Main question. What for?

[ScandyNav]

So. 40h of play behind. And I'm starting to asking myself "is there any interesting content ahead of me?" and the answer will be on that "I think not".

1. Why build?
There is no massive wars, enemy raids or whatever. And that's why i don't need any personal shipyard or industry to replenish war losses. Plus all the automation scripts are very poor and i don't want to micromanage all that production.

2. Why gather fleet?
And yet again there no powerful enemy. Pirates are pathetic. Xenon and Kha'ak raids are absent. The game are missing any war content, which needs fleet, completely. Yes, there is couple of "red" sectors, but what motivation to clear them? As for other factions, I don't want to artificially create this content by waging war on a single faction without a reason. Another thing is that fleet formation movement are completely broken at this moment. Another thing why I'm not interested in fleet building is that ship stats are boring. Frigates are all the same, destroyers are all the same among the races, weapons are all the same. There is nothing what will be interesting to try in fleet composition.

So what's left? Grind components for ship upgrade? What for?

[Rimak]

Hmm.
This is a sandbox after all so I think the answer is quite open ended.
I think most important part of X4 that was at the back of the minds for a lot of people is: "Is it going to be X:R again or not"
The answer now is clear - it is not.
The bugs will be fixed - this is Egosoft, not Bethesda.
The features will come with mods or with new updates and I really hope to see some DLCs - Egosoft clearly stated that more is coming in their trailer for the game.

IMHO the fact that people bitch about the bugs, balance or lack of some objectives and almost no complain about the core of the game (except for argon race and how economy is working) is saying much.
But rule of a thumb is the same with every X release - check out the game and expect it to be in playable state half-a-year later.

[Combat Wombat]

Yep after I saw that all the research at the PHQ totalled 3.5 hours my heart sank a bit. I really hope theres some plots that I haven't found yet.

It all wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so hard to do everything compared to X3TC/AP. So many missing options and commands that I thought for sure would be around after all the time spent patching Rebirth.

I still haven't encountered a single bug but its like I am playing only 20% of an X game :/

[ScandyNav]

This is a sandbox after all so I think the answer is quite open ended.

Any sandbox should create motivation to do anything within it. Not guidance. Not strait campaign. Like: i make this to be able to do this, which allows me to do something more interesting.
Yet again. Why build in X4? Why create bigger fleet? What for? This things doesn't lead to anything.

IMHO the fact that people bitch about the bugs, balance or lack of some objectives and almost no complain about the core of the game (except for argon race and how economy is working) is saying much.

I have lots of complains about bugs. And even game crashes. But finding the reason, goals to play at the moment is much bigger question.

[CaptainX4]

Hmm.
This is a sandbox after all so I think the answer is quite open ended.
I think most important part of X4 that was at the back of the minds for a lot of people is: "Is it going to be X:R again or not"
The answer now is clear - it is not.
The bugs will be fixed - this is Egosoft, not Bethesda.

now this would be better not to mention. sadly egosoft is very much LIKE bethesda. they both iron out most bugs but the really bad ones stay forever x3 even after this many years and 3 iterations still have the worst bugs and they will never get fixed

The features will come with mods or with new updates and I really hope to see some DLCs - Egosoft clearly stated that more is coming in their trailer for the game.

IMHO the fact that people bitch about the bugs, balance or lack of some objectives and almost no complain about the core of the game (except for argon race and how economy is working) is saying much.
But rule of a thumb is the same with every X release - check out the game and expect it to be in playable state half-a-year later.

you mean expect it in 4 years?

[Rimak]

Any sandbox should create motivation to do anything within it. Not guidance. Not strait campaign. Like: i make this to be able to do this, which allows me to do something more interesting.
Yet again. Why build in X4? Why create bigger fleet? What for? This things doesn't lead to anything.

I see your point and will agree that something like RimWorld's "get off the planet" plot would be nice. I am not sure if the economy is actually run as intended now as people still digging into it. But if it is actually dynamic, then running your competition out of business would be a nice plan.

