[DW2] Epilogue, Acknowledgements, DW Speculation & Organisation
- Thread starter Erimus Kamzel
- Start date
Just received my DW2 certificate (super-fast, thank you so much!) and it just highlights, once again, the superb organisational effort that's gone into this expedition.
Due to personal circumstances, I was unfortunately not able to immerse myself as much into this as I was able to with DW1, but there's always hoping for DW3!
I'd just like to take this moment to thank all the people involved, from the "top team" who came up with the idea and drove it through to implementation, as well as the myriads of other organisers, content producers, community managers and, well, the first few posts already say everything really. Suffice to say everybody involved was crucial in making this the special event that it was so well done everybody.
All up just an amazing event which has introduced, or reintroduced, many thousands of Commanders to aspects of this game which most don't participate in. The mere fact that nearly 1/3rd of the initial fleet has reached Beagle Point speaks volumes of the participant's engagement.
Thank you very much, you can take a well-deserved rest on your laurels now.
Fly Safe.
Due to personal circumstances, I was unfortunately not able to immerse myself as much into this as I was able to with DW1, but there's always hoping for DW3!
I'd just like to take this moment to thank all the people involved, from the "top team" who came up with the idea and drove it through to implementation, as well as the myriads of other organisers, content producers, community managers and, well, the first few posts already say everything really. Suffice to say everybody involved was crucial in making this the special event that it was so well done everybody.
All up just an amazing event which has introduced, or reintroduced, many thousands of Commanders to aspects of this game which most don't participate in. The mere fact that nearly 1/3rd of the initial fleet has reached Beagle Point speaks volumes of the participant's engagement.
Thank you very much, you can take a well-deserved rest on your laurels now.
Fly Safe.
Kind words Micha, and much appreciated. We were lucky to have some of the most dedicated content creators on board from the off and make it what it became.
DW2 began life as far back as Expo 17 after my meet up with some of the DW1 vets there, and discussions on what they'd like to see for DW2 (along with all the new content that was being promoted at the Expo), so its been a long haul as that's when the ball started rolling. But its been worth it, and amazing to see how many have so far completed the journey too.
The bar for a DW3 has been set pretty high now!
It's probably been asked but do we have the figures for Cmdr's who actually signed up and then made it to BP and back to WP0?
The stats for completions aren't final yet, as people still have until June 13th to reach Beagle Point. But the ones we do know; sign-ups 13,605, and around 3,000 made it to Beagle Point (so far). Qohen will have the exact figures.
No idea how many have made it back to the bubble though.
No idea how many have made it back to the bubble though.
Of course we still have until 13th June for the final figures. Should be a respectable number. It's impossible to collate the wp0-wp0 numbers I guess.
I finally made it to Beagle Point last night.
I feel bad that real life got in the way of a lot of DW2, and I was mostly playing waypoint catch-up rather than fulfilling the role I had selected at the start.
Still - I learnt a lot about the game, and have a lot of fond memories of some of the things I found, and the conversations it inspired with other players.
Huge heartfelt thanks to the organisers - it was a mammoth task and they are all awesome
Cheers!
o7
I feel bad that real life got in the way of a lot of DW2, and I was mostly playing waypoint catch-up rather than fulfilling the role I had selected at the start.
Still - I learnt a lot about the game, and have a lot of fond memories of some of the things I found, and the conversations it inspired with other players.
Huge heartfelt thanks to the organisers - it was a mammoth task and they are all awesome
Cheers!
o7
I just wanted to talk a bit about how much this expedition has done for me, in more ways than you might think. Before the DW2 sign up thread popped up in my Google feed, I had rarely interacted with other players in Elite, or online at all. I joined the FleetComm Discord, and started chatting with other players. I helped people build ships, I got help designing my own, and I even repaired some other players. Shortly after the expedition took off, Dr. Kaii put up a post in #announcements saying to tick the message if you were interested in helping out the Admins/Moderators on the server. Shortly after the tick, I became one of the DW2 helpers.
In all honesty, my parents have always said the internet is a terrible place, and in some places it is coughredditcough. I think the point it really clicked that there are places that strangers can be nice, even just over text or voice, was when I joined a PS4 voice party(the first time I had been on a public voice chat) and someone I had never even seen on discord, never heard of, whose online name I didn’t know immediately said, “Hey Nate, welcome to the stream….” I’ll remember that for many years to come.
After some time I started interacting more with the fleet mechanics, soon to become the hull seals. When people started talking about becoming our own organization after dw2, someone said it “looks like the leadership will probably be something like Alex, Drebin, rixxan, Pool Noodle, and Nate….” I hadn’t expected anything like that at all, but now I’m a member of the blubber bob and part of the Hull Seals lead organizers.
Overall, this experience has been one of the most important I’ve ever been a part of. I’ve interacted online, set goals, committed time, been a part of something with over 13,000 other people, and, dare I say, made new friends. My thanks to all of the organizers for creating this journey that has truly affected me, and a few others who know who they are.
