Horizons A Great Exploration Experience

[Valo56]

So I went back and started playing EVE (I can already feel your patience with me wearing thin), and tried out some exploring... It made me sad. No, not because it was boring, unrewarding or anything like that. Quite the opposite.


I had fun with something as simple as exploring. Wandering into random wormholes with my crappy Imicus, hoping that my cloaking device is enough to keep me hidden from any players in the area, working with a friend to quickly loot everything in a site and scan down the next one.


It made me sad because I recalled how insanely boring ED exploration is. I really, really hope that they add more content for explorers to do out there in Elite: Dangerous. FSD into a system, scan it, check the map and then jump out or stand there scanning more planets (if you think it's worth it,) just isn't fun. What is supposed to be venturing into the unknown and an exciting and dangerous profession is anything but that in ED.


I may not have been making "discoveries" like finding earthlike worlds or systems remarkably similar to our own or black holes or anything like that.. though at the end of the day those things seem, to me at least, like novelties in ED. You get a few extra credits and your name on a system that, odds are, no one is ever going to visit anyway, much less care about other than perhaps a twinge of annoyance that they in turn were not able to explore it for the first time. It just feels like ED is sitting on a goldmine of potential content here for explorers in particular but it's not being utilized, at all. Instead whenever I go out and try to explore it winds up being more boring than me going out and mining.

I'm sure I'll get a lot of hate for this, and no shortage of people saying "JUST GO PLAY EVE YOU SCUM!" but.. I sort of am already, lol

 

[Alex Brentnall]

So I went back and started playing EVE (I can already feel your patience with me wearing thin), and tried out some exploring... It made me sad. No, not because it was boring, unrewarding or anything like that. Quite the opposite.


I had fun with something as simple as exploring. Wandering into random wormholes with my crappy Imicus, hoping that my cloaking device is enough to keep me hidden from any players in the area, working with a friend to quickly loot everything in a site and scan down the next one.


It made me sad because I recalled how insanely boring ED exploration is. I really, really hope that they add more content for explorers to do out there in Elite: Dangerous. FSD into a system, scan it, check the map and then jump out or stand there scanning more planets (if you think it's worth it,) just isn't fun. What is supposed to be venturing into the unknown and an exciting and dangerous profession is anything but that in ED.


I may not have been making "discoveries" like finding earthlike worlds or systems remarkably similar to our own or black holes or anything like that.. though at the end of the day those things seem, to me at least, like novelties in ED. You get a few extra credits and your name on a system that, odds are, no one is ever going to visit anyway, much less care about other than perhaps a twinge of annoyance that they in turn were not able to explore it for the first time. It just feels like ED is sitting on a goldmine of potential content here for explorers in particular but it's not being utilized, at all. Instead whenever I go out and try to explore it winds up being more boring than me going out and mining.

I'm sure I'll get a lot of hate for this, and no shortage of people saying "JUST GO PLAY EVE YOU SCUM!" but.. I sort of am already, lol

Bit more coming in the way of 2.2 on the exploration side but I too agree on the whole exploration thing. Needs more content and mechanics with more unique things to find and see.

I expect exploration to stop crawling and literally turn into a running athlete when atmospheric planets come online, bit like NMS with creatures, game hunting and hundreds of amazing things to do. Diving underwater on water giant worlds, delving into gas giants etc etc etc. But I also realise that's probably about 5 years away so I'm pacing myself somewhat.


In any case at current the most interesting thing for me is finding the rare planets like the tiny one half the size of earth with 10 times the gravitational pull and stuff as mental as that.

 

[Valo56]

Considering how boring it is to be driving around on the planets and moons we can visit, my hopes aren't high just for the presence of an atmosphere. Would the presence of animals be any different from the presence of skimmers and turrets? I suspect that fundamentally it would not be different.

 

[Tar-Palantir]

I had fun with something as simple as exploring. Wandering into random wormholes with my crappy Imicus, hoping that my cloaking device is enough to keep me hidden from any players in the area, working with a friend to quickly loot everything in a site and scan down the next one.

What makes it more fun? The fact there is loot, or the fact you can be attacked? Some of this might be added in future updates to ED, for all we know.

Could it be just the change of pace that you're enjoying? Anyway, why not enjoy Eve for a while, and come back to Elite in a few months, or a year, see how it feels then? If you're having fun, you don't need to apologize for it.

 

[Sunleader]

No hate from me.
I think the same.

Your options for exploration are really limited in ED.
There is pretty much nothing to find.
And nothing to do.


If you know one planet you know all.




We need more options.
Like setting up probes.
Take samples.
Find and Analyze much more differences. I mean there is planets with an Atmosphere made from liquid or gassy metal and silicates. But nobody bothers. Its not even special.

Ultra rare could also be finding bacteria, animals or just plant life.
Semi rare could be finding a metal, ore or rock composition which had been unknown so far.

Most of all there should be different points of interest.
The cartographics data is one thing.
But why cant we sell data about rich ressource points.
Why cant gather samples and send probes into a gas giant with ammoniac based life to deliver this to laboratories.



There is so many options.
But we only play a game of flying from point to point...

 

[Valo56]

Yeah, those RES sites should emerge only due to player explorers finding them, honestly. Give us exploration to do inside the bubble. Make it so explorers have a meaningful impact on the world around them. If they made it so that explorers were able to find special signal sources with exceptionally valuable things, such as massive or otherwise special asteroids, or loot of significance to the system or faction they were in, etc., it may actually become worth pursuing. Or seeking out convoys and trade routes, etc.

Why do all explorers have to go out into deep space? Why can't we be like.. a Federation Scout, or a prospector, or something like that without having to resort to combat or trade in order to make a difference. Sure, these two things could come into effect at various points, but opening up focused explorers to influence the BGS would be great.