Also, something interesting about cherry-picking. I've recently been analysing EDSM data around ELWs again, and decided to look into the rate at which they were discovered and submitted. We can always safely assume that people would always cherry-pick them out, and only didn't scan them before either when they missed them (didn't recognise, didn't call up the system map) or they were too far away (rare scenario). Now, Chapter Four has made recognising and scanning them as easy as it gets, but here's the interesting thing: the ELWs submitted / systems submitted ratio remained almost exactly the same... except after DW2 began reaching BP and wound down, at which point the ELW / Systems ratio dropped like a rock, to less than half. Meaning for the same amount of systems players submitted, they would submit half as many Earth-likes. My guess is that this is mostly due to players hurrying back via neutron stars, or just hurrying back without exploring. Combined with the decrease in bodies scanned / systems, it doesn't paint a good picture of exploration activity retention.
But hey, we'll see where it bottoms out by the end of next year. Perhaps it already has.
This mini-game bad.
Very bad.
Very, very, bad.
This mini-game good.
Very good.
Very, very good.
My guess is that this is mostly due to players hurrying back via neutron stars, or just hurrying back without exploring
I've only just gotten to Beagle Point. Will start on the journey back at some point via the long way.In the spirit of self-glossing, I did neutron it back from BP because I was keen to get involved with IDA. But I still explored on the way back too and found a tasty undiscovered neutron system with a pair of ELWs orbiting it. And it's MINE ALL MINE bwuahahahaha. Actually, I was surprised how many of the neutron systems I used were undiscovered (at least at the time I flew through them, I haven't gone and checked how many I got first dibs on reporting them in).
Looking at things some more, I think that if Frontier will want to add new exploration content via POIs, the FSS is fundamentally flawed. This is because it was designed for cherry-picking valuable planet types, none of which are landable. Just as before, this has conditioned people to just look for the blue / orange (WW/ELW/AW) and pass up on the rest. None of those are landable though. Now, since you have to scan a body to see if there are POIs on this (and wait out a long timer to see what kind, if there are), if things continue like this, then people will keep missing the planetary stuff.
Meaning for the same amount of systems players submitted, they would submit half as many Earth-likes. My guess is that this is mostly due to players hurrying back via neutron stars, or just hurrying back without exploring. Combined with the decrease in bodies scanned / systems, it doesn't paint a good picture of exploration activity retention.
This mini-game good.
Very good.
Very, very good.
This mini-game bad.
Very bad.
Very, very, bad.
This mini-game good.
Very good.
Very, very good.
Looking at things some more, I think that if Frontier will want to add new exploration content via POIs, the FSS is fundamentally flawed. This is because it was designed for cherry-picking valuable planet types, none of which are landable. Just as before, this has conditioned people to just look for the blue / orange (WW/ELW/AW) and pass up on the rest. None of those are landable though. Now, since you have to scan a body to see if there are POIs on this (and wait out a long timer to see what kind, if there are), if things continue like this, then people will keep missing the planetary stuff.
A solution to this could be a message from the FSS after the honk that says that signals have been detected and what types of signals have been identified in the system (geo/biological/alien/guardian/else).
So you know that there is biological or alien activity in the system and you proceed to the scan to identify the body (bodies).
A solution to this could be a message from the FSS after the honk that says that signals have been detected and what types of signals have been identified in the system (geo/biological/alien/guardian/else).
So you know that there is biological or alien activity in the system and you proceed to the scan to identify the body (bodies).
A-yup. DW1 went from 2016. January to June, no such data from that time yet. However, I doubt it had as much an effect on activity: after all, DW1 had a much smaller number of participants.What we can't determine (since I don't believe that planetary scans were recorded in the journal at that time) is whether a similar drop off occurred with the original DW.
Well, you can take a look at the top 100 explorers on EDSM, and see how much those who share their flight log heatmaps still explore, who stopped after the first FSS reveals back in August, and who after DW2 finished.No doubt there's an element of bias in my assessment, but it certainly doesn't seem like the 3.3 changes have had a significant impact on the overall exploration activity - though I'd suspect it's had a more noticeable impact on WHO is exploring.
Yep, they have said so. For example, see the quote from the livestream in my earlier post. Or that it was to aid finding the Codex stuff with, which does necessitate heavier cherry-picking than just any one type of bodies. Except NSPs, of course.If Frontier truly designed the FSS to cherry pick valuable worlds,
I was about to ask if you might be from the USA, but a quick look at your profile showed that my suspicion was correct, and you are.Well, the “mini-game” may be good, but the “analysis” game is utterly brilliant IMO.
Well, you can take a look at the top 100 explorers on EDSM, and see how much those who share their flight log heatmaps still explore, who stopped after the first FSS reveals back in August, and who after DW2 finished.
Looking at things some more, I think that if Frontier will want to add new exploration content via POIs, the FSS is fundamentally flawed. This is because it was designed for cherry-picking valuable planet types, none of which are landable. Just as before, this has conditioned people to just look for the blue / orange (WW/ELW/AW) and pass up on the rest. None of those are landable though. Now, since you have to scan a body to see if there are POIs on this (and wait out a long timer to see what kind, if there are), if things continue like this, then people will keep missing the planetary stuff.
...your statistics suggest that either players aren't motivated to look for POI's, or that they don't enjoy the scanning process enough to fully scan every system.
I think at least part of the problem here is that POIs (including the NSPs) are completely passive - there's nothing to do with them once you've scanned them. After the first geological site on a planet with silicate vapor geysers there's no reason to map another one, unless you happen to have moved to a different sector and you actually care about the codex. For biologicals scanning most systems is pointless, since unless you're in a nebula or an O, B, A system then you're unlikely to find anything anyway.
A good point. It's also why the ADS worked when the focus was on the generated galaxy, but wouldn't have if the focus were on POIs, and neither really does the FSS. For those rare POIs, it would be much better if you were alerted to their presence in the system automatically, so you'd know there is reward to be had for your gameplay, but you'd have to play with a more involved scanning mechanic to find and identify them.I continually argue that IMO it's poor gameplay to have to open lots of doors when there's nothing behind most of them, but the scale of the galaxy means that is inevitable. I'm sure FD hoped that they had made the FSS painless and quick enough to make scanning systems seem like a no brainer and then players would find whatever was there. However, it doesn't negate that you get a lot of false returns for every positive, and your statistics suggest that either players aren't motivated to look for POI's, or that they don't enjoy the scanning process enough to fully scan every system.
I wouldn't be surprised if Frontier eventually made body scans automatic the same way stars are now
Ditto.Please don't give me nightmares![]()