The Quest To Find Raxxla

[Jorki Rasalas]

I don't quite understand the meaning of the words : original group.
And now ...

The phrasing opens up the possibility that the current TDW faction seen in-game is not the original TDW. That leads onto the in-game possibilities that the original TDW no longer exist, or that the original group no longer goes by that name, &/or that current TDW faction are imposters making use of the reputation of the original group for their own (possibly nefarious) purposes. Read this in conjunction with the TDW Codex entry!

All this is part of what @Rochester said in his 21:42 post above (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-10179211). that plans seem to have been established for a TDW / Raxxla narrative but that it is not clear that narrative actually now exists in-game. It might be speculated that such narrative plans were originated/driven by Michael Brookes but they were dropped around the time when he left the ED dev team.

Members of this thread have asked FD for confirmation that such narrative still exists in-game but no confirmation has been received.

 

[SergMx]

The phrasing opens up the possibility that the current TDW faction seen in-game is not the original TDW. That leads onto the in-game possibilities that the original TDW no longer exist, or that the original group no longer goes by that name, &/or that current TDW faction are imposters making use of the reputation of the original group for their own (possibly nefarious) purposes. Read this in conjunction with the TDW Codex entry!

All this is part of what @Rochester said in his 21:42 post above (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-10179211)...that plans seem to have been established for a TDW / Raxxla narrative but that it is not clear that narrative actually now exists in-game. It might be speculated that such narrative plans were originated/driven by Michael Brookes but they were dropped around the time when he left the ED dev team.

Members of this thread have asked FD for confirmation that such narrative still exists in-game but no confirmation has been received.

I found my old (before the Odyssey, I will need to compare with the Odyssey) screen of the TDW Codex entry.
It also says about 8 moons, but it sounds different: at the dawn of the organization.
Those. when the organization first appeared.
Again, below it is written that this station is still there and working.

P.S.
Interestingly. At the beginning of the article it is written that all TDW imitators quickly disappear.
At the end of the article there is an entry about TDW in Shinart D...
If she's a copycat, why didn't she disappear?

P.P.S. By the way, who is familiar with the numbering and name of bodies in the system ? It says it's the 8th moon of an unnamed gas giant.
In the unnamed star, what are the names of the planets? Should it be something like XXXX-D-8 or what?

 

[Rochester]

Like to mention the excellent work by @ScolioTheMost on the Discord channel in regards to the spectro-audio analysis discovered in the recordings of stations. There is an obviously sequential set of numbers and letters behind the audio: 0-9, A-Z, seemingly random, which deserves more analysis.

 

[Rochester]

I found my old (before the Odyssey, I will need to compare with the Odyssey) screen of the TDW Codex entry.
It also says about 8 moons, but it sounds different: at the dawn of the organization.
Those. when the organization first appeared.
Again, below it is written that this station is still there and working.

P.S.
Interestingly. At the beginning of the article it is written that all TDW imitators quickly disappear.
At the end of the article there is an entry about TDV in Shinart D...
If she's a copycat, why didn't she disappear?

Likelihood is that A: as the text alludes, they have not risen to any state to warrant them being considered a threat; B: that FD has plans for that faction, and has simply ‘paused’ that narrative.

At one point a single Cmdr was able to flip the status of the SD system to anarchy, FD quickly reset it, indicating they liked the status quo.

FD has indicated via a series of independent tickets, that the DW missions were removed, but may be turned back on at an unknown point in time, likewise in regards the associated Trinkets of Hidden Fortune, indicating a narrative existed but was retconned circa 2016/2017. It’s FD prerogative as to if they choose to reinstate that narrative or leave it alone.

Either way I’m inclined to suspect it’s a redundant narrative. One could read the DW Codex as confirmation of this. However, the evidence of ‘new’ information, ergo the description of the DW station and a gas giant with an eighth moon is new intelligence - indicating the possibility a station could be out there and just needs finding.

If viewed in that respect it could just relate to a re-write, and the station can just be found by anyone, it’s just out there someplace.

 

[SergMx]

Like to mention the excellent work by @ScolioTheMost on the Discord channel in regards to the spectro-audio analysis discovered in the recordings of stations. There is an obviously sequential set of numbers and letters behind the audio: 0-9, A-Z, seemingly random, which deserves more analysis.

