Help! I think I just lost 50 million exploration credits by drunkenly crashing into the centre of the galaxy?

[BarbusMaximus]

Help! I think I just lost 50 million exploration credits by drunkenly crashing into the centre of the galaxy?

After playing, and really enjoying ED for around 6 months, I decided it was about time I had my first serious go at exploration by visiting the centre of the galaxy. So I spent a month levelling engineers and engineering my Asp to around 50 Ly jump range. Then I thought I may as well take some passengers if I’m going anyway and picked up a mission to carry an explorer to “the eye of fire” and back mainly for the 50 million exploration credits (I don’t need the cash but I do need the exploration rank) with a timescale of 4 weeks. Immediately after setting off I was scanned leaving a station and my passenger went from happy down to content. To cut a long story short I forgot about her and I spent the next two weeks heading for the core via the scenic route and neutron highway. Took a few knocks n bumps on the way, by the time I hit the destination my ship’s integrity was down 79% and I used all my AMFUs charges but my equipment is all >90% and my passenger was still content.

After my passenger scanned the eye of fire I plotted the short 2Kly hop to Sag a*…well I’d come all this way, why not ? And I've earned this bottle of strong ale, it's not everyday you fly to the centre of milky way. On arriving 30 minutes later, rather tired and emotional, I headed for “The Centre” somewhat worse for the wear due to the aforementioned real ale, came out of supercruise and promptly forgot to brake. Before I know it I’ve clipped the tourist beacon “The Centre”, which wouldn’t have mattered had my shields not been shut down to save power….arrggh! Anyway, my ship’s health goes instantly from 79% - 64% in one little clip and my passenger, quiet for 2 weeks, mails me to say she doesn't want to die and is now “miserable”. The mission doesn’t say failed though, so I presume I’m still OK? Is it Happy>Content>Miserable>Failed or have I already failed with miserable?

I’ve got 1 week and 3 days to get the miserable, whinging ball and chain back to Rushworth Station – 25Kly. I’m a casual player, but if I put my mind to it I should be able to make this by scan-honk-jump but I’ll have no time to stop and scan any ELWs etc. However, is it even worth bothering? Given I lost 20% of my hull on the way here, will losing more mean the passenger goes from miserable to failed mission? I can't avoid losing a few more % hull on way home. Worse, might I get all the way back to the bubble and after a 55 kly 1 month round trip get scanned and lose everything – since I think it will only take 1 more scan for the mission to fail now?

is there anyway round this? It’s so frustrating to have put weeks into a mission, only to lose all because of 1 silly mistake. I think I know the answer to this, but once a passenger lowers in satisfaction level is there anyway of raising it again? Would it be worth diverting to Colonia or whatever the nearest station is to Sag a and repairing? This would significantly increase my journey time, but if it helped I’d do it.

I’m faced with a 25Kly journey home where just getting one scan on my return to the bubble will most likely mean mission failed… I think? A few months work lost on one scan. I’m not sure I could take that and don’t want to end up another rage quitter. Alternatively, if I take more much damage on the way home this may also further reduce passenger happiness and mean mission failed? Or is it the damage I took in one hit that reduced her satisfaction rather than the overall ships hull integrity that matters - this is a key question? Anyone know where the cut off points are? She was happy at 79% but then when I hit the beacon and went down to 64% she dropped instantly.

If I’m honest I don’t need the credits desperately, but I really do need the exploration rank 50 million credits will give pre 2.3. I’m just a pioneer 6% and I know when 2.3 is released the amount of credit gained from missions will be nerfed.

What would you do? Is this mission recoverable? I enjoy a bit of adrenalin but a months work lost if I get scanned just once or lose a few more percent!? Should I just chuck the whinger passenger into Sag a and take my time getting home or is there any hope of salvaging this?

 

[marx]

First off, the amount of credit gained from missions you already took should be unchanged, should 2.3 go live before you get back within ten days. Second, if it's the rank you're after, exploration payouts will be increased by around 8x in average, although only half of the credits gained will count towards exploration rank: still, you should be able to level up to Elite four times faster than before. (However, the increased payouts will only be for anything you scanned after 2.3, so no need to hang on to your data.)
With these in mind, I'd say the question is: would you rather hurry back and risk losing the mission on one scan (although she might still "survive" that), or would you rather explore at your own pace instead and give up on the passenger?

Oh, and as far as I know, there's no way of raising a passenger's happiness level. However, miserable doesn't mean that they'll be bailing just yet, nor that they'll do so on the next mistake. Oh, and should you get back without upsetting them again, then your payout will still be the same. (Being "miserable" doesn't reduce rewards.) Also, it's the fact that you took large hull damage that caused the happiness drop, not the overall condition of your ship. Stopping somewhere else to repair won't improve their happiness - as far as I know, that is.

