400+ Billion Stars but to what end?

N-Zed

N-Zed
Do you think we will ever explore all 400+B stars in the ED galaxy? I wonder to what end that ceases to be a selling point and turns into a detriment. Lot of space for a lot of nothing to happen in. Is there inherent value in touting such a high number of PG stars in the virtual sky? Is it the notion that you could maybe, possibly be the one to see that one spec of space before any one or ever again? How do we as players not get ourselves dispersed, lost and ultimately unphased by that vastness of untapped space when most of our interactions require instanced and generated interactions with other humans / NPCs to advance?

To what end does it matter how big this place really is? :eek:
 
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Emanon

E
For the simple fact that we can get lost in the edges of space and never see another human in its vastness beauty is a reason to celebrate its brilliance. Most games don't give you this kind of freedom!
 

Ulysses_W

Ulysses_W
CMDRJollyMan said:
Do you think we will ever explore all 400+B stars in the ED galaxy? I wonder to what end that ceases to be a selling point and turns into a detriment. Lot of space for a lot of nothing to happen in. Is there inherent value in touting such a high number of PG stars in the virtual sky? Is it the notion that you could maybe, possibly be the one to see that one spec of space before any one or ever again? How do we as players not get ourselves dispersed, lost and ultimately unphased by that vastness of untapped space when most of our interactions require instanced and generated interactions with other humans / NPCs to advance?

To what end does it matter how big this place really is? :eek:
Click to expand...

Yes, it does matter. New players coming into the game a year or two (and even later) from now will also be able to explore unexplored systems.

How cool is that?
 

Mikalus

Mikalus
CMDRJollyMan said:
Do you think we will ever explore all 400+B stars in the ED galaxy? I wonder to what end that ceases to be a selling point and turns into a detriment. Lot of space for a lot of nothing to happen in. Is there inherent value in touting such a high number of PG stars in the virtual sky? Is it the notion that you could maybe, possibly be the one to see that one spec of space before any one or ever again? How do we as players not get ourselves dispersed, lost and ultimately unphased by that vastness of untapped space when most of our interactions require instanced and generated interactions with other humans / NPCs to advance?

To what end does it matter how big this place really is? :eek:
Click to expand...

To whatever end we wish I suppose :)
 

WalterHWhite

WalterHWhite
The way it's built, 30M, 300M, 3B, 30B, 300B, 3 trllion wouldn't matter all that much. 300B is an accurate estimate of how many stars are in our real galaxy.
 

nexxo

N
It's got 400 billion stars because the real galaxy has 400 billion stars. They were not created with a purpose in mind either, AFAIK. :p
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No other space sim conveys the unimaginable vastness of space and also its unimaginable beauty. You can set off and fly for weeks, if not months, on a solitary journey and suddenly come across a sight that is so unexpectedly beautiful that it leaves you speechless. And nobody has seen it but you. These procedurally crafted systems lay dormant in the server, possibly never to become shape and light on a screen; to remain undiscovered and unwitnessed forever, just some unknown bytes in a machine. But you found them; only you, and like a waveform collapsing under your observation their quantum state shifted from bytes to pixels and blazed into being. Their sight is yours alone. They dance for no one but you.
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It is as close as you can get to what it must feel like to explore the stars. For that alone Elite Dangerous is not just a game; it is a work of art.
 
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N-Zed

N-Zed
Maybe my general concern is how the players themselves fit into the expansive setting. Am I missing the whole point? Are we supposed to be bottles in the ocean hoping to may be find another being, or remain alone? It is very cool to see the scale mock up of our own Milkyway, can't say I don't have a soft spot for Andromeda and Sol, however span so far out and unless there is some incredible things happening out there - like none ever seen before in local systems, what benefit to the players is it to expand outwardly and ultimately thin itself out?
 