I have lots of complains about bugs. And even game crashes. But finding the reason, goals to play at the moment is much bigger question.

I haven't experienced any crashes or game breaking bugs, even though I was expecting them.
Well maybe in the current state it is not for your liking. Take a break, come back later.

y egosoft is very much LIKE bethesda. they both iron out most bugs but the really bad ones stay forever x3 even after this many years and 3 iterations still have the worst bugs and they will never get fixed

I would have to disagree I X3 is flawless experience for me. Vanilla Skyrim even now is a mess.

you mean expect it in 4 years?

Again - not really.
X2 released in 2003
X3 in 2005
TC in 2008
AP in 2011
X:R 2013
TTO 2014
HoL 2016
X4 2018

None of the gaps is more than 3 years and fully playable states for all of them much earlier (except X:R. you know why).

[CaptainX4]

I would have to disagree I X3 is flawless experience for me. Vanilla Skyrim even now is a mess.

X3 is flawless? then you dont play it much capitals rendering themselves to dust on undock from shipyards or dying while unable to navigate on asteroid fields fighters trying to pass a station for half an hour flying to and back and to and back anyhow i look at it is VERY far from flawless. sure we can call these features if we want

Again - not really.
X2 released in 2003
X3 in 2005
TC in 2008
AP in 2011
X:R 2013
TTO 2014
HoL 2016
X4 2018

None of the gaps is more than 3 years and fully playable states for all of them much earlier (except X:R. you know why).

for x3 for example AP was the first good fix and even then it didnt become "flawless" as you call it, even at TC release it was full of bugs
XR was still a poor mess at HoL release. sure they were playable if you could look over the bugs. even now with x4 there are people not experiencing ANY bugs (well, at least a few), while all the rest of us are falling through the floor, npc-s getting stuck, ships refusing to work, pathing goes through walls, ai is worse than ever. its possible to have different views but these are factual things, not opinions...

[IAbsoluteZeroI]

OP has very legitimate concerns. The greatest attraction for me in X games has always been the combat and the thrill of unlocking new ships and weapons ultimately leading up to building a fleet.

As OP states there is zero motivation to do this right now. I have to fly around for ages just to find a single xenon fighter to shoot down. There is little to no action in the border sectors, and on top of that the various weapons are very similar and dull.

I think this is already a vastly better start than X:R and has huge potential, but the game is not ready yet.

[BlackRain]

I think you guys are ignoring the wars you can take part in. It might need some fleshing out but this is i think their solution to an end game goal/motivation

[IAbsoluteZeroI]

I think you guys are ignoring the wars you can take part in. It might need some fleshing out but this is i think their solution to an end game goal/motivation

In order to progress in the Argon vs Xenon war I need to find and destroy Xenon Ps which I am unable to do since there don't appear to be any in my game, including Xenon sectors.

[BlackRain]

I think you guys are ignoring the wars you can take part in. It might need some fleshing out but this is i think their solution to an end game goal/motivation

In order to progress in the Argon vs Xenon war I need to find and destroy Xenon Ps which I am unable to do since there don't appear to be any in my game, including Xenon sectors.

What do u mean? There are absolutely xenon sectors

[VariousArtist]

So what's left? Grind components for ship upgrade? What for?

Dont worry, there will be more content in paid DLCs soonish..

[Taramafor]

TC: I fly up to any random station with a combat mission and I do a patrol or defend a station. Right from the START of the game. Hostiles sectors always have MANY enemy ships in them. One sector even had a good 100 (the heart of the xenon as I like to call it). I could see that with my eyes.

X4: I... clear mines? What? Ok, go to a xenon sector. There's... 4. And I see only blackness ahead. No swarms. Oh look, a khaak station... with a single queens guard and a lonely xenon. Wow. Some war.

