UA Mystery Thread 3: The Canonn
- Thread starter Yaffle
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1. Go to Black Hole system
2. Boost towards BH
3. Launch UA from cargo right before ship hits the Body Exclusion Zone
4. UA sails into BH
5. "Seed"/UA crosses Event Horizon
6. Black Hole morphs into wormhole.
7. Thargoids conquer our Galaxy.
8. Profit.
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simulacrae where did you get that picture of the top of the artifact from? Please can I have the link. If that's a genuine picture unedited then you CMDR have just confirmed my suspicion all along. There are at least 2 distinctly different UA's. And the evidence is on the top.
Originally Posted by bitstorm 
Random image dump. It's a massive image if you want to open image in new tab and zoom in.
https://doc-0k-0s-docs.googleusercontent.com/docs/securesc/ha0ro937gcuc7l7deffksulhg5h7mbp1/u7okk3gnk5191r6lffs4ira6gpocu3m3/1439784000000/03079478384194078290/*/0B_Ozdb8mTFWzZHpjRTh0MGpWalk?e=view
Random image dump. It's a massive image if you want to open image in new tab and zoom in.
https://doc-0k-0s-docs.googleusercontent.com/docs/securesc/ha0ro937gcuc7l7deffksulhg5h7mbp1/u7okk3gnk5191r6lffs4ira6gpocu3m3/1439784000000/03079478384194078290/*/0B_Ozdb8mTFWzZHpjRTh0MGpWalk?e=view
On the Whale UA front ... while I didn't make much headway ... I did manage to chase one down today ... tried to get some answers from him ...
need a better camera if im going to be a whale paparazzi (yes that little puff of foam in the center)
need a better camera if im going to be a whale paparazzi (yes that little puff of foam in the center)
Please see: http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Unknown_Artefact
Section: Proposed Testing Regimen
Several UA have expired in many different ways already.
Buried in thread 1 and 2 your find more about 'lost ua', 'exploded','expired'.
Ok folks I hope this helps even more. As I have noted in a couple of earlier posts, there are distinct visual differences with the UAs. From the images I have been able to observe from the top of the dome on the UA's and now from watching all the links from all of your awesome tests, there are 2 distinctly different colored gases emanating from them. It is either Green or Purple. Not both. I am certain that some of you are carrying either a male or a female version of the UA. I hypothesis that one version of the UA has distinct horns protruding from the very top of the dome, 4 of them around half way up, and another version with either no horns and no side notches on the top of the dome. Please could those with a UA doing tests scroll over the top of the dome as well to see if a clue is there. I know a test has been done of 2 UAs in the same spot but it may just be a case of you had the wrong 2. Thanks in advance. 
I don't know, it's mostly a matter of opinion and how you are defining meta. I totally get where you're coming from either way, and agree with your dissatisfaction with the Nimoy explanation (maybe not for exactly the same reason - being set so far in the future protects ED's fiction from being invalidated as quickly as something like 2001 or even Star Trek, but that also means real-world events need to have as little impact as possible. My suspension of disbelief has no problem with easter eggs, but making the whole UA mystery a tribute to Nimoy would stretch it past the breaking point.)I wasn't taking the mickey out of you, you understand - being self-deprecating of the group as we've been till now
I suppose the biggest worry I have with this kind of explanation is that makes it a bit of a meta-puzzle instead of one firmly rooted in the ED universe; unless said music already had a firm basis in the ED universe. Even then - why would such an Artefact emit it?
It's also why I discouraged following the Nimoy angle - simply far too meta for my liking.
Very very happy to be wrong though
I also agree completely that the explanation should be something that makes sense in the context of the in-game universe. As an IRL scientist, I would be really disappointed if it turns out this has to be solved using the kind of logic normally reserved for Ancient Alien Theorists... But, since I have zero experience with previous games in the series, I've never been certain whether or not these games actually have a precedent of creating mysteries or puzzles that require detailed knowledge of an arbitrarily chosen, extremely specialized branch of mythology/zoology/numerology/astrology/etc. If that's the type of thing FD has been known to put in their games, it's logical to assume they might do it again. If not, well, scientists love throwing around the word "parsimonious" when talking about what makes a good theory, and as I just learned about 10 seconds ago, the Latin name for Occam's Razor translates to "the law of parsimony". So, uh, something to think about...