 

[goemon]

you don't loose anything. you just don't get paid. that's quite a difference.

it's a mission, and you can fail. otherwise it wouldn't be a challenge and you could as well press a "add 50 mio to my exploration rank"-button. where would be the fun in that?

i personally would abort the mission, and just enjoy the trip. or not abort it, but don't care about whether you make it or not, enjoy the trip.

i have been destroyed on my first trip to sag a* twice - believe me, it's about the experience, not about some rank increase. the experience is what stays with you.

 

[BarbusMaximus]

Great advice as usual, thanks. The experience was somewhat soured by the crash and I don't like quitting but can I also see merit in this remaning fun rather than a chore. It's frustrating you can't reverse passenger mood in missions, I've never complained about a mission before but several weeks is a long time investment to mess up with just one mistake. Need to sleep on this one.

Also: Don't drink and fly near Super Massive Black Holes.

 

[duckofdeath]

Sagittarius A* grumbles, while pointing at "The Centre" POI marker
"Don't blame me, man! I didn't put that sign post there!"

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

Okay, since you're at A* or somewhere close to it, and you want some fun while still wanting credits, here's what you do.

1. Hopefully you put an ADS and DSS on your ship.
2. You tell the passenger that, after a deeply religious experience at A*, you have decided to start a religious cult that worships neutron stars, and that she is the first acolyte in this new religion. Tell her she is now known as St. Colonia, Patron Saint of the Great Annihilator.
3. Go to the neutron star fields. You have so much love and worship for these neutron stars... and there's literally millions of these things! You have a lot of devotion to spread. How do you show this devotion? Why, scan them, of course! You want to spread the knowledge of these neutron stars to the rest of humanity! So, you quickly chant the Holy Prayers while detail-scanning the first neutron star, collecting the data on that star to eventually turn in, then hurriedly leap to the next neutron star.
4. Repeat, oh, 1200 to 1500 times or so, preferably as fast as possible.
5. If a neutron star shows its displeasure by roasting your ship to plasma, then clearly your devotion was lacking.
6. On the other hand, if you and your acolyte finish your act of devotion and make it back to occupied space (Colonia is closest), then the 100 million or so credits you'll earn by turning in the data will make any complaints your acolyte might have seem like nothing by comparison.

Good luck!

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Hull damage from bad supercruise exits doesn't as far as I know reduce passenger satisfaction - only hull damage in normal space. So stay in supercruise and you should be fine.

If you're worried about scans on the way in, go through only uninhabited systems to get to your destination, then when you get there, have a friend shoot at the system security around the station to distract them all before you approach (remembering to stand far enough back when doing this not to get blown up instantly by the station - a tough ship which can tank all the system authority for several minutes is ideal) so you can dock safely without risk of scans. Iridium Wing has been doing this a lot recently for explorers with picky passengers aboard - we'd be happy to help you as well.

 

[Fishy]

Miserable is fine, don't worry! I've taken a few passengers back like that and got paid in full (stupid "unfazed by danger" criminals that chicken out when I still have almost 50% hull left!). Just don't make things worse now though. If you fail, you'll know immediately as the passenger will immediately ask you to drop them at the nearest station.

Also, if you're stressed about being scanned on docking approach, you may want to give a shout here or to player groups that escort Explorers back in the bubble. I'm sure a wing could be set up with a CMDR sticking to each security ship around, and bumping into them to disrupt the scan if it starts. Or suicidewindering by opening fire to distract them all at once. [noob]

 

[Edelgard von Rhein]

Don't give up!
You can get help on your return to the bubble, as others have said.
You can stop off at an outpost on the frontier where you are unlikely to be scanned and can repair your ship and potentially restock and perhaps buy a heat sink launcher, if you don't have one.
Using a heat sink as you come in to dock at your destination can help to avoid attracting attention from station security.
Good luck!

 

[Kenneth McGrew]

After playing, and really enjoying ED for around 6 months, I decided it was about time I had my first serious go at exploration by visiting the centre of the galaxy. So I spent a month levelling engineers and engineering my Asp to around 50 Ly jump range. Then I thought I may as well take some passengers if I’m going anyway and picked up a mission to carry an explorer to “the eye of fire” and back mainly for the 50 million exploration credits (I don’t need the cash but I do need the exploration rank) with a timescale of 4 weeks. Immediately after setting off I was scanned leaving a station and my passenger went from happy down to content. To cut a long story short I forgot about her and I spent the next two weeks heading for the core via the scenic route and neutron highway. Took a few knocks n bumps on the way, by the time I hit the destination my ship’s integrity was down 79% and I used all my AMFUs charges but my equipment is all >90% and my passenger was still content.

