From True Explorer to Tourist

I used to be a True Explorer, but since restarting on PC I've become a not-so-true Tourist. This means that I'm purposefully exploring the Bubble itself, without caring about my name on discovery or mapped tags or making zillions of credits through Stellar Cartography. In some ways, tourism is very different than "true" exploration, but in other ways it is very similar.

For example, I still use the FSS to discover (for myself) any planets that aren't automatically resolved in the FSS. Even if a system is fully resolved, I still use the FSS to look for interesting objects like probes, generation ships, etc. In this regards the way I'm doing tourism is similar to the exploring I used to do outside the Bubble. I'm also using the "Visited Systems" filter in the Galaxy Map to fully survey regions inside the Bubble. Right now I'm working from Sol and expanding outwards, visiting all systems, including those uninhabited ones. I've already found a beacon leading to a generation ship using this method, and that was quite fun. Speaking of, I'm avoiding 3rd party tools to find things - I don't want spoilers! I know generation ships and other oddities are out there, but I want to stumble across them myself.

In the more "mundane" populated systems, I'm looking at the system map and navigation panel to appreciate the names of stations, unique planets with unique features, and other goodies found in the Bubble. I'm taking time to read planet and system descriptions that vary from the generic, which gives many systems a "personality". I even pay attention to factions in each system (Smiling Moose, LOL).

I'm visiting random installations to experience the various developer-created assets that are in the Bubble. I've come across some amazing structures, megaships, bases, etc. I've seen things in the last couple of weeks that I hadn't in my two years on PS4. So Frontier, I'm seeing your hand-crafted assets and appreciate them!

Another advantage of being a tourist rather than a deep-space explorer is that it's easy to switch between exploring and other modes of gameplay like bounty hunting and trading. Just running missions for the BGS allows me to be a tourist as those missions send me to different systems.

Now I'm not saying I won't ever go back out into deep space again, but having put my name on a countless number of systems between the rim and the Colonia on my PS4 accounts (OneOldDuck & Jenny Diver), I feel I've pretty much exhausted that type of exploration for a long time to come. There are plenty of wonders to be found in and around the Bubble, including cool planets and solar systems and stellar phenomena, so I just don't feel the need to "go where no man has gone before" these days. Now I'm focusing on going where no "Old Duck" has gone before, which is the majority of the Bubble and surrounding systems.
 

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True Explorer

Someone has to say it: Take a drink! :D

Kidding aside, that's actually pretty awesome. There's a lot to see around the bubble, for obvious reasons. It may not be unexplored deep space, but there's a lot of cool stuff to find. I've had some lengthy times spent in the bubble for similar reasons too. Visiting the Voyager probes before the FSS (the hard way) was kinda fun, for instance. And the generation ships all have their neat little stories attached to them. Bubble tourism is actually pretty fun too.
 
Not all that much exploration left in game in the broader sense, I suppose. I've still had some fun finding routes to places now and then not flying more meta focused ships and that sort of thing.

Even the Exploration rank itself starting out was just a nice incentive, but by the time I got Elite it didn't mean much to me anymore.

Of course there's more data out there; count the number of pebbles in this lot of the beach after focusing them in on the dial and whatnot.

Well, I'm still out in the black anyway. Maybe I just like the space, or maybe I'm waiting for something better to come along that isn't just a new "grind" back in the bubble.

—WR3ND, The Deranged Space Hermit Vagabond
 
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I must confess, as someone who loves the FSS in some contexts, I've grown tired of having to throttle down and open it every single jump just to see if there's something unique in the system I might be interested in. Why Frontier refuses to put the radio histogram on our HUD is beyond me. We have this stupid Analysis Mode we're forced to use as our HUD, yet it doesn't give us any analysis data!

As for rank, starting over has "cured" me of chasing Elite. I just don't care about that anymore. The only rank I care about at this point is my Federation rank so I can unlock a Corvette someday in the distant future. I may never see Shinrarta on the PC!
 
While not a bubble tourist as you describe the same change in attitude has taken me over when I'm in the Deep. Honestly it wasn't the Elite tag, it was the cash, and not shy to say so. Once I knew I could buy, test, and swap out engineering and upgrades without using my milk money my whole attitude changed. Now, while in the Deep, the urge to squeeze every credit possible out of every jump is gone and I'm having blast just pointing 'that-a-way' and hitting the gas.
 
So right now I'm focusing on uninhabited systems in a region of the Bubble (I'm looking for something), and I'm finding systems with interesting names but nothing else. For example, Marcov's Point. I'm here, and I don't see the "point", LOL. Is there any story or lore for these systems with strange names but nothing else? I even scanned every signal hoping to find something "interesting", but there's nothing but the generic degraded emissions.
 
I think a lot of the names are generated based on a pool of listed possibilities without much or any in-game context, similar to many of the station names. Better than random numbers and letters at least, and has some RP potential.
 
So right now I'm focusing on uninhabited systems in a region of the Bubble (I'm looking for something), and I'm finding systems with interesting names but nothing else. For example, Marcov's Point. I'm here, and I don't see the "point", LOL. Is there any story or lore for these systems with strange names but nothing else? I even scanned every signal hoping to find something "interesting", but there's nothing but the generic degraded emissions.
This has come up before, and it was one of the few times when developers posted in this subforum. See this thread: looks like they are either rewards for competition winners, or memorials.
 
I found my second generation ship, all by myself with no help outside the game. This is why I don't consider myself a "true" tourist, since I'm still exploring rather than just looking up all the tourist spots online. It's the best of both worlds! (Speaking of, no spoilers please!)

I particularly like the backdrop of this ship.
 

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Every time I head back to the bubble I feel this way and yet here I am back on the rim trying to find where I'm going
I just created an account on EDSM, and now I'm feeling this nagging pull to go "out there" somewhere so I can get some first discoveries in this database. It would probably just be a quick day (or week) trip.
 
Now this is a nice idea.

I'm totally going to start doing this myself I think. Since I got back from DW2 I've been doing a bit of engineering, visiting Thargoid bases and the like. But there is a lot of stuff in the bubble I just haven't seen, or gone looking for. I'm hoping to get my first VR headset in the next month, so this may be a brilliant project to combine with the new gear. :)

As far as exploration for EDSM goes - just go for it. You need to do a bit of travel to unlock some of the engineers anyway. Combine them all into one happy trip.
 
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