I love this!
I have a huge concern regarding mapping bodies that you can not currently land on:
Mapping reveals static objects on the planet. By letting us map planets we can't land on you are enabling "pre-discovery" of content that is not yet released. I feel like this is a massive oversight as unless there is already something planned to handle this; the originally discovering player will have no insight into these un-landable planetside discoveries. I see two solutions to this problem:
Solution One: Make it so that when you map a body your probes "remain" on the bodies you mapped (doesn't have to be physical in game) and when new patches allow new bodies to be accessed your probes get "software updates" that then send the CMDR a notification in game that X type of Y signal(s) have been identified on the body with new software pushed to their sensors. This gives commanders who explore and stay active the ability to gain benefit from pre-mapping these non-landable bodies. This system can easily be delayed until the next time we get a new type of landable body.
Solution Two: Don't let players map bodies we can't land on yet. Arguably less desirable but doesn't require handwavium later on or blanket excluding already mapped planets from being assigned static POI's that players could argue should have already been mapped.
I am also concerned about the ADS and USS scanning:
For years now we have been able to locate Unidentified Signal Sources in both populated & and uninhabited systems without the requirement of a module. While USS were almost completely omitted in this stream (surprising as this is an exploration mechanic and a core gameplay mechanic) my current understanding based on released information is that in order to find a USS we will require either having an ADS to locate them; or to scan the nav beacon in the system. If my understanding of this is correct the ADS now becomes a required module on all ships that need to engage in USS/signal based content.
I see this as a huge issue in two areas, the first being that finding USS in uninhabited systems will now require a module where it didn't before which furthers the issue of module creep. The second is that finding a mission based USS when a mission sends you from a populated system to an uninhabited system will also require an ADS (which technically is the case now, but this shouldn't be a requirement).
Proposed Solution: I would like to see the new ADS made an integrated part of all ships similar to the datalink scanner. This reduces module creep and makes this core feature available to all players. Nav beacon functionality will still be valuable as it will offer players the ability to bypass the mechanic to find signals in populated systems. Introducing the new ADS mechanics as a base part of every ship will effectively give every single player/ship in the game more fitting flexibility; which is desperately needed right now. You could replace existing ADS on patch date with a cargo rack or fuel tank.
The "Target" interface in the left HUD panel has a missed opportunity for a warrant list:
For ages now I have wanted the ability to see not just how much a players bounty is; but what factions issued those bounties and for how much. I also want to see any unclaimed powerplay merits they are holding and which power they were earned working against. My reason for this is that for people enforcing/protecting a faction or powers territory the kill warrant scanner is almost completely useless in PvP and we desperately need the ability to pull a target, warrant scan them and instead of just killing them for being in our territory be able to make an actual informed decision about whether or not to kill them for hurting our power/faction.
With the new rework of the target panel separating modules and cargo, this is a perfect place to implement this. If not done now; please please please implement it later. It would add so much to Enforcer based PVP gameplay.
Thanks for the stream! I've got high hopes for this update and am very much looking forward to the BGS/Scenario topics on the 25th!