Exploration dudes, you're probably going to hate me for this, but I have to give my honest opinion.

[Libluini]

I think the Advanced Discovery Scanner is cheap.

Not cheap to buy. Just cheap to use. I think that it has made it far too simple to "explore".

Jump into system. Ten seconds later... You instantly know where everything is.

This honestly makes exploration boring for me. There's no hunt for exciting finds. You just get everything handed to you on a silver platter. *yawns*

You are welcome to disagree with me. I mean no hostile intention with this thread. It's just my honest-to-maker opinion.

I've decided that from now on I'm not going to use the ADS, but rather the IDS. Doing so will give me the hunt I crave, and when I find an ELW... I'll feel like, personally, that I really earned it.

Profits will be less, but for my gameplay, it'll be a lot more fun.

I'm an explorer, not a hunter. So I'm perfectly fine with the ADS. And boy, while using real astronomy to discover stellar objects was exciting the first time around, it got old really fast. I think you're confusing fun and tediousness here, and you're about to find out. Have "fun" playing the old haystack-needle game a couple thousand times in a row.

I was never so glad as after I finally got my ADS.

 

[mpfj]

Sorry OP, but if you don't want to use it, then stick to the BDS or IDS.

And it's hardly going to spoil it for everyone else.

In March last year, Edward Lewis stated (in this live stream) that only 0.0077% of the galaxy has been visited.

Even if we doubled that every year from now on, it'll take another 15 years before every system's been visited.

Realistically, I don't think it'll ever be fully mapped.

 

[GreyAreaUK]

Sorry OP, but if you don't want to use it, then stick to the BDS or IDS.

And it's hardly going to spoil it for everyone else.

In March last year, Edward Lewis stated (in this live stream) that only 0.0077% of the galaxy has been visited.

Even if we doubled that every year from now on, it'll take another 15 years before every system's been visited.

Realistically, I don't think it'll ever be fully mapped.

And as soon as the percentage of the galaxy mapped exceeds a certain value (known only to FD) I fully expect the introduction of Galactic Hyperspace units and bingo! - more galaxies to explore.

 

[Libluini]

Sorry OP, but if you don't want to use it, then stick to the BDS or IDS.

And it's hardly going to spoil it for everyone else.

In March last year, Edward Lewis stated (in this live stream) that only 0.0077% of the galaxy has been visited.

Even if we doubled that every year from now on, it'll take another 15 years before every system's been visited.

Realistically, I don't think it'll ever be fully mapped.

This is true, especially as it would become progressively harder to find un-mapped places, so instead of doubling the amount of explored stars every year, it would actually slow down. When something ludicrous like 99% of the galaxy is finally mapped in 2178, the one guy who will still play this game will never find the still missing systems until he dies of old age.

Unless he cheats of course, but that obviously wouldn't count.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Sorry OP, but if you don't want to use it, then stick to the BDS or IDS.

And it's hardly going to spoil it for everyone else.

In March last year, Edward Lewis stated (in this live stream) that only 0.0077% of the galaxy has been visited.

Even if we doubled that every year from now on, it'll take another 15 years before every system's been visited.

Realistically, I don't think it'll ever be fully mapped.

It will be interesting to see the distinction, whether it is the visited or hinked places. There should be a vast difference between them. In any case, the galaxy is just gigantic.

- - - Updated - - -

Discussed to death - check the second post in here to see there's even a drinking game, that's how much it's been discussed. The tl;dr version, and what it always comes down to, is that for many explorers that go on months long expeditions, visiting thousands of systems, spending much time in each system even determining if the system is worth a look is simply not viable. A lot of newcomers to exploration express this opinion and a very good percentage change their opinion rapidly after their first longer expedition. But, yea, the simple answer for those that hate the ADS is to use a lower grade variant. You then have to use the parallax method to find planets, which may be fun for a while, but would become tedious for most after their Nth ice ball system they spent hours in.

Repped and repeated as IMHO best summary on the subject.

 

[Straha Yeagar]

I think the Advanced Discovery Scanner is cheap.

Not cheap to buy. Just cheap to use. I think that it has made it far too simple to "explore".

Jump into system. Ten seconds later... You instantly know where everything is.

This honestly makes exploration boring for me. There's no hunt for exciting finds. You just get everything handed to you on a silver platter. *yawns*

You are welcome to disagree with me. I mean no hostile intention with this thread. It's just my honest-to-maker opinion.

I've decided that from now on I'm not going to use the ADS, but rather the IDS. Doing so will give me the hunt I crave, and when I find an ELW... I'll feel like, personally, that I really earned it.

Profits will be less, but for my gameplay, it'll be a lot more fun.

Yes, you know instantly where everything is, and I can see where that might be a letdown for certain styles of exploring. For me, seeing all the objects is only the beginning. I set personal objectives in discovery with the main one being finding terraformables through finesse rather than brute force...looking at start type and temp, then only targeting planets I suspect would be candidates, with the goal of a 100% hit rate...and doing that without the use of calculators...only my own personal experience. I have also been on a quest to figure out likelihood of, and distribution of the various gas giant types primarily based on GalMap info.

 

[Witzo]

The completionist in me is much reassured that the ADS shows me everything. No nagging feeling that I may have missed something.

It looks like the game will be expanded for several years to come, so I expect more, and mappable, surface features. Compared to the number of information points that planet surfaces add, the ADS's short list of bodies in a system is a small starting point.

And I think of the many hours people would otherwise use to look for things that turn out not to be findable within an hour. For a game. I like that these people are now putting their play time in things that actually give them something back in game. Which gives us all a more dynamic game universe and player community.

 

[Qohen Leth]

News: some of us have jobs and/or families, and *may* want to enjoy some shinies without having to roam for 6 hours to scan a couple systems.

 

[varonica]

Jump into system. Ten seconds later... You instantly know where everything is.

Come back and repeat this statement when you have discovered 20 or 30 volcanic sites. I expect you will be back after about six months or so!

Honestly I think the ADS is just a precursor to proper exploration, once we have worlds with atmospheric landings knowing where stellar bodies are will, or should be, just the start of exploration. We have a hint of it now when it sometimes takes days to find just one volcanic site on sub 300klm radius rock. You certainly don't instantly know where everything is, in fact you don't even know what you don't know about any given system from an ADS. You don't know if any of the landable planets have polonium, whether the rings of that gas giant are just ice, what their mass is. There are hidden bases in the black, aliens ruins and life forms we haven't come across yet but are still searching for,you don't find them with the ADS.

As the game expands I expect more and more the ADS will be just a preliminary system scanning tool with the real work to be done up and close. Knowing where things are should be just the start, knowing what's there, that's the aim!

And no, I don't hate you for saying it, it's a discussion forum. Try volcanic feature hunting for a while, you will soon be asking for better scanners, not nerfing the existing one.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Okay guys, I was wrong.

Holding my hands up. I'm sorry.

 

[Sir.Tj]

Closing as requested by the OP.