Sincerely,
MiddleNate
In all honesty, my parents have always said the internet is a terrible place, and in some places it is coughredditcough. I think the point it really clicked that there are places that strangers can be nice, even just over text or voice, was when I joined a PS4 voice party(the first time I had been on a public voice chat) and someone I had never even seen on discord, never heard of, whose online name I didn’t know immediately said, “Hey Nate, welcome to the stream….” I’ll remember that for many years to come.
After some time I started interacting more with the fleet mechanics, soon to become the hull seals. When people started talking about becoming our own organization after dw2, someone said it “looks like the leadership will probably be something like Alex, Drebin, rixxan, Pool Noodle, and Nate….” I hadn’t expected anything like that at all, but now I’m a member of the blubber bob and part of the Hull Seals lead organizers.
Overall, this experience has been one of the most important I’ve ever been a part of. I’ve interacted online, set goals, committed time, been a part of something with over 13,000 other people, and, dare I say, made new friends. My thanks to all of the organizers for creating this journey that has truly affected me, and a few others who know who they are.
Sincerely,
MiddleNate
Unfortunately, I didn't get to Beagle Point this time but I would like to thank the DW2 team for all the effort they put into organising this amazing event. I've had a fantastic time taking part in the expedition and it gave me some moments of escape during the darkest days when my father was gravely ill. I've learnt a lot about Elite and particularly exploration. Once I've sorted my ship out I'm heading back out to Beagle Point to finish what I started, I will get there!
Thanks again and see you all in DW3.
Cmdr Gordon
o7
Thanks again and see you all in DW3.
Cmdr Gordon
o7
This bit right there, I like to think of that as an allegory of the world overall. Sometimes awesome things just happen despite all. Thanks for sharing that.
Hi guys. I reached Beagle Point back in May, completed the form and am on the list for completed but I still haven't received an email with a completion certificate or redeem code for decal. Who or where do I go to get that? Please and thank you. o7
Check this post CaptainKraken
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...ney-of-discovery.452358/page-130#post-7852516
Where'd the Voyager Trail go? I was sure it was in this thread
EDIT
====
Found it!
forums.frontier.co.uk
EDIT
====
Found it!
[DW2] Oubound Route Map Archive, and the Voyager Trail Route Home
LINK DISTANT WORLDS 2 - A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY ARCHIVED ROUTE, MAPS, & ITINERARY Logo by Qohen Leth (original concept by Hi-Ban) with assets borrowed from Frontier Developments PLC Animated by Placyde The Route - by Erimus Kamzel When creating the DW2 route, I felt it was important...
Last edited:
Distant Worlds 3 Speculation
A new Distant Worlds event depends wholly upon new content, features, and gameplay to warrant the sheer amount of work that goes into them. Since there are no major updates planned for Elite until late 2020, its unlikely that there will be any meaningful talk about Distant Worlds 3 by the organisers until at least then.
It also depends on having new challenges to overcome; like environmental hazards, new hard to reach locations, and more exploration-related unknowns to discover in the far reaches. There needs to be new galactic content to explore - especially in the Aphelion regions where there is a stark contrast between the variety of hand-crafted nebulae and star clusters we can see and enjoy in our local Orion Spur region, but that is nowhere else to be found in this galaxy. Atmospheric worlds to land on and explore are another major addition that needs to be implemented if another DW event is to be considered.
Maybe FDev should consider opening up the Magellanic Clouds and introduce the technologies to get there? "Distant Galaxies" has a nice ring to it. Either way, for another DW event to be feasible, there needs to be a reason to go again, and one that builds upon what has been experienced on DW2 and the 40 other major expeditions since DW1.
On DW2 we were able to incorporate more practical gameplay via mining, prospecting, fleet mechanics, and logistical roles. We feel that this is a step in the right direction as it adds more varied gameplay and is inclusive to more playstyles. For the next adventure these are all aspects that need to be considered too.
Whatever happens, as with the previous DW projects, I will post a new expedition proposal thread when the time comes, which will open up DW3 for community discussion to see where that takes us. We can pour our ideas and speculations into that, based on what’s feasible within the framework of where Elite Dangerous is at that time.
But until then, please check out what new adventures are on the horizon from the exploration community, and please support them as you supported DW2!
- Erimus Kamzel (Distant Worlds Expedition Project Leader).
Restructuring the way future Distant Worlds expeditions are organised
If there is to be a DW3, it is likely to be organised in a different way to how DW1 and DW2 were. The sheer size that these events grew into from humble beginnings consequently meant that the amount of work that went into creating them grew to a point where some of the organisation team had to commit long hours, week after week, for the duration of its planning and execution. This lead to burnout for several team members.
