I made it back from the rim in one peice.

[GraXXoR]

Well people, I finally made it back into the Bubble and have managed to calm down.
For those who don't know, I set off from the bubble on a one man crusade against the Engineers. I had tested them during 2.1 beta and found them... to avoid the wrath of the word filter... lacking...
I had initially just intended to cross the Formidine Rift and wait the impending disaster out, but instead, the trip took on a life of its own.

Setting out on the morning of the 11th of May, 3302, I said goodbye to Sol, perhaps even for the last time, and brimming with anticipation made my to Reorte to start my journey along the Reorte Riedquat line out to the Formidine Rift: Straight as an arrow, and full of pride and bravado.

One week later, I was there. Staring into the Formidine Rift. In silence.
From the vantagepoint of my spartan, minimalist Lakon cockpit, it really wasn't much to look at at all. And as is the way with legends, it didn't live up to the hype and it certainly didn't seem to be the dreaded construct of fear that its name, derived from that ancient Earth language Latin, suggested.

Formidolosus: Formidable, fearful, awful, tremendous.

Laughing at my earlier trepidation, I took my Asp across the invisible boundary and into the Rift.

To Be Continued.

 

[Captain Willard]

GRATS Old Man.

 

[Riverside]

So.. I have to ask:

Does the galaxy now feel small, or did the trip make you realise how big it really is?

 

[GraXXoR]

So.. I have to ask:

Does the galaxy now feel small, or did the trip make you realise how big it really is?

I was blown away by how insanely massive the galaxy is. Over 9,000 jumps in what was, until the Engineers dropped, one of the premium exploration vessels in the entire game with a 34 LY jump range.
TBH, you'd have to have some sort of mental condition to somehow think that the galaxy is small... One thing is though, the bubble of human existence really does look pathetic from 65,000 light years away. And to think that all of the petty squabbling that occurs there, knowing that there are regions of space with tens of times of the volume, completely inaccessible and locked away! We should be cooperating, not threatening a civil war.

 

[jasonbarron]

Congratulations, CMDR! Now turn around and do it again...because the engineers are still here right where you left them

 

[GraXXoR]

Congratulations, CMDR! Now turn around and do it again...because the engineers are still here right where you left them

LOL... Not on your Nelly. Although I may take a quick jaunt out to Jax if something takes my fancy out there.

 

[GospelofTurtle]

Congratulations

Mind if I ask you what the payout was for the data?

 

[Spacecat]

Kudos to you! I tried to fly to the edge and only made it as far as the jellyfish nebula. It was kinda fun, but kinda boring. Right now, I've got my ships upgraded to where I want and am still unlocking engineers, although, to be frank, I have no idea why. It's also kinda fun but kinda boring. In fact, I think that sums up Elite Dangerous: kinda fun, kinda boring.

 

[GraXXoR]

Congratulations

Mind if I ask you what the payout was for the data?

I was too busy doing the Morai and Narcotics CGs so haven't sold it all yet.
I have managed to rank up to level 5 with Elvira and Farseer and also got my Sirius Pass by becoming allied with Sirius Corp.
This whole process has taken 37M worth of honksploration data.

Currently, each page (I believe it's 50 systems) is bringing in 370-800k with most pages being about 450k.

This gives a median of about 9k per system. I scanned somewhere between 9 and 10k systems, so should net me about 80M in total.

I want to sell the rest of my data to Palin but can't seem to get Marko Qwent's invite. Any ideas?

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Kudos to you! I tried to fly to the edge and only made it as far as the jellyfish nebula. It was kinda fun, but kinda boring. Right now, I've got my ships upgraded to where I want and am still unlocking engineers, although, to be frank, I have no idea why. It's also kinda fun but kinda boring. In fact, I think that sums up Elite Dangerous: kinda fun, kinda boring.

The entertainment value of Elite Dangerous is rally hard to put a finger on, isn't it? more of a state of mind than an absolute "WOW WHAT AN EXCITING GAME" kind of fun.
I think this games appeals to OCD types because we can repeat the same activity a thousand times and never actually complete anything.

 

[Spacecat]

Definitely not a game for everybody.

 

[Kylby36]

That's what she said.

 

[RedWarden]

Man this is incredible! Hats off to you...if I was wearing one.

I really want to get out to the Point in my Orca. I'm afraid I'd exceed my 12-14ish jump range and need to backtrack or just come back. Still will try one day soon.

Nice perseverance. Seems like more a mental game, or just stubbornness. O7

 

[GraXXoR]

Man this is incredible! Hats off to you...if I was wearing one.

I really want to get out to the Point in my Orca. I'm afraid I'd exceed my 12-14ish jump range and need to backtrack or just come back. Still will try one day soon.

Nice perseverance. Seems like more a mental game, or just stubbornness. O7

I'm hoping the orcs gets a bit of a buff in 2.2 because it's jump range is amysmal.

I don't think 14LY will cut it. I know that the second to final jump to Beagle Point is 33.4LY so even using the best jumponium you'll need half I.e. 17LY jump range minimum. Time to get engineering.

