My God!
You have my deepest sympathies, Brother!
Exploring is turning my brain to mush.
- Thread starter DanTheMan
- Start date
You have my deepest sympathies, Brother!
OP is so odd to me. If you don't like it, don't do it. I know you're just trying to start a conversation, but... honestly there's an entire Subreddit committed to exploring. My wingmate and I have basically pledged ourselves to the exploration of the Milky Way galaxy. Every credit we earn goes toward the bigger goal of outfitting ships so we can go farther and longer out. On our stops in the bubble we hang out with other wingmates and do a bit of BH and mining.
To me, it is all about the starbound wanderlust of seeing amazing new things. If you just jump around honking for the hell of it, then yeah, I get your point. booooring. But jumping into a system, checking the system map for a planet to land on, then finding that planet and landing on it is an experience that makes the E : D experience for me.
To me, it is all about the starbound wanderlust of seeing amazing new things. If you just jump around honking for the hell of it, then yeah, I get your point. booooring. But jumping into a system, checking the system map for a planet to land on, then finding that planet and landing on it is an experience that makes the E : D experience for me.
dynamicbob
Banned
we are going to see more deep space content in 2.1 i just wish Fdev would open up a suggestion thread to get feedback and ideas.
just from my side (yes, I'm an explorer
)- doing an "interesting task" instead of "planet-scan-farming". for exampel: visiting all hypergiants in the galaxy. or: going to each 1000-coordinates. or "how low can you go" ;-) : trying to reach the "lowest system below sol". the "effect" will be the same.
- getting a second account. playing around in the bubble, before being back in the upper regions of the core.
- and, if it wasn't mentioned above - listening to astronomy-podcasts.
anyway, have a safe trip back, and maybe you'll want to head out later at some point.
just from my side (yes, I'm an explorer
- doing an "interesting task" instead of "planet-scan-farming". for exampel: visiting all hypergiants in the galaxy. or: going to each 1000-coordinates. or "how low can you go" ;-) : trying to reach the "lowest system below sol". the "effect" will be the same.
- getting a second account. playing around in the bubble, before being back in the upper regions of the core.
- and, if it wasn't mentioned above - listening to astronomy-podcasts.
anyway, have a safe trip back, and maybe you'll want to head out later at some point.
Those are some nice suggestions, I did enjoy going to the centre, Sag A*. Based mainly on getting the sense of scale of the game.
Buying a second account, I don't see as valid reason to exploring though.
that's pretty much the way i've done it too, i'd rather have bite sized chunks than choke on the whole meal. i've managed to get to ranger this way, maybe once i hit pioneer i'll try a longer trip but i doubt itI've taken to making little sojourns into deep space: say 1000k, then heading back. I use different ships, not needing crazy jump ranges, and have a bit of fun. The minute that tedium threatens, I plot the route home.
It's not hardcore but it works for me.
I find going back and forth between 2 stations (AKA Trading) even more boring. So boring that I haven't done it since beta. Different strokes.
Disclosure - I have done some rare trade CGs, but those were for the sake of story.
Disclosure - I have done some rare trade CGs, but those were for the sake of story.
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My biggest holdback for exploration is the inability to do anything else (except Arena) when I'm on a long trip. I know, I get it, commitment, roleplay, and all that, but the long period of doing the same thing gets to me. Sure, I can do short runs away from the bubble, but that seems more grindy and not goal oriented.
If and when I'm ready to do long range exploration, I may just do that so I can take a break from exploration by going to the other account.
If and when I'm ready to do long range exploration, I may just do that so I can take a break from exploration by going to the other account.
I do actually enjoy exploring too, but it can get a bit dull after a while.
- As someone else suggested, if initial travel to a system was very slow, but once one Cmdr discovers it, anyone can jump to it much 'faster' (by 'faster' he meant how we travel to it now). That would really make exploring meaningful, explorers would be true pathfinders.
- If explorers could discover rare, valuable mineral deposits; it'd make both exploring and mining more interesting. (Especially if those materials were the key to system colonisation... cough!!)
- If comets/asteroids were in the game, explorers could detect, chase, scan and tag them and get a reward for monitoring planetary/shipping hazards.
- If long-term missions could be added to find bodies/systems with specific parameters (a scientific institute might ask you to find a gas giant with certain composition, a manufacturing company might want a metal-rich planet with a certain gravity range etc.) which would result in a huge reward if you ever find one.
Anywho... I'm sure it's all been said before.
I'm not sure the lack of variety is entirely Frontier's fault, I think much of the galaxy is basically not that interesting. Until they add the ability to visit volcanic planets, dive down into gas giants or do atmospheric entries and navigate planetary terrain with various weather patterns & erosion, it's probably as good as it's going to get.
- As someone else suggested, if initial travel to a system was very slow, but once one Cmdr discovers it, anyone can jump to it much 'faster' (by 'faster' he meant how we travel to it now). That would really make exploring meaningful, explorers would be true pathfinders.
- If explorers could discover rare, valuable mineral deposits; it'd make both exploring and mining more interesting. (Especially if those materials were the key to system colonisation... cough!!)
- If comets/asteroids were in the game, explorers could detect, chase, scan and tag them and get a reward for monitoring planetary/shipping hazards.
- If long-term missions could be added to find bodies/systems with specific parameters (a scientific institute might ask you to find a gas giant with certain composition, a manufacturing company might want a metal-rich planet with a certain gravity range etc.) which would result in a huge reward if you ever find one.
Anywho... I'm sure it's all been said before.
I'm not sure the lack of variety is entirely Frontier's fault, I think much of the galaxy is basically not that interesting. Until they add the ability to visit volcanic planets, dive down into gas giants or do atmospheric entries and navigate planetary terrain with various weather patterns & erosion, it's probably as good as it's going to get.
I kind of enjoy the odd exploration trip. I pick a destination then meander my way towards it, scanning interesting un-discovered systems. Since Horizons I have also enjoyed the odd landing on a newly discovered planet to see what the views are like...
The ranking up is a secondary focus, and I'm Ok with it taking a bit of time.
The ranking up is a secondary focus, and I'm Ok with it taking a bit of time.
From the moment backing of ED started, my whole want/anticipation for the game was exploration. A full scale mock-up of our galaxy?! What wonders and possibilities await! .... It was exciting(ish) for the first couple 1000ly and then after a 2 month journey into the deep and returning back to the bubble, Ive never gone back out yet. Boy is it dreadfully boring...
So I converted my ASP to a smuggler for awhile and then OP'd a vulture to kill and do CG's to a python. I currently have no direction/meaning in this game yet since my dream/aspiration of exploration is dead. Its unclear for me at the moment. And doubtful Ill find that anytime soon. For all those that are super gunho for everything that is the current build, I wish I shared your enthusiasm/feelings. I'm a lifetime pass holder and I play weekly when I have the time and never plan to stop. Just hopeful. Hopeful that more will come alive as the future releases come out over time.
I'm thinking about making my own career in astrophotography. Its the only kind of interest I have to go back out.
-The Squatch is out there
So I converted my ASP to a smuggler for awhile and then OP'd a vulture to kill and do CG's to a python. I currently have no direction/meaning in this game yet since my dream/aspiration of exploration is dead. Its unclear for me at the moment. And doubtful Ill find that anytime soon. For all those that are super gunho for everything that is the current build, I wish I shared your enthusiasm/feelings. I'm a lifetime pass holder and I play weekly when I have the time and never plan to stop. Just hopeful. Hopeful that more will come alive as the future releases come out over time.
I'm thinking about making my own career in astrophotography. Its the only kind of interest I have to go back out.
-The Squatch is out there
"Blaze your own trail"..."As 1Million other players, do everything so you can feel you did something."
When I was a child I fell in love with Kipling's works. Rikki tikki tavi , the mongoose whose whole philosophy of life was to seek and find out the secrets of his world has gotten me into exploration. My ship is the Rikki tikki tavi in honor of this curious little guy.
That is probably the most profound reason for exploring in elite so far.
I did it for the first time recently and had a lot of fun. Went out around 1600 ly from bubble. Spent all day out there. Saw Witch Head and another nebula I can't remember. Landed a few times. Deployed SRV a couple of times.
I read about how to identify which planets and which objects were worth detailed scans so I didn't waste my time on icy rock planets etc.
Yes eventually I got bored with it so I flew back, after ranking an entire Exploration rank. I'll go out again sometime soon. It wasn't super exciting but it was okay.
I read about how to identify which planets and which objects were worth detailed scans so I didn't waste my time on icy rock planets etc.
Yes eventually I got bored with it so I flew back, after ranking an entire Exploration rank. I'll go out again sometime soon. It wasn't super exciting but it was okay.
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I have to say, you are my favorite person on these forums. A clear winner by the number of times declaring you are not playing the game over the number of total posts.
You are reliable, found in every thread, positive or negative, stating how boring the game is and how much you don't play.
It's perfect. No one not played this game more than you didn't play it. The perfect anti-fanboy.
Keep up the good work.
On topic: I love me some exploration in the mix of things I do in the game, especially if I have a goal to find something, or to document a whole cluster of stars around a nebula. I don't care if someone found them before me, what drives me is the fascination I have with empty space. I love feeling the distance between planets. Landing on a planet gives me a sense of scale achieved by no other game ever before. By the looks of things, no other game will do it in the foreseeable future too, which automatically makes ED the number one space game of all time for me. I'd like to be pleasantly surprised of course.
I'm being totally honest here. My drive in supporting this game has nothing to do with what gameplay it offers. I don't have any particular interest in combat. I enjoy it but there are many games that give me a better combat experience, which actually focus on combat. There are games with better flight simulation, which give me a better piloting experience. There are much better trading games with elaborate economic systems which leave you feeling like an actual tycoon if you succeed.
The only thing I support FD for is their courage in pitching and actually going on to build this game. The first day they announced they would have a 1:1 scale galaxy, I could see most of these threads clearly in my head. 'Nothing to do!', everywhere is empty and all look the same!'... When they announced there would be actual landings on 1:1 scale planets (at which point chris roberts was announcing there was no way they would include planetary landings outside of cutscenes, look how that turned out), I said 'OH BOY! You are gonna get killed dead over this! there is no way you can pull that off'. I knew a lot of whining and downplaying would follow immediately, of course the planets would be vast, empty balls of rock. I knew then and there these guys were the real deal and were not to be trifled with. Years before the game was even in alpha.
That's why I have mad respect and ultimate support for FD and this game. It's the most brave attempt to making a game defying all taboos in game design I have ever seen. I'm constantly amazed at how this is playing out everyday, going around every cliche in game design, never being the same as something else, never copying something well known. Exploration is just one part of it. Giving this large of a playing ground to players have never been done before. You can bet your butt it's going to be hard and take time to make it interesting in a way that's never done before too. This is what we mean by 'this game may not be for you', however I don't like to say it. This game is a breath of fresh air for those who are bored to death by every other game design cliche with which other games are filled to the brim. I'm extremely bored of small areas with tons of stuff to do, put there just for the sake of stuff to do, and love that we have the largest game area with pretty much nothing to do, so I can, for once, do what I want to do.