Creating something as ambitious as DW needs to be an enjoyable experience from beginning to end, not just for the participants, but for the organisers too.
As an example I have listed my own personal roles and responsibilities on DW2 below to highlight a lot of what was expected of some of the team members. Some of these responsibilities date as far back as October 2017 when I wrote the first draft proposals, and they continued through until late June 2019. That's an enormous commitment for any one person, and I know there were several other team members who had similar amounts of work to do on DW2.
- Wrote the expedition outline and original CG proposal in the wake of meeting DW1 participants and Frontier Devs at the Frontier Expo Event.
- Refined the CG outline doc with mining factions in mind and presented the ideas to the Rock Rats, and later the IMU, and gave both lead role on overseeing DW2 mining operations.
- Defined the fleet roles and pitched projects to community members where each role would have practical gameplay associated with them - prime example being mining and logistical gameplay.
- Brought the early team leaders and project creators together and made sure the team was made up of some of EDs best content creators and expedition veterans that were available and committed - invited them to discuss the proposal and ideas, and helped them refine their projects and ideas to fit into the overall framework of DW2..
- Brought Qohen in to oversee the roster and worked with him on how it was to be presented.
- Brought MadRaptor to the team to oversee the Geology aspect of the expedition.
- Brought Alex Brentnall to the team and asked him to implement his Fleet Mechanics ideas.
- Brought Koala to the team and asked him to implement his Tour Guide Project.
- Brought Zulu Romeo on board to implement the DW2 CQC Tournaments.
- Wrote the Galactic Mapping events, scheduled for the latter stages of the expedition.
- Worked with Wishblend in bringing practical gameplay aspects to DW2 that would be triggered from events taking place on the DW2 ED:RPG.
- Wrote the 'Bandits' blueprint.
- Launched the DW2 scouting event, and collated 3 months worth of data.
- Scouted the entire DW2 route to BP and back, selected waypoints, basecamps, and intermediate POIs for the itinerary.
- Created the route, the maps, the schedule, and linked everything up to EDSM for easy reference guides to each POI and WP the fleet would visit.
- Worked closely with FD on CG revisions.
- Wrote and presented the expedition Overview thread.
- Constant dialogue with team members on issues and ideas.
- Constant revision and updating of official DW threads.
- Daily answering of queries from team members, participants, Frontier Developments, and Gaming Press, via email, forum PM, and Discord.
- Promoted DW2 in interviews and on the various threads, reddits, and discord chats.
- Created and oversaw three of the official DW2 Squadrons.
- Worked with FC admin in the background for over 6 months of intel gathering related to PG security.
- Liaised with many different groups, collating information and background checking to identify possible alt-infiltrators.
- Created and presented the Voyager Trail route map for the journey home, and linked everything up to EDSM for easy reference guides to the POIs along it.
- Created the DSSV Distant Worlds Journey of Scientific Study route for Frontier Developments to be implement after DW2 was over.
- Collated the list of beacon candidate systems from multiple sources, and presented them for voting with pictures and synopsis of each POI. Presented the candidate systems to FD as requested.
- June 2019, spent a month after DW2 ended on collating a wealth of feedback, having discussions with team members and participants, and wrote up the after event doc - presented it to the DW2 team for after event discussion and guidance on what worked well, and what needs refinement or reworking for DW3. This doc feedback became the basis for this whole restructuring discussion I have posted here.
- All in all I authored over 30 DW2 organisation-related documents and wrote in access of 500,000 words in those documents, which touched on almost every facet of the expedition.
To avoid burnout, in future we may decide to break the event down into more manageable chunks, have it possibly Squadron-based, and split the organisation up into several different teams that will be responsible for their own Squadron, its events, its admin, its PR, roles, and projects. So effectively DW3 will have many different team leaders, working on their own aspect of DW3, but all flying under one banner of "DW3" and all still following the same basic outline of a mass expeditionary event with common goals in mind.
DW3 (if it happens) is still some time away so there is no need to further flesh out these ideas and thoughts or open things up to further dialogue at this time. All that can come when discussions on the next DW event are officially opened.
Distant Worlds on Wiki
What about spacelegs? I know its not the exploration content you said that will be needed for you to write DW3, Erimus, but will there be a DW3 if spacelegs are the next big release from Frontier?
Just found this thread!
I'm happy to inform you that some of the DW2 participants have teamed up and are following the Voyager Trail back to the bubble. We started on May 19th, 3305:
Find it here:
forums.frontier.co.uk
I'm happy to inform you that some of the DW2 participants have teamed up and are following the Voyager Trail back to the bubble. We started on May 19th, 3305:
Find it here:
The Great Return: The Voyager Route (PS4)
After finishing DW2, the time came to decide which route to take home... The DW2 organisation team started a survey to determine which of the return routes was the most popular. The explorers voted for a route parallel to that of DW2 with a detour to Colonia. The Voyager route was voted second...
Last edited: