I've been playing Elite Dangerous for a long time - since its first beta actually.
Seeing as how I played the original Elite on my cousin's BBC Model B back in 1984, I suppose Elite will always be a part of my life really.
Even when it's annoying as hell, like it is now...

The game's just had a new content release : Engineers. It introduces NPCs who act as gear modders basically, tweaking your spaceship's modules in return for you collecting grindy stuff. But Elite Dangerous isn't a 'pure' MMO like CoH with all the trappings you'd associate with such games, and Frontier Developments just doesn't seem to be able to get a handle on how the procedure of 'crafting' and 'modding' should work.
Upshot is, they've added materials grind to a game that has no materials storage facility, and then topped it off with a random number generator meaning the quality of mod you ask for is not necessarily the quality of mod you'll get - and you have no control over it whatsoever.
So it takes you forever to upgrade your gear using these allegedly rare maverick Engineers...yet miraculously
every NPC ship you meet now seems to possess some modifed module or other - and I bet they didn't have to haul 200T of the rare goods item Lavian Brandy in order to unlock access to that Engineer either

Frontier Developments also make the loud claim that they've improved NPC AI in version 2.1 of the game...but I question that. As I was pew-pewing at a ship yesterday it suddenly dawned on me exactly what was wrong, and why the new AI wasn't 'more intelligent' at all. I could go into a long-winded diatribe citing facts and so on, but on this forum I don't have to. In the land of Titans I only have to say two words and you'll know
exactly what I mean :-
Paragon ProtectorsMoment of Glory, remember that? The PPs were no more 'intelligent' or 'improved' compared to other NPCs in the game, but they were certainly an order of magnitude more
annoying because of their MoG.
In Elite Dangerous, the AI is now guilty of the same kind of mechanic. They all seem to have improved engines and a superhuman ability to use them, meaning they're not
tougher, they're just
more annoying and take longer to kill.
*sighs*
However...
Despite all that, Elite is still my main game right now. I suppose I have an extra level of investment in it because for the past few months I've been making YouTube story videos set in the game. I actually started making them as a tongue in cheek way to showcase bugs and gameplay oversights, but I was surprised to find people enjoying them and latching on to the characters I'd come up with, and asking me what was in store next for Commander Turjan, or wondering if Cassandra was doing okay after her experience with 'space zombies'.
It makes me sad I wasn't video savvy enough to make similar videos back in my CoH days, but I suppose with Icon that's always still a possibility, isn't it?

For now though I'll keep on making my Turjan's Travels videos...and grumbling about grinds and Elite's new Paragon Protector mechanics

Well, at least until No Man's Sky comes out, then who knows eh? lol
(btw if anyone wants to check out my vids, the link's in my sig. I'm considering how I can crowbar the phrases 'Paragon Protectors' & 'Moment of Glory' into a future episode as in injoke only CoH players will get - if anyone has any ideas feel free to PM me!

)