I've been searching the Pleiades Nebula for days now (~25 hrs in game time) and I haven't found any evidence that the Large Barnacles exist. I've searched many different environments: hot/cold, moons/planets, day/night, tidally locked, geologically active, low-g/high-g, mountain tops, craters, valleys, canyons... I haven't found ANYTHING remarkable. Just the usual stuff, mesosiderites, bronzite chondrites, occupied escape pods, crashed ships, cans of gold and tea, outposts with datapoints and without... BUT NO BARNACLE SIGN! I've been following the mega thread too, even though it is filled with mostly negative results, useless conjecture and wild speculation,
I'm devastated after investing so much time in the process and it's all been for naught.
The 'Information' and 'Hints' given by Michael Brooks are totally worthless and have an almost taunt-like quality to them. Let's examine some of his statements.
You are guaranteed to find them if you are in the right location.
Let's see here, so we've been assured through the GalNet post that the planets in the Pleaides Nebula should be examined. Thus, the Pleiades Nebula is the right location and after an exhaustive search I have not found a Large Barnacle. So you're guarantee is BROKEN.
I think you'll notice if one is nearby.
So after hitting dozens of planetary surfaces, driving hundreds of kilometers in the SRV, flying countless megameters at low altitude, I have not noticed anything out of the ordinary. If I haven't noticed one, that means I haven't been nearby one. To look for so long, with such care, and to not even get close is positively MADDENING.
And to those asking why nebulae - it's quite logical if you think about it
OMG YOUR SMILEY MAKES ME RAGE. The audacity, to suggest we have enough information from a few tautologies, koans, and the most barebones GalNet post. There is no way we've been given enough of a lead or clue to logically derive the location of one of these large barnacles. We don't know crap about them beyond that A.)they exist B.) they are on a planetary surface in a nebular environ, C.)they may resemble in appearance a barnacle.
I'm starting to think this is just a big joke on the players. Maybe the devs were mad because immediately following the horizons release nobody spent much time on planets, so they initiate this wild goose chase as a way to force people down planetside.
By the way, if this planetary exploration and barnacle hunt has showed me anything, it's how underdeveloped the planet stuff is.
Sufafce Map? What a freakin' joke, a transparent mesh that looks very much identical between every planet/moon (except for outposts/bases, which there is exactly ONE in the whole Pleiades Nebula region)
Geology? Pfffffffthh. I've looked at planets that are supposed to have 'geysers' or 'magma' for volcanism... Never have I seen a single active geyser on the surface. No volcanoes, no cryovolcanoes, no lava, just the same static features across every surface, only difference is gravity and color.
SRV? OH MAN, anybody remember how horrible it was to drive the mako around in Mass Effect 1? This is just as bad if not much worse. All the jouncing even at low speeds makes me ill. The damn SRV can only hold 2 cargo items, so that means multiple trips to the ship if you discover anything of note.
Ship Recall? LAND ON A LEVEL SURFACE YOU DOPEY AUTOPILOT PIECE OF CRAP. At least park in a position that I can board in. I've had to dismiss and re-recall the ship to get it in an accessible position more times than not.
BLARHHGGGG PLEASE KILL ME SO I CAN STOP LOOKING FOR THE PHANTOM BARNACLES!??!?