Distant Stars Expedition: a brief retrospective

[Edelgard von Rhein]

I wish this post could be longer but for irl reasons I have little time to write, so it is not an article but a note, for which I apologise. The topic deserves better.

It is four years since the Distant Stars Expedition to the Cancri Cluster, M67. Taking advantage of the then-new mechanic of neutron-boosting to reach a location not previously visitable, many CMDRs undertook the journey, even though they knew from the outset that it would be a one-way trip. Over the course of two weeks the cluster was surveyed and the results collected, so that the exploration data would not be lost. My own ship, the Asp Explorer Eurydice self-destructed at the border of the exclusion zone of the only Earth-like World in the cluster, as I could not be online to join the event at what became known as the 'Anacondas' Graveyard' where most CMDRs self-destructed by ramming into the surface of a world at the far edge of the cluster.

The ship I chose for my second visit is the successor to the Eurydice, the Orpheus. She has travelled the Milky Way widely, including the journey to over 3000 LY below and above the Galactic Plane, so I have been prepared to self-destruct back the Bubble as before.

It was easier to get in to the cluster with the Orpheus, having a jump range of 71.08LY on fumes, Guardian Technology giving her an edge over her predecessor. The first sign of changes was the presence of a Tourist Beacon from the 'point of no return' system with a neutron star that took me straight in to the cluster. From there, I began several days of re-exploration. I have little time to play, sadly, and the original expedition was two weeks so my time here was never going to accomplish much other than give me a new sense of perspective.

The new scanning mechanics make it routine to find volcanic and biological sites. These required a great deal of patient work to find before. Now it is routine, trivial, to map a small moon and see up to 50 locations of geological activity. I found two systems with Crystalline Shards, life forms that are found distant from the main star but with significant material rewards. It was a shame that I did not find any Notable Stellar Phenomenon but my visit was hardly exhaustive. I also found Tritium in several locations.

The biggest difference on this trip was the presence of tags for First Discovered and First Mapped. Fleet Carriers have been out here before - unexpectedly I even found one currently out here and have seen tags in surrounding systems from its owner. There are still a few worlds around without First Mapped tags - I even got one or two myself.

It feels different, being here on my own initiative and not as a part of an expedition. It feels different, having seen a Tourist Beacon and well-mapped systems as would be expected for a location this distance from Sol. In short, my main feeling from this trip is that the Frontier of exploration has moved on. I can at least say that I was there when M67 was at the Frontier but now it is a place for anyone with a Fleet Carrier to make a visit, almost a tourist destination. As an explorer, I want to find the Frontier but, right now, I'm not sure where it is. I've sold my exploration data at the Fleet Carrier here but I don't know how long its owner plans to stay and I have things I want to do in the Bubble, helping in the search for The Dark Wheel. So I may yet suicide back - I have even chosen a name for the Orpheus' successor.

minor notes:
biological sources found in NGC 2682 YBP 681 and NGC 2682 FBC 1877
tritium found in NGC 2682 YBP 681 planet B6, NGC 2682 YBP 1101 planet 6, NGC 2682 FBC 2861 planet 10

Spoiler

 

[Warpfactor]

Wow it really has been four years since DSE. I can still remember it vividly. I would love to go back to M67 someday when I have the time to spend out there. Guardian tech and fleet carriers have changed exploration dramatically, for better or worse. I too wonder where the next frontier lies. Thanks for sharing your retrospective Cmdr, you've brought me back some fond memories of DSE.

o7

 

[Sapyx]

Of course, many of the First Discovered tags in M67 were there before the first Fleet Carrier arrived. They were made by people who travelled the one-way trip to M67 but who chose not to self-destruct, but rather have FD rescue them (or whose game save crashed and thus needed rescuing).

 

[Zieman]

Of course, many of the First Discovered tags in M67 were there before the first Fleet Carrier arrived. They were made by people who travelled the one-way trip to M67 but who chose not to self-destruct, but rather have FD rescue them (or whose game save crashed and thus needed rescuing).

Those tags shouldn't be there.

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

Those tags shouldn't be there.

We petitioned Frontier at the time, and they said they'd look into it, but never did.

Sadly, a similar issue arose last year when the NGC 188 cluster became reachable via a Carrier, yet it was fully tagged by a single player using the unlimited FSD range bug that was around very briefly a year before Carriers were released. Players went there legitimately last June using a Carrier and mapped the worlds and then petitioned Fdev to remove the exploited first discovery tags, Fdev acknowledged that the tags weren't supposed to be there prior to Carriers and would remove them, yet still haven't.

Not much we players can do sadly. But I can't help feeling that if it was an exploit that was combat or trade related, it'd be sorted pretty quickly and the guilty player punished. But exploration?... nope, seems anything goes.

 

[Sapyx]

Part of the problem is, of course, that the game doesn't record "second mapped by". FD have no way of knowing who the legitimate "first discoverer" would be. Delete the "illegitimate tags", but who gets the "legitimate" ones? The first player who happens to stumble upon the system after the tags are deleted? That wouldn't really be any fairer than what we have now.

 

[Zieman]

Part of the problem is, of course, that the game doesn't record "second mapped by". FD have no way of knowing who the legitimate "first discoverer" would be. Delete the "illegitimate tags", but who gets the "legitimate" ones? The first player who happens to stumble upon the system after the tags are deleted? That wouldn't really be any fairer than what we have now.

You raise legitimate concerns.
FDEV dropped the ball when they failed to acknowledge and act on the fact that the "don't want to self-destruct" and "savegame corrupt" tags were balatant cheats, ruthlessly gaming support's goodwill.

Easy way is check the timing of those tags, anything before release of Fleet Carriers is illegitimate.