im new to the game but ive been more inclined to the exploration part of it than the other stuff and i gotta say, it is kinda frustating and makes u wonder when u see everything tagged already by another player and nothing new for u to get, unless u have the ship and patience to really go the distance and spend the time needed to reach the places where no one has gone before u.
But i do see an issue with the way its done today, fine u pass threw a system u get the tag from 1st discovery but u didnt actually explored that system, kinda makes me think that those tags should only be apllied if the exploration was really done, but that is just a personal tought...
As a new player interested in exploration i went for what the videos say, get the best ship with the biggest jump range u can get, go for the guardian sites, engenieers, and such so u can jump further and faster... But...
Well ive been exploring in the bubble, and perhaps in some i actually left the bubble, i dont know, sometimes is confusing to understand where it ends...
But after i went for get and use the ship i like most atm and jump range isnt the main goal, i actually started to get "1st to map" tags! because jumping less distance leads me to take routes that other players didnt in a certain direction, ence i get to find systems that are knowned, that ppl actually been there before but since there is nothing really interesting in terms of profitwise and distances were kinda high they didnt bother mapping... And a new player can get its tag that way, getting some satisfation and trive to continue.
I gotta say, ive tried some ships so far in the price range i can afford atm, and some really stand out to me, the DBX is a little wonderfull ship, but atm im using a Python, yes i got alot less jump range, but i do have it setup with more bells and wisles than i could ever have in the DBX, and my goal is to rack 1st enough credits to get me a anaconda, and them start on the outfitting of it for exploration the way i see it as... I have around 100 + hours play so far.
I currently have cargo racks, i got 1 SRV bays with 2 SRVs, i got automated repairs, best FSD i can fit 5A (modified to level 1 for now, lack the resources), scanner for planets (probes), and all systems D, but some A´s so i can boost too, no weapons, and off course i fitted the biggest fuel scoop i could without breaking the bank (B rated).
Let me give u a rundown of what i think exploration should be, at least how i wanna do it:
1- Find a system
2- Use "donk"
3- Use FSS (find everything, leave nothing to explore, even radio signals, alien contacts are to be investigated, distress calls too, biologicals off course!)
4- Go to all bodies and use probes
5- If anything interesting is at a planet, land on it and use SRV
6- When all is done, repeat process in another system
And i plan on going for long periods of time out of the bubble and do that to every single system i find, dont care if it takes long, long time... I will do it, that is my "endgame", but i wanna start that in a serious way when i get the anaconda ready, for now i cant afford it, so i keep close and get money mostly by jumping around and finding the earthlike planets, probe then and selling the data afterwards, or if i see a cargo run that gives good money (close or over a million) i do those.
I know it was a big post, so tks for bearing with me.