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DogTailRed2

D
nexxo said:
It's got 400 billion stars because the real galaxy has 400 billion stars. They were not created with a purpose in mind either, AFAIK. :p
.
No other space sim conveys the unimaginable vastness of space and also its unimaginable beauty. You can set off and fly for weeks, if not months, on a solitary journey and suddenly come across a sight that is so unexpectedly beautiful that it leaves you speechless. And nobody has seen it but you. These procedurally crafted pixels lay dormant in the server, possibly never to become shape and light on a screen; to remain undiscovered and unwitnessed forever, just some unknown bytes in a machine. But you found them; only you, and for this moment they are yours alone. They dance for no one but you.
.
It is as close as you can get to what it must feel like to explore the stars. For that alone Elite Dangerous is not just a game; it is a work of art.
Click to expand...

Maybe I lack your romanticism but I always think the system I am currently in is just a computer generated alteration of the last.
 

Rhaedas

Rhaedas
It's there to be used or stay unexplored. We all start off in the same area of the galaxy, at its scale literally we're on the same spot, so finding people initially isn't the problem, getting away from them often is.

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DogTailRed2 said:
Maybe I lack your romanticism but I always think the system I am currently in is just a computer generated alteration of the last.
Click to expand...

Well the real galaxy is just a bunch of hydrogen, a little helium, and some traces of other junk. So yeah, it's accurate.
 

Perjoss

Perjoss
nexxo said:
It's got 400 billion stars because the real galaxy has 400 billion stars. They were not created with a purpose in mind either, AFAIK. :p
.
No other space sim conveys the unimaginable vastness of space and also its unimaginable beauty. You can set off and fly for weeks, if not months, on a solitary journey and suddenly come across a sight that is so unexpectedly beautiful that it leaves you speechless. And nobody has seen it but you. These procedurally crafted systems lay dormant in the server, possibly never to become shape and light on a screen; to remain undiscovered and unwitnessed forever, just some unknown bytes in a machine. But you found them; only you, and like a waveform collapsing under your observation their quantum state shifted from bytes to pixels and blazed into being. Their sight is yours alone. They dance for no one but you.
.
It is as close as you can get to what it must feel like to explore the stars. For that alone Elite Dangerous is not just a game; it is a work of art.
Click to expand...

hit me right in the feels

...

I'm hoping that in some form or another they add reasons for non explorers to go travelling far out, like maybe some insane resource rich planet about 300 ly away from any current station causes some interest in that area, and some of the existing organisations set up shop there and build stations in a 2 or 3 system cluster. I think it would make for some interesting trade routes.
 
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Tenshi

Tenshi
CMDRJollyMan said:
Do you think we will ever explore all 400+B stars in the ED galaxy? I wonder to what end that ceases to be a selling point and turns into a detriment. Lot of space for a lot of nothing to happen in. Is there inherent value in touting such a high number of PG stars in the virtual sky? Is it the notion that you could maybe, possibly be the one to see that one spec of space before any one or ever again? How do we as players not get ourselves dispersed, lost and ultimately unphased by that vastness of untapped space when most of our interactions require instanced and generated interactions with other humans / NPCs to advance?

To what end does it matter how big this place really is? :eek:
Click to expand...

The idea is that the background simulation will begin to look at exploration data and depending on the factions that it is sold to we will begin to see them move into new areas of space. This will create new missions to run supplies to the new outposts and space stations being built.

Also out there will be special asteroids that can be turned into play space stations and used a base of operations to work from. Players will never be able to own systems like they can in Eve Online but they will be able to own outpost type stations. This feature is a long way off for the moment though so don't expect it to soon.
 

xtridence

X
Ulysses_W said:
Yes, it does matter. New players coming into the game a year or two (and even later) from now will also be able to explore unexplored systems.

How cool is that?
Click to expand...

I'd prefer to actually play and explore together with other players than 400 billion stars...

If reducing the amount of stars down to 1 billion it would be already enough. Or even a half - or just a million. As consequence: Speed up the system.

Also, good to know: LHS 3447 gets client sided performance issues because of the amount of players crowding around / inside a station like Ackerman...

I'll not ticket it, since there should be - as in many other companies - a proper bug report / tracker available and a few guys reviewing the forums. It's not like Frontier is a start-up company.
 
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