How to find Fleet Carrier Vendor systems using only in-game resources?

[pnellesen]

What am I missing? I'm in the Bubble. I'm selecting the FC Vendor filter in GalMap, but I don't see any pink dots anywhere. If I select FC Admin, I see several yellow dots. Do I REALLY need to have previously visited an FC Vendor system in order to find one?

(I'm fairly sure this is a rhetorical question. It's just frustrating how difficult this game sometimes makes it to do much of anything without alt-tabbing out to a web browser. Sigh.)


EDIT: Ok, so I finally figured out how to find ONE Fleet Carrier Vendor system using in-game resources only: In the Codex, under Pilot's Handbook -> Fleet Carriers -> How to Purchase, there is an image of an FC Vendor screen which has the station name on it (in this case, "SHIFNALPORT", which I have actually been to, but for some reason does NOT show up with a little pink dot if I use the Galmap filter). If you enter that station name into the Galmap search bar, it will take you to the system (Diso, in this case). So far this is the only in-game way I've been able to find to locate an FC Vendor.

 

[Treya]

Short answer: yes. The services filter works only for known systems within a certain radius of your position (i forgot the actual distance, something like 60 lys?). It's one of those annoying yet longstanding design decisions.
Most services are co-dependant on other factors like economy type for traders etc. For FC vendor systems however the list is short enough that it was included in full in the announcement posts for the open beta, so finding those with just in game tools would likely still be futile.

 

[777Driver]

Do I REALLY need to have previously visited an FC Vendor system in order to find one?

(I'm fairly sure this is a rhetorical question. It's just frustrating how difficult this game sometimes makes it to do much of anything without alt-tabbing out to a web browser. Sigh.)

Are you looking to add/remove services? These are the requirements.


A station that can activate services must follow these guidelines:

• Must be a starport
• Has either a high-tech and/or industrial economy type
• Isn't controlled by a criminal or anarchist faction

A Carrier Service will be turned off if the station is damaged, under repair or put under lock-down.

 

[Codger]

You could always holler repeatedly in system chat, somewhere busy, until someone answers you. In-game, that's about the only way

 

[Danieros]

It follows the same logic as station trade data, so yeah, no way around system scouting yourself if you're going by in-game tools only.

 

[Stealthie]

What am I missing? I'm in the Bubble. I'm selecting the FC Vendor filter in GalMap, but I don't see any pink dots anywhere. If I select FC Admin, I see several yellow dots. Do I REALLY need to have previously visited an FC Vendor system in order to find one?

(I'm fairly sure this is a rhetorical question. It's just frustrating how difficult this game sometimes makes it to do much of anything without alt-tabbing out to a web browser. Sigh.)

No idea if this has been reported/fixed/gone away but I had the same problem when FCs were first released and it turned out that the galmap filters were just generally broken.

Try selecting other filters such as war, famine, boom etc and see if they work properly.

I forget where I went to look at buying an FC but I used INARA to find a system/station, docked there, could see the FC-related station UI options but when I pulled up the galmap it STILL didn't show that system as being a place I could buy an FC.

At the time, I was finding that ALL the filters worked inconsistently and unreliably.
I'd select, say, boom systems and I'd get heaps of systems being highlighted.
I'd then try war systems and I'd see a few systems highlighted.
I'd then re-select boom systems and I'd only get half a dozen systems highlighted.

It was as if the filters were getting overloaded and gradually ceasing to function.

No idea how the galmap and filters make use of server data but it seemed like something, somewhere was grinding to a halt.
Dunno if that was the result of a heap of people all using the galmap to look for FC vendors just after they were released.
If that was the case, it might not be an issue any more.
If you are still finding that ALL the galmap filters are inconsistent, it might be an ongoig thing.

 

[Kenneth McGrew]

What am I missing? I'm in the Bubble. I'm selecting the FC Vendor filter in GalMap, but I don't see any pink dots anywhere. If I select FC Admin, I see several yellow dots. Do I REALLY need to have previously visited an FC Vendor system in order to find one?

(I'm fairly sure this is a rhetorical question. It's just frustrating how difficult this game sometimes makes it to do much of anything without alt-tabbing out to a web browser. Sigh.)

How to find Fleet Carrier Vendor systems using only in-game resources? hahahahaha ....

but yes you need to have visited them before and be within 50LY (IIRC on distance) just like the material traders wont show up unless you have visited them previously and are within 50ly, absolutely STUPID and pointless filter, may as well delete it and just use 3rd party tools because what frontier gave us is as useful as a chocolate fireguard.

 

[zimms]

The 50LY radius is funny too. It might have been good enough back in the day when people's ships had a jump range of about 7-14LY, but now we can do >70.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

No idea if this has been reported/fixed/gone away but I had the same problem when FCs were first released and it turned out that the galmap filters were just generally broken.

