You know I've been thinking about this a bit. On the subject of Thargoids using morse code which doesn't make sense since we have had contact with them and established common language through the Universal Translator.
What if .. .again this is what if.. these are Thargoids using morse because that's the only thing they know about Humans?
May be a bit far fetched here but Michael Brookes said that the Thargoids are wondering what happened to their scouting party. A bit of an unsettling prospect but what if the main Thargoid force didn't know anything about what happened to their "scouts" and so never learned about the war, virus, peace and universal translator. This is probably because they somehow became isolated from the scout group.
So they send out these UA probe thingies that know morse (which I presume they learned from us prior to sending the scout/diplomatic party)..... the big issue here is now we have to deal with pretty much MOST of the Thargoid race who is going to want a pretty big explanation as to what happened to their scouting force and I'm assuming a big apology for attempting genocide that is if of course they don't go ID4 an every single human installation in sight once they get a whiff of just how rotten Humans can be... remember captain hero "melt them down"?
That's my theory on it anyway one that has a second part which I'm still trying to think about and that is the fate of the remainder of the scouting party which is now nowhere to be seen...
That one can get interesting because this is where FD can slip in a third element that may have finished off the last of the scouts and is doing one heck of a job at putting all the blame on us for it and also letting the main Thargoids know about all the nice things we did to their scout party.
That would make for a great story because you got the big bad Thargoids... obviously fighting them while having to prove we aren't so bad it was a misunderstanding and a third party or race in the background stirring things for their own powerplay... sorry strategic gain. Sounds better to me then the Thargoids are on the run because the Megatroids (which are way more powerful then them) are kicking their green butts around the galaxy and need our puny help.
Thoughts?
Wouldn't an alien technology be capable of listening to our own means of communication and attempt contact using one of those means? In other words, maybe they don't need to have had communication with the scout group in order to learn how to speak to us. A scout drone of an advanced, space faring civilization would certainly have such an ability. But let's remember a couple things- the drones scan ships; the drones are broadcasting Morse code; those transmissions carry information about our ships and stations; where a signal is broadcast, someone is meant to receive.
I wonder whether these things scan everything they come across (including planets, stars, moons, etc) or just other forms of technology (ships, stations, machinery, etc). Since the UAs only broadcast ship and station information, I assume these are the only things they are scanning or are at least the main things the UAs builders are interested in. Whether its an effort for gaining an advantage in a war/genocide or they just want to know they're not alone, no one can say for certain.
If the aliens are Thargoids, revenge is a likely motive. If the Thargoids haven't received any messages from the scout group we fought, then they may just be looking and haven't made any conclusions yet. Perhaps these "scout" drones are rescue drones, sent by the main Thargoid forces to try to find the lost group. This latter scenario is our best hope for a second chance at a proper first contact. But we can't dispose of the past so easily. Information has a way of getting around, and I think it would simply be a matter of time before the main Thargoid forces learn what happened. It would be both an emotional response and a practical response for them to decide that we got to go.
Of course, the Thargoids may not be the creators of the UAs. Assuming it is a new race, I think our response to their emergence in the game will likely decide the relationship we will have. Surely FD can keep track of how many alien ships are destroyed and attacked by players. If most people or a large proportion of people attack them regularly, then we'll definitely be on a path to war (even if the aliens are far superior people will see that as a challenge, and as a rule we tend to be obsessed with knowing how to destroy everything which can be a good and bad thing).
Now another possibility is that the UAs are not of an alien species. They certainly look bizarre and I feel they're alien, but that's not enough to prove such. If humans are behind the UAs, then we probably should be more worried than if it were aliens. A human would naturally have far more intimate knowledge of our technological capabilities and weaknesses. If a human made them then he or she has specific plans to shut down stations and weaken systems to be conquered. It would be difficult to win a war in a system with all stations being unable to repair ships.
So, I think we need to ask ourselves what patterns we see in the station shut downs. Are any of them Imperial? Federation (Yes on this one for sure)? Alliance? Do they all belong to certain powers? IIRC someone suggested that one specific power did not allow black markets on their stations. This wouldn't guarantee that UAs wouldn't make it to that particular power's stations, but it would make it more difficult to accumulate large numbers of them, which seems to be necessary in order to shut down a station.
One more far-fetched guess is that the UAs are made by aliens AND are being used by someone to give that person's faction or power an advantage. If INRA was able to experiment on Thargoids and their tech so intimately that they were able to engineer a virus-like fungus, then I think its within the realm of possibilities that the UAs are Thargoid tech being used by humans. I mean, humans are avid fans of conspiracy.
Then again, maybe the Thargoids know all they need to know, and are so impressed with us that they're looking for help against another species. Another far fetched idea but possible.
Well we don't know if the Thargoids that we killed with virus are completely cured. Maybe our vaccine just cured symptoms, but they still carry the virus in their genome (or blood, or somewhere). So they had to isolate themselves completely from main group, because they still not sure in long term effects of this virus on their species.
