Am I the only one having problem with the mission objectives?

[sf]

No, it is not about the mission objectives being difficult.
When encountering a mission objective type for the first time, more often than not, I DON'T EVEN KNOW EXACTLY WTH the mission objective is/how to achieve it.

e.g. "scan ship with hull parts" ? huh? scan random ships until I find one? which I tot shouldn't be the case because it would be stupidly time-consuming. eh...
e.g. "stop the ship"... so destroy it? eh...


Currently, I find the story/missions to be the most tedious/unfun part of the game. Not necessarily because they are poorly designed, but just poorly presented/communicated, leaving me stuck there not knowing what to do.

Mission objectives needs to be CLEAR and UNAMBIGUOUS. If I have to go use a browser to search up on wth the mission is trying to make me do, or even spend time re-reading the passage multiple times to try to decipher WTH it is trying to say, it means there is already a failure in communication.

Unless it is only me.
Devs, pls get a person properly trained in communications to re-write the mission descriptions.

[Gimbutz]

The objectives you've mentioned mean exactly what it says on the tin. You're supposed to scan a ship that carries hull parts? Consider the options the game gives you to find places where such ships are likely passing through. You're supposed to stop an NPC-owned ship? Consider the options. You've mentioned killing, which sounds rather extreme, but give it a try and see what happens. If it's a plot mission, there's bound to be a hint somewhere.

[sf]

Don't get me wrong. I also know that it is possible to figure those out. It is just that it sometimes requires significant efforts as the objectives are not clear within the context. for e.g. if I take the instructions at word level, it seems out of context, so I begin to question whether I am interpreting it right, and if I AM right, the quest objective seems detached from the context.

All in all, it is not that people cannot figure things out, but they SHOULDN'T need to wrestle with the words (just the words). Difficulty in missions etc finding well hidden things, puzzle solving, deduction etc are ok. but problem with just confidently understanding the mission objective is not. the context should be clearer and the wordings should match it.

e.g.for the "stop the ship" thing, if I guess correct, you are supposed to shoot the engine to stop it? but I don't even know whether it is supposed to be friend or foe because the mission objective lacks context. if I stop it by destroying it, I shouldn't fail it right? because the mission objective said so...

As for the look for ship with a cargo to scan, I think that is just bad design. I don't think it is fun to have to search the entire galaxy map to look for spots with slightly better chance, then repeat the scanning chore for what doesn't even seems to be that relevant to the plot. and more-over, the player is often forced to do things manually... When faced with such undesirable chore, I will usually think of the possibility that I have misunderstood things rather than just go ahead. To convince me that I have not misunderstood things, there needs to be better and clearer context.

I like the game for its complexity and wide range of possibilities (sandbox)
The story/mission part is one aspect I felt that it should be done better. Because atm, I really feel like avoiding it totally if I can, which is sad, for a long-time player of the X series.

[ForrestFox]

+1!!!!
This is so true. Poorly written missions (as in, lacks information). I'm kinda hoping they'll hire a writer to go over all the mission texts :)

[Gimbutz]

If you feel strongly about these two objectives in particular, would you mind sharing the situation where they popped up and the thoughts that went through your head at that time in the official forum on the Egosoft website? In my opinion, stating the ultimate goal of the mission and giving the player enough tools to figure out a way to reach that goal is rather engaging design, and that seems to be the case here, but you probably have a few more objectives in mind that we could discuss.

[sf]

@Gimbutz
Those are just 2 examples I remembered. I don't feel that much stronger about them than others.. just that a lot of the missions were not presented well imo. Of course, it could just be me, which is why I made the OP, to see if there are others who felt similarly.

One particular thing I remembered: there is this awkward way of revealing next step/objective for certain missions. While is may be good for some "sudden developments" in stories/missions, it is not good for understanding the mission in general.
For a mission objective, the entire mission (up to what is expected), should be presented fully.. E.g. bring a NPC pilot of 1* skill to <somelocation>. Then the condition, location and the manner the pilot should be "brought to it" should be clearly stated and traceable even before the mission is started. I rem there was one mission like this which confounded me because the target location is only revealed at a later mission stage, while I was spending time trying to find that station. Then, I was having problem figuring out how to complete the quest by handing over that person to the station. It didn't take that much time for me to figure out, BUT, I should NOT have to even figure out that part. If it is some procedure that is not considered well-known, it should be stated in the objective as well.

All in all, the mission/objective etc feels very ad-hoc and unorganized. Every mission seems to have its own way of doing/handling things which makes it a pain to figure out every time. They should be more standardization, at least in the presentation of information and expectations.

At the current state, while I find the rest of the game interesting/fun, the missions (presentation), unfortunately, feels like a liability.

[Xenomorph]

I will have to agree with a post like this, most missions feel like placeholders and are un-immersive. Most of the time we don't even know what we're getting into, and there are a lot of missions that simply are NOT worth the effort of just flying somewhere, because they're either silly, pay crumbs, or require doing something we don't want to - which was NOT specified in the briefing.
Honestly, the only reason i would do missions is not for the immersiveness or the pay, but just for the rep. For that, any amount crappy and quick repair satellites and destroy mines will do.

[eMYNOCK]

No, you are not the Only one who has trouble reading Objectives.

Yes, there are others like you.

Any Mission there is has at last one solution that works.

"Stop the Ship" for example presents you a L Ship that has to be stopped, how to do that without destroying it and causing severe diplomatic Problems?

Kill its Engines.

"Hire xyz Number of XYZ Specialisation for Station XYZ"

Step 1 check if you know the Station
Step 1a find that Station

Step 2 find random People that fit what the Mision wants

Step 3 Hire them to work somewere for you

Optional:
Select the Ship that has those People via Map, right click on the Target Station and select "Transfer Crew", select the Choosen Ones, click confirm.

Optional 2:
Walk around your own Stations with Habitation Modules and let any random spawned NPC that matches the conditions work on your Objective.. for free.

[GamingWithSilvertail]

Its area' locked.