I just don't get it - baffled and on the verge of uninstall - Yes I said it!

[Infidel Deity]

Will changes to exploration come, before the majority dies away?

 

[EvE4evah]

The best way to truly encourage PvP would be to implement a C&P system where players could really become criminals with all the repercussions (bad karma, bounties, banned at stations, need to operate out of indy or anarchy systems), and THEN couple it with an overhaul to Bounty Hunting, implementing better ways for player BH's to track down player criminals and engage them. Implement a real time "sighted" board where wanted criminals spotted by security forces could be browsed along with thier bounty values, allowing hunters to choose targets and travel to them relatively quickly to attack. Conversely, any bounty hunter who enters an anarchy or pirate base system could be "tracked" on a pirate board just the same, so that player killers could go after bounty hunters and such.

You'd end up with commanders playing the criminal lifestyle on purpose just to "attract" other commanders playing as bounty hunters enforcing justice, and vice versa. A perpetual tug of war between the criminals and the law enforcers, resulting in active PvP all over the bubble.

You're copying my ideas, Mengy

 

[Ralph Vargr]

The golden question is can anyone trust FD not to come up with new mechanics that don't involve a casino in some way or another. I'd hate it if exploration changed to be RNG based, i.e. drop a probe, push a button and it detects random elements in the star system. This is the feeling I get when Sandro muses over changes to exploration.

FD love RNG they think it will make us addicted to the game, but addiction and enjoyment are not the same thing. It's actually a big turn off, yet it's everywhere for example I did a planetary scan mission (it's the last remaining way of earning semi-decent money,) I found the base, landed the ship then realised that I forgot the SRV, I took of and bought one at a nearby station, I returned to the planet and lo and behold had to hunt for the base all over again. Known elements that have already been 'discovered' are not persistent. This is pretty lazy design if you ask me and I worry that the future is going to be full of more of it.



So the fact that you can't click a star that is directly in front of you and dead centre of the map is the players fault. It wouldn't be poor design and testing by FD by any chance?

Duly +1'd

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Which is what the detailed surface scanner should be doing - giving you waypoints to 'hot' zones - Not saying - There is intresting stuff down there somewhere - Good Luck!

When both Nutter and the Ant feel Tremors In The Force, *something* is going on...

I want everyone, who has never flown an aircraft in their life, to do a preflight on a Cessna 172. I will observe, and point out everything they missed.

The non-real-life-pilots will respond, "it's only your opinion".

 

[Mengy]

When both Nutter and the Ant feel Tremors In The Force, *something* is going on...

I want everyone, who has never flown an aircraft in their life, to do a preflight on a Cessna 172. I will observe, and point out everything they missed.

The non-real-life-pilots will respond, "it's only your opinion".

LOL. I've done a preflight on a Cessna 150, does that count? [hotas]

 

[Gibbonici]

I have to admit I am slightly worried about properly getting back into ED, had planned a big exploration trip, all these complaints seem like the trip will be awful. Hopefully the issues are just typical forum over exaggeration combined with player burn out.

Don't let the OP's post bother you too much. I don't doubt that there are a lot of valid points there, but I've had the first chance in literally years to sink some decent time into Ed and am on my own expedition across the galactic rooftop to the Styx region. And I'm loving it. The galactic map has a few issues (losing stars and jump connections, not a big problem in the central plane, but a bit fiddly in sparser regions) and while planet surfaces are generally pretty flat and brown, the ground textures and detailing are great. I haven't seen any LOD issues either on planet surfaces or in the starfield. But it's so long ago since I last had a good chance to play that I don't really have anything reliable to compare it to.

They might not be new to the game (I have no idea, they're new to me though!), but the neutron stars and white dwarfs look great and the neutron plumes from both really add a lot to the game. Be careful of the white dwarf ones though - they feel a lot more dangerous than the neutron star plumes, with less bonus range for dipping them. Also, the materials scanner on the SRV seems a lot better than I remember, and it doesn't feel quite so painful to find materials at all now. Not sure if that's just me having figured out how it all works though.

Anyway, don't be put off! If you've had a break from ED and exploring in particular - it's really good. I've been enjoying it a lot. I wasn't even annoyed when I had to return to Colonia after 7000LYs due to an ill-judged landing on a high gravity planet. 44% hull is below my comfort bar for the relative start of a long trip!

Looking forward to seeing what these improvements to exploration are going to be.

