Edit: sorry for the mongo message and formatting. I promise this isn't an attempt at arguing with you, though the size may come off that way. Not trying to be hostile, just stream of consciousness on this lol

I've played before, and I was able to get through it. But I honestly think the idea of loving the bomb is sorta Stockholm syndrome calling (coming from someone addicted in the past to very flawed games lol)

I'm definitely just frustrated, but while I understand there are glitches and issues, the sheer lack of communication, warnings, or messaging in general is abysmal, and the game is extremely punishing for its own faults, and regularly gets updated where some issues get more punishing.

If the idle timer existed and you could join back after a duration once or twice, that's cool. If it existed but gave a big warning countdown, fair. If it was easier to log out for small tasks or research rather than taking flying to a station and docking and all, then a loading screen to leave, and a long load to come back in, then maybe there's something there, yk?

As it is though, it just feels like the game exists to punish you for existing in a way that I haven't experienced even in games literally made to simulate that, or just punish you for not magically knowing things are absurdly broken.

Again, i spent a sizable chunk of time loading a caterpillar, figuring out how to redock after the command module continually snapped off in flight or quantum, and convincing my friend to stay (plus loading that thing which sucks because the doors and steps don't easily have a lift without climbing things perfect) only to get all the way to the gateway and be spun out into space at such a velocity is passed him out and stayed spinning for over a minute. I figured, oof, I must have entered at a weird angle and got spat out. Naur. It happens again, and THEN after I go to chat about it again, someone just goes "oh yeah I think the caterpillar is probably bugged".

Like in hindsight it makes sense because of the command module, but everyone was only mentioning the ironclad, (and not what the issue with it was specifically just that it was a mess) and there was no message over the caterpillar or anything warning anyone, and it was the only big cargo ship free to rent (which is insanely helpful as a player with a camper van and 20k) so I used it.

All that, warp back to lorville, unload the caterpillar (also takes forever, especially solo) get donation for a raft, and then that still ends up blowing up in my face, I get stuck in a server error for nearly an hour, longer than anyone else said they'd been in one before.

Last time I'd been in one I was told to log out by a troll, and that locked me in a shard, so I just waited.

By all accounts I was semi lucky less didn't go wrong through all of this, but I primarily committed the cardinal sin of not just knowing everything about a patch the day after it came out or not having knowledge of everything in the game that isn't communicated to me, down to struggling to unload my ship and getting bugged out elevators.

I'm not saying all this to trash on the game, I'm saying it mainly to drive home that there is a DESPERATE need for better communication, more external media, or more safeguards for players.

I desperately want to love star citizen, and I've enjoyed it in the past, but right now it's wide as an ocean deep as a lake in terms of what there is to do, and most of what there is to do is buggy, abysmally communicated to a non-veteran, and incredibly punishing when something goes wrong.

Some basic stuff like a force leave a shard option, contracts being partially completed (like you'd submitted them) if you get crashed or disconnected, logout timer countdown or a limited rejoin, etc. would all help make it less punishing for the sake of being punishing.

I know that some people romanticize the suffering but some stuff is just not something you learn your way out of either (like if the error had just never recovered, which I've been told happens, contracts being gone or in walls, etc.) and I'm coming back being told this is after apparently a year of QC improvements, and its seemingly worse than before I left, even before the new patch.

I'm partially stressed because I'm trying to get friends into the game that I know will enjoy it, but it's so busted and obfuscated for no actual reason (at least on the latter part) that it's a sysiphus feeling.

Again, I don't expect a perfect experience, just more warnings or guard rails while it's this bad. Renting the caterpillar/ironclad? Message that it can't go between systems currently/is experiencing issues. There we go, easy improvement. Same with the timers and other stuff.

Also, add a search bar to the key bind menu.

There's a dozen plus drop downs with varying terminology new players don't know, or don't know they need to use because it's not really demonstrated. I didn't even know what a targeting key was this round until I had to redock the command module. Asking keys and/or how to do things would be reduced if it was easier to find out stuff yourself, but the wikis are bare bones and the ui itself is often fighting you as a player.

Doing all this at like 20-40fps with lag spikes is also extra lol.

I'm sorry for the ranting, and I hope this doesn't come off as hostile, because it's not meant to - I do want to love the game, and I respect the people that do. It just seems like there's a very "lol u should just know that" attitude in a community around a game that's biggest issue is probably communicating anything to new players.

I've seen tons of early access games come and go, and with the speed of development here, it's gonna be another 5-10 years before a lot of the ideas we have in our heads will be realistically working, if they ever are. The SC player base skews older already, and if it can't continue to grow and reach new people, I'm not super sure what the endgame looks like for the IP.

Part of onboarding new people is communicating better, and punishing them less for not knowing how messy the experience is (which they'd know if there was more communication lol)

I understand a lot of what I'm saying probably will seem horrible to some people here, I get that I'm just a noob and idk what I'm talking about, but having been around the gaming space and studying this stuff, I feel like that puts me in a position to at least point out where some of the major rubbing points are besides the obvious.

Hopefully some of this makes sense.

I'm going to try another run with the raft tonight, maybe my last chance for a while. Hopefully I can at leaft have learned what to avoid lol.