Exploration is a waste of time

[NeoRacer]

Ah that is a bit dissapointing

Thing is, it's not. Clear your save, and you'll find the same systems unknown. The Known/Unknown thing appears to be at a player level, not a galaxy level.

More evidence: find an unknown system with a base of some sort. Now land there and check the traffic report.

 

[MatuX]

Where is there any acknowledgement that you were the first one to see something? The profit is minimal and not worth the time. You are better spent trading back and forth between two stars.

You can't name stars or planets or systems.
You cant' see what % you've explored or the value of the data.
You can't tell if anything you've discovered is unique or any different than any other ice or ringed planet...
There is no reason to even get close to a planet.
You don't get any credit for discovering it in the system notes..


Why bother

On top of that, if you've spent literally hours exploring, and you end up screwing up and dying (which happens a LOT: I found a "wanted" craft, I shoot it, police calls me a criminal, shoots me to death, turns out the craft was wanted by the Empire, not the Federation) and you lose *everything* you've explored.

Don't misunderstand me though, I love this game and I love exploring. It's thrilling, relaxing, I love matching my discoveries with actual scientific data, I like reading about stars then looking for stuff in wikipedia while I travel. I love it.

But the gameplay instead of enticing you to explore, punishes you for it, and sometimes, very very badly.

 

[Satsuma]

Because it's fun? Because I hate trading, and only did it long enough to fund my exploration Cobra and kitty?

Seriously, though, if you don't like exploring, don't explore. There are plenty of other things to do in the game.

 

[CMDR Canaris]

I have made several treks and explored 60-80 systems each time. This took several hours to do. Each time I would make 500-800k when all was said and done.

Might you share some insights with me? It can take me several hours to explore a single system. And even then you can't be certain it's 100% explored because there could be extremely distant bodies you missed.

Also, I've 'discovered' stars with other players in the system, so discovery and exploration appears to be client-side.

 

[DocMoriarty]

I don't go for exploring but i sometimes like that little additional income. There are enough unexplored systems on the way while traveling thru civilized ones.

 

[_Flin_]

Exploring unknown systems where noone has been before nets you a bonus. So the farther away you are the less people have been there. And the more you get paid.

In terms of "return on time" it is the worst profession. But its great for those that like doing it.

And you can still improve your earnings by only scanning the right planets, and improve the probability of them being there by only jumping into the right systems with the right spectral classes.

 

[SirGirard]

Plot a 100 LY long route through unknown systems, equip a fuel scoop.

Scan each area, fly to every 'body' you find and target it to get the info. Dock at every station to see what astro data they will buy as you have to be 20LY away from where you got it.

That's why it's called 'Exploring'

Have to say I agree with the OP. Yes you can plot a 100LY trip, but I have been in two unexplored systems today and nothing, zilch, zero....didn't even find a body? So went to another system and ditto. Then found a system and got some data and spent next half hour finding somewhere to sell it, for 1800 credits? After 3 hours went back to base got my Cobra out and started trading/bounty hunting. in two hours got 320000 credits?

Unless I am missing something, which I admit I could be, exploring does not seen to be the fun, or rewarding, as it should be?

 

[Obsidian Ant]

How is exploration supposed to work?

When I go to undiscovered region of the galaxy.

There are no systems with bases and no systems showing any system info.

This means I must fly hundreds of light years for discoveries, then I have to fly all the way back.

The profit made​​​​​​​​ doesn't justify the time spent fly there and back.

A complete waste of time!!

Depends on what you enjoy. If you are after profits it isn't really worth it...

If however you want to see some amazing sights then it is very much worth it!

[video=youtube;uG7X73lV1Io]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG7X73lV1Io[/video]

Well over a 3000ly round trip.

 

[MatuX]

There's no progression for exploration. I know nobody is gonna get to explore the whole universe, but even if I've explored 1E-10 of the universe, and all of a sudden it goes one decimal up to 2E-10, it would be fantastic. Maybe track progression per constellation, this is also missing achievements. Exploration is not only about

I'd love to see some kind of color map showing the stars that I've explored already.

Exploration needs a lot of love from the devs if they hope to make it something worth do it.

 

[Bald Avenger]

Why climb the mountain?