After my passenger scanned the eye of fire I plotted the short 2Kly hop to Sag a*…well I’d come all this way, why not ? And I've earned this bottle of strong ale, it's not everyday you fly to the centre of milky way. On arriving 30 minutes later, rather tired and emotional, I headed for “The Centre” somewhat worse for the wear due to the aforementioned real ale, came out of supercruise and promptly forgot to brake. Before I know it I’ve clipped the tourist beacon “The Centre”, which wouldn’t have mattered had my shields not been shut down to save power….arrggh! Anyway, my ship’s health goes instantly from 79% - 64% in one little clip and my passenger, quiet for 2 weeks, mails me to say she doesn't want to die and is now “miserable”. The mission doesn’t say failed though, so I presume I’m still OK? Is it Happy>Content>Miserable>Failed or have I already failed with miserable?

I’ve got 1 week and 3 days to get the miserable, whinging ball and chain back to Rushworth Station – 25Kly. I’m a casual player, but if I put my mind to it I should be able to make this by scan-honk-jump but I’ll have no time to stop and scan any ELWs etc. However, is it even worth bothering? Given I lost 20% of my hull on the way here, will losing more mean the passenger goes from miserable to failed mission? I can't avoid losing a few more % hull on way home. Worse, might I get all the way back to the bubble and after a 55 kly 1 month round trip get scanned and lose everything – since I think it will only take 1 more scan for the mission to fail now?

is there anyway round this? It’s so frustrating to have put weeks into a mission, only to lose all because of 1 silly mistake. I think I know the answer to this, but once a passenger lowers in satisfaction level is there anyway of raising it again? Would it be worth diverting to Colonia or whatever the nearest station is to Sag a and repairing? This would significantly increase my journey time, but if it helped I’d do it.

I’m faced with a 25Kly journey home where just getting one scan on my return to the bubble will most likely mean mission failed… I think? A few months work lost on one scan. I’m not sure I could take that and don’t want to end up another rage quitter. Alternatively, if I take more much damage on the way home this may also further reduce passenger happiness and mean mission failed? Or is it the damage I took in one hit that reduced her satisfaction rather than the overall ships hull integrity that matters - this is a key question? Anyone know where the cut off points are? She was happy at 79% but then when I hit the beacon and went down to 64% she dropped instantly.

If I’m honest I don’t need the credits desperately, but I really do need the exploration rank 50 million credits will give pre 2.3. I’m just a pioneer 6% and I know when 2.3 is released the amount of credit gained from missions will be nerfed.

What would you do? Is this mission recoverable? I enjoy a bit of adrenalin but a months work lost if I get scanned just once or lose a few more percent!? Should I just chuck the whinger passenger into Sag a and take my time getting home or is there any hope of salvaging this?

don't worry about it, I did a mission a while back, or more precisely I accepted a mission with 6 hours left but then I had to log out.

didn't think anything of it and logged in 2 days later, to the whinge bag being miserable, I would have though they would have booked another flight!

anyway I felt bad so I took them anyway, the mission counter was red at 0min constantly and they were indeed miserable, but I got them back home and they still paid me.

just avoid scans that will cause mission fail upon return if they're of the sensitive type.

Use silent running and make a fast bee line for the slot!

 

[marx]

Oh yeah, I forgot that since some time, you get a sort of "grace period" after the original timer limit, so the mission doesn't fail just yet. I seem to recall that you can actually take twice as long to finish the mission as the timer, but I have no source for this, so don't count on it.
As it stands, the only surefire way to fail a passenger mission is to make them so upset that they'll elect to bail from your ship in an escape pod. A capital idea thousand of light years away from inhabited systems, wouldn't you say?

Yep, standard smuggling practices apply for sneaking sensitive passenger into / out of stations. When coming in, hit silent running, and be quick but careful about making it through the docking slot. If you should be scanned regardless, pop any chaff or heatsinks you might have, on the off chance they'll throw off the scan.


Also, I wonder which caused more damage to ships visiting the center of the galaxy: the supermassive black hole, or the tourist beacon.

 

[osser]

First off, the amount of credit gained from missions you already took should be unchanged, should 2.3 go live before you get back within ten days. Second, if it's the rank you're after, exploration payouts will be increased by around 8x in average, although only half of the credits gained will count towards exploration rank: still, you should be able to level up to Elite four times faster than before. (However, the increased payouts will only be for anything you scanned after 2.3, so no need to hang on to your data.)
With these in mind, I'd say the question is: would you rather hurry back and risk losing the mission on one scan (although she might still "survive" that), or would you rather explore at your own pace instead and give up on the passenger?

