Castor and Pollux Day One: something stirs in the dark

What do you do now?

  • Explore the newly-discovered dark system: lay down probes and look for resources

    Votes: 42 59.2%

  • Mine the dark system: find the few asteroid belts that have already been discovered and get to work

    Votes: 4 5.6%

  • Trade with other nearby systems: export alloys and import service robots for the gold rush

    Votes: 13 18.3%

  • Pirate the dark system: extract a tithe from miners and explorers who aren't stealthy enough

    Votes: 12 16.9%
  • Total voters
    71

Andrew Sayers

A
UPDATE: This chapter has now closed, and the next has begun. You can still vote in the poll, but your choice won't count towards future events. At the time the chapter ended, the total was:

  • Explore: 32
  • Mine: 4
  • Trade: 8
  • Pirate: 8

I've also kept a note of who took which choice, which may be significant in future...

-*-​

Hey all,

The design forum is discussing injected events this week, so I thought it would be fun to put together a little event for us to play through. It'll run for a week with a new chapter each day, and if you're new hopefully it will give you some insight into how we think the game will turn out. Please take a look and vote for the choice you want to play!

Our adventure is set in the constellation of Gemini, specifically Castor and Pollux. These systems are well within the 250 light year bubble of explored space, but at the start of our story they play host only to barren mining colonies scraping a living from a few planetoid spheres of rock. Few commanders make the arduous journey to their mining stations, and the quiet passage of planets and stars is rarely interrupted by anything more than some ancient Viper Defence Craft owned by the local corporations.

Usually the local news is just about executives being reshuffled, but today something quite important turns up in your newsfeed:

Castor Digest said:
Galactic Mapping Service released a press release today confirming the discovery of a new dark system near Castor. The system's centre of gravity is a rogue planet with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere suitable for scooping fuel. Initial reports indicate the existance of an asteroid belt likely to contain water [1 credit/ton] and iron [25 credits/ton]. GMS is offering a reward of 200 credits to any commander able to provide more detailed scan data. As Pollux is the only other system within hyperspace range for most craft, commanders should expect traffic through Castor to increase sharply in the coming days.
Click to expand...

It may be 3300, but all politics is still local. Another article puts a different spin on the same story:

Times of Pollux said:
Commander Jameson's discovery of a dark system near Pollux confirmed. A delegation has been dispatched to Castor (the only other nearby civilisation) to discuss ownership of the rogue planet temporarily designated "Helen". Commanders are encouraged to treat it as unclaimed territory for the time being, but will be paid up to 250 credits for scans of the system returned directly to the authorities in Stuart Town.
Click to expand...

What would you do? Cast your vote and come back tomorrow to see how events unfold.
 
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Zarkon

Z
I'm an explorer first and foremost, so I would head in to scan the system as quick as possible, then maybe look for mining iron if I can afford the equipment. If the option to claim the system becomes available, it then would depend on what my scans discovered.
 

RobFisher

RobFisher
I am exploring for resources and to sell information to the highest bidder, but deep down I am hoping to discover something far more valuable...
 

Ashley Barley

A
Like many gold rushes, I imagine this will end in broken dreams for many. I'm a pragmatist at heart, so I'll jump straight in and begin mining while the getting is good. ;)
 

Slawkenbergius

Slawkenbergius
I went with mining, though maybe I'll go along as a protector for a mining party rather than manning the mining lasers myself. All those pirates better beware.
 

Perseus

Perseus
I've voted 1 but only because my resources are pirates or other bounty yielding folk who might be attracted to the easy pickings.
I would offer protection services to rock jocks or trader/supply ships. I'd enjoy looking at this new, busy system but my main reason to be here is profiteering from combat.
If I could pirate legally or without consequence, then all ships (bar Imperial) would be at risk of paying a protection tax just to be in the system. I would try to be here with other Imperial commanders with the same outlook. I'm trying to avoid breaking the law but . . .
I'm after cash and glory. :D
 
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Zarkon

Z
Andrew Sayers said:
Few commanders make the arduous journey to their mining stations, and the quiet passage of planets and stars is rarely interrupted by anything more than some ancient Viper Defence Craft owned by the local corporations.
Click to expand...

Actually, I might end up going to the system just to see the old style Viper ships. :D
 

Valkyrie

Valkyrie
Definitely probe the system and keep on the move since traffic is going to pick up. If I had a heavily defensible ship then I might consider going mining, but I might be prey to wolves.
 

Andrew Sayers

A
Since this story is largely based on the design forum, here's some background information if you would like to read more...

The injected events proposal is currently in the DDF, and talks about things that can happen to the universe. These can be as small as a parade, as large as a civil war, or like the event in this thread can be somewhere in between. If you don't have access to the design forum, you will be able to read the thread when it appears in the design discussion archive some time in the next few weeks.

Way back in dev diary 2, David Braben described how resources might be discovered and fought over. The hyperspace proposal told us there would be "dark systems" that don't have a star, and the exploration proposal told us they could be discovered by players, so the background for this story is weaved from all three.

As well as being actual star systems, Castor and Pollux exist in Frontier: First encounters. They're both in sector [5,2], and many of the details (such as Stuart Town) have been lifted directly from there.

The year 3300 and the 250 light year bubble of humanity were confirmed back in Fiction Diary #3, although I don't think it's been cleared up whether that's 250 light years in radius or diameter.

The Viper Defence Craft has been a police ship in all the previous games, and has Vipers are expected to be ownable ships in Elite: Dangerous. It's not yet clear what will happen to the Viper 2 from FFE.

Newsfeeds will be the way most news reaches players, and are expected to spin stories for their readership just like in real life. I have applied some artistic license to the newsfeeds though, such as inventing the Galactic Mapping Service and using commodities and prices from the previous games.

Instead of MMORPG-like classes, in Elite everyone starts out the same and their actions define their character. But the game has been designed to make specific careers particularly enjoyable, such as exploration, mining trading and piracy. The remaining careers are covered in day two.
 
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