A simple question really... If you're in it for the money, there is no reason for an explorer to go for detailed surface scans and so forth, even less so to bring an SRV, right? You can explore three more systems in the time to scan a single planet, so why bother when the extra money of a planetary scan is not even comparable to whole systems?
Making a living as an explorer
- Thread starter space voyager
- Start date
I've made about 190 million from exploration (much less than I've made from combat/trading/smuggling) but planets aren't all worth the same amount. Earth like/water worlds/ammonia worlds are always well worth a scan if they're in a reasonable distance from the star. And then there's neutron stars... whole sections of the galaxy full of them that can be scanned on each jump using "economical mode" to create routes full of them...
As for an SRV, most explorers take one because:
A: It's fun and breaks up the journey to zip about in an SRV for a bit.
B: Synthesized jump range, if you want to reach hard to get to areas in your ship you need special materials that can only be gathered on planet surfaces.
Aside from the initial outfitting, exploration doesn't require any money at all, so it's actually really easy to make a living...get a cheap ship and go 
DINGDINGDING we have a winner
And fortunately, explorers really don't need that much money. Once one gets the initial outlay for a well equipped exploration vessel, upkeep costs are very minimal compared to other professions. Careful flying, and the only expense would be ship integrity, and even fixing that is optional...especially with mindful and careful flying.
CR are just a side effect of exploring, but that being said, 1/10th of my entire total as been from detailed scans of nothing but ELWs. (100,000,000 CR) give or take a few here and there...
As I recall, my Asp Explorer was somewhere in the 25M Credit area. Once I'd got that (HiRES zones mostly) the I was off in the black and haven't had to earn a credit since, except what I get by looking at beautiful scenery. Which is now somewhere north of 40M Cr.
I made Cr363m early on by exploring, set me up for further play. However I did not set out to do it to make money as that took me four months, and I have made a further CR500m in the bubble in about half that time (not even trying that hard to be honest).
If you are a terrible pilot like me, you will need SRV, and two AFMU's otherwise you will be unable to repair your ship which will get damaged by careless flying.
You ask why scan planets? Depends on what you like, I like name tags on planets. Especially sexy planets.
If you are a terrible pilot like me, you will need SRV, and two AFMU's otherwise you will be unable to repair your ship which will get damaged by careless flying.
You ask why scan planets? Depends on what you like, I like name tags on planets. Especially sexy planets.
I did make few hundred k (well, maybe about half a million) from exploration very early on, first with sidey, then with adder, then with cobra. But I'll admit, I fitted the cobra rather quickly for 'rares trading' (this was a thing back in the day) and grinded those credits... first for adv. scanner, then did some more exploring, earned maybe a million, bought a T6 and did rares trading and regular trading until I could afford Asp.
But after that it's been almost exclusively exploration. With the exception of 22M credits I've dug with my miner python, but that's mostly been just for relaxation in-between trips :>
But after that it's been almost exclusively exploration. With the exception of 22M credits I've dug with my miner python, but that's mostly been just for relaxation in-between trips :>
That is just obscene, respect for the dedication! I was following your ELW hunts, but 21 weeks play time? Impressive
I was afraid you guys would confirm my ''new findings''. I would love it much more if detailed scans and especially SRV would actually mean the most of the income.
And for AFMU refill.
Time is an illusion. Play time doubly so.
You can make a lot of money ferrying high-paying passengers around local to the Bubble - within a Kylie or two - but it's not really *exploring* as such. The payouts for the longer trips are larger, but that advantage is more than offset by the greatly increased travel time. Nevertheless, if you're going in a particular direction anyway you might as well bring a passenger along if you can spare the space and the mass.
You forgot C: Making cool screenshots
If you really want to make money 'fast' plot a course of some 500 ly and travel with economical jumps. Then go back to your starting point. Repeat. Repeat. ...
Or go for the neutron fields and do the above. It's 'faster'.
Or massacre ships and pretend they withheld exploration data from Stellar Cartographics and reap the benefits
So I found myself in a slightly poetic frame of mind this morning (never a good thing) and I'm afraid I'm going to have to inflict this on you all:
For those of us who roam the black,
It's a different kind of life.
Not for us the lure of trade,
Or combateers and strife.
We surf the winds of nameless suns,
And bask in neutron beams.
We gaze in awe at vistas raw,
And sights that none have seen.
We pierce the veil of nebulas,
To see what they conceal.
We hear the lure of 'one more jump',
And see what is revealed.
And one day we may not return,
And our ship be never found.
A tangled mass of metal,
On some cold and alien ground.
But 'till that day we'll live the life,
And journey more and more,
For we are those that call ourselves,
Explorers evermore!
For those of us who roam the black,
It's a different kind of life.
Not for us the lure of trade,
Or combateers and strife.
We surf the winds of nameless suns,
And bask in neutron beams.
We gaze in awe at vistas raw,
And sights that none have seen.
We pierce the veil of nebulas,
To see what they conceal.
We hear the lure of 'one more jump',
And see what is revealed.
And one day we may not return,
And our ship be never found.
A tangled mass of metal,
On some cold and alien ground.
But 'till that day we'll live the life,
And journey more and more,
For we are those that call ourselves,
Explorers evermore!
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Cherry picking and neutron farming both out-earn honk-n-jump.
But as others have said: if you're exploring for money, you're doing it wrong.