I'd not class the FSS as the most profound game mechanic ever designed for sure.
I do remember a fair amount of forum suggestions about---
"Some kind of SRV wave scanner like thing, but for space would be nice, so we could seek out the planets instead of them just instantly being revealed" (Paraphrased from many threads of the past)
and also, I don't think the probe thing is the best possible way it could have been done (Personally, I would like it if firing a single probe, mapped that area, and showed you what was in that place - instead of showing nothing until you hit 90%, then everything, binary systems aren't generally that engaging) But I did see an awful lot of---
"Wouldn't it be cool if we could fire probes at the planets to map them? kind of like that mass effect thing? it sucks having to scan entire surfaces by eye, it makes no sense, where is our space tech?" (again paraphrased from many posts I remember)
Previously.
As I say, I'm not convinced these game mechanics are the most well designed things in gaming history, and my personal thoughts on them are many.
I don't think anyone can deny Frontier tried to respond to the general idea of what the player base seemed to be wanting though.
See this is interesting. The Mass Effect thing particularly. I've never played any of those games, but just to clarify, you're saying there was a comparable probe mechanic in Mass Effect? Because if this was raised on these forums then it would as you say be pretty sound evidence that FDev did at least
try to respond to the angry demands for an improvement to exploration.
When the 3 most prolific explorers (according to EDSM) are all saying that the FSS has spoiled exploration then I think it's reasonable to say there's an issue - the issue being that exploration gameplay has been changed at a fundamental level, without any consultation with the playerbase.
That's not logically sound. That the 3 most prolific explorers have said that FSS has spoiled exploration, it's reasonable to say that exploration has changed, sure. And we can see that it's changed in a way that the 3 most prolific explorers don't like. That's as far as that can take us, though. Everything beyond that depends on other assumptions. Is it an issue for the game as an objective experience across the playerbase that these three people aren't enjoying exploration any more? I mean it's sad - for what it's worth I'm not trying to be callous here and I think it's always a shame when someone falls out with something they'd previously enjoyed. But from a logical standpoint the fact that three players don't like a change just isn't evidence in itself that the change is bad. Might be that three other players who do like the FSS will (or maybe have, for all I know) become renowned as the 'three most prolific explorers' in future.
As for 'without consultation with the playerbase', I mean I'm old so I remember the days when games weren't always-online constantly evolving 'live services': they made a game, you bought it, and that was that. You liked it or you didn't. And if you didn't you abandoned it or you took to mods to change it to make it closer to what you liked.
Still, things have changed and now we expect the developer of a game to tailor it to all our individual preferences and satisfy everyone, otherwise they're not doing it right. But even allowing for this weird expectation, the reasoning above doesn't work:
The 3 most prolific explorers have said FSS has spoiled exploration
THEREFORE
There is an issue
AND
That issue is that exploration has changed without consultation.
Doesn't follow.
Well, is it [the game doing well]?
What is the measure of 'doing well'?
I guess the argument against both is similar to having fast SC travel. If someone chooses the fast version they have an ‘advantage’ over someone choosing the slow version.
I’m all for both versions of exploration and SC but I doubt either will happen because there are a lot of people attracted to this game that are against the fast version of things
I can't help but think, not for the first time, that it would've been nice if ED had been single player. Then we could mod it (or in my case use other people's mods) and not have to worry about everyone's copy, everyone's game experience, having to be exactly the same.
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