Is it worth returning to exploration?

[Kolato]

Hi everyone, yes i am still alive. (And i hopefully will still be by the time you read this, unrelated topic)
Finally after quite a long time i've managed to get my computer to run properly, and i can now enjoy playing videogames such as elite in glorious 60fps as i used to. And it made me question; Is it worth returning to exploration?

I left exploration shortly af- well actually under the distant worlds expedition. I started to realize i was doing the same thing over and over again, with the galaxy being continously less exciting as virtually all interesting is already discovered, and it just made me stop. There was a time where i really enjoyed exploration, but the problem is that at that time, exploration wasn't such a big part of elite and you saw a lot of undiscovered things every single time you set out for a journey, and there was MUCH less information available, which made it jolly exciting. But that isn't the case anymore, at my time there were only 25 people other then me who had reached elite ranking, but looking at today - There's quite a lot of them. And while i certainly want to try to explore a bit again i'm just scared i'll not run into anything new, or anything new that's undiscovered, which is a big deal for me.

So my question is; For those who explore regularly at this very point in time, has the galaxy become much more discovered in the span of 6 months i've been away, is there anything new and fun to discover, or putting it shortly; Is it worth returning to exploration?

 

[iain666]

In terms of systems tagged the galaxy is still mostly undiscovered, I still don't see a tag more often than once every few thousand systems.

In terms of more to see or do that you've not already seen or done, there'll probably be a few things - with a few more coming in 2.2 - but it won't be all that different.

I guess you just have to try it and see if a break has reinvigorated your enthusiasm or if you quickly burn out again.

 

[Kenneth McGrew]

depends what your looking for that's undiscovered, i found a planetary nebula the other week which now has my name on it

things are out there... you just got to look, there are still undiscovered systems 300ly from the bubble, the big nebulas have tags on them, some still have stars within then without tags... what more could you ask for? OK your not going to tag Sag A or other famous stars from Wikipedia... these are done, but there are billions of systems.....

the lemon slice nebula is still available.... with neutron stars and 2.2 boosts can you get there????... who knows i definitely will be trying.... Thats exploration (for me anyway) regardless of weather i get the tag.

 

[marx]

Plenty of people are exploring, so of course there are more Elite explorers and more tagged systems out there than half a year ago. You might have to go farther to find untagged stuff, but there's definitely unexplored and interesting places out there. Of course, what you find interesting depends on you too. Also, 2.2 will bring plenty of new stuff for exploration as well, and you might want to look for alien ruins too. (Many people assume they'll be in one place only, but only Braben knows.) Tourist beacons are also a very nice addition, although those won't be unexplored of course. But you can find places to see, and plenty of in-game lore to read too.

Speaking from personal experience not too long ago, the galactic South is still barely explored. In my opinion, it's kind of ironic that the near edge of the galaxy is far less tagged than the far edge is. I mean, look at the EDSM map: for the South, you can make out the individual trails of explorers. But hey, why not take a look yourself before 2.2 hits? It's scheduled for mid-October.

 

[racer1]

Stuff is still rarely discovered once you get 2kly from the bubble.

Do you know about Jaques/Bubble 2.0? If not have a search on here, there is now a second bubble of civilisation forming 22kly from sol near the core.

 

[Mengy]

Is exploring worth it? That is a question only you can answer.


It’s true that most or all of the major nebula and stellar objects have tags on them by now, so if your only goal with exploring it to put your name on the big popular stuff in space, then no, it’s been done. There are still lots of small and planetary nebula out there, but they are much harder to find. I’ve never found one yet that was untagged, and I have over 400,000 lys under my belt.

Personally, I still enjoy hunting for fantastically awesome systems to explore and tag. For example, systems with binary landable planets in extreme close orbit to their parent star. Or ringed landable worlds with incredible views. Or systems with more than one AW / WW / ELW. I still enjoy running around in the SRV on planets with lovely coloring or huge canyons or immense mountains just for fun. I still find lots of joy and challenge in exploring the galactic edge or the extreme top & bottom of the galaxy, places where jumping requires careful thought and calculated use of jumponium so as not to get stranded, just doing my best to get out as far as I possibly can.

