Balance Hourly Rates - Exploring needs a huge % Uplift on body values

Nutter

Nutter
Ok here are the very broad average hourly (game time) rates paid by the professions I have tried.

Trading 1,300,000 Per Hour
Bounty 500,000 Per Hour
Missions 500,000 Per Hour
Mining 400,000 Per Hour
Exploring 40,000 Per Hour

This is NOT a troll bait post, the numbers speak for themselves..

I'm on my way back from a 12,000ly + round trip and I know before I do anything else I will need to spend 330,000 credits on repairs.

The trip has taken a week and I'm still 3,000ly out. I'm hoping to collect around 3,000,000 (Before repairs) for a lot of scanning effort.

Everyone talks about balance, I love exploring but I need some upgrades, so I think I will have to start trading. Is this by design? As in - Exploring is a pastime of the rich?

Would anyone form FD like to comment?

Thanks

Nutter
 

nicfaz

N
Don't know the answer, but my hourly rate numbers for trading and bounty/missions are pretty similar to yours so I agree it's a valid question.
 

elayeth

elayeth
But would you like all traders to start exploring as trading is much less enjoyable? I do trading just for money and exploring mostly for pure fun...
 

Conestoga

Conestoga
I think this would be solved by including "exploration missions" on the bulletin board with variable payouts. E.g., "We are willing to pay for data on earth-like worlds that are more than 400LY away. How does $100k each sound? No limit." Or metallic worlds. Or T Tauri stars. Etc. Add a time limit to make it extra challenging. Or tier it so if you do it within X amount of time, you get bonus money.
 

elayeth

elayeth
Conestoga said:
I think this would be solved by including "exploration missions" on the bulletin board with variable payouts. E.g., "We are willing to pay for data on earth-like worlds that are more than 400LY away. How does $100k each sound? No limit." Or metallic worlds. Or T Tauri stars. Etc. Add a time limit to make it extra challenging. Or tier it so if you do it within X amount of time, you get bonus money.
Click to expand...

Very good idea!
 

NeilF

NeilF
Conestoga said:
I think this would be solved by including "exploration missions" on the bulletin board with variable payouts. E.g., "We are willing to pay for data on earth-like worlds that are more than 400LY away. How does $100k each sound? No limit." Or metallic worlds. Or T Tauri stars. Etc. Add a time limit to make it extra challenging. Or tier it so if you do it within X amount of time, you get bonus money.
Click to expand...

Nice idea.

Or even missions to go and scan comets and the like in nearby systems (when comets are added!).

Or while exploring encountering rare distress signals. Some of these ships may require you to go and fetch something from a station and return to them. Or simply wish to buy fuel from you? Note: This shouldn't occur in a truly remote system IMHO.
 

Vincent Starson

V
The whole thing is upside down. It seems like the less risk you take, the more money you earn.

I hope they put in the "Sell All" cartography button, else you will be in that screen for hours after that big trip to the core! Nice video on the super massive black hole at the center of the galaxy, by the way.

I also hope they put in an explorer's log, so you can review systems you've visited. Maybe just something visual on the galaxy map would help.

However, FD hasn't mentioned any plans to rebalance credits per hour, as far as I know. They have mentioned bigger ship running cost rebalance, but that's it.
 

anikaiful

anikaiful
Conestoga said:
I think this would be solved by including "exploration missions" on the bulletin board with variable payouts. E.g., "We are willing to pay for data on earth-like worlds that are more than 400LY away. How does $100k each sound? No limit." Or metallic worlds. Or T Tauri stars. Etc. Add a time limit to make it extra challenging. Or tier it so if you do it within X amount of time, you get bonus money.
Click to expand...

Exploration missions? Heck yeah. Don't mind the pay per se though (would do them even with current pricing, just 'cause).
 