But this doesn't explain why they wouldn't communicate with main hive. Maybe virus changed their behavior somehow and now they are more individualistic species, rather than hive entity.
I wouldn't entirely rule this out but still not likely I feel. I don't think that same scout group would attempt another attack without back up. Hell, I don't think they'd even attempt peaceful contact with the species that tried to wipe them out.
Individualistic Thargoids... I like that possibility A LOT. If I met one named Hugh I'd be happier than a pig in sh...slop.
Hmmmm... Hugh the Thargoid... Sounds intriguing but I doubt anyone would ever believe that, even with evidence lol
I've just read the News letter #102
I'm wondering if this is some sort of hint. I've highlighted the parts of interest especially the part about scanning and sending messages taking decades. Could this be referring to the UAs seemingly sending morse code across space by, what appears to be, a radio signal?
So, if it is a hint then are they saying that the UAs are from several hundred years ago by the old human explorers who have been dropping radio beacons which point to a location where they are, a bit like a the Voyager probes?
FTL travel is the new reality and if ships can do it so can signals. I think the article is telling us that risk and death are simply always going to be a part of space travel because we're constantly pushing ourselves to explore the fringes of reality. I don't think this is meant to imply the UAs are an old relic of human technology that we're just now finding. That isn't to say, however, that no hint exists in that article.
(usual Disclaimer : slap me&ignore post if it all has been considered/done
)
Running one of these "Sealing the Deal" Mysterio-Missions recently and seeing "Data Crystals" being hidden in the Trinkets of Fortune by the Dark Wheel, and remembering the Mysterio-Mission "Obfuscated in the outer Rim" also clearly stated that the Dark Wheel originally owned (again) Data Crystals holding a Map "to the place that isn't a place. The door that is the key."....
I did wonder :
Has someone taken these Missions (now obviously holding something onboard the Ship, even if it's not Cargo with the exception of the SAP-8 container variant - which kinda seem the original source for the "Map Data Cystals" being a crystalline shard in that force-field), and
then conducted experiments on UA reaction & Morse? Into Merope maybe?
The UA damages the Ship, which limits the time available in free space.
The "Mysterio Missions" (Courier) limit the time available by their fairly short Mission timers.
But a 400LY destination or some local 30-40min of Experiments (behavioural studies, Morse recording) would be possible.
As the Dark Wheel is clearly mentioned AND the "Mysterio Missions" AFAIK being widely discarded as
they don't do anything despite being in play since such a long time....
Could it be that these Data Crystals are what the UAs seek?
Did the Dark Wheel steal or take something from some place - and their (Alien?) owners now scan Human Ships and Space in search for what they're missing?
(thinking Horizons : Dark Wheel extracts Cyrstalline Shards from an Alien wreckage on a Planet, extracts Data Crystals and hauls them back into the bubble for analysis. At roughly the same time, UAs pop up. Coincidence?)
Just wondering... what a UA scanning would reveal while one is carrying those non-Cargo Courier Missions and holding what sounds like extracted Data Crystals (holding a Map, right?) apparently from the original SAP-8 canisters.
I bet it's nothing, but seeing those "special missions" popping up everywhere, while most ignore them (no ELITE Rank anyway or tested them to witness no visible results) kept me thinking about them.
And it all being Dark Wheel releated, maybe the Founders world might be a place to test all this as well.
I've always had a feeling the Dark Wheel might have some role to play in the whole UA mystery. I can't prove this though. Just a feeling. Oh and I was already under the impression that UAs have been tested against all objects available in the game?
Hey guys, just thought I would share this video I took.
I was checking out the planets on Horizons and I came across a settlement being guarded by some drones, there was nothing of value here but I heard what sounded similar to a UA come from inside the main structure.
Hope this helps.
https://youtu.be/iJLodqOFlTs
Doesn't sound like a UA to me. It is interesting though.
I can't blame him. It's not very clear what the Mycoid really is. It's an engineered organizm and the exact makeup is not known. It had virulent properties,but is described as a fungus.
Mycologi is the science of fungus.
By the name alone, I'd lean toward it being a fungus.
Just a small sampling of the comments that make me think so (from superthread 3):
The information you offer makes sense with respect to what we ought to expect in Elite. So I think you guys in the Canonn have the right idea that UAs have an effect on stations and that another object can counter act that.
Oh, and I was wondering (I should know this by now) if someone has a UA in a system like a Fed or Imperial system, and I scan that person's ship, doesn't that person become wanted? I only ask because we might be able to slow down the UA trade's effect on stations in certain systems by patrolling those systems. I know people can just hop into Solo and completely circumvent us, but the folks who are die hard Open players will have to take the extra risk into consideration, and may only take it if they have political goals to shut down stations strategically. I'm also going to look into what Lock Down status does to a system. Might be a more efficient means of blockading.
