Fleet carriers for exploration

[Cmdr Tali'Shepard]

And yet im pretty sure i have done it myself more than once just in my anaconda. Yeah sorry guys

I have crossed other explorers paths many many times and i hvnt really explored at all compared to some.

I've crossed other Commander's systems as well, but I haven't jumped from system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, for hundreds upon thousands of jumps, and followed another commander's jumps exactly.

And you're also missing the other point in your own comment - to know that the system was already discovered using the galaxy map, means the other commander has already turned in the cartographic data, so you're not able to 'claim jump anyway'.

I refer you Douglas Adams: “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

 

[iain666]

I've crossed other Commander's systems as well, but I haven't jumped from system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, to system, for hundreds upon thousands of jumps, and followed another commander's jumps exactly.

It happens occasionally, usually on the edges though where systems are sparse enough that if another Cmdr has been along the same trajectory with a similar range the route plotter will end up in the same rut. When I circumnavigated in my Mk III I always knew when I'd hit a stretch where Allitnil had been along the rim in his Cobra because if I hit one of his tags I'd keep hitting them unless I jumped 100ly perpendicular to my direction of travel - and trying to keep close to the edge I'd eventually fall back into his trail because the options are limited. Similarly on DECE there was one point where I plotted direct from one WP to the next and set off after another Cmdr flying a Clipper with the exact same range as mine - and the first dozen jumps were untagged but all known to EDSM (EDDiscovery tells me that every jump) and when I checked that Cmdr had first discovered them all for EDSM an hour before my visit.

Where there are more stars even a tenth of a lightyear more or less range and the route plotter will quickly deviate from those who went before even if you happen to plot between the same two endpoints.

 

[Cmdr Tali'Shepard]

It happens occasionally, usually on the edges though where systems are sparse enough that if another Cmdr has been along the same trajectory with a similar range the route plotter will end up in the same rut. When I circumnavigated in my Mk III I always knew when I'd hit a stretch where Allitnil had been along the rim in his Cobra because if I hit one of his tags I'd keep hitting them unless I jumped 100ly perpendicular to my direction of travel - and trying to keep close to the edge I'd eventually fall back into his trail because the options are limited. Similarly on DECE there was one point where I plotted direct from one WP to the next and set off after another Cmdr flying a Clipper with the exact same range as mine - and the first dozen jumps were untagged but all known to EDSM (EDDiscovery tells me that every jump) and when I checked that Cmdr had first discovered them all for EDSM an hour before my visit.

Where there are more stars even a tenth of a lightyear more or less range and the route plotter will quickly deviate from those who went before even if you happen to plot between the same two endpoints.

Agreed, but if you're going from the same start to the same / similar end point as someone else, you're likely to find some overlap, but it's also easy and possible to avoid those overlaps by, as you say, going perpendicular for a couple of jumps. If you're doing the same general route as others, DECE, DW2, and similar, it's an almost certainty, but it's also not a random sample.

The use of FCs will change exploration, or would if UC were available, as those exploring in that way won't be following single line of jumps but more having a central base to explore in a sphere, before moving on.