To be fair, FD have always said that they would avoid a reset after the start of Gamma if they could - and it seems they can.

As for new players, they all gotta start sometime - even months, years down the road - and the galaxy waits for no-one!

Well the most vexing thing for me was that first FD advised that we should assume there would be a wipe. So I stopped earning credits for upgrades and decided to try out smuggling & combat instead. Messing around really. As a consequence I picked up a negative rep with some factions and record that I wouldn't have had, not to mention the missing credits I could have gotten. Now I ether wipe my save and start afresh with all those upgrades to be found again or just keep going as is.

Well the most vexing thing for me was that first FD advised that we should assume there would be a wipe. So I stopped earning credits for upgrades and decided to try out smuggling & combat instead. Messing around really. As a consequence I picked up a negative rep with some factions and record that I wouldn't have had, not to mention the missing credits I could have gotten. Now I ether wipe my save and start afresh with all those upgrades to be found again or just keep going as is.

I totally understand ... but as for upgrade at the beginning, Gamma 1.0, they were rare as hens teeth. But I starting to see a lot more upgrade. I'm located in the frontier/boarder worlds. There is a lot more variety.

I'm seriously thinking of doing a self wipe just to get that feeling of fresh start on release. Also want to see how different it is to start from Beta and Gamma and now the Release.

The thing is, it's just not really an MMO.  I know everybody is afraid of it becoming that (as I am), and everybody is upset about them not developing an offline mode (as I am), but I think all the uproar about it being an "MMO" is premature.  I don't really think it's fair to attach that label to it right now.  I don't mean in the strictest technical sense of having a huge number of players connected to a single server, I mean in a gameplay sense.  This is not WoW or Old Republic where you lament over everybody else having lvl 50 characters when you are just starting, it really IS Elite.  The equipment makes a difference, but ships play different roles, and there is no leveling.  Most importantly, people can play completely alone or in groups of friends for as long as they want before they try their hand at anything competitive.

 

Well the most vexing thing for me was that first FD advised that we should assume there would be a wipe. So I stopped earning credits for upgrades and decided to try out smuggling & combat instead. Messing around really. As a consequence I picked up a negative rep with some factions and record that I wouldn't have had, not to mention the missing credits I could have gotten. Now I ether wipe my save and start afresh with all those upgrades to be found again or just keep going as is.

I don't think it's vexing: they didn't know for sure whether they were going to wipe it, so they wanted to warn people so that they don't flip out.

I for one am happy there is no wipe, so I can keep my ships.  I've been enjoying playing solo, and will probably continue to for quite some time after release before I seriously dabble in multiplayer.

I reset my, admittedly short-lived, commander last night - so not a problem for me.

Yes I am tending toward doing this myself. The only thing holding me back is the thought of searching once again for those hard to find upgrades and the possibility to fix a damaged rep in the game by doing missions to even things out. The credits are a secondary concern as I put whatever I earned into the ship modules. At present I have my eye on an Class 4 A rated power plant.

Thanks for all of the perspectives.  My first download of ED will be this evening. I was miffed when I heard that I would not be on a level playing field with other commanders as I had expected, but based on some of the comments in this thread, I guess it is cool.

Best thing (contrary to what some might think) is to remember that Elite is more about personal progression than competition with other players. There will always be bigger more heavily armed ships and the most powerful ones will not be in the hands of players, for now at least. So just go at your own pace kidpython and never feel bad about withdrawing from an unwinnable fight. Its always better to live to fight another day.

Well the whole "wipe-after-beta" standard was created back int he day when participation in a beta was (gasp) FREE!  Now that running a beta is a commercial venture, it'sa kind of hard to justify (and sell) the fact that you hard-eaned and hard-PAID things are being wiped.

Nice point and when you mix in what Geraldine just said not starting the game at the same point as everyone else isn't that bad. There is some games however that this is not the case and gives corporations/clans a bit of a unfair advantage early on.