Discover vs Exploration

[Sapient6]

Leaving aside that the level of detail in my example doesn't exist in the ED galaxy, The Chronicles of Pern offer a compelling example for why those interested in paying for data on an Earth-Like World would be interested in paying for data on the rest of the system... and to the degree where information about the remainder of the system would be critically tied to the value of the ELW itself.

For those unfamiliar with the story, Pern is an earth-like where everything seems fine most of the time, but another planetary body in the system with a highly eccentric orbit that brings it close to the main star every 200 years or so (IIRC). When it is close its indigenous life thaws and makes the jump from the eccentric body to pern, where it is called "thread". The threads kill whatever they touch.

The survey team didn't scan the entire system, so the colonists who came to Pern were caught off guard by the first threadfall. It devastated their society, eventually resulting in a near total loss of their technological advancement (only a very small portion were able to evacuate the planet).

I guess where I'm going is full system scan bonuses would make a lot more sense to me if there were things we could discover that could negatively impact the value of any high-value bodies in the system. In which case: the bonus ought to come with an additional change where data on an ELW becomes less valuable if there is data on a neutron star on file in the same system (whether as part of your own data or what a previous pilot has already turned in). That would make it interesting, especially if we could voluntarily drop specific data before turning everything in...

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

That's a good point. I know the orbits in Elite are static but they're not in real life. Not much good setting off to colonize and Earthlike when an otherwise uninteresting ice world is planning a visit in the next couple of years. Or some gas giant is dislodging asteroids which buzz around the system.

When you buy a house, you also check out the neighbourhood.

 

[Archvillain]

Paying something, even a nominal amount for asteroid belts might help. As it is there is little incentive to bother with even icy/rocky worlds.

They should do something, but I'd prefer it if they took the opportunity to do something unique with as-yet-unused bodies like belts.

• Perhaps mining a precious thing you can't get elsewhere? Valuable enough to make you want to haul a mining rig out into the deep - because you can't get it in the bubble - it's mined-out and gone from the human systems (although belts contain so few rocks that they wouldn't even need to start mined out within the bubble - players would do it themselves over only a few months if the galaxy keeps track. That would be cool - more "YIS!!! I found a good one!" moments when you find a belt in pristine condition not too far from the bubble)

• Perhaps the belts become the place where hollowed out asteroids can sometimes be found - to turn into a base. (distantly-formed rocks made mostly of water-ice or methane-ice wander too close to the star, end up stable in a lagrange point / belt, but so close to the star that the ice sublimates leaving fragments and hollow cavity-riddled "rocks")

• Something else?

The sci-fi enthusiast in me appreciates that some parts of the systems are considered worthless and not of interest (belts etc.) and some parts are not useful to humans (ice rings etc.) but the gamer in me wants to be able to have interactions and stuff to do with EVERYTHING!!!

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Good ol' science. Data is precious.

Star Trek Next Gen taught me that.

 

[xondk]

This.

However, I think that there should be a bonus if every object in a system is scanned. Currently we can cherry pick the high value objects, which is fine. Although a bonus of some kind for a complete system scan wouldn't go a miss.

It might be the case that there is a bonus already although a slight one, but I'm not aware of one.

I also think that they should consider putting a value on belts dependent upon their type/analysis results.

This....Right now there's no point in scanning asteroid belts at all, they are just a waste of time, that said though asteroid belts 'do' feel pointless since initial honk will tell you what type they are, so if you ask me they should just be automatically revealed unless they want to do something special with them?

 

[Sapient6]

The sci-fi enthusiast in me appreciates that some parts of the systems are considered worthless and not of interest (belts etc.) and some parts are not useful to humans (ice rings etc.) but the gamer in me wants to be able to have interactions and stuff to do with EVERYTHING!!!

See, the sci-fi enthusiast in me thinks that data on an ice ring is of value because it includes data about any possible dangers lurking within, and because it paints a more complete picture of the total value of an entire system. That's why I like the percent bonus idea: that icy ring information is of no value by itself, but it gains value if there is something else of value in the system, and that value increases quickly if there is an Earth-Like world or two involved. Likewise, a pristine metallic ring should be of some value, but that value should be relative to what other things are in the same system (well actually: what other things are in nearby systems as well, but that's maybe a wish too far).

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The way you could calculate the bonus for scanning a complete system is to reward the honk-value of the system again.

That way, when you scan a big system completely, you get more bonus than when you scan a smaller system.

 

[Zieman]

The way you could calculate the bonus for scanning a complete system is to reward the honk-value of the system again.

That way, when you scan a big system completely, you get more bonus than when you scan a smaller system.

This would get my vote. If there was a vote, that is.