Balance Hourly Rates - Exploring needs a huge % Uplift on body values

[Chrisfs]

I am sympathetic to your general point, but I have a question/observation.
Is Anaconda the best ship to go exploring in ? As you get to those bigger ships, the wear and tear is going to be more expensive. Perhaps that's not the kind of ship you want when you're exploring. I wouldn't take a fancy big car or an 18 wheeler into the off road and expect it not to require expensive repairs. I would take a jeep or off road vehicle (Adder, Hauler, even Sidewinder, Asp would be the highest end). I like exploring a lot. I like seeing new things and I like the relatively calmer pace. I can't play as much as others (or as I like) so my experience has been with a Sidewinder or a Hauler. I haven't seen the big wear and tear costs that some others are stating. One person was claiming a huge amount, it turns out you get that wear and tear from flying at over 1000c at long periods of time. Is that kind of speed really necessary ?
What are your thoughts on that ?

 

[Nutter]

I'll grant you that exploration yields not nearly so much per hour as trading, but I'm not sure how you're determining that it doesn't pay for itself (and more).

My last exploration run in an Asp netted me 1.99Million Cr and my repair bill was about 30K Cr.

Try that trip again in an Anaconda - Your repair bill is based on ship worth - Fit a A6 Scoop then take a look at your bill! lol

 

[Varrag]

I hope that we're going to get more advanced scanners (related to mysterious scan levels which are not used atm), which should return more valuable results. Like for example bio-scanner to examine life forms found on some planets.

 

[CaptainKremmen]

40,000CR per hour?

Okay, I'm going to get off my lazy behind, ditch the goods in my hold (Zeezzsean Nail Polish, Rajukran Edible Vomit and Altairian Erotic Toads), and head for the middle of nowhere, scanners ready.

I'll report back, and see how the credits per hour work out.


[edit]Maybe I'll keep one of the toads. After all, it could be a long trip.

 

[smintili]

I think it is very, very sad that a game whose main selling point is the sheer vastness of space that can be explored is again one of those space sims where trading is the best source of income where it should be exploring. Exploring is by far the most time-consuming activity if you want to go way out there (did someone say USS Voyager?) and, according to the OP's statistic, the least feasible. So why should someone go to these lenghts in a game where exploration was clearly one of the main goals? If I had wanted another trade-your-way-up-the-ranks space game, I would have bought X³.

 

[Mikey2305]

But we do it because we want to serve humanity, not because of the money. And we are a tad crazy ...

I have an upgraded asp but to be honest a cobra would do just as well

 

[Nutter]

I am sympathetic to your general point, but I have a question/observation.
Is Anaconda the best ship to go exploring in ? As you get to those bigger ships, the wear and tear is going to be more expensive. Perhaps that's not the kind of ship you want when you're exploring. I wouldn't take a fancy big car or an 18 wheeler into the off road and expect it not to require expensive repairs. I would take a jeep or off road vehicle (Adder, Hauler, even Sidewinder, Asp would be the highest end). I like exploring a lot. I like seeing new things and I like the relatively calmer pace. I can't play as much as others (or as I like) so my experience has been with a Sidewinder or a Hauler. I haven't seen the big wear and tear costs that some others are stating. One person was claiming a huge amount, it turns out you get that wear and tear from flying at over 1000c at long periods of time. Is that kind of speed really necessary ?
What are your thoughts on that ?

Hi,

A great Question

OK, so this is why I need a long range ship - 3 Weeks ago I flew 4,500ly towards my intended destination (Small Rare Nebula) - only to find that in order to reach it I needed to jump 37.2ly (I'll never forget that number) lol.

Anyway, so the trip was cut short and I was disappointed, but now I can go back and explore it in a Anaconda, because it can make the Jump! - But it will cost me 10,000,000 credits for the privilege!

Hope that answers your question

 

[talshiarr]

Nooo...not the nail polish.

I mean...uh. Nvm.

 

[bootsam]

Im going exploring in a T6. Cheap.

 

[Altissimus]

I hope that we're going to get more advanced scanners (related to mysterious scan levels which are not used atm), which should return more valuable results. Like for example bio-scanner to examine life forms found on some planets.

Yes, there will be a Bio Probe and a mission to abduct a resident alien life form an find a suitable orifice for it. Comes out with the planetary landing pack.

 

[Ulysses_W]

Maybe the Universal Cartographers body should offer exploration missions to specific places of interest, with a nice reward attached to it to supplement earnings? Either those guys or the Terraformers?

 

[Mephane]

I believe that wear&tear currently is too expensive. The rate at which it accumulates seems about right, maybe supercruise produces too much wear&tear, but the sheer numbers that you have to pay, imo, deserve a hefty reduction. Like, a factor of 10.

 

[Kaspur]

1. Trading 1,300,000 - 2,500,000 Per Hour
2. Bounty 300,000 - 500,000 Per Hour
3. Missions 500,000 Per Hour
4. Mining 400,000 Per Hour
5. Exploring 40,000 Per Hour

Nutter

Exploration is definitely worth more than 40.000/hour. It takes about a minute to do a full scan of the system, detailed scan of the star, refuel, realign and jump to the next star. On average such a scan should bring in some 2000/system (I think it could be higher). If you check for interesting planets and do those too, it will be a lot higher (but also takes more time). So I would guess at least 120000/hour.
Ofcourse, a lot depends on the things you find. You have less control than with trading.