Glenlivet is good, but my preferences are The Balvenie and Highland Park.
Just to reassure you, I had some SSS last time I was in Wregdu-whatever (the one closest to Polaris). Was always the FDL pirate spawn though.
I've spent most of today hanging around the Pleiades region with no luck... the only way forward for me on this right now is to get a UA myself, but I'm probably going to make those efforts more casual from here on out, and intersperse them with Powerplay, which, say what you will about Powerplay mechanics, feels at least like I have some measure of control more than prostrating myself before the altar of the RNG.
I'll be keeping my eye on this thread though
Laphroaig please
EDIT: Just one more edit... I do love procedurally generated content at times.
Lawless System Defence Force? Heheheh...
Someone must have just read my post, now getting spammed by *SS's
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All this whisky talk is making me thirsty ! Being the pleb that I am ... I drink Jameson
But in my richer moments I think Oban is good ... And Laphroaig is just funWith regards of previous games this is a quick run down.
1. Humans encounter an alien race (Thargoids) shoot first ask questions later and get us in a war.
2. Thargoids are more advanced than us.
3. Human resort to secret ops and all sorts of covert intelligence shenanigans (INRA) to come up with a weapon against the seemingly OP Thargoids
4. Said weapon pretty much skirts the line of genocide and at best traps them in an unknown corner of the milky way.
5. Explorers from the Alliance uncover the truth about (INRA a joint Federation-Empire joint black ops outfit) and what happened to the Thargoids and provide assistance for the damaged created.
6. Thargoids start a scientific/cultural exchange program with humanity as a result of the assistance provided to them.
7. Elite Dangerous goes live with no sign of the Thargoids, systems previously known to be part of the Thargoid influence sphere are at first permit locked then unlocked.
8. The Unknown Artefact is discovered and the theory is it may be of Thargoid origin.
9. ?????
The lore is pretty linear.. What isn't is the break from FFE to ED which is not explainable currently. Maybe the UA may be the key to unlocking the big question as to where they went, or maybe it's something different. Trying to draw parallels to Elite's "human history" with other fiction and looking for a potential merger other than in a tribute like way is probably as you say not going to be an issue given the time distance but also how differently things developed from other series.
It can fail at quite a high percentage, not sure if 84% but certainly 75%. But there are a few problems with the idea that these cases are just a UA that's been lost by a convoy:
1. Where's the convoy? SSS are created when a cmdr enters them, there is no time for a UA to damage the hatch and fall out, or for the convoy to jump, before the player drops in.
2. The free floating UAs don't degrade. If it fell out of a convoy it would degrade (this behaviour has been witnessed). Not degrading means it's salvage like a black box in a WSS.
3. So far these cases are peculiar to HR 1185, accounting for at least 3 of the 4 sighting I know of in that system. But since 1.3 was released there have been at least 20 UAs since in other systems and every one of them was in a convoy.
So it's new behaviour, though I don't know whether the free floating UA thing is a new SSS type that will appear everywhere or something specific to HR 1185.
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When NPCs fighting each other in an S.S.S. next to a blackhole can spawn in unpopped space,
i bet you that the ua, can be found in S.S.S.es freefloating in popped space aswell.
RNG....
The spawn rate is just so low, we have a hard time checking that theory.
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Not sure exactly what you're think of by "near", but mine was found several hundred Ls from the primary. Most would have been found within say 500 Ls, just because that's where people have been looking, but I don't think there is any pattern. The HR 1185 cases have been the obvious exception: at least 3 of them were near the blackhole rather than the primary star.
Agree, It was brought up in thread 2.
This is purely because of the way the game deals out SSS encounters. I think it's quite possible to get these SSS with a floating UA by:
- staying far enough away from civiled space, because it reduced the chance of the other 'normal SSS encounters'.
IMHO, this is just an effect of the game-mechanics.
I think we'll see this later now when people will try to hunt down floaters in other systems for the days to come.
