cool. But I’m not sure if that’s every going to be an option.

Visiting the site of a wrecked Javelin
During an event, a group of players stole an Idris and brought it to Jump Town.

I don’t really have much more to say now. A lot has happened over the past few months and I don’t really have the headspace to recap it all. I’ll try to do better about updating more often with how things are going in SC or any other game that I get into. Until then, here’s a big gallery of screenshots! Also, I’ve added a page with a link to all the ships I have in the game. You can check that out here!