Now, this is of course a lot lower than many of the other possibilities. But let's be honest, how many factions are going to be interested in exploration data from thousands of lightyears away? Except researchers, nobody has any use for that data and all the othet 'paths' you can take do have a direct impact for the factions.

Also, exploration in a Conda? Why would you do that if an ASP, Type-6 or even Hauler can do just as good a job. It's like taking your Ferrari to your work 50 miles away, where you fry potatoes and bake burgers for 5 bucks an hour.

edit: That being said, exploration needs some more attention. I kinda liked the things they thought about in the detailed designs, very sorry they are not in.

 

[Nutter]

I believe that wear&tear currently is too expensive. The rate at which it accumulates seems about right, maybe supercruise produces too much wear&tear, but the sheer numbers that you have to pay, imo, deserve a hefty reduction. Like, a factor of 10.

Yeah, I think the Wear and Tear is aimed towards Traders in Big ships to try and balance the earnings, of course this hits an explorer right in the goolies!

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Exploration is definitely worth more than 40.000/hour. It takes about a minute to do a full scan of the system, detailed scan of the star, refuel, realign and jump to the next star. On average such a scan should bring in some 2000/system (I think it could be higher). If you check for interesting planets and do those too, it will be a lot higher (but also takes more time). So I would guess at least 120000/hour.
Ofcourse, a lot depends on the things you find. You have less control than with trading.

Now, this is of course a lot lower than many of the other possibilities. But let's be honest, how many factions are going to be interested in exploration data from thousands of lightyears away? Except researchers, nobody has any use for that data and all the othet 'paths' you can take do have a direct impact for the factions.

Also, exploration in a Conda? Why would you do that if an ASP, Type-6 or even Hauler can do just as good a job. It's like taking your Ferrari to your work 50 miles away, where you fry potatoes and bake burgers for 5 bucks an hour.

edit: That being said, exploration needs some more attention. I kinda liked the things they thought about in the detailed designs, very sorry they are not in.

Please read my post first...

Also, I tend to explore a system, not just beep the space horn and move on, also you forgot to factor in the time it takes to sell data, especially if you are a beep jumper

 

[DimGook]

Exploration is definitely worth more than 40.000/hour. It takes about a minute to do a full scan of the system, detailed scan of the star, refuel, realign and jump to the next star. On average such a scan should bring in some 2000/system (I think it could be higher). If you check for interesting planets and do those too, it will be a lot higher (but also takes more time). So I would guess at least 120000/hour.
Ofcourse, a lot depends on the things you find. You have less control than with trading.

My last trip I made 900k in about 6 hours just doing adv. discovery scanner and occasionally, when I felt like it, scanning the star or scanning some cool looking planet. I think if I had focused on making money I can probably make 250k an hour.

 

[Shads]

My last trip I made 900k in about 6 hours just doing adv. discovery scanner and occasionally, when I felt like it, scanning the star or scanning some cool looking planet. I think if I had focused on making money I can probably make 250k an hour.

In that case your aren't really exploring. For a start anything close to occupied space will probably have already been scanned so you get less cash. Secondly by not scanning the planets you are losing a tonne of cash, especially if you also have a detailed surface scanner.

 

[Huita]

Well, exploring is cool but so basic that i just gave up on it until it's fixed somehow. Even "sell all system data worth below x" would be a good start.

But i hope FD will do it right. What else can i do, after all.

 

[Quineloe]

I believe that wear&tear currently is too expensive. The rate at which it accumulates seems about right, maybe supercruise produces too much wear&tear, but the sheer numbers that you have to pay, imo, deserve a hefty reduction. Like, a factor of 10.

This.

The mechanic makes no sense at all. You're better off buying a completely new ship than pay a wear and tear bill.


And traders are not hit by wear and tear at all, as they don't spend a lot of time in supercruise and I've never noticed big wear and tear bills on my trade ships. Less than 10k on a type 7 after I made millions with that thing? That's not balancing trade out at all.

 

[DimGook]

In that case your aren't really exploring. For a start anything close to occupied space will probably have already been scanned so you get less cash. Secondly by not scanning the planets you are losing a tonne of cash, especially if you also have a detailed surface scanner.

Huh? So by 1. going to deep space and 2. only checking out interesting objects and 3. making more money per hour than OP claims is possible, I'm not exploring?

Edit: I guess you thought I was making a point of how low exploration earnings are, but I was just saying exploration earnings are fine.

 

[Lodorenos]

I think that exploration WILL get changes at some point, but NOT before someone wins the Elite competition for just exploration and all three. If they change it now, the people who've been grinding hard since release for exploration will raise hell. I don't agree with it and I think the whole competition was a mistake and is just slowing down potential changes to exploration as it's pretty bad in its current state. I hardly make money when exploring to begin with, and I don't bother fixing the W&T on my ASP because it's just too costly. I don't want to trade to afford exploration.