Perhaps. But so far we have 100% of UAs in populated space (20 UAs) being in convoys and 75% of UAs in HR 1185 free floating. It will be interesting to see if free floating UAs start showing up in populated space, that would indicate a change in the game. If they don't then it would indicate something special about HR 1185 (possibly just the distance from populated space).
Ya im looking forward to getting home and playing around with it in my map. On a side - Is what you guys are talking about the "deep space" between the astronomical bodies ? I was usually searching there (unsuccessfully) - in the possibly misguided thought that it was better to search in "deep space" than when my computer said i was next to one of the objects ...
Just something worth noting regarding the Voyager probes, the 1,000Ls dropoff of "non-celestial nav points", and whether this is behind their disappearance or not... while travelling 300,000 Ls at around 300c, I spotted a USS on my contacts list; managed to get a nav lock on it, but I blew out to over 3000 Ls away from it. Interestingly, I maintained my nav lock on the USS, but the USS no longer appeared on my contact list (until I was within 1,000 Ls again).
Because they share icons with Signal Sources and other faction-state sites (Seeking Goods, Conflict zones etc) I've always assumed the voyager probes to be the same underlying "type" of entity as these things which drop off over 1,000 Ls away. Given I could maintain lock on the USS despite it no longer registering on contacts says to me that that's the reason Voyager probes don't appear.
Reason I bring this all up is just in case there's still any thought regarding them being related to the UA... I'm personally still convinced this "unintended consequence" of the change is why we can't see the Voyager probes, and if they really were part of the UA mystery, FD would surely be leaping to fix that if they really want us to solve this. tl;dr I don't think Voyager probes have anything to do with the UA.
</tangent>
(Travelling at 700c for 300,000 Ls, given that 1,000 Ls rule means I have zero chance of locking onto *SS now,, and I have some time to kill...)
Because they share icons with Signal Sources and other faction-state sites (Seeking Goods, Conflict zones etc) I've always assumed the voyager probes to be the same underlying "type" of entity as these things which drop off over 1,000 Ls away. Given I could maintain lock on the USS despite it no longer registering on contacts says to me that that's the reason Voyager probes don't appear.
Reason I bring this all up is just in case there's still any thought regarding them being related to the UA... I'm personally still convinced this "unintended consequence" of the change is why we can't see the Voyager probes, and if they really were part of the UA mystery, FD would surely be leaping to fix that if they really want us to solve this. tl;dr I don't think Voyager probes have anything to do with the UA.
</tangent>
(Travelling at 700c for 300,000 Ls, given that 1,000 Ls rule means I have zero chance of locking onto *SS now
,, and I have some time to kill...)
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Another note on "Finding your own UA".
Keep in mind there are game mechanics (yes, sorry to ruin the RP flow of things).
Game mechanics dictate what kind of encounters you get with an SSS.
These are the indicators which have been disrupting my own hunt in the past:
- Higher rate of Piracy & Policye mission is bad. Avoid systems with CivilWar(?), Lockdown, etc
- Higher rate of the Ariel & other merchants wanting to buy good, avoid Boom state
- other states of a system I forgot? Outbreak, economic bust as well. (ref Jmanis)
Now reducing those kind of states will eventually allow the mysterius UA to show up in the encounter. Because you reduced the other factors.
Getting a SSS
There is a cutoff for the mechanics to stop spawn 'Signal Sources' and AI's. The speculation for some sort of distance. How much is it really?
- You need to stay within the proximity of ~200LY of populated space (the last / nearest station in your map).
~200LY stems from some of the posts over in Canonn thread 2.
The chance of getting a "UA Encounter"
The last thing is: What will affect the chance of RNG giving you the "Federal UA convoy" or the "UA floating derelict"?
I have no factors in mind as of yet, except the one's listed above.
So why HR1185
HR 1185 passes the criterias, and so does it's neighbouring systems.
The problem for hunters out there is that the SSS rate is at a very low rate, most likely because of the distance to populated space. So it'll take time to hunt for SSS out there.
But I assume you can get closer to our population buble, and still get the right SSS if you just hunt long enough.
EDIT: update based on feedback from Jmanis
Keep in mind there are game mechanics (yes, sorry to ruin the RP flow of things).
Game mechanics dictate what kind of encounters you get with an SSS.
