Now I remember why...

[Werewolf13]

NOTE: this is not meant to be a slam on miners or anyone that enjoys it. Gotta respect you guys that do it - goal oriented and with the patience of Job that probably makes y'all very successful in ED (and real life). Kudos to you all. Respect.

Anyway - on with the story:

In the last 3 years (until two days ago) I'd only done a planetary landing ONCE. I mentioned that in another thread where I asked some specifics about SRV handling. Helpful thread.

But I digress. Now I remember why it's only been once. Last two days I've spent a number of hours on two different planets - both researched on EDDB.io - hunting down Arsenic, Selenium and Technetium (the highest % of which was As at 2.6% on one of 'em and 1.6% on the other).

Found some sufur and phosphorus, 1 piece of ruthenium, some chromium, some iron and that's it. THAT's - IT! Combined time to find it over 5 hours. Never even sniffed a meteorite or that other thing that holds the good stuff; just the bronzite things.

Searched inside craters - and was amazed that FD got the geometry/geology of craters right. [up] Material wise - Nada. Searched on the plains. Found one site with 2 bronzite chondrites(?) real close together - ehhhnh. Ran across an active site with 3 skimmers and 4 defense turrets guarding it. It was unoccupied by anyone and the turrets and drones were all wanted and worth a thousand credit bounty each. No experience with SRV combat at all - I gave 'em a pass rather than risk getting blown up for some unknown goodies. Besides, I'm an honest trader and an ethical bounty hunter, not a dang thief. (though after this morning I gave serious consideration to visiting a few anarchy systems and relieving any combat ships I see of their material goodies by blowing 'em into the next parallel universe).

At first it was kind'a fun driving the SRV around but that got old so I tried some jumping and all that did was cause hull damage.

So - long story short - the engineers that want those rare materials that take hours and hours and hours and hours and hours... to find can go suck it. If I ever get a Corvette or Cutter and there's even a tiny chance in hades of blowing their bases into that place (I know there's no chance but a guys gotta do what a guys gotta do) it's gonna happen and I hope that some ancestors of who ever developed the silly guild rules the engineers follow are right there in the base with 'em.

I only hope that one of those Materials Traders I've heard rumors of in the Horny Unicorn at Melnick Ring are correct.

Again to all you guys that love roamin' the planetary wastes and shootin' at rocks - [up] [big grin]. You deserve it.

 

[Genus]

Don't you need mats to swap for other mats at these Brokers?

I've heard you're unable to buy mats from brokers...is that the case?

 

[mikekim]

I think the problem is that you need some instruction on how the wave scanner works in a srv..

I've just started a new commander (using a sidewinder only) and have spent about 3 hours (since starting) on the planet surface and have a couple of hundred materials.

Best bet would be to watch some YouTube videos on how to prospect using the srv.

 

[Werewolf13]

Don't you need mats to swap for other mats at these Brokers?

I've heard you're unable to buy mats from brokers...is that the case?

Haven't heard a lot about it. If they truly are traders one would imagine that it might take 2 grade 1's to get a grade 2 and so on. Or I hope tha's the way it is anyway. I've got more grade 1 thru 3's than I know what to do with. Barely need 'em. I'd trade 'em all to get those 4's and 5's I need.

 

[Genus]

Haven't heard a lot about it. If they truly are traders one would imagine that it might take 2 grade 1's to get a grade 2 and so on. Or I hope tha's the way it is anyway. I've got more grade 1 thru 3's than I know what to do with. Barely need 'em. I'd trade 'em all to get those 4's and 5's I need.

Yeah, I think we're going to get a repeat of the last two weeks of frustration all over again on these boards when the Beta gets thrown over the wall.

A Broker who doesn't like credits you say? Well that makes perfect sense.

lol

 

[S~P]

I always thought the engineers was dumb. If you take your car in for service you wouldn't expect them to turn round and say they need you to go fetch the new tyres, the can of oil etc. That comes into the price... So why can't we just throw a billion credits at him and just say pimp my ride for me!!!!

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

Haven't heard a lot about it. If they truly are traders one would imagine that it might take 2 grade 1's to get a grade 2 and so on. Or I hope tha's the way it is anyway. I've got more grade 1 thru 3's than I know what to do with. Barely need 'em. I'd trade 'em all to get those 4's and 5's I need.