 

[Noogillim]

Did you go space crazy?

Any thing of any note on the rim to pay a visit to? Or are the mature systems and a little run of the mill?

Fills me with a bit of hope as my DBX has a 34 lyr range.

How much damage did you accumulate?

 

[Evoflash]

Wow! Doesn't get any bigger than this! Did you run in to any problems regarding lack of stars? What about hull condition?

 

[sndle9]

Seriously impressive journey there. I would not be surprised if that's the longest so far by a country mile.
I love the "What's that about a mega CG payout ?" moment
.
Just getting to the core looks like a major undertaking to me but I'll do it some time.

 

[GraXXoR]

Did you go space crazy?

Any thing of any note on the rim to pay a visit to? Or are the mature systems and a little run of the mill?

Fills me with a bit of hope as my DBX has a 34 lyr range.

How much damage did you accumulate?

The outer edge of the end of the arms of the Galaxy are young stars and very uneventful. I think I saw just one neutron star in over 9000 jumps and not a single white dwarf.

There are no nebula to speak of. Very "pedestrian". I cannot recommend it other than as a personal challenge just to say you did it.

Since all the stars are mainly M sequence, it's not a money spinner and the number of rocky worlds is overwhelming to the point hardly worth scanning. I will be lucky to scape 80M together by the time I've handed in all my scans.

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GRATS Old Man.

I've been on the move, you guys are stationary, I wouldn't be surprised if you've aged more than me, old chap.

 

[GraXXoR]

Wow! Doesn't get any bigger than this! Did you run in to any problems regarding lack of stars? What about hull condition?

Thanks. It does sctually get a bit bigger... There are a few players out on the edge at this very moment. They are in unmodded ships and one has been out on the rim for over a year, another guy has scanned 40k systems (I believe he was flying economically), but for some reason, he suddenly jacked it in half way round and you can see he made a bee-line for Jaques station. So I could have said he Jaqued it in, I suppose.... sigh... I've been alone out there too long.

Another CMDR is on about 15k systems in a Cobra MKiii currently scouring the outer edge of the furthest arm of the Galaxy.

I consider myself sensible and came back to the bubble in one piece and after completing my objective and still managed to hit the end of the Morai CG for good measure.


There were some places where I nearly got stranded horribly... the Formidine rift is the first barrier.
The routing computer fails half way across are swathes of unstoppable across which you have to jump frugally to make it to the other side.

Another is the outer arm rift (10 o'clock on the Galaxy "clock") you need about 30 to get across there...

The worst, though, are the Mare Desperationis and the Abyss. I recommend following a prescribed route across the Abyss such as Route 33 (tricky) or the less risky but further Ronceveaux Crossing . The last Kylie is a real bar steward in any case.

As for damage, I made extensive use of my class 5 AFMU to keep everything except the power plant and itself in tip top shape.

I was reasonably careful so I got back with 89 percent hull, 80% AFMU and 84% power plant. No failures.
Hull integrity was 0% when I got back, whatever that means. My paint job was shot to hell. (Photos coming)

Hints:

Tiredness will kill. If you find yourself dropping off, stop. Don't risk it.
Binary stars kill if you try and stop. Best to power through if you find yourself in a star! Use a heat sink only once your temp goes above 120. Below that, the sparks look worse than they are.
Take the biggest baddest fuel scoop you can. 6A in an Asp. Accept no substitute. Sell you house and personal slaves if need be, or your wife and firstborn if you're a Fed.
Source some materials to make as much standard or premium jumponium as you can.
Make sure you have one or two synths worth of materials for your AFMU.
One AFMU is good, two is better, they can repair each other.
SRV is optional. I used mine exactly thrice in three months, twice just to ease the tedium and again for a screenshot at Beagle.
Beware of extra fuel tanks. They can't be switched off and as such impact your maximum jump range plot table by the routing computer.

This last bit is purely anecdotal, follow at own risk:

I was not interdicted on the way back to the bubble. I managed to pick up 3 soontill relics from Ngurii, fly to Shinrarta and pick up my cutter without seeing a single ship.

I had light 5D shields a point defence and a chaff. No weapons.
All three things were wasted, totally unused and I could have had another couple of light years jump range... still, nice to have.

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Seriously impressive journey there. I would not be surprised if that's the longest so far by a country mile.
I love the "What's that about a mega CG payout ?" moment
.
Just getting to the core looks like a major undertaking to me but I'll do it some time.

I'm actually fairly proud of my endeavour and I would never, ever repeat it. Once is more than enough, seriously.

Also, as I mentioned in my previous reply, there are a few commanders out there who may never come back into the bubble.

 

[Noogillim]

Ah tiredness and not concentrating yes this I can vouch for many a star has scorched me - no AFMU here though, currently just tootling up the Orion Spur (spending way to much time tumbling down cliffs!) I wonder if I ought have a rethink on the AFMU? would have to sacrifice second tank though? I have used my shields a few times on ship recall, so personally would not do without them!


Ohh - or do I just say Sod it? and go for it anyway?

Cheers for the insights.

 

[Lendri]

I o7 you sir