These are the indicators which have been disrupting my own hunt in the past:
- Higher rate of Piracy & Policye mission is bad. Avoid systems with CivilWar(?), Lockdown, etc
- Higher rate of the Ariel & other merchants wanting to buy good, avoid Boom state
- other states of a system I forgot? Outbreak, economic bust as well. (ref Jmanis)
Now reducing those kind of states will eventually allow the mysterius UA to show up in the encounter. Because you reduced the other factors.
Getting a SSS
There is a cutoff for the mechanics to stop spawn 'Signal Sources' and AI's. The speculation for some sort of distance. How much is it really?
- You need to stay within the proximity of ~200LY of populated space (the last / nearest station in your map).
~200LY stems from some of the posts over in Canonn thread 2.
The chance of getting a "UA Encounter"
The last thing is: What will affect the chance of RNG giving you the "Federal UA convoy" or the "UA floating derelict"?
I have no factors in mind as of yet, except the one's listed above.
So why HR1185
HR 1185 passes the criterias, and so does it's neighbouring systems.
The problem for hunters out there is that the SSS rate is at a very low rate, most likely because of the distance to populated space. So it'll take time to hunt for SSS out there.
But I assume you can get closer to our population buble, and still get the right SSS if you just hunt long enough.
EDIT: update based on feedback from Jmanis
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Updated table of post-1.3 UA sightings (since I can't edit the post in the previous thread). Correction/additions welcome...
| Cmdr | Found | System | Lost |
| Ratking15 | pre 1.3 | 109 Virginis | still held |
| Branch (mrtree) | 6/07/2015 4:22 | Timocani | 19/07/2015 0:46 |
| Monkey D Luffy (Patau82) | 14/07/2015 11:57 | Timocani | not recovered |
| Lurius | 17/07/2015 11:01 | Timocani | not recovered |
| Branch (mrtree) | 19/07/2015 8:20 | Timocani | 20/07/2015 12:54 |
| Britain (bitstorm) | 23/07/2015 22:57 | Timocani | 2/08/2015 19:00 |
| Monkey D Luffy (Patau82) | 25/07/2015 16:22 | Timocani | not recovered |
| Branch (mrtree) | 26/07/2015 3:05 | Timocani? | still held |
| Blain Crighton (Vasious) | 28/07/2015 12:24 | Un No Myoin | 28/07/2015 |
| Vyvian | 28/07/2015 12:24 | Un No Myoin | 28/07/2015 13:01 |
| rizal72 | 29/07/2015 23:28 | near Furuhjelm I-645 | not recovered |
| rizal72 | 30/07/2015 | near Furuhjelm I-645 | not recovered |
| ilmostro | 8/08/2015 19:42 | Bast | not recovered |
| Rauminen | 9/08/2015 12:39 | Bast | 11/08/2015 15:47 |
| Monkey D Luffy (Patau82) | 9/08/2015 17:38 | Timocani | 10/08/2015 17:46 |
| John Stoutbeard (Panzertard) | 9/08/2015 22:17 | Bast | Still held |
| Allitnil | 10/08/2015 15:00 | Bast | Not recovered |
| Britain (bitstorm) | 10/08/2015 23:00 | Bast | not recovered |
| Sigon | 11/08/2015 17:59 | Wolf 289 | Not recovered |
| Nicholas Powell | 11/08/2015 19:26 | Timocani | 15/08/2015 9:49 |
| Britain (bitstorm) | 13/08/2015 23:00 | Bast | still held |
| Boblit67 | 15/08/2015 3:32 | HR 1185 | not recovered |
| cmdrmacarye | 15/08/2015 7:57 | LHS 3006 | not recovered |
| Sigon | 15/08/2015 14:23 | HR 1185 | passed to another cmdr |
| nikos | 15/08/2015 20:15 | HR 1185 | still held |
| Paderbush (Sham Gaz) | 16/08/2015 07:11 | HR 1185 | not recovered |
| Allitnil | 17/08/2015 15:15 | HR 1185 | still held |
| Serenus | 17/08/2015 20:22 | Bolg | not recovered |
| Cmder Zif | 18/08/2015 04:07 | HR 1185 | still held |
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