The fun is in the combat. Past X games had this is spades and then some. In X4 it's practically none existent. Missions should spawn the enemies as well. Instead I'm reduced to being a DIY guy in a space suit. With the most action packed mission involving getting back a wedding ring from a single ship that's just minding his own business.

I play a game known as battle brothers. I take "contracts" which are missions. Much like in TC. This spawns enemies. Not too tough at first but tougher later as I rank up. Like in TC. I can do this right at the start of the game. Like in TC. I can not do this in X4. As Battle Brothers and TC progresses the "features" happen. But not replacing the missions/contracts focused on combat. It goes together. You figure it out.

[xenoncore123]

I think you guys are ignoring the wars you can take part in. It might need some fleshing out but this is i think their solution to an end game goal/motivation

In order to progress in the Argon vs Xenon war I need to find and destroy Xenon Ps which I am unable to do since there don't appear to be any in my game, including Xenon sectors.

What do u mean? There are absolutely xenon sectors

I think he means there are no P class Xenon Starfighters even in Xenon Sectors BlackRain.

PS: 1 in like 7 Xenon sectors has Xenon life in it, the rest are completely devoid of life.

[CaptainX4]

TC: I fly up to any random station with a combat mission and I do a patrol or defend a station. Right from the START of the game. Hostiles sectors always have MANY enemy ships in them. One sector even had a good 100 (the heart of the xenon as I like to call it). I could see that with my eyes.

X4: I... clear mines? What? Ok, go to a xenon sector. There's... 4. And I see only blackness ahead. No swarms. Oh look, a khaak station... with a single queens guard and a lonely xenon. Wow. Some war.

The fun is in the combat. Past X games had this is spades and then some. In X4 it's practically none existent. Missions should spawn the enemies as well. Instead I'm reduced to being a DIY guy in a space suit. With the most action packed mission involving getting back a wedding ring from a single ship that's just minding his own business.

I play a game known as battle brothers. I take "contracts" which are missions. Much like in TC. This spawns enemies. Not too tough at first but tougher later as I rank up. Like in TC. I can do this right at the start of the game. Like in TC. I can not do this in X4. As Battle Brothers and TC progresses the "features" happen. But not replacing the missions/contracts focused on combat. It goes together. You figure it out.

the fun is not necessarily in the combat, i love just standing on my crane and watching the mining drones bringing in the stuff, then I go to manage my stations build a few new ships. id like to build a blooming empire but even thats not working... not only the player but the empires too build up so quick like pooping stations. everything is so cheap you can achieve kinda everything in a few days playing. Not like if there would be any point building anything after those few days...

[BlackRain]

I did say it needs to be fleshed out

[TyelcaNarmo]

I'm mostly just surprised that even the "wars" have barely any combat in them.
Most missions are drop-offs, scans, resource gathering, station building... of course I haven't finished a whole lot of them due to some bugs, but at the moment, there doesn't seem to be any progress into an actual war.
It would be great if this was just the first stage of the war, and it progressed more into patrols, helping to defend borders, killing enemy leaders in a capital ship, and maybe the occasional full frontal battle between two fleets.

Luckily this is just an issue of content, not core mechanic, and it will certainly improve in some time.
At the moment this seems like "stage 1" of the warfare. I'm sure there will be more to come, and we can use this peaceful time to get ready

[Taramafor]

the fun is not necessarily in the combat

Oh no you don't. Combat has always been a cornerstone in every X game. The whole point of the X games is to play your way (or even every way). You are impying that there should be less fun in combat with this very statement.

There's been MORE combat in PAST X games and LESS in THIS one. It's that simple and you know it. No excuses.

What's more if it's been done before then there's no reason not to do it again. You done it already. You know how. It's been proven to work. It's beeen REQUESTED BY THE COMMUNITY BEFORE RELEASE.

For crying out loud, war is what was ADVERTISED. Combat. Left right and center. So you lost that argument matey.

Nope. No no no no no no. That's how it was labelled. That's how it was shown. And that is what is LACKING.