"Because its there"

Attb. George Mallory

 

[Tethys]

I find exploring quite a relaxing thing to do when going to a new area.

I did think that selling it to UC would make the information availible to all. Maybe UC needs the data to be corroborated by several scans before it publishes it!

I do get a little buzz when I find I high value metal rich planet!

Don't do it for the money, do it because you can. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it.

 

[RealNC]

Are you actually using the scanner? You need to assign the scanner to a fire group, deploy weapons, and then "fire" the scanner. It will then reveal all "unexplored" objects within a radius of 500ls so that you can then fly to each one and scan them.

I didn't know about it at first either When I found out about it, I tried it and then was shocked to see a message saying: "15 unexplored objects discovered." Until now, I basically only scanned the star you get near to when jumping to a system.

 

[Darkflame]

I am not in Exploration for the money, so for me its "not worth it" in a different way;

Your always doing the same thing, and the only things you have to hope for is the occasional pretty or usual Stella system. Which is cool, but on its own its not enough.

There needs to be a little bit more context given.

For example; What exactly does are scans contain? It would be nice to have a few details to make it feel like we are gathering information and not just doing an arbitrary action.

Id also like too see the metaphorical equivalent of a "rare drop". Ancient artefacts? Odd lifeforms? Bezire natural things?
These could have a financial perk, or (better) they could trigger more missions when you hand them in. Triggering a "science mission" which has missions to escort or assist a science vessle that goes to the area you found.

Id also like too see a record of our explorations. At the most basic level the galaxy map could show where we have been. Too see our progress.
A logbook could also keep highlights of cool stuff we found (manual is fine, doesn't need to be automatic).

You could even have a sort of "collectable" system, letting users try to find one of each of certain usual or rare things.

 

[ksottam]

Might you share some insights with me? It can take me several hours to explore a single system. And even then you can't be certain it's 100% explored because there could be extremely distant bodies you missed.

Also, I've 'discovered' stars with other players in the system, so discovery and exploration appears to be client-side.

Sure thing. What speeds it up enormously is running with the Advanced Discovery Scanner. Sets you back 1.5 million, BUT it scans every body in the system. Once that's done, just open up your system map and look for planets that either look earthish or well, anything that isn't just the plain old white balls of ice/rock. Scan the ones that look worthwhile and that you can do in a decent amount of time then jump to the next system rinse and repeat.

Also, the discovery scanner does make you earn more than running without.

Takes much longer but running before I got the ADS was soooooo much fun when you'd fly out from the star and then cruise back towards it looking for planetary bodies moving in your field of view. To me that made for the best exploration but the pay was abysmal compared to using more advanced equipment.

 

[nosscar]

is there a thread or guide any where with instruction on how best to use each type of scanner. thanks

 

[JonBuck]

I'd like a definitive guide on exploration, myself. This game does drop you in with only the basics. I've assigned my discovery scanner to a fire group. Do I need to get within a certain distance to an undiscovered sensor contact before I use it? Or do I just fly around the system, scanning on occasion?

 

[Sargon]

I promise you, for the vast majority of players, exploration will have become old and stale waaaaaay before this mark.

Not if we enjoy exploring... If you focus on the cash only, then anything you do in the game will eventually seem like a job.

 

[CMDR Canaris]

Takes much longer but running before I got the ADS was soooooo much fun when you'd fly out from the star and then cruise back towards it looking for planetary bodies moving in your field of view. To me that made for the best exploration but the pay was abysmal compared to using more advanced equipment.

Yeah, this is what I do currently, it's strangely cathartic. I didn't know that the ADS speeds things up so much. Thanks for the info.

 

[th3_fr4gil3]

How is exploration supposed to work?

When I go to undiscovered region of the galaxy.

There are no systems with bases and no systems showing any system info.

This means I must fly hundreds of light years for discoveries, then I have to fly all the way back.

The profit made​​​​​​​​ doesn't justify the time spent fly there and back.

A complete waste of time!!

why is everyone in such a rush to make as much money as fast as possible?

 

[Darkflame]

Takes much longer but running before I got the ADS was soooooo much fun when you'd fly out from the star and then cruise back towards it looking for planetary bodies moving in your field of view. To me that made for the best exploration but the pay was abysmal compared to using more advanced equipment.

Its better/more interesting because it took actual skill.