Delays in life as in Elite Dangerous

The season of not quite anything is upon us. We have blazing sunshine and 14 degrees, we have rain and sun and sleet in the same day, and yet we're in the dog end of May. Many are waiting for Summer to happen.

And so in Elite:Dangerous.. The 1.3 Powerplay update has been delayed, the Beta was announced for the 20th, and has been put back. Some of the comments on the forum are ridiculous, decrying the devs, how very dare they delay the beta, this whole game's a beta, I'll scweam and scweam and scweam* etc etc

However, perhaps the delay is due to dev burnout, perhaps, knowing the level of support required they're getting some family time/R&R/Pizza action before the beta hits, then the update itself (Generally a week later) and the extra work on patches and bug fixes required. Perhaps the devs have been given a break due to the sterling work they've done already, and this allows them to come up with new stuff. Perhaps they're waiting on the Corvette model. Perhaps perhaps perhaps. However disappointed I am, I'll wait for the beta, and I'll hope that extra time has been spent wisely.

One thing to note on the forums was that the noisy minority hating on the devs were exactly that, a minority. The sheer love for Frontier E:D dev team was touching. Most comments I found ran to 'They'll release it when it's good enough' 'They know what they're doing' and picking apart the redonculous diatribes of the haters.

Devs are human too. E:D's ones are just a bit better. In the meantime, I'm playing Borderlands - The Pre Sequel, some E:D, and dribbling over The Elder Scrolls online. SO tempted now it's not subscription based. Also preparing for the arrival of my Thrustmaster Cougar MFD button panels and my E:D pirate faction T-Shirt. A captain's chair is in the offing, waiting for news on a suitable donor chair. Good times!

Remember commanders: Fly safe or have the insurance money set aside!

Powerplay Beta is coming - May 20th

At last!! Powerplay, Elite:Dangerous is coming. The Beta drops on the 20th of May, and Betas tend to last a week before they go live.

I have some wishes for this update: Faction rewards in internal components - Better quality internals or weapons - I totally want C3 Multicannons, or some sort of multi point mount, eg 2 x C2 in a C4 slot, could totally 'multimulticannon' my little old Asp. Anothger perk I hope Powerplay folds in to the game - Faction discount on insurance. If it costs less to replace you might take more risks, my last replacement wascostly, but it did prey on my mind for a while after that I didn't want to lose that much money, meaning I bailed on combat earlier than I could have.

I'm hoping to take the new Diamondback for a spin, hoping it's an Asp on steroids. With a bit of luck the Diamondback is a heavier multipurpose with at least C3 harpoint, and that the hardpoints are all on corners for extra gimballed shootiness. The concept drawing looks the nuts, but not seeing any other images. I would love Frontier to rectify that soon, or I can just joy-puke/cry into my keyboard when the Beta lands. I'm mildly nervous about the whole experience.

In other Elite:Dangerous news I finally made 'competant' in combat - Which is great as it's the first combat rank that doesn't sound like you're completely crap, which was nice.

Considering a cheeky Nandos for lunch, it's FRIDAY!!

Anyway, fly safe, or make sure you have your insurance money saved.

Powerplay and Fer De Lance and Vultures, oh my!!

Apologies for my tardiness in posting, there's been a combination of stress, malaise, work and Elite why I'm not posting so often. My 'Little Asp that could' is nearing the end of it's upgrade journey. It's a toss up between a Vulture with lots of  cargo space, a Fer de Lance armed to the teeth, or grind Fed rep and get the Dropship. I can afford the Drop ship right now, and I think I could afford the Vulture, but feel either would be a compromise. Decisions, decisions....

Powerplay...ahem plays a part in this... If I grind Fed rep to Petty Officer I can get the ship, and Powerplay  will tesselate nicely in that it should allow for more and easier rep grinding missions, and maybe some discounts. Yay!! Because who doesn't love a discount on something you've been saving for? Amiriiight?

Especially interested to see what the Alliance will pull out the hat as a loyalty reward. I'm hoping some unique or A+ modules or twin Smalls for Medium moints etc. Their own ship would probably be tidy, too. We'll see, soon enough.

Starting to love a bit of combat. Made 'Novice' rank in combat and getting some nice bounties, killed a Python and an Anaconda in one week, I was like a dog with two willies. I bet my ship looked like it was dragged through a combine harvester backwards, mind, but what the hey.

Also got my Asp handed to me (see what I did there?) ...in small pieces after getting cocky and trying to take on two Annies and a Cobra. The Cobra was 'Dangerous' and the Annies were Master, so bit off more than I could chew would be a gentler version of my prognosis.

However, doing the (as described by one Elite forum member) Baby's first rare run at this time until I can afford something meatier. the run consists of buying rates in the  Lave, Diso etc cluster, then haul it to Witchhaul, flog the cargo, buy stuff over that side of the map, then haul ass to Zaonce and flog everything. Makes a Million easy if you wait for stock refreshes. If not, half a Million. Not shabby, even so.

Anyhoo, IRL beckons. Fly safe and Bon weekend!!