Personally I like the long distances and travel times. It gives going to remote places across the galaxy seem like an epic journey that needs planning and patience. Indeed I would love to see more resource planning added, like food and water supplied on your ship.
Or course I would like to know there are things out in the black worth finding, beyond what we know already. Things no-one has seen before. Evidence of other past civilisations. Secret colonisation attempts that have been covered up (think Guardians and Exodus respectively). Strange artificial structures with no clues to there origins. Wrecks of old ships with rare technology.
Being able to cross the galaxy quickly would make it seem very small to me, and lose its magic and excitement.
That said.
Having done DW2, and lots of further exploration on the way home, taking in the core again and the Colonia region, on a trip lasting most of last year, I can understand why others might hate this. It is, despite my rosey, adventurous description on exploration, a drag and a grind often. And for those will less time to play, this could be frustrating. I can fully understand that there will be a full range of views and they are all valid.
For me today, I am happy with those distances and times. I would not want jump ranges to get any longer, outside of say some of that afore mentioned rare technology, but I would not want something that to be 'regular gameplay'. Maybe even have such rare things unique, for the lucky explorer who recovers them.
So I hope the distances stay long.
As for what exploration is? I agree much of it is travelling. But I see exploration as travelling with a purpose. Going somewhere to look for something, or to map an regions of space, or to find things. Travelling is moving from this distant outpost to the next distant outpost as quickly as possible. Exploration is spotting something in the star scape, on the way and changing course to go see what it is.
Or course I would like to know there are things out in the black worth finding, beyond what we know already. Things no-one has seen before. Evidence of other past civilisations. Secret colonisation attempts that have been covered up (think Guardians and Exodus respectively). Strange artificial structures with no clues to there origins. Wrecks of old ships with rare technology.
Being able to cross the galaxy quickly would make it seem very small to me, and lose its magic and excitement.
That said.
Having done DW2, and lots of further exploration on the way home, taking in the core again and the Colonia region, on a trip lasting most of last year, I can understand why others might hate this. It is, despite my rosey, adventurous description on exploration, a drag and a grind often. And for those will less time to play, this could be frustrating. I can fully understand that there will be a full range of views and they are all valid.
For me today, I am happy with those distances and times. I would not want jump ranges to get any longer, outside of say some of that afore mentioned rare technology, but I would not want something that to be 'regular gameplay'. Maybe even have such rare things unique, for the lucky explorer who recovers them.
So I hope the distances stay long.
As for what exploration is? I agree much of it is travelling. But I see exploration as travelling with a purpose. Going somewhere to look for something, or to map an regions of space, or to find things. Travelling is moving from this distant outpost to the next distant outpost as quickly as possible. Exploration is spotting something in the star scape, on the way and changing course to go see what it is.
