[Axterix]

1. When you enter the base, it tells new privateers to talk to Sub Commander Brook. Brook though has nothing for the player at that point. It is one of the other 2 npcs that has the first mission for the player. Can't recall whether it was Crones Cristopher or Mathis Alexander that had the first mission though.

As a subnote of this, with Brook telling you to get some experience, then come back, not sure if that is because I need a certain level (the skills he teaches have no level listed) or if I just need to do the waste run first.

2. Looks like 2 quests are still in development: The Missing Transport and Destroy the Swarm.
A. The Missing Transport tells you to fly to the mars gateway and look for anything suspicious, then return, all as one step. Flying to the waypoint doesn't qualify as completing this step, nor does there appear to be anything suspicious. Fly towards where the destroyed freighter is, encountering the gravity well, doesn't trigger this either.
B. Destroy the Swarm - no destination for this given. Assuming near the ship being built (which might be a bad place for some aggro mobs, since it is practically on the base). Nothing there though. No suicidal swarms, no queens.

3. Looks like you cannot get either Recharge Shield or Shield Inversion yet, most likely due to the Missing Transport quest still being in development.

4. No ship upgrade at level 10, probably tied to not being able to finish the newbie quests.

Nice to actually have this class (and the other original missing 2) available to play

[Doctor Tiki]

Axterix, on 24 December 2009 - 10:27 PM, said:

3. Looks like you cannot get either Recharge Shield or Shield Inversion yet, most likely due to the Missing Transport quest still being in development.
4. No ship upgrade at level 10, probably tied to not being able to finish the newbie quests.
Nice to actually have this class (and the other original missing 2) available to play

Hey glad you are giving the privateer a try I think they have been great so far.

Just to let you know I have both Recharge Shield and Shield Inversion skills so they can be done. And I have every hull upgrade to 75 so far.

Good luck!

[Axterix]

Well, saw some people talking about the swarm mobs, so apparently they are out there somewhere. Though that quest giver isn't the one which is supposed to give the skills.

Probably there is some place you can go or do that will trigger the missing transport quest to advance. But whatever it is, it isn't obvious

Either way though, looks like both quests could use a little love.

[Xulei]

If I remember correctly... for the transport quest go to the gate to mars and then freewarp to the east.

[Delphi]

Xulei, on 25 December 2009 - 07:39 AM, said:

If I remember correctly... for the transport quest go to the gate to mars and then freewarp to the east.

This is correct, however, in a later step, you must go further east from the wrecked progen ship that you find once you exit the gravity well. You will find a spawn of Red Dragons & their transports. Killing one of the transports is part of the lvl 10 advancement mission.

[Axterix]

Delphi, on 25 December 2009 - 08:15 AM, said:

This is correct, however, in a later step, you must go further east from the wrecked progen ship that you find once you exit the gravity well. You will find a spawn of Red Dragons & their transports. Killing one of the transports is part of the lvl 10 advancement mission.

I went as far as wrecked progen ship, wiped out a bunch of the level 1 drones there, never saw a transport.

Bit different than "return back when you see something suspicious", to paraphrase step 1 of the quest. Gravity well...that's sorta suspicious. Destroyed progen ship swarming with red dragon drones...highly suspicious.

Thanks for the info though, will be good to polish that quest off.

[Axterix]

Well, found a nav point with level 8 transports and level 6 fighters. Killed a bunch, no dice. I've still, apparently, failed to find anything suspicious =/

[Deerborn]

Axterix, on 25 December 2009 - 05:18 PM, said:

Well, found a nav point with level 8 transports and level 6 fighters. Killed a bunch, no dice. I've still, apparently, failed to find anything suspicious =/

This is a rather simlpe mission. it reads goto the mars gate and LOOK arround for anything suspicious. at this point someone already posted what your should do but once again. GOTO the gate. step 2 FACE east ( for those with issues with dirrection turn so your ship faces the right on the map.) free warp till you hit the grav well. keep going east till you find the grav well generator. you are LOOKING for the generator. you must complete this mission to move forward with your newbie mission's and progress to your level 10 hull upgrade.