Hamerstein

Hamerstein
Conestoga said:
I think this would be solved by including "exploration missions" on the bulletin board with variable payouts. E.g., "We are willing to pay for data on earth-like worlds that are more than 400LY away. How does $100k each sound? No limit." Or metallic worlds. Or T Tauri stars. Etc. Add a time limit to make it extra challenging. Or tier it so if you do it within X amount of time, you get bonus money.
Click to expand...

Agreed on that, I don't think the game needs nth degree balancing but exploration does need a purpose driving it, rather than just receiving a (small) wad of cash for looking at "something" far away. As it stands, exploration isn't viable as a stand alone profession, it works fine as something you do incidentally to pay for the repair bills but that (I imagine) is very unsatisfying for the dedicated Magellans.

I'd like it even more if the result of all these exploratory missions resulted in increasing development/civilisation of the systems so explored, it offers a non-cash incentive and fillip to those dedicated to it.

Just imagining that representatives from opposing factions end up mapping the same system. After a certain amount of completed survey missions, establish small outposts and then the machinations and conflicts that ensue as each vie for supremacy and domination of the strategic/resource advantages therein. That for me is a living, breathing galaxy. :)
 

jadefriendly

jadefriendly
Conestoga said:
I think this would be solved by including "exploration missions" on the bulletin board with variable payouts. E.g., "We are willing to pay for data on earth-like worlds that are more than 400LY away. How does $100k each sound? No limit." Or metallic worlds. Or T Tauri stars. Etc. Add a time limit to make it extra challenging. Or tier it so if you do it within X amount of time, you get bonus money.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I suggested this amongst other things here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=93359

Exploration missions definitely needed. And would be nice to see follow ups as well - you find an earthlike world, then missions from that faction begin collecting things to start a terraforming mission, ending up with a base being built. real long term stuff.
 

spacejumbofudge

S
Surely exploration missions could simply be 'go scan this system' for x money in y days. You could pocket a few of them then head out. I think in general, more missions, more missions, more missions, would be good for all types of play. You'd have thought quite easy to add too.

What bounty hunting method gets you 500k an hour? I can sometimes get that at a RES, but infrequently. I can get ~250k killing an elite anaconda. At a nav becon it seems even more inconsistent than at a RES. I'm looking forward to the 1.04 patch helping this a bit though.
 

Neuros

N
Nutter said:
Ok here are the very broad average hourly (game time) rates paid by the professions I have tried.

Trading 1,300,000 Per Hour
Bounty 500,000 Per Hour
Missions 500,000 Per Hour
Mining 400,000 Per Hour
Exploring 40,000 Per Hour

This is NOT a troll bait post, the numbers speak for themselves..

I'm on my way back from a 12,000ly + round trip and I know before I do anything else I will need to spend 330,000 credits on repairs.

The trip has taken a week and I'm still 3,000ly out. I'm hoping to collect around 3,000,000 (Before repairs) for a lot of scanning effort.

Everyone talks about balance, I love exploring but I need some upgrades, so I think I will have to start trading. Is this by design? As in - Exploring is a pastime of the rich?

Would anyone form FD like to comment?

Thanks

Nutter
Click to expand...

I Totally agree and the payout for scanning systems is even worse if you factor in wear and tear bills compared to the wear and tear bills from trading. I think just using a discovery scanner payouts should remain the same but the payout for scanning the planets ect should get a fairly large buff. this way it would stop traders making even more money by just giving a system a quick scan on there way through.
 

gregtuns

G
I like exploring so I do it even if I could make more money doing other stuff. I make enough to upgrade some equipment, replace ships and stuff. But getting paid more would be great. In any game that allows it, I'm going to explore every little corner... Getting paid for it is a bonus. :)
 

Craib

Craib
The figures look about right to me. I think there is certainly still some work to be done with Exploring. I've spent a few days doing it and getting to Scout rank (Intermediate and Surface scanner) and not managed to get any Level 2 or 3 scans registered in the Stats on the Status page. So I guess some more equipment is still to be released and hopefully this will make it more financially rewarding.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom