FDev, please consider doing something about the Elite exploration rank

[yodajedifishmaster]

i just want on record as someone who has first discovered a lot of places and my longest trip was 14,200LY or so out (and then back all in an unmodded FSD Asp with 26ly range urgh the grind coming back)... i get angry to the point of chewing on furnoture that passenger missions alone can get you exploration rank - except those to distant places outside the bubble. my reasoning is, any explorer would be scanning and so on naturally anyway on such a trip, and the passengers are incidental to the exploration in that respect despite being the reason you went out. but running people from earth to mars and getting rank for it (hypothetical example) - just no.

i have no objections to people using their disco and detail scanner on already discovered systems which arent in their database to earn rank, even in the bubble. i can justify it as providing current and continuing data on systems for changes, so the system maps stay accuarate. this will flag up (potentially) say an asteroid collision, be it with a planet surface or another rock. and it also provides status on stars which may be of interest to the astronomical community that would exist and be charged with monitoring systems believed to potentially be at risk of stellar instability - systems which may be variable stars or potential novae/supernovae candidates, although i dont know if any are in the bubble itself. but those people would exist and need constant info to provide early warning to systems in case they need to evacuate the population. mind you that would be an epic CG, emergency transport.

so scanning even inside the bubble and long range passenger mission because you will be scanning but otherwise, passenger missions raising explo rank no thanks.

as an aside to the posts above saying rank is cumulative and therefore meaningless... i believe combat rank SHOULD NOT be static and cumulative only. it should decay over time, faster decay the higher rank until it reaches one of two levels if you dont engage in combat for long enough : competent if you got to that rank or above, because my belief is you only get your license when at least this rank and are assumed to be competent at worst; and harmless, but only if you never get to competent. so if you avoid most combat over a long time because you only really fight when no option not to avoid or flee thats possible for a pure trader or miner who only runs reasonably safe route.

 

[Vlad Tepes]

A simple fix mentioned many times could be to reduce the gains in credits and exploration rank of scans inside the bubble, encouraging a real explorer path and preventing some of these shortcuts.
But after all it's doing no harm if that's the way people want to do it, and this is not trivial to accomplish.

 

[yodajedifishmaster]

A simple fix mentioned many times could be to reduce the gains in credits and exploration rank of scans inside the bubble, encouraging a real explorer path and preventing some of these shortcuts.
But after all it's doing no harm if that's the way people want to do it, and this is not trivial to accomplish.

im not sure they can do that without rewriting all the code to do with exploration rank so they can set different rates for different areas. not that this would be a bad thing - when and if thargoid war breaks out, explorers will debunk the false idea we have no risk professions - because the navies of humanity will need us to go in enemy territory and scan and return data in order to help them choose targets to attack. jump scoop honk scan is one thing. doing it as quick and quiet as you can and leaving with the thargoids shooting at you is entirely another thing. we may need to redo our FSD with low signature mods instead of range ones.

but if they rewrite the code the scans in hostile territory would be worth more than same undiscovered body someplace uninhabited, and much more than in the bubble, or already first discovered.

 

[Necronaught]

I earned my triple Elite the long way and it took two years. I care not if some players power grind their way through it. Elite is a very personal game and they are only cheating themselves. Their rank has no impact on me. Someone mentioned earier that they will rock the badge but have no skill to back it up. Self defeating.