 

[verminstar]

Your concept of "exploration" is very different from most explorers. Allow me to elaborate on your list:

• The SUV is far more for exploration than pew - No, explorers can only use the SRV to sightsee and collect jump mats, that's it. There are huge amounts of salvage, combat, and mission content in game for the SRV, which while awesome, is not exploration content but bubble content.
• Barnacles - Zero tools to find them, and they are only found near the bubble. 99.9% of the galaxy is free of barnacles.
• All the vacuum life forms - No, zero tools to find them, and they are just eye candy. I agree they have potential to be great exploration content, but they aren't in their current state.
• Everything to do with Colonia - Not exploration content, but I admit Colonia is useful as a hopping point for explorers. But it's turned out to just be a mini bubble which is no different to explorers than the bubble itself except for it's location.
• Neutron stars - This one I agree with 100%. Neutron jumps are my favorite thing added to the game since 2.0 and are extremely useful to explorers.
• Explorer passengers - Passengers aren't truly exploration, they are sightseeing, although I do admit they can be fun to fly and can be used as reasons to do actual exploration along the way. I don't consider passengers as exploration content, but I agree they can be a nice diversion for explorers to partake in. My second favorite thing added to the game since 2.0.
• Fumaroles and geysers - Zero tools to find them, and they are just eye candy. I agree they have potential to be great exploration content, but they aren't in their current state.
• Megaships - How exactly? 99% bubble content with very little interaction, a few are like flying starports, not exploration content at all. Generation ship possibly, but for bubble explorers, 99.9% of the galaxy is devoid of them. Now if we could find lost megaships all over the galaxy, THEN we'd have something here!
• Asteroid bases - Bubble expansions, not exploration content, although they are handy locations for explorers to make use of for certain.
• Guardian ruins - Story content. Not exploration content, but more Canonn group content, or the story players. Again this can't be found in 99.9% of the galaxy.
• Thargoids have so far been all exploration - not at all, they can only be found between the bubble and Maia, 99.9% of the galaxy is Thargoid free

Your definition of exploration content is askew, so lets define it:

"Exploration content - Content which commanders can find out in deep space while exploring systems and interact with either by scanning or some other new mechanics."

Key word being deep space. Exploration content would be things you can find all over the galaxy, not just where the main story dictates it to be, and not in the bubble, and not where Galnet tells us to go. Things to discover and do while out exploring the unknown, not colonized space. Geysers/fumeroles are the closest we have ever gotten to actual exploration content, but they are pure eye candy and we have no tools to find them, so they could stand much improvement. I would consider Neutron jumps to be exploration content, ironically though they were a bug that the exploration community had to fight tooth and nail just to keep in the game, so the fact that the best thing added for exploration was a mistake is rather telling! Many people consider planet surfaces as exploration content but that really doesn't count, it's potential exploration content, but it's currently very empty. It would be like combat zones being added to the game but devoid of any ships to shoot at, no one would consider that as "combat content" yet so many people consider the empty planet surfaces in deep space to be "exploration content". So while surfaces can be fun to drive around and go sightseeing it's not content, it's content potential.

Just gonna rep ye and leave it at that...I'm still in mourning over the death of exploration in my game

Ive literally lost any and all motivation...sure ye can guess why...

 

[Ralph Vargr]

LOL. I've done a preflight on a Cessna 150, does that count? [hotas]

Extra credit for tasting the fuel tester tubes.

 

[Nutter]

Extra credit for tasting the fuel tester tubes.

Tasting? eew I just look at the colour

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Even more credit for describing "mag checks" (after engine start).

 

[jonluv]

I have not read all the Posts on this subject mainly because a few that I have read do not say anything .
I have played for some time on Xbox and I am wondering if it is the same game that is being discussed here.

In my game the Galaxy Map and Systems Map work as intended-- I can if I wish indulge in Combat if I want to -- or if I don't want to I Jump away to another System.

I can Mine, Trade, run Rares, Bounty Hunt and take part in Assassination Missions all this and Explore and play F1 with a SVP

I can upgrade my Ships and create Wealth and Rank up with whom I wish to--- It is all about choice!!! Is there another Game with so much choice?

 

[Ralph Vargr]

What is the tolerance deviation for a mag check?

 

[Mengy]

Extra credit for tasting the fuel tester tubes.

Do you mean the tank vents? Then yeah, lol!

I've only had a few lessons, never did get my VFR license.