Recently on one Russian video there was a clip about what unclear signs at the stations and that they are not at all stations. It's not clear what it is, but I think it's just light math.

Spoiler

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4bHWhYuh1o

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Likelihood is that A: as the text alludes, they have not risen to any state to warrant them being considered a threat; B: that FD has plans for that faction, and has simply ‘paused’ that narrative.

At one point a single Cmdr was able to flip the status of the SD system to anarchy, FD quickly reset it, indicating they liked the status quo.

FD has indicated via a series of independent tickets, that the DW missions were removed, but may be turned back on at an unknown point in time, likewise in regards the associated Trinkets of Hidden Fortune, indicating a narrative existed but was retconned circa 2016/2017. It’s FD prerogative as to if they choose to reinstate that narrative or leave it alone.

Either way I’m inclined to suspect it’s a redundant narrative. One could read the DW Codex as confirmation of this. However, the evidence of ‘new’ information, ergo the description of the DW station and a gas giant with an eighth moon is new intelligence - indicating the possibility a station could be out there and just needs finding.

If viewed in that respect it could just relate to a re-write, and the station can just be found by anyone, it’s just out there someplace.

I suspect it might be significant that Drew Wagar’s Elite Reclamation book had a character explicitly say TDW in Shinrarta are just a front, & “the outer rim” of a multi-layered organisation that operates “wheels within wheels”. The duplication of that “outer rim” phrase with its first use in the description of one of the deleted Shinrarta E/F missions is what sets me pondering. I wonder if the apparent dropping of a TDW storyline is related to the clear falling out of DW and FD....he clearly wasn't impressed with their storytelling ability (witness his comments on PowerPlay).

Now I fully accept that as well as their love for the game itself FD also have commercial drivers for the way the game develops and the narratives within it, so there might be sound reasons for the termination of such a storyline. IIRC a lot of retconning happened around the time FD went more commercial, gaining outside financial backing & those backers would presumably have a say in the way the game developed.

Perhaps this and other storylines were put on a back burner to be restarted when the Thargoid war is over? Personally I think that would be a mistake as these other storylines are needed for non-pewpewers to remain connected with the game. Once player interest is lost then it’s lost.

 

[Rochester]

I suspect the emphasis was to focus on the ‘game’ as-is, as a modern IP, not dwell too much on historical IP which might either by outside FD control or not their personal objective.

Not wishing to cast aspersions, because ultimately it’s FD narrative. Only concern is it’s evident certain historical information which was communicated, might now be actually counter-intuitive, if said narrative was retconned or paused, as it is evident certain systems in game have been specifically placed as part of some wider scaffold regarding the ‘underworld’ idea.

As an audience we have to take what is communicated as accurate. It begs questioning how much of that information FD are actually aware of themselves? It’s been confirmed by previous CM that various content made by previous employees, was an unknown!

Personally I suspect the Raxxla narrative was pulling too much focus and resources and may have clashed with other projects. It feels like the original objective (and this is subjectively hypothetical) woukd have required a great deal of ‘dungeon mastering’ and FD just wanted something simple.

Either way something changed, whatever the reason it’s an internal business reason we have no right to speculate too much on. But it does raise questions about historical information and it’s context.

Personally I feel, like the DW codex; FD used this method as a clever retconning exercise, to effectively either draw a line under it or index it, It’s as likely the original Raxxla narrative was paused, but this raises again the problem of ‘narrative gating’.

If certain information in game is to be accepted to be accurate, it’s evident it actually points someplace very obvious, but it being archived/paused means that once it’s unlocked it’s actual discovery will become yet another page-turning experience, ergo we cant find it currently.

Or FD opted for the ‘better’ solution, which is my preferred option, to redact certain historical elements of any past narratives, but repurpose them or refer to them with new ‘environmental narratives’.

The ‘environmental narratives’ are the real objective, but do they just exist as myths or do they resolve into someplace or something. I still believe Raxxla is in game, but we’ve only just scratched its surface.

 

[CMDRCorrMorningstarFelian]

Has anyone else ever been to Placet - specifically Placet B (it is a planet)? It is part of Old Worlds Coalition region. We were supposed to look for Walden. Hear me out here: What if Walden is part of The Dark Wheel? It is a weird little system on the outskirts of that region with a bizarre history:

The weird part is system looks abandoned. It also has the 8 moons of an unnamed gas giant.

I just need a way to see something hidden..

 

[ScolioTheMost]

Like to mention the excellent work by @ScolioTheMost on the Discord channel in regards to the spectro-audio analysis discovered in the recordings of stations. There is an obviously sequential set of numbers and letters behind the audio: 0-9, A-Z, seemingly random, which deserves more analysis.

This is what I was twiddling my thumbs about. I was curious how quickly it would end up here.
I would like to point out that these codes have been known about since before I was playing over six years ago. Many have attempted to crack it and everyone as far as we know have given up.
My contributions is tying the Raxxla logo to the signal. It finally clicks. (you have to click the gif to see the animation)

Logo Breakdown:

• Notice in the image the dotted line is the shape made by the lights.
• The large black objects are the support structures for the back of a station.
• The three lines are the three lights at the back of each station, and/or they line up with details on the back of the station.
• The circle with the dot (sometimes Sol, more often referred to as an Omphalos, or more recently an "Axis Mundi") is the rotational axis of the space station and the point at which the characters can be picked up in the station (only while in the station, I suggest docking and staying on the surface)
• Since the Dark Wheel codex icon represents an Orbis station it makes sense the Raxxla icon would represent a thing in the game
• Discussions are happening on the IRH and Canonn discords, and should certainly continue happen here

 

[ScolioTheMost]

Has anyone else ever been to Placet - specifically Placet B (it is a planet)? It is part of Old Worlds Coalition region. We were supposed to look for Walden. Hear me out here: What if Walden is part of The Dark Wheel? It is a weird little system on the outskirts of that region with a bizarre history:

View attachment 361090

View attachment 361091

The weird part is system looks abandoned. It also has the 8 moons of an unnamed gas giant.

I just need a way to see something hidden..

Walden, is a reference to the book by Henry David Thoreau, which is about taking in the natural beatuy of nature, in the absence of other people. In the book Lave Revolution mentions one of the Waldens meeting "Walden 2" and from there is takes on the tone of the book Walden 2 which was written by B. F. Skinner. This book sands in stark contrast to Walden as it takes on a contradictory stance of self reliance in a group. The premise is that the society is controlled and orchestrated by a single person (or persons in this case). If Walden was/is Dark Wheel, perhaps he had gone wrong somewhere.

 

[Darrack]

I’ve figured out what the r

This is what I was twiddling my thumbs about. I was curious how quickly it would end up here.
I would like to point out that these codes have been known about since before I was playing over six years ago. Many have attempted to crack it and everyone as far as we know have given up.
My contributions is tying the Raxxla logo to the signal. It finally clicks. (you have to click the gif to see the animation)

Logo Breakdown:
Notice in the image the dotted line is the shape made by the lights.
The large black objects are the support structures for the back of a station.
The three lines are the three lights at the back of each station, and/or they line up with details on the back of the station.
The circle with the dot (sometimes Sol, more often refered to as an Omphalos, or more recently an "Axis Mundi") is the rotation axis of the space station and the point at which the characters can be picked up in the station (only while in the station, I suggest docking and staying on the surface)
Since the Dark Wheel codex icon represents an orbis station it makes sense the Raxxla icon would represent a thing in the game
Discussions are happening on the IRH and Canonn discords, and should certain happen here

I think its been hinted at for a while that maybe TDW station has a 'Gateway' at the back, we maybe need to find someway to activate it.

O7

 

[CMDR Davanix]

alos brings the whoel DB saying he wanted cmdrs to travel doing missions to bring you all over the gala, or to visit many stations doing them to pick up all these signals? maybe the signla is then also tied to rep within said staion meaning the more allied we get the better the signals we can get?

 

[CMDRCorrMorningstarFelian]

Walden, is a reference to the book by Henry David Thoreau, which is about taking in the natural beatuy of nature, in the absence of other people. In the book Lave Revolution mentions one of the Waldens meeting "Walden 2" and from there is takes on the tone of the book Walden 2 which was written by B. F. Skinner. This book sands in stark contrast to Walden as it takes on a contradictory stance of self reliance in a group. The premise is that the society is controlled and orchestrated by a single person (or persons in this case). If Walden was/is Dark Wheel, perhaps he had gone wrong somewhere.