Try selecting other filters such as war, famine, boom etc and see if they work properly.

I forget where I went to look at buying an FC but I used INARA to find a system/station, docked there, could see the FC-related station UI options but when I pulled up the galmap it STILL didn't show that system as being a place I could buy an FC.

At the time, I was finding that ALL the filters worked inconsistently and unreliably.
I'd select, say, boom systems and I'd get heaps of systems being highlighted.
I'd then try war systems and I'd see a few systems highlighted.
I'd then re-select boom systems and I'd only get half a dozen systems highlighted.

It was as if the filters were getting overloaded and gradually ceasing to function.

No idea how the galmap and filters make use of server data but it seemed like something, somewhere was grinding to a halt.
Dunno if that was the result of a heap of people all using the galmap to look for FC vendors just after they were released.
If that was the case, it might not be an issue any more.
If you are still finding that ALL the galmap filters are inconsistent, it might be an ongoig thing.

Not sure if its exactly your problem, but what you're seeing could be explained by systems being able to be in multiple states at once, and the galaxy map only working for the top one. Its its not the first state, there is zero way to be aware of that without flying to the system and looking directly. Bit sad. Queries from eddb are a bit more functional so probably would explain why current data feels wrong from 3rd party tools. Its the galaxy map.

 

[777Driver]

I think the FAQ is must for anyone starting out. https://support.frontier.co.uk/kb/faq.php?id=530

 

[777Driver]

In game resources to find something?

View attachment 185942

You should be able to find the systems using the guidelines. Those filters have always been about marking systems you have already visited, to save on sidy or regular bookmarks.

 

[Danieros]

You should be able to find the systems using the guidelines. Those filters have always been about marking systems you have already visited, to save on sidy or regular bookmarks.

I don't think anyone disagrees with this, it's just that the general state of in-game tools that barely get any updating versus community tools that received updates and improvements for years makes the comparison simply a joke. Even their recent commodity market overhaul from last year has so many flaws and has not received any further updates - for some reason half the commodities comparisons are shown as N/A when compared to the Galactic Average, and it doesn't allow for any proper two-way or multi-route planning since it's the same station being compared on both buy and sell. I could write a lot more about it, but it just makes me sad.

 

[Stealthie]

I don't think anyone disagrees with this, it's just that the general state of in-game tools that barely get any updating versus community tools that received updates and improvements for years makes the comparison simply a joke. Even their recent commodity market overhaul from last year has so many flaws and has not received any further updates - for some reason half the commodities comparisons are shown as N/A when compared to the Galactic Average, and it doesn't allow for any proper two-way or multi-route planning since it's the same station being compared on both buy and sell. I could write a lot more about it, but it just makes me sad.

Thing is, the ED lore used to be that broadcasting economic information was prohibited.... for reasons.

Although FDev have caved on that, I guess they're still trying to keep things deliberately a bit "limited" as a nod to that original concept.
As 777D says, the idea is, I suppose, that we're all supposed to use our brains and/or experience to figure out where we're likely to find the things we're looking for.

Personally, I kind of enjoy having to figure this stuff out for myself.
It gives me a small feeling of success when I find something where I predict it's likely to be.

And then, if I don't find it after a couple of tries, I look it up on EDDB or INARA.

 

[Ydiss]

The only thing I use filters for in game is KGBFOAM. And even that occasionally throws up a star that just doesn't scoop.

External sites do it all so much better.

 

[Danieros]

Thing is, the ED lore used to be that broadcasting economic information was prohibited.... for reasons.

Although FDev have caved on that, I guess they're still trying to keep things deliberately a bit "limited" as a nod to that original concept.
As 777D says, the idea is, I suppose, that we're all supposed to use our brains and/or experience to figure out where we're likely to find the things we're looking for.

Personally, I kind of enjoy having to figure this stuff out for myself.
It gives me a small feeling of success when I find something where I predict it's likely to be.

And then, if I don't find it after a couple of tries, I look it up on EDDB or INARA.

Personally I like how the game limits information to systems you have actually visited and stations you have docked, ideally I'd like to be able to thrive just with the game tools since external websites are enabling "FTL" exchanges. Some of the tools are outdated like using an abaccus for doing math on a space exploration game, though. That abaccus may also just flat out not work aswell - to add one more example, the compare tool from the commodity market does not take into account if the commodity is illegal, which would have prevented it from actually having a sell price at that market in the first place.

For the newly-added Fleet Carriers it is important to have some more flexibility. Their location is temporary and there can be so many of them so you aren't going to be randomly exploring them like a station you've never been to.