 

[Gibbonici]

On top of this, a large portion of the new (actual) content that has been put in the game in the last year or so has been with Explorers in mind, if not at the forefront. One of those things in particular is specifically asked for in almost every Improve Exploration thread; finding Alien Ruins. Well, they put quite a number of them in the game to find, and you can even interact with them, and be part of the story behind them, to boot! The Generation Ships, the Dynasty Bases, The Zurara, everything involving Unknown Probes, Unknown Artifacts, the crash sites, the Barnacles, and now, the Thargoid Bases. If you ask the vocal Exploration Community, however, these things aren't Exploration content...and the reason, is because we "don't have good tools for finding them." Well...they have been found, and in quite large numbers, so I'm not really sure how that argument holds any water.

To be fair, all that stuff is on the doorstep of the old bubble. Explorers tend to be thousands of LYs out from where all that is happening, even if you discount the ones who port in Colonia. I can see why that is and am OK with it, after all the big story can't hinge on someone stumbling across things in a random part of the galaxy 20,000LYs out. It has to be inclusive.

BUT... there is still loads that could be done to add depth and interest to proper exploration with relatively small overhead (he said, as if he knew what he was on about). Here's some ideas.

1. Rarely occurring signal sources containing weird phenomena that give bonus payout if scanned, or provide clutches of rare materials or opportunities to over-charge your FSD.
2. Bits of wreckage/data caches/and such like in space and on planets that give a bit of flavour text about its past if you data scan them (in the form of a free-standing fragment of story about the doomed expedition/misjumped ship/whatever that ended up there)
3. As above, but with clues that lead to other systems so you can piece together the story in reverse order. The stories don't have to be long or complicated or tied into the big storyline. If FD don't have the resources to write a few hundred short storylines and text fragments, well there's a competition and associated PR campaign waiting to happen.
4. If they want to go a bit larger, these things could lead on to valuable intel packages or special items that give rewards (like special ship modules, hard cash or special crew members) when handed to a specific NPC at a specific station.
5. If they want go even larger, there could be abandoned, jury-rigged asteroid/ring/planetside base camps from past expeditions that you can stumble across, where you can repair, rearm or refit or whatever at. There could be clue chains that lead to them, just to reduce the chance of them being missed and becoming redundant developments.

Things wouldn't be world changing and they couldn't be common. They'd just be there to add a bit of extra gameplay for the deep (deep!) space explorers. And that's on top of the mysterious alien objects, ghost ships, ancient wreckage and other stuff that could just be out there.

 

[chemicalbeans]

The answer to this problem is to tell your investors to sit the jolly well down and let you work your magic at your own speed and introduce their 'whatnots' and 'whatevers' when you are ready.

Frontier's biggest investor is DBOBE himself @ 50.1% [FACT]. DBOBE would look a little silly, sectioned even, if he started talking to himself in board meetings.
Judging by Frontier's recent financial figures and the fact that they are funding their new headquarters from their own pocket in CASH, I think the other investors are very happy judging by the share price.

Admittedly, the "investors" would have encouraged Frontier to diversify their income streams, which ensures the viability of Frontier if this great exodus of ED players were to happen as suggested in your post.

I would say the problem is not with FDEV's investors, but the unrealistic expectations with the ED community as to how FDEV should be deploying their resources and the time frame in which those resources are deployed to ED.

 

[Mengy]

The Gal map certainly isn't perfect but there's nothing you can't find a workaround for. And surely not worse than that of 3 years ago. Ach herrje!

Selecting stars in the Gal Map is most definitely worse today than it has ever been. Update 2.2 messed it up badly, and it still is not anywhere near as funcional as it was pre 2.2. I don't think we will ever get it fixed though as I have a hunch it was done for performance reasons.

I won't bother replying on your beigefication comments, because you and I have circled around this topic a few times already and you still seem to disagree with Frontier themselves that it's actually an issue that even needs to be fixed. So enjoy your opinion, but I personally look forward to the day that Frontier fixes the beige issue for good.

 

[verminstar]

Ok so I've started reading the forum again and did rep ye nutter...but it's a pointless waste of time with all the white knights who barely even understand the topic. That's all I can manage fer now ^

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

Ok so I've started reading the forum again and did rep ye nutter...but it's a pointless waste of time with all the white knights who barely even understand the topic. That's all I can manage fer now ^

Having a different set of priorities for what I believe FDev should be working on does NOT make me a white knight.

Dismissing different opinions to our own helps nobody.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Ok so I've started reading the forum again and did rep ye nutter...but it's a pointless waste of time with all the white knights who barely even understand the topic. That's all I can manage fer now ^

Ah I see the same old attack on people that have a difference of opinion comes out. If you don't agree with me, you are all a bunch of white knights.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Never mind.