I now need to look up something on the very first page of "Alien World: A Complete Illustrated Guide" that may help. Psychology is deeply interwoven into this mystery. There are very good reasons for why I had to be the proverbial salmon fighting the current but it is a bit hard to explain. Will get a screenshot and post an analysis. I think if we understand this a bit more this puzzle will make more sense.

 

[CMDRCorrMorningstarFelian]

Here's why this is going to work..

Look familiar? it is the end caps of the larger stations (Coriolis (oldest), Orbis, and Ocellus (newest)). This is the Dharma wheel which is alternatively known as the Dharmachakra. My carrier is named AOE Dharmachakra for this reason:

dharma
[ dahr-muh, duhr- ]

(in Indian religion) the eternal and inherent nature of reality, regarded in Hinduism as a cosmic law underlying right behavior and social order.

• Essential quality or character, as of the cosmos or one's own nature.
• Conformity to religious law, custom, duty, or one's own quality or character.
• Virtue.
• religion; law, especially religious law.

- the doctrine or teaching of the Buddha.

Here's where "turning the wheel" comes into play:

The "turning of the wheel" signifies a great and revolutionary change with universal consequences, brought about by an exceptional human being. Buddhism adopted the wheel as a symbol from the Indian mythical idea of the ideal king, called a chakravartin ("wheel-turner", or "universal monarch"), who was said to possess several mythical objects, including the ratana cakka (the ideal wheel).

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmachakra

This is why Nemorensis was important. You had to become "Dharma" or "King". There is no one singular mythical station (there are actually a number of stations that were "abandoned" or nearly so). They are, in fact, many and they are everywhere but there are special ones which are our Khalwat al-Bayada or "white houses of communion" or as you may have heard me call them the palm tree stations.

In short, welcome to The Dark Wheel. The organization been expecting you for awhile - albeit watching from the shadows. We work from the dark to serve Humanity. Also, Shinrarta Dezra has never been shutdown because it is actually very much legit. However, our founders were a bit eccentric so we've always been supportive of very diverse backgrounds. There is a catch, though. That payment you received and the ship was because you are part of very large family - Project Thunderchild run out of Lave. Welcome home. Have a pint of Lavian Brandy. The oaken, earthy taste is something you won't soon forget .

The organization doesn't have formal leaders as we are all part of the Elite Pilots' Federation. We work together where possible to leave the Universe a little better than we found it. Above all, the organization values wisdom. The factions are just our local operational units. Besides, it keeps people from asking too many questions.

Seeing, contrary to popular wisdom, isn’t believing. It’s where belief stops, because it isn’t needed anymore.

-Terry Pratchett

CMDR Corr "Morningstar" Felian
High Exemplar, A.O.E. Allied Order of Exemplars
Elite Pilots' Federation
Dark Wheel

P.S. - The Invitation was the Welcome Kit from Olympic Village, Mars, Sol.

 

[CMDRCorrMorningstarFelian]

Info drops and hopeful timings:

- Gestalt psychology and the Elite Universe tomorrow

- Primer for Project Faraway late this weekend (condensed version of info collected by IRH discord) re: ScolioTheMost's posting on the Raxxla logo and stations

- Data packs for each station type by middle of next week

 

[Han_Zen]

I suspect it might be significant that Drew Wagar’s Elite Reclamation book had a character explicitly say TDW in Shinrarta are just a front, & “the outer rim” of a multi-layered organisation that operates “wheels within wheels”. The duplication of that “outer rim” phrase with its first use in the description of one of the deleted Shinrarta E/F missions is what sets me pondering. I wonder if the apparent dropping of a TDW storyline is related to the clear falling out of DW and FD....he clearly wasn't impressed with their storytelling ability (witness his comments on PowerPlay).

Now I fully accept that as well as their love for the game itself FD also have commercial drivers for the way the game develops and the narratives within it, so there might be sound reasons for the termination of such a storyline. IIRC a lot of retconning happened around the time FD went more commercial, gaining outside financial backing & those backers would presumably have a say in the way the game developed.

Perhaps this and other storylines were put on a back burner to be restarted when the Thargoid war is over? Personally I think that would be a mistake as these other storylines are needed for non-pewpewers to remain connected with the game. Once player interest is lost then it’s lost.

