What I really want to know is: What made you want to leave the bubble? I've met commanders who have never left the safety of occupied space, and they're perfectly content that way! I just know that within my first 24 hours of game time I knew I wanted to "head into the black" and explore the frontier. Within 40 hours I had myself a Viper IV with around a 20LY jump range and that's all I needed to convince myself it was time to explore. I've come a long way since piloting Charon's Lamentation up into the Wregoe sector and finding my first claim to an undiscovered system. What motivated you to explore?
Explorers: Share your motivation!
- Thread starter Squid Gumbo
- Start date
I started exploring to have my name out there and discover things that were undiscovered.
I saw amazing images that others posted. Obsidian Ant's videos were a major inspiration to get out there and see the galaxy. I'd been considering going to see Sag A* and then the Distant Worlds Expedition was announced and I realized I simply had to go. I waffled for a few weeks, but decided I had to attempt it, otherwise I'd never forgive myself. I had not done a lot of exploring previously; the farthest I'd been was to Bernard's Loop.
I almost didn't make it back from DWE; my hull was at 6%, but I made it and earned hundreds of millions of credits for my exploration data. That was a nice bonus, but I did it for the experience, not the money.
I almost didn't make it back from DWE; my hull was at 6%, but I made it and earned hundreds of millions of credits for my exploration data. That was a nice bonus, but I did it for the experience, not the money.
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Mine as well, I saw the names of other commanders across so many start systems and I knew I had to have my immortality secured among the star charts of humanity
I have set foot on worlds that are untouched by others, seen massive stars, Earth-like worlds around carbon stars (found one of two in total discovered so far in Elite), visited Sagittarius A* and watched the shimmer of neutron stars. I will go out into the Black again to see new sights, claiming worlds for humanity.
When I got back from DWE, I had many dozens of pages of First-Founds. At first I felt a sense of pride, but after a while, it was overwhelming. There are so many systems out there, you're unlikely to find any of mine (or yours) unless you specifically go hunting for a system you've made a note of.
yea its rare to run into them again unless you bookmarked them but its still cool knowing that you have discovered something undiscovered by no other human
When I found my first one, I bookmarked it so I can always go back and look 
kind of like a morale booster to remind me of what it is to explore and have other commanders read your name when they travel in a certain direction!
kind of like a morale booster to remind me of what it is to explore and have other commanders read your name when they travel in a certain direction!
Beige planets. I love 'em and can't get enough of 'em.
Seriously, though, it's the scale of the galaxy that gets me, and the variety of systems out there: a pair of binary ELWs, four black holes in orbit around each other, a system that has 15 stars around a parent star, etc. Sometimes the galaxy throws you a "Wow!" moment that becomes addictive, so I get that buzz every time I explore.
Seriously, though, it's the scale of the galaxy that gets me, and the variety of systems out there: a pair of binary ELWs, four black holes in orbit around each other, a system that has 15 stars around a parent star, etc. Sometimes the galaxy throws you a "Wow!" moment that becomes addictive, so I get that buzz every time I explore.
I've mentioned similar before elsewhere, but basically it just boils down to liking the idea of wandering and exploring the cosmos. Before getting this game I would mess around in Celestia, which is a real or virtual time astronomy 3D space sim based on star catalogs and what we know of the solar system. Other than using it for things such as identifying the moons of Jupiter seen through an optical telescope in my backyard, I'd go from star to star in it just to see the point of view from somewhere else in the galaxy, or lose myself among the stars and try to visually find my way back home to Sol and the Earth.
I liked the idea of being an astronaut when I was a little kid in the early '80s when the space race fever was still hot with the Space Shuttles, and I've also built and flown various radio controlled model aircraft and rockets as a hobby. I'm also into sci-fi.
Needless to say, when I found this game on Steam roughly two and a half years ago that simulates our entire galaxy and the stellar systems within it in a sci-fi spaceship pilot setting, it was only natural for me to go exploring in it.
What keeps me exploring in it is seeing all the various real-world nebulae and systems up close and personal as well as finding interesting arrangements of celestial bodies in procedurally generated systems. I think this is a beneficial combination of compelling game mechanics or potential, as it gives me long term goals to work toward and shorter term treasure hunts of sorts to keep things interesting while leisurely crossing vast distances in space.