A more lenient approach to how their trade data is broadcast to at least a sphere like a PP control system exploitation radius works could help with this player-driven market opportunity - a market that is easier to find, but probably does not have the best prices since players can't consume or transform most commodities, they may simply have the knowledge of a better place to sell them. It can also be the case that they just want help unloading their ship, you can fit so much into a FC that there is a market opportunity in itself to sell the commodities there just so other players can do the unloading for you.

 

[BL1P]

I dont like the games system of limited info.

As King of the Empire and Admiral of the Federation, aswell as owner of a minor faction that controls some 30+ systems.
You would think I could call on all the information those organisations cover.
But no... its just systems I visit that give info and some info from the Squad Alliance page.
Im kinda taking a break from Elite atm and its mainly because I spend most of my time out of the game searching info, that should be in the game in the first place.

 

[Danieros]

I dont like the games system of limited info.

As King of the Empire and Admiral of the Federation, aswell as owner of a minor faction that controls some 30+ systems.
You would think I could call on all the information those organisations cover.
But no... its just systems I visit that give info and some info from the Squad Alliance page.
Im kinda taking a break from Elite atm and its mainly because I spend most of my time out of the game searching info, that should be in the game in the first place.

This is a fair point. There is basically no information exchange in-game at all (very short range). Third-party websites are merely taking the information we acquire and making it available, the only unrealistic part being that we can access it instantly from anywhere. It would be very feasible to have similar systems in-game to make stations a much better data source as there is a constant traffic of ships coming from all places, those which do actually FTL in the lore and this data upload could be the fee for docking, and a FC admin may want to have this FC data out aswell so it would bring traffic in. It would also be reasonable to limit the data availability, for example, to allies of the controlling faction or highly-ranked commanders of the station superpower.

 

[Stealthie]

Personally I like how the game limits information to systems you have actually visited and stations you have docked, ideally I'd like to be able to thrive just with the game tools since external websites are enabling "FTL" exchanges. Some of the tools are outdated like using an abaccus for doing math on a space exploration game, though. That abaccus may also just flat out not work aswell - to add one more example, the compare tool from the commodity market does not take into account if the commodity is illegal, which would have prevented it from actually having a sell price at that market in the first place.

For the newly-added Fleet Carriers it is important to have some more flexibility. Their location is temporary and there can be so many of them so you aren't going to be randomly exploring them like a station you've never been to.

A more lenient approach to how their trade data is broadcast to at least a sphere like a PP control system exploitation radius works could help with this player-driven market opportunity - a market that is easier to find, but probably does not have the best prices since players can't consume or transform most commodities, they may simply have the knowledge of a better place to sell them. It can also be the case that they just want help unloading their ship, you can fit so much into a FC that there is a market opportunity in itself to sell the commodities there just so other players can do the unloading for you.

There certainly seems to be a conflict between various mechanics within the game.

Most fundamentally, we now have the ability to beam FTL holograms right across the galaxy so somebody in Maia can pilot an SLF at Beagle Point in real-time and yet we apparently can't get trade data from more than 50Ly away.
Go figure!

I DO get the whole "limited information" thing, both for in-universe and gameplay reasons so I don't mind it but I wish it was applied a bit more consistently and plausibly.

Maybe it'd be an idea if the role of those "Trading T9s" was expanded to provide useful information?
They'd be a bit more common and you'd find them in every type of system.
In lawful systems, you could purchase information about "legal" things such as, say, where to buy ships and where to buy FCs.
In low-sec systems you'd be able to purchase extra info about, say, the BGS state of different systems and where to buy specific modules.
In anarchies you'd be able to purchase all the info', including stuff about trading prices.
Maybe they could set it up so that the T9s were sometimes outlaws and if you're spotted interacting with them you'd end up with fines and/or bounties?

I'd kind of like the idea of being able to go to somewhere like the "Mos Eisley Cantina" and buy information on a black-market.

Maybe they could even make it more interesting by setting it up so there are black-market contacts at stations who'll direct you to meet a ship in orbit and sometimes they'll give you the info' in return for payment, sometimes they'll ask you to do something for them (help raid an orbital installation etc) or sometimes they'll simply attack you.

 

[Vetinari]

Rich peoples problems, bah!

 

[pnellesen]

What I didin't understand was why they didn't give Fleet Carrier Vendor/Administration systems an icon on the Galaxy Map similar to how they have the purple icon for Engineers. Their big, major content release for 2020, and the only way you can find the systems to buy one is to be lucky and have docked at one of the systems previously, AND said system be within 40LY, OR go out of the game to the Frontier Website or some other 3rd-party site.

Not the end of the world, doesn't make the game "unplayable", I won't quit playing because of it but... come on, guys. Give those of us who try to do even MINOR role-playing a break, would ya?