I doubt there is an active Raxxla narrativ in the game, at the moment. Perhaps there never was one?
Most likely the E/F missions were switched over to the Guardian story line. After all, the Guardian ruins are perfect Raxxlas. Ghost worlds, alien constructs and access to tech from another universe.
It’s possible that the original idea and model for Raxxla, were used for these ruins.

It is also possible that the ruins actually are Raxxla and that we just haven’t been able to prove it.
Æ

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

I doubt there is an active Raxxla narrativ in the game, at the moment. Perhaps there never was one?
Most likely the E/F missions were switched over to the Guardian story line. After all, the Guardian ruins are perfect Raxxlas. Ghost worlds, alien constructs and access to tech from another universe.
It’s possible that the original idea and model for Raxxla, were used for these ruins.

It is also possible that the ruins actually are Raxxla and that we just haven’t been able to prove it.
Æ

Depends what you mean by narrative!

 

[Han_Zen]

Depends what you mean by narrative!

By that I mean an intended way to go about things put in by FD, that actually leads to Raxxla or the TDW station.

 

[The Reverend]

I doubt there is an active Raxxla narrativ in the game, at the moment. Perhaps there never was one?

I agree. Its also worth noting that Drew Wagar recently admitted on his discord that he thinks the whole idea of Raxxla was removed as far back as 2017 by Braben, much to the discontent of Michael Brookes, who was then moved off Elite and onto another project not related to Elite. This was around the same time TDW missions were removed, and when some Elite lore was retconned. Basically anything that can't trace its origins directly to DB, was retconned out of Elite.

The whole thing is just a wild goose chase now as there's no longer anything to find and no story to tell, but its still used as a marketing tool, and likely the reason why DB and Frontier will never admit that it only exists in Holdtock's novella, and as a brief write up in the Codex.

 

[Rochester]

That’s as maybe. And very possible - it’s up to FD to acknowledge.

Be careful however of making public allegations about potentially private business processes, assumptions and hypocritical concepts however around the ‘gameplay’ is more inline with what we are endeavouring to do here. Where possible we try not to make such concepts concrete as it’s outside our knowledge base, going off only on the information provided to us!

It’s equally likely if we accept the above as a likelihood, that any public information which might be historical, may no longer actually be relevant. We’ve actually discussed this before here. And some conjecture that might be what the codex’s are telling us.

However, the Codex stipulates ‘new’ information.

Is this new information advocating something ‘else’ is in game, or does this advocate the existence of a ‘narrative’?

Remember a narrative doesn’t necessarily mean something can be interacted with, a narrative can be paused, and turned on at a later stage… this is something FD support and Devs confirmed (regarding the missions).

FD support when questioned and advised by Devs, do indicate ‘something’ is out there but they will not confirm it’s a dead end.?

The previous CM confirmed ‘something is out there’ but would not confirm what, how, where, what, only that there was ‘a pay off’ likewise FD has utilised the word ‘spoilers’!

It’s evident at least there is an ‘archeological’ scaffold in game, centred around the underworld.

It’s your choice to quest, personally I’m interested in learning about what is historically in game and potentially where it ‘pointed’, and if it actually does point somewhere! It is my ‘assumption’ this is the case and is linked directly to what you have postulated, if it is a reality ‘that’ archaeology is at least ‘something’, even if it’s just a footprint.

I also quest to solidify (in the absence of information) the fact that something is either ‘accessible’ or simply just narrative.

I believe it is one or the other.

If something is in game it is very likely either some type of ‘environmental story’ which either is archeological, or an Easter egg. Or it’s narrative, and that could relate to either a dead end or it’s just a matter of ‘waiting’.

However the last two options are counter intuitive in line with the two Codex’s published by FD. And I would advise you to likewise challenge this with FD, I have and they via tickets would not confirm it’s counter intuitive, only responding in the positive.

However, I still keep in mind it’s as likely ‘narrative’ as a lot of the data does point that way - again this is something FD very likely would never confirm, because it gives their story arc away and makes it difficult for them to initiate story threads if we can out-run them (although I suspect the previous CM did).

And remember, it’s just a game. Doesn’t really matter how you play it, questing is not necessarily about getting to the end.