FD are doing it with an exchange rate of 6 grade 1s to get a grade 2.

So if you were to fill up all your 100 allocation of grade 1s (C,Fe,Ni,P,S), you could trade it all for 2 grade 4 elements. (edit - plus change, I did round down)

Fun times ahead.

 

[Spandexxx]

5 hours sounds a long time. Even allowed for you getting shafted by the RNG you should have found plenty in that time. As above, maybe watch some instructional videos on the wavescanner. I am NOT a patient man and I invariably find what I need before I either 1/ Smash up my SRV or 2/ Get bored. That's gotta be no longer than an hour. Maybe two.

 

[Genus]

FD are doing it with an exchange rate of 6 grade 1s to get a grade 2.

So if you were to fill up all your 100 allocation of grade 1s (C,Fe,Ni,P,S), you could trade it all for 2 grade 4 elements. (edit - plus change, I did round down)

Fun times ahead.

Yeah.

Genius.

 

[CapitanAceRimmer]

This song site should help you:
http://www.wavescanner.net

Look for mesosiderite or metallic meteorites

 

[Alex Brentnall]

I always thought the engineers was dumb. If you take your car in for service you wouldn't expect them to turn round and say they need you to go fetch the new tyres, the can of oil etc. That comes into the price... So why can't we just throw a billion credits at him and just say pimp my ride for me!!!!

Because every game has a "money can't buy" aspect. Elite has ranks for ships and engineer materials. With all the exploits and everything else for credits at least engineering still has a "value", you know someone with a modded ship has put the time in.

The lore says these Engineers are insanely rich and have effectively bought a planet so cash is meaningless to them. They need materials for their upgrades and their base so effectively they are getting to tinker about like mad scientists testing things. It's like Elon Musk saying he'll adjust your rocket engines if you bring him the engines and tools + materials to do the job. It's a bit of fun for him, not a job. He cba to source the materials + tools but if it's there in front of him he will enjoy playing about and seeing what he can do.

 

[Werewolf13]

Based on what the guys who are obviously beta testers have stated one wonders if the FD Devs might not need to look up the word TRADE in the dictionary.

Here: I'll make it easy for them.

Definition of trade

1a (1) : the business of buying and selling or bartering commodities : commerce
(2) : business, market

• novelties for the tourist trade

• did a good trade in small appliances

: dealings between persons or groups

The operative words being buying, selling and ​barter.

 

[Vasious]

Also not all materials are tradable. Some you HAVE to go find for yourself or get from a mission. (See top-right of the panel)
https://i.imgur.com/dsvfTPZ.jpg

And the manufactured materials and data can generally speaking only be traded within the same class. You can do heat exchangers for heat dispersion plates, but not Core Dynamics composites (there are a few exceptions to this rule).

Check the actual Broker and you will find you can trade for Core Dynamics composites

 

[krylite]

You were either unlucky, or missed out on the mesdiorites and metallic meteorites. Per the wavescanner link mentioned above, there's a distinctive sound to them different from the bronzites chondrites. It usually takes me only one to two hours on any roving session to start coming across enough mesidiorites and plenty of arsenic, tungsten etc. Also when you come across one, there's often a chance there's another rock close to 100m nearby increasing your chances.

 

[frostypaw]

Were you listening to music or to just the game/wavescanner? It's very much an audio thing

 

[Shiro Akai]

So why can't we just throw a billion credits at him and just say pimp my ride for me!!!!

Because it doesn't involve time aspect (like everything in game).

New feature SHOULD be equally accessible for everyone. If you would throw something like engineering and set it for accepting credits only the following would happen:
fat whales and other billionaires would just go there, dump few metric tones of credits on top of engineer and within 15 minutes leave with godly engineered ship. To never return again.

Next day forum would be flooded, from both sides:
- poor people complaining how they are "forced" to farm billions (and how it takes ages with current payouts)
- fat whales and billionaires would complain how "big" feature lasts one evening and there's nothing to do
- some semi-wealthy would complain how it's unfair since they lack enough credits to engineer their ships to compete with whales
- rich PvPers would say , l2p and git gud.