[Axterix]

Deerborn, on 25 December 2009 - 06:56 PM, said:

This is a rather simlpe mission. it reads goto the mars gate and LOOK arround for anything suspicious. at this point someone already posted what your should do but once again. GOTO the gate. step 2 FACE east ( for those with issues with dirrection turn so your ship faces the right on the map.) free warp till you hit the grav well. keep going east till you find the grav well generator. you are LOOKING for the generator. you must complete this mission to move forward with your newbie mission's and progress to your level 10 hull upgrade.

After my 3rd trip through the gravity well, finally had it trigger the quest.

It should be simple, but unfortunately, it isn't, since the quest itself isn't very clear on what to do and rather vague. For instance, the only reason I discovered the field in the first place was because there was nothing of interest near the gate, killing the critters a way point or 2 back didn't do anything, so I warped towards the rocks in the distance. At which point I then flew through the entire gravity well, to the destroyed freighter, all without ever stumbling across the gravity. A subsequent trip later also failed to lead to the gravity well generator.

Basically, the quest needs a little bit of work, especially as it is a newbie area quest.

Beta quest though, so some issues are to be expected. Hopefully the devs will get it a touch up.

It needs some cleaning up of the text.

Step 1, for instance, says to find something suspicious and return. Step 2 is to return. Step 1 should not mention returning. The dialogue leading to the quest should probably also do something to encourage the player to search east of the gate, though possibly the rocks in the distance might be enough. As this is a newbie area quest though, the knowledge of how to freewarp probably shouldn't be assumed. Though I guess you could do it without warping, but that would make it even more tedious.

I'd also suggest an additional quest step. Hitting the gravity well should trigger the completion of Step 1. After this, a new step should be included to find the source of the gravity well. Finding it should then lead on what is currently step 2.

Completion text when talking to the sub commander also has a few typos in it.

"A Gravity well in this sector ? These are alarming news. Who would be foolish enough to place a trap in the heart of Progen space. Strange very strange.." should be
"A gravity well in this sector? This is alarming news. Who would be foolish enough to place a trap in the heart of Progen space? Strange, very strange..."

Will have to make a post in the bugs forum.

[Wdforty]

Quote

It should be simple, but unfortunately, it isn't, since the quest itself isn't very clear on what to do and rather vague.

When EnB was Live, alot of the missions were vague then as well. And I don't think the current DEV's will be changing it much. Many of us old timers like it that way. Usually you can get some assitance in chat, depending on how many are on at that time. =)

[Axterix]

Wdforty, on 26 December 2009 - 01:19 PM, said:

When EnB was Live, alot of the missions were vague then as well. And I don't think the current DEV's will be changing it much. Many of us old timers like it that way. Usually you can get some assitance in chat, depending on how many are on at that time. =)

Yup, I know.

However, the newbie area quests were not. They would have easily discovered nav points to go to. And the quest steps themselves would mention which nav point. Which makes sense. Newbie areas are for newbies, people new to the game, you don't drop them in the deep end to begin with. You hold their hand at first. Once they are out of the newbie area, done with those early quests, then you begin to ramp it up.

This quest, basically, does not belong in the newbie area as it currently is. It is vague, lacking in information. It does not have easily discovered nav points. The rally nav point doesn't even appear on the map. And, for a quest that you should be able to do at OL 10, it throws you against CL 8 mobs.

[Wdforty]

I believe that and the other PP quests were worked on by the DEV in charge of that class. There were no quests, or almost no quests, for the PP when they made them available. I also seem to remember one of the other DEV's(wish I could remember which one) mentioning how the DEV in charge of the PP quests loves it when people complain about how hard they are. It makes him feel like he did his job. Maybe this will give a little insight into why the quests are the way they are. It was a bit back, and I may remember incorrectly. But I do believe the PP quests are as intended.

[Byakhee]

Wdforty, on 26 December 2009 - 10:09 PM, said:

mentioning how the DEV in charge of the PP quests loves it when people complain about how hard they are. It makes him feel like he did his job.

Just a clarification.
There are several Progen developers, and although I may have some input into flavour missions for the Privateers, the Privateer was originally started by another developer who returned to the Project and may not be the developer quoted to "love it when people complain how hard they are". The skills and hull upgrade missions up to level 10 are his, and once the game supports what he intended then they should be excellent. Remember it is pre-alpha; not everything is as intended.

