Note: You’re going to have to excuse the use of the word Extra-Bubbular in this post. Typing ‘that is outside the Bubble’ the first time, I knew I’d just get narked should I end up repeating the phrase or variations of it and I was feeling Sciencery - another word some of you might disapprove of or feel are out of place in the cutting edge of Elite sciencing. Basically, I’m about as much a scientist as you are a senior figure in Anglo-Russian diplomacy of the late 1920s.
Oblong. There’s another. Here’s some more… Conservatives. Tom-ah-toe. French Rugby. ISAL. Humperdink. I’m sure you get the point.
The Inner System
Of the three focal components of Scour, the Inner System saw the most comprehensive surveying. Not only were there commanders who plowed right through the lot of them (in cases also surveying asteroids – which, of course, sit in the same area) but several here-and-there Inner Corridors saw individual coverage as well. Furthermore, every Outer System Corridor covered overlapped this ‘portion’ of the system.
The Signal Source component of Scour is covered below but, unsurprisingly, the majority of Signal Sources were to be found within the Inner System. (All, sadly, amounting to little but the little that was is covered below.)
Eyeball Mk1, Honking, Nav Panel checks even Contacts checks: nothing.
Lack of Anomaly? - In general and specifically Sterope II corridor
Nothing presented itself to the Mk1 Eyeball, Radar and System Scans that were fired off all around the inner and outer system other than one commander’s observation of high and low wakes – not to dismiss this, perhaps this truly is significant and occurred along the Sterope II outer corridor should subsequent surveyors wish to pursue this possible anomaly. No such wake blips were reported from a second Sterope II supercruise run.
The Asteroids
Every ring and every cluster was surveyed. However, to date only one (Merope 3’s ring) resulted in confirmed reports matching the ‘Magic Eight’ rule of thumb for the contents of ore yield. Is this a problem? Yes and no.
No, it might not be that all fields yield peeled sealed, sorry went into rhyming mode… It might not be that all asteroid fields yield up 8 ores (metals and mineral combined at 8).
Yes, it could be seen as a worrying/interesting hole in the data.
Still, either way, there was nothing at all ever no not never no showing up in the yields which was in any way unusual or did not match either expectations (in comparison to any other system’s asteroids) or later checks against such comparable locales.
Certainly, there’s been no noted change in asteroid composition between Phase One and Phase Two.
In the case of Merope 3’s rings – with a UA scourer finding the Magic Eight and a non-UA scourer finding seven, it is a distinct possibility that one was simply missed because of rarity in that field. As to how this might be relevant to finding 7 and not 8 in the other rings, this particular half-sciencer will leave that for the reader to judge it either down to similar rarity or something else.
Moons & Planets
Details of what was covered in the surveying of the moons remain sketchy – particularly which were surveyed.
One question comes to mind: with moons and planets currently limited in their visual content, what could be eyeballed? A smear? A blob? A discolouration which might be weather or might be something else? It’s difficult to be sure of anything in this regard prior to landing on them.
Still, nothing ‘sexy’ was mentioned by those eyeballing the moons and planets anyway. (Note: still sketchy.)
SIGNAL SOURCES
Scour’s results strongly suggest that there are no exotic new Signal Sources to be found in the system. Whether inner or outer system, the signal sources (inclusive of salvageable wrecks) are of a vanilla quality similar to any comparable unpopulated Extra-Bubbular system - the only exciting variation coming from the Medical Convoys.
There has been a rather intense coverage of Merope’s inner system for Signal Sources. Not only were the Inner Corridors all covered – both with and without UAs – but that coverage was added to by the earlier stages of all Outer Corridors – again both with and without UAs.
While scouring myself (both Phase One but moreso Phase Two) my gut was muttering to me that Merope is no more ‘active’ than any other similarly extra-Bubbular system that is not too far from the Bubble. Some sciencers made note in their reports and live comms of confusion over the motives behind the presence of certain Signal Source contents. The truth is that we’re almost certainly looking at blanket RNG levels and diversities which just happen to also be active in Merope. In short, so far as that appears to be the case, and bearing in mind that I know little about Computer Code Stuff, it’s an unpopulated system which is within roving distance for pirates and miners.
As for the Medical Convoys - they appear not to be notably more or less common than in any comparable system in terms of location. There is little (if not nothing) to be inferred at this stage about their nature or purpose beyond that which we can draw from their comms chatter, ship types and cargo that Merope itself seems key to providing.
My personal suspicion is still that they relate to some non-UA business or are, at best, indirectly tied or, indeed, peripheral to our concerns at this point. Yet, they deserve a mention; they were present in Merope and the UAs do point there. It’s just that (to me) there is nothing pressingly ‘UA-related’ about them, in Merope or elsewhere.
To a larger degree, I am satisfied that there is currently nothing notably UA-related to be found from dropping into Merope’s Signal Sources. Which, without any new alternative, might suggest that there is something yet to be found from more exhaustive pursuit of the other features of Merope. The moons were not surveyed to the same degree and the ‘Magic Eight’ were not always found in the Asteroids, to name but two standing alternatives. However, ignoring signal sources does not sit well with me when considering a comprehensive approach so it is not the suggestion of this report for commanders to simply bypass them when they crop up on their sensors. After all, it’s not as if the system is exactly crammed with them.
Conspicuous by Absence?
With not a single Floater (or UA Convoy) spotted in Merope, there are various suspicions or musings that might be brought to mind. In concrete terms what appears from Scour to be the case is that Merope is not a spawning ground (or convoyed route) but simply what it appeared to be prior to investigating why it is pointed towards by the UAs. Namely, a specific location pointed towards by UAs while elsewhere (and up to some considerable confirmed distance) for some unknown reason.
And that unknown reason remains exactly that: unknown.
Had we encountered Floaters or Convoys, the unknown reason for this UA pointing behaviour might have led to broader (and further informed) speculation. But it didn’t. And that, to some fair degree, is a result in itself. Their absence from Merope is significant, as already touched on by others, but rather underlined by the work done during Scour.
How exactly is this significant? One rather loud suggestion is that it is down to geographical deployment of the UAs, though this is already touched on elsewhere by others, too, and I shan’t further comment since that is rather beyond Scour’s direct brief.
Flaw in the Process – Lack of Updates
The updating of what had and had not been covered was… lacking. Well, hey, totally absent in fact. Should a similar cooperative exercise be undertaken in the future, whether spurred by another or myself, addressing this failing in Scour would be of great profit to efficiency. Perhaps more importantly, it would furthermore be of great profit to accessibility for those who might have been intent upon joining in but regrettably dissuaded by not knowing whether their efforts would be moot or risk pointless duplication.
Luckily, the duplication of effort in the case of the Inner Corridors and, if to a lesser degree, the Asteroids served a purpose, if after the fact. Corroboration, basically. But that corroboration was, it seems to me and also seems indicated by participants’ concerns during the day, markedly less ‘inviting’ a prospect or valuable pursuit in the case of the Outer Corridors of a system-wide scouring. Therefore, yeah… The lack of regular updating of what had or hadn’t been done was to the clear detriment of the exercise. (And I again apologise for this sloppy oversight.)
Event Promotion
Definitely a lesser concern for SCIENCE! But, still one worth mentioning of the ‘event’ in general.
One can over-promote an event of this kind. It’s the kind of ‘event’ which is quite, quite finite in its allure and, frankly, those interested saw it mentioned here and on the Canonn site (and Group Thread) because those interested frequent those places anyway.
Indeed, the commanders who were interested in Merope’s possible contents would already have been (and clearly were) going and having a thought-out poke around the place anyway.
Of course, with an exercise such as Scour, cooperative participation by as many commanders as possible is a key factor, weighed against the availability thereof and the scheduling required.
From the participation levels shown by the reports, and the invested enthusiasm which displayed itself in the tasks undertaken, I would say that Scour was just about right in its promotion.
Perhaps I’m wrong, being the one who did it, but I honestly can’t see that it needed more. As for needing less, even only in those places mentioned, well, if anybody thinks so many notices and updates over a calendar month were too much, PM me on that topic and I’ll honestly try not to ignore your PM. Much.