I've recently finished visiting the Skull and Crossbones Nebula in my fully combat loaded Vulture, The Ronin, completing the first leg of the current expedition I'm on, and I've previously visited dozens of real-world nebulae in it as well.
View of the Skull and Crossbones Nebula inline with Sol with the vertical axis perpendicular to the galactic plane...
16K glory shot of The Ronin some distance out toward the rim, featuring the Milky Way Galaxy as backdrop...
An example of a rather interesting stellar system I found two years ago on my expedition to Sgr A, which I believe is now a destination of one of the passenger missions... (Spoiler: It's nearly the age of our universe, which sort of makes sense when you see the picture – I wonder what kind of life lives there and how advanced it must be to survive that environment.)
I liked the idea of being an astronaut when I was a little kid in the early '80s when the space race fever was still hot with the Space Shuttles, and I've also built and flown various radio controlled model aircraft and rockets as a hobby. I'm also into sci-fi.
Needless to say, when I found this game on Steam roughly two and a half years ago that simulates our entire galaxy and the stellar systems within it in a sci-fi spaceship pilot setting, it was only natural for me to go exploring in it.
What keeps me exploring in it is seeing all the various real-world nebulae and systems up close and personal as well as finding interesting arrangements of celestial bodies in procedurally generated systems. I think this is a beneficial combination of compelling game mechanics or potential, as it gives me long term goals to work toward and shorter term treasure hunts of sorts to keep things interesting while leisurely crossing vast distances in space.
I've recently finished visiting the Skull and Crossbones Nebula in my fully combat loaded Vulture, The Ronin, completing the first leg of the current expedition I'm on, and I've previously visited dozens of real-world nebulae in it as well.
View of the Skull and Crossbones Nebula inline with Sol with the vertical axis perpendicular to the galactic plane...
16K glory shot of The Ronin some distance out toward the rim, featuring the Milky Way Galaxy as backdrop...
An example of a rather interesting stellar system I found two years ago on my expedition to Sgr A, which I believe is now a destination of one of the passenger missions... (Spoiler: It's nearly the age of our universe, which sort of makes sense when you see the picture – I wonder what kind of life lives there and how advanced it must be to survive that environment.)
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Have you met some of the people in it?
Seriously though, ultimately explorers don't have a reason to explore, it's more properly a need. We explore because we're explorers.
Also, because we're crazy. But that's just a minor detail.
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Shh thats a secret they arent suppose to know we are crazy [haha]
THIS.
Finding unique things, getting my name out there... beautfiul screenshots and a career than doesn't involve pew pew.
I am a part time explorer normally before big patches drop when I'm bored of other stuff.
Check out some of the hi res screenshots people submit there are some great things discovered and the best thing is there's no way of knowing if there's systems out there with more gems in. There's something addictive to finding undiscovered neutron stars.
I am a part time explorer normally before big patches drop when I'm bored of other stuff.
Check out some of the hi res screenshots people submit there are some great things discovered and the best thing is there's no way of knowing if there's systems out there with more gems in. There's something addictive to finding undiscovered neutron stars.
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for me, the major motivation over the last years is and was to visit real galaxy star systems.
to fly to something, which i can see at the night sky from my window or at nights in the mountains. to visit something, wich i can only read about in some astronomy blog, some specualtions and some amazing science.
of course, it is "only a game", and "made up", but still ... to be at the pleiades ... orions belt ... or betelgeuze... or several thousand lightyears more far out.
to fly to something, which i can see at the night sky from my window or at nights in the mountains. to visit something, wich i can only read about in some astronomy blog, some specualtions and some amazing science.
of course, it is "only a game", and "made up", but still ... to be at the pleiades ... orions belt ... or betelgeuze... or several thousand lightyears more far out.
Well we are a certain...brand of crazy. Load up a ship with no armor, basic shielding, no weapons, and take off on a journey that takes weeks and has no social interactions or possibility for repair? Sounds good! Hopefully this time around when I touch down to find jump synth mats I pay attention to surface gravity :x
Why did I leave the Bubble and go exploring?
Basically Tennis Elbow (Tendonitis), I worked my arm too hard in combat PvE to sustain and I've had to revert to a more gentle lifestyle.
I'm actually growing into it.
The Void is my friend.
Basically Tennis Elbow (Tendonitis), I worked my arm too hard in combat PvE to sustain and I've had to revert to a more gentle lifestyle.
I'm actually growing into it.
The Void is my friend.
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