I on the otherhand as from my signature, feel that missions should be some kind of challenge and also not compulsary - this is why you still can avoid the mission and pay for your level 50+ hull upgrade. it is also why you obtain the skill for the build components, reactors, shields with out needing to complete the mission (should you want to); but by doing so you will forfit the right to any bonus mission requiring you to have completed this mission, and any rewards at the end of the mission.

Not all players will want to do endless missions, and this is why they are optional.

An example is:


Mission Example: Trade Embargo
Player: "Why doesn't it tell me where to kill mako fighters?"
My mind: "Because sometimes you have to do missions from your knowledge of the game, or from the knowledge of your contacts in the game..."

Just be warned, just because you can collect a flavour mission at your current level does not neccesarily mean you can complete it at that level. Oh, and to avoid tears after bedtime, never go and speak to a mission person with a full cargo hold (although this should have been fixed now) and never sell the mission equipment, unless it is your intention not to do that mission!

[Axterix]

Byakhee, on 28 December 2009 - 01:13 PM, said:

Just be warned, just because you can collect a flavour mission at your current level does not neccesarily mean you can complete it at that level. Oh, and to avoid tears after bedtime, never go and speak to a mission person with a full cargo hold (although this should have been fixed now) and never sell the mission equipment, unless it is your intention not to do that mission!

This isn't a flavor mission though. Nor is it skippable. To get your first hull upgrade, to get one of your powers, you have to do this mission. And, again, I stress that this is a newbie zone mission. If it wasn't, I wouldn't consider it as majorly bugged as I do.

Its level of difficulty should be about equal to what other classes have. For those starter area quests, a certain ease, as their purpose is not so much to challenge the player as it is to show them some of the mechanics for the class. That pretty much means you are told to go to a nav point, that is on your map, told exactly what to do when you get there (with appropriately level content, no CL 8 mobs), and, after you do it, told to warp back. This one is off from that both in terms of the information provided and what it asks you to do. It wouldn't take much to balance it appropriately, compared to others. Chop the CL of the mobs in half, add a couple of nav points to the map, a bit more hand holding in the steps involved, and a removal of the 10k charge for the first hull upgrade. It'll still be more involved than what other classes have, but be a lot closer to an appropriate (in terms of what other classes have) difficulty.

If the level of difficulty is way off, then the design/content is bugged.

Now, I do understand that this is a work in progress, but that is all more the reason to give feedback now, before it is complete. Once that happens, it'll be harder to get it changed.

My gut feeling about this quest (and the swarm one, for that matter) are that they are being written by someone interested in writing harder quests, using these as a bit of a test bed, since these newbie quests are sort of needed to be able to play the class. However, the level of difficulty is not appropriate for the starting area.

[Axterix]

Wdforty, on 26 December 2009 - 02:09 PM, said:

I believe that and the other PP quests were worked on by the DEV in charge of that class. There were no quests, or almost no quests, for the PP when they made them available. I also seem to remember one of the other DEV's(wish I could remember which one) mentioning how the DEV in charge of the PP quests loves it when people complain about how hard they are. It makes him feel like he did his job. Maybe this will give a little insight into why the quests are the way they are. It was a bit back, and I may remember incorrectly. But I do believe the PP quests are as intended.

Then, quite simply, said dev should not be writing quests for newbie areas and should stick to higher level content, like a nice long level 30 optional hull upgrade quest. But not the stuff that is intended to be done from 0-10 inside that starting zone.

[Byakhee]

Quote

Then, quite simply, said dev should not be writing quests for newbie areas and should stick to higher level content, like a nice long level 30 optional hull upgrade quest. But not the stuff that is intended to be done from 0-10 inside that starting zone

Never Happen
I'll still do those missions (including some you don't know are in!)
however, the Missing Transport is not one of my missions, but what you have got to understand is the game is not fully complete. It is evolving.

[Zebsui]

Just a note here concerning the mission "The Missing Transport 4/4".

I attempted this mission at about lvl 10. It was impossible for a lvl 10 PP to even think of completing it. Between the guards and the transports that all BAF, and the requirement to kill several transports even a lvl 20 cannot complete this quest. Yes you can group, but only a few times have I seen other Players in the area. This was on my first Privateer which I deleted out of frustration with this mission.