Resource gathering. Is. Necessary.

Just - make it common so you can trip on them. Materials should be everywhere, easily available so it doesn't feel like mindless and rewardless grind.

 

[Werewolf13]

Were you listening to music or to just the game/wavescanner? It's very much an audio thing

Wavescanner. Watched a video about that very thing before landing on the 1st planet. Never got the meteorite or that other good sound. Just the cricket chirping of the bronzite. And with 3D sound I could tell where the chirping was coming from and kept it centered on my monitor. Wandered around for many hours. Only thing I ever found was the bronzites.

 

[Clifra Jones]

Wavescanner. Watched a video about that very thing before landing on the 1st planet. Never got the meteorite or that other good sound. Just the cricket chirping of the bronzite. And with 3D sound I could tell where the chirping was coming from and kept it centered on my monitor. Wandered around for many hours. Only thing I ever found was the bronzites.

As people have said, you need to LISTEN to the wave scanner and recognize the sound for what you are looking for. There is a different sound for different objects. Even man-made object.

If you are not finding what you need at the site where you landed then go find another site.

Fly above 2K
Set radar to max range
You are looking for the blue circle

Oh, and I usually land my ship somewhere near the center of the blue circle and try and judge how far I've driven in order to not leave the circle. (If you go to far from your ship it will dismiss itself)

 

[frostypaw]

Wavescanner. Watched a video about that very thing before landing on the 1st planet. Never got the meteorite or that other good sound. Just the cricket chirping of the bronzite. And with 3D sound I could tell where the chirping was coming from and kept it centered on my monitor. Wandered around for many hours. Only thing I ever found was the bronzites.

That seems very unfortunate. Never had it take that long to find mats. The zingy metallic noise takes a little practise to spot when it's quiet though.

You are looking for the blue circle

These are for POIs not meteors/outcrops that have mats.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Don't you need mats to swap for other mats at these Brokers?

I've heard you're unable to buy mats from brokers...is that the case?

That is the case. They do not Sell materials. They trade one kind for another kind.

That said...

Finding materials is not that difficult under normal circumstances. One part is knowing what you're looking for and checking the system maps to see where this might be found, and getting some idea how often it might be found.

Let's talk Technetium... since I did have to put in some time in the beta looking for this*, here's my findings:

1. Once a suitable planet had been located (.8% Technetium), I had to figure out where I wanted to start looking. I picked a crater with a huge central mound. I landed on the west side of this, and started driving around. A few km out, I started picking things on my wave scanner. Outcrops mostly. These usually don't drop anything terribly interesting, but I shot them anyways. As expected, nothing interesting.
I drove on, looking and listening. Found a few Bronzites - these also rare contain anything interesting, but I shot them anyways. One dropped 1 Technetium. A short distance later, 2 Mesosoderites or w/e they are, they start with an "M". These have better chances of giving up good items. Picked up 2 Technetium from 3 maybe 4 of these. Then I hit a nice spot, in some bumpy terrain with 3 Metallic Meteorites 1, 3 and 5 Technetium from these, as Metallic Meteorite usually give up the best stuff.

2. I also tried shooting asteroids and various ring-rocks. Got a lot of everything but.

3. * from above - Technetium was missing from the beta initially, but was added back in, and did, indeed, spawn in places it was normally found.

4. If you don't find what you're looking for, or the type of rocks you need to find it in:

a. Pick a different location on the same planet, at least 5 full seconds flight time from where you were.
b. If you're on flat ground, look for a crater, ravine or valley. These often contain other kinds of rocks.
c. If you're still not finding what you're looking for, find a world with some manner of volcanic activity - be it Ice or Water geysers or Lava Spouts, and find the fields where these are occur. Around these areas you will find various "new" rocks (Piecious Cobble) as well as various Crystal formations (Crystal Fragment, Needle Crystals and Crystal Clusters). These tend to contain better items - especially Needle and Cluster formations. This has saved me countless hours of looking for odds and ends.

It rarely takes me more than 10-15 minutes of cruising around shooting rocks to find what I'm looking for on any given planet - Except Polonium... I almost never find Polonium.