Oh, and as far as I know, there's no way of raising a passenger's happiness level. However, miserable doesn't mean that they'll be bailing just yet, nor that they'll do so on the next mistake. Oh, and should you get back without upsetting them again, then your payout will still be the same. (Being "miserable" doesn't reduce rewards.) Also, it's the fact that you took large hull damage that caused the happiness drop, not the overall condition of your ship. Stopping somewhere else to repair won't improve their happiness - as far as I know, that is.

Payouts are to increase X 8?
Surely I'm missing something...

 

[mpfj]

Payouts are to increase X 8?
Surely I'm missing something...

See this thread post for more info.

 

[osser]

See this thread post for more info.

[woah]:O[woah]:O

I guess the question is does this apply to data collected pre 2.3?
If so my payout will be absolutely insane.

 

[BarbusMaximus]

More entertaining, helpful and supportive advice, thanks again all.

"I guess the question is does this apply to data collected pre-2.3?"

Poster two says no, only to objects scanned after 2.3. This was important for my decision as if it applied to pre-2.3 scans, the big increase would compensate for any loss if the mission failed and it would make sense to just scan the core until 2.3.

"Also, I wonder which caused more damage to ships visiting the center of the galaxy: the supermassive black hole, or the tourist beacon."

So I'm not the first to make this mistake? well that's a relief. I did feel a prize plonker managing to navigate so far past so many hazards and then completely forgetting how long it takes to stop an asp in normal flight. I might campaign for Frontier to install "You're now leaving supercruise, test your brakes" signs. Or at very least some fluorescent cones.


"As it stands, the only surefire way to fail a passenger mission is to make them so upset that they'll elect to bail from your ship in an escape pod. A capital idea thousand of light years away from inhabited systems, wouldn't you say?"

Yeah it did cross my mind to say if you don't like it you're welcome to take yer chances in the void luv. Not sure I'll take a passenger mission again - it's sort of the Elite equivalent of having your kids in the back shouting "Are we nearly there yet?!" five minutes after you set off for the 50Kly.

"You can stop off at an outpost on the frontier"

Can anyone link a map to the frontier outposts? I found one and did indeed stop off a planetary outpost on the way out (no scans?) but didn't bookmark the map and I can't find it again. I want to stock up on heat sinks mainly, but wasn't sure whether to add an extra risk of being scanned.

Thanks to all those offering a distraction/escort on my return, I'll let you know well in advance if one is required, although I've only played in solo up to now.

"3. Go to the neutron star fields."

From about 12.5k - The Eye I travelled the neutron highway scanning all the way... I didn't count but several hundred NS scanned and even a few new black holes.

 

[Hanekura Shizuka]

"3. Go to the neutron star fields."

From about 12.5k - The Eye I travelled the neutron highway scanning all the way... I didn't count but several hundred NS scanned and even a few new black holes.

Well, as it's on a sticky in the Exploration forum, thought you might find this useful.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/163816-The-Neutron-Fields-A-Definitive-Guide

 

[Lngjohnsilver1]

'Beer (or in this case ale), the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems!' - Homer Jay Simpson (philosopher).

Have another beer (ale) and don't worry anymore....cheers!

 

[Edelgard von Rhein]

When choosing a suitable location on the frontier to return to for a quick repair/restock (some outposts also have outfitting), it is best to have a selection of places to choose from since conflict states like war/civil war can increase the chances of interdiction and also result in changes of ownership and things like black markets disappearing. Military outposts have regular sentries, so avoid those, but it is still possible to be scanned on approach to other types, although much more rarely.
.
As a starting point, I would suggest Giacconi Landing in Kisatsya as this is just 15 ls from the primary star and has repair, refuel, restock and outfitting facilities and an up-to-date outfitting record on Inara showing heat sinks and chaff in stock, if you want more of these. Have a look around the frontier systems for outposts close to the arrival point and find some that appeal to you.

 

[Kenneth McGrew]

[woah]:O[woah]:O

I guess the question is does this apply to data collected pre 2.3?
If so my payout will be absolutely insane.

from what I understand no, anything scanned pre 2.3 will be at pre 2.3 prices. anything scanned after will be at 2.3 prices but have less effect on rank 50% less as far as I understood? I could be wrong things change.

 

[osser]

from what I understand no, anything scanned pre 2.3 will be at pre 2.3 prices. anything scanned after will be at 2.3 prices but have less effect on rank 50% less as far as I understood? I could be wrong things change.

That's what I figured. Thanks For the reply.
Well I still will have a nice payout, and some 2.3 systems to throw in.

Back on topic: OP'er I hope you keep going.