I am now lvl 32 (10,14,8) on my new Privateer. I will attempt to finish this quest again, but I died several times on my first Privateer in this mission and I am seriously considering whether I should be running this class at all. I hope this mission isn't tied to my level for what spawns or I am in a heap of trouble already. This is how frustrated PP has me at the moment. I like challenges, but this is getting ridiculous.

For the record I have taken many of the other classes in this Emulator through their own starter areas and have not encountered this type of challenge.... not even close. I am what you call a professional newbie, as I am handicapped and cannot handle higher level content in MMOs (please don't ask about the details and thank you). Ask me about Raiding or other "End Game" content and I haven't a clue; Ask me about intro and starter areas for many MMOs and I can give you a 5000 word essay off the top of my head. In all the MMOs I have played, never have I seen a mission/quest with this level of challenge as "The Missing Transport" for the level it is intended for, a starter area.

And since I must complete this mission before I get my first hull upgrade... my hull points at lvl 32 are... a whopping 15.

Just think about that... is this what you really want Devs? Is this your Intent?

P.S If so then I do not belong here (let me know so I can leave before I get any more attached to this game please).

[wootage]

Zebsui, on 08 January 2010 - 03:42 PM, said:

Just a note here concerning the mission "The Missing Transport 4/4".

I attempted this mission at about lvl 10. It was impossible for a lvl 10 PP to even think of completing it. Between the guards and the transports that all BAF, and the requirement to kill several transports even a lvl 20 cannot complete this quest. Yes you can group, but only a few times have I seen other Players in the area. This was on my first Privateer which I deleted out of frustration with this mission.

I am now lvl 32 (10,14,8) on my new Privateer. I will attempt to finish this quest again, but I died several times on my first Privateer in this mission and I am seriously considering whether I should be running this class at all. I hope this mission isn't tied to my level for what spawns or I am in a heap of trouble already. This is how frustrated PP has me at the moment. I like challenges, but this is getting ridiculous.

For the record I have taken many of the other classes in this Emulator through their own starter areas and have not encountered this type of challenge.... not even close. I am what you call a professional newbie, as I am handicapped and cannot handle higher level content in MMOs (please don't ask about the details and thank you). Ask me about Raiding or other "End Game" content and I haven't a clue; Ask me about intro and starter areas for many MMOs and I can give you a 5000 word essay off the top of my head. In all the MMOs I have played, never have I seen a mission/quest with this level of challenge as "The Missing Transport" for the level it is intended for, a starter area.

And since I must complete this mission before I get my first hull upgrade... my hull points at lvl 32 are... a whopping 15.

Just think about that... is this what you really want Devs? Is this your Intent?

P.S If so then I do not belong here (let me know so I can leave before I get any more attached to this game please).

I have to concur. I'm just past the way overly long and annoying L30 HU on my PP, and so far, the L10 and L30 mishes have had about half the info I needed and been 30% too long/difficult. The New Player chat channel's most oft asked question seems to be about how to get through the L10 PP HU btw, and that's always a clue.

So at this stage, I have to recommend adding information to the mishes and toning them down a bit in length and difficulty for the following reasons:
1. The fastest way to demolish a game's population is to design it for people who either enjoy pain, like hardcores, or already know how to avoid it, like old-timers.
2. This is supposed to be EnB, the fun space game that likes it when its players have fun. Isn't it? If it's not, if it's supposed to be like Eve Online (where the developers are encouraged to hurt their players because those poor idiots will, for some perverse reason, then open their wallets for a second/third/fourth account and some plex to overcome the pain), please post that right up front on the forums as soon as you can. I need to know that so I can unsub from this effort.

If we are going the fun route, I just saw a thread for mission typos which I'll happily contribute to. If there's a place for other comments about the missions, like where adding info would help, I'll be happy to put that in too.

[pigley]

if you think the level 10 upgrade was tough...wait till you have the pleasure of starting the level 30 hull upgrade mission....

[Jerrod Syn]

With help from those online, I found the Suicidal critters (The swarm) From Nav1, head towards Deimos about 15-30k.