I agree with the complaints of many people here. I was there from the beginning but only ever tried it in solo due to lack of time, so I completely relate to the frustrations. I kind of gave up after about three attempts (on release and post 2.3, when it was STILL broken but not as badly) and only ever really made about 40M in total. However, I do see some slight sense to FDev cutting the reward. The 200M payout was at a time when nothing was known, everything had to be mapped and all the different site variations and combos understood.
Now, thanks to the efforts of many pioneers, there are some excellent tools (notably Canonn's) that make it incredibly straightforward to do and therefore devalue the sense of doing it. At the end of the day it is nothing more than a major grind, which is really my issue with the whole campaign once it was found to be bugged. In all reality, for what was essentially a headline feature of an add-on that people paid good money for, nothing has really come of it. Yes we got some cool lore to read through but the sites themselves have not changed one iota in all that time; compare that to the gradual progression with the Thargoid story arc.
It would have been nice if FDev had added some variety or further intrigue over time, or just given more purpose to the whole point of these ruins being in the game! After all, we still don't fully understand how the exiles played into the bigger picture (is that REALLY the SKAUDIA sector?) nor how large the Guardian bubble is, nor even where a potential homeworld is. Even some clues via Galnet articles or in-game mechanics like USSs would have helped flesh things out more. Maybe it will all be revisited as part of the Thargoid arc (seeing as there is a conflict between the two races' tech) but I have my doubts personally.
I can only hope that the way that whole farce unfolded after 2.3 has taught FDev some very valuable lessons, not least about Quality Assurance, which will serve to benefit future game content down the road.
Now, thanks to the efforts of many pioneers, there are some excellent tools (notably Canonn's) that make it incredibly straightforward to do and therefore devalue the sense of doing it. At the end of the day it is nothing more than a major grind, which is really my issue with the whole campaign once it was found to be bugged. In all reality, for what was essentially a headline feature of an add-on that people paid good money for, nothing has really come of it. Yes we got some cool lore to read through but the sites themselves have not changed one iota in all that time; compare that to the gradual progression with the Thargoid story arc.
It would have been nice if FDev had added some variety or further intrigue over time, or just given more purpose to the whole point of these ruins being in the game! After all, we still don't fully understand how the exiles played into the bigger picture (is that REALLY the SKAUDIA sector?) nor how large the Guardian bubble is, nor even where a potential homeworld is. Even some clues via Galnet articles or in-game mechanics like USSs would have helped flesh things out more. Maybe it will all be revisited as part of the Thargoid arc (seeing as there is a conflict between the two races' tech) but I have my doubts personally.
I can only hope that the way that whole farce unfolded after 2.3 has taught FDev some very valuable lessons, not least about Quality Assurance, which will serve to benefit future game content down the road.
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