FSS Vs ADS

[Vetinari]

On XB - there is no such thing as sensitivity

I'm upset that you said that

 

[Ydiss]

Mhm. We do have two more objective barometers for success: see the EDSM activity numbers and the official numbers in this thread. There's also data on squadron exploration activity, but squadrons came in the same update as the FSS did, so that part is not useful for comparison. The data on EDSM is very representative on the total data, because comparing them with the official numbers, we can see that in during the last 1.5 years for which we had the official numbers, EDSM activity made up a whopping 46% of the total activity.

The end result? In both, people used to explore more before the FSS was revealed(!) than they did after. There was a large spike with the Chapter Four update's launch, and a sustained peak period when DW2 was running, followed by activity dropping like a rock after it, to stagnation until the 2019 winter holiday sales, and a smaller but curious influx of new explorers this spring - the start of the Western pandemic lockdowns maybe? - with activity having been declining to previous and perhaps below previous levels these last few months. Oh, and fleet carriers brought no noticeable change, but it certainly appears that since then, Commanders explore more away from the galactic core than they did before.

So, if we were to take things as a whole, then after DW2, people explored about as much or just slightly below as they did before the FSS reveal. Whether that's good or bad is up to debate (it's certainly not a runaway success story though), but there's another thing to consider for context: since the pandemic, total player numbers on Steam charts have on the whole been increasing and hit a new all-time high with carriers (have gone down since, of course), while exploration barely budged.

If I was interested in objectively measuring a subjective response to the fss, to determine the commercial success of it so to speak, then this would be really effective

Not saying I'm not interested and I can happily accept that the fss is responsible for reduced interaction stats in exploration (I'm aware how controversial it is). But I wanted to know if the fss was better and where it's not better at doing the job (because I find it is so wanted to understand where it isn't) and whether it's accepted by more or less users isn't a way to measure what I want to know.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

You guys are having an FSS vs ADS thread without me?

The funny thing is, that I saw someone claim the FSS is objectively better. Lets sit down and review that shall we? We are playing a game. Playing a game is meant to be fun. What people think is fun is inherently subjective. Anyone's opinion about this gameplay feature is subjective.

There is no one answer to: is the FSS better than the ADS or vice versa. For those who enjoy the FSS, it is better. For those who quickly grew weary of the FSS it isn't. One opinion is not better or more important than the next. So, from a strictly personal perspective: The FSS itself isn't bad. The frequency with which I have to use it to get to the information I desire is bad. That information was the driving force for my explorations. And it left me with a lose - lose situation:

Don't FSS every single system, and run the risk of missing nice systems
FSS grind every single system and make that my primary gameplay loop, and run the risk of losing my mind out of complete boredom.

In short: exploration was one of the most enjoyable activities I have done in any game. The way I have to use the FSS ruined that for me. That makes it a badly implemented feature, while there was potential for it to be a feature that added variety to exploration.

For me.

Meanwhile, I got 2 and a bit good enjoyable years out of exploration, and the FSS made me move on, freeing time for Satisfactory which has now taken over my life.

And exploration in Satisfactory is excellent. I don't have to play a mini game to look around me and see my environment. And the environments are pretty and full of creatures that want a taste of Ziggy. And all of them are spiders.

 

[bobilon]

i hate FSS. lately i found ring hotspots prospecting as most satisafying activity in this game. its even better when actual system is already scanned, i dont have to use FSS at all. i enjoy gas giants from close proximity. Observatory notifies me about oddities i just got close to, so i can go right there and look at them. for me, this is true exploration.