I do take breaks from exploring now and then though just to mix things up, and that’s perfectly fine. We don’t have to explore all the time! Lately I’ve been doing surface missions in the bubble, and I’m having a blast seeing all of the nice surface installations and locations, not to mention raiding the occasional camp to destroy skimmers and plunder cargo containers. Exploration doesn’t have to be only deep space exploration after all! After 2.2 hits I’ll dabble with passengers a bit and then head back out to Colonia to do missions out there while also doing tons more exploring in the vicinity. Colonia will be my home for a long, long time very soon, so I’m spending time in the bubble now while I can.

Whether or not exploring is “worth it” is entirely dependent on what you want out of exploring. If credits is your goal then no, it’s not worth it. If your name on tourist spots is your goal then again no, that time has passed. You need to define what you want first, only then can you figure out whether exploring will be fun and worthwhile for you.

So the real question you need to answer is: what do you want out of your time with Elite?

 

[Mikey2305]

I would suspect that a fraction of one percent has yet been discovered. The rest will take several generations

 

[Aura Lorell]

Around 0.00001% I think is the number of systems discovered. Not sure of the exact number but I'm certain Jackie Silver will step in to provide the correct number...

EDSM has 3.1 million systems in its database but not everyone uses it or EDD. There are plenty of undiscovered systems out there. I guess it depends on your goals and expectations, which is rather personal and different for each person.

 

[Jackie Silver]

Around 0.00001% I think is the number of systems discovered. Not sure of the exact number but I'm certain Jackie Silver will step in to provide the correct number...

No such luck - but certainly the percentage of discovered systems overall is very small. What I can confirm from investigation is that among the catalogue stars there are still a large fraction which are unclaimed, though it depends on situation and how far you're prepared to go. By way of illustration, I'm working through the Bright Star (HR) catalogue at the moment, most of whose entries are close to Sol and almost all of which have been visited; in comparison, when I've been looking at stars from the HIP catalogue (generally noted as HD such-and-such in-game) once you're more than a couple of Kylies from Sol then many are unclaimed and when you head further out they're usually unclaimed. On the other hand, almost all of the nebulae and clusters of stars have been scanned into the ground, raised from the dead and then honked back into oblivion. Single stars are good hunting, groups are claimed is the rule. 2.2 will let people get to previously unspoiled wilderness clusters, but the frenzy may be short... ^^

Big proc-gen stars of the DOOBRY WOTSIT AA-A Hn sort remain two-a-penny in the Core regions, they're not running out any time soon.

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for these days but I'm still trekking around letting the positions of the constellations and the use-names of stars sink into my brain by slow osmosis.

(If you fancy Kola I can give you a bespoke list of catalogue stars to look at in a particular direction from Sol; it can be a long trip out to the furthest!)

 

[Kolato]

-sip-

So the real question you need to answer is: what do you want out of your time with Elite?

That is part of the problem; I honestly don't know. I've done practically everything there is to do in elite. From mining, to piracy, to exploration, to community goals (heck, i participated in the first ever one) and after such a long time it's a bit hard to find reasons to play. I already own two anacondas, various ships and more money that i could ever need, all of which i obtained before i even begun exploration, so at the moment it's really exploration or bust for my primary account at least (as i reset my savegame on my secondary)

Around 0.00001% I think is the number of systems discovered. Not sure of the exact number but I'm certain Jackie Silver will step in to provide the correct number...

EDSM has 3.1 million systems in its database but not everyone uses it or EDD. There are plenty of undiscovered systems out there. I guess it depends on your goals and expectations, which is rather personal and different for each person.

There's different kinds of 0.00001%s though. And a big part of that 0.00001% we have explored is just pure nebulae, interesting locations etc. Sure you might run into thousands of undiscovered regular star systems, but that's not the same thing if you get what i'm saying.





-----

Okay i've made up my mind. I'll try exploration for a week. I'm currently somewhere random on the outskirts of the core, so i'm thinking of heading to the 4th quadrant or something like that - A place few visit. I'll try my best to find enjoyment in exploration. Can't garantuee i will, but i think it's worth a shot.

 

[BigF]

I've only ever been exploring on the galactic south, my first trip out was to the California Nebula where I got an earth like and several systems tagged. Cool for my first time out.

After that I went 10kly out and found a far few but found whole areas completely claimed.

This time out I've been touring the nebulas south of the bubble and so far found loads of interesting places....... All tagged.

feels to me that everything is tagged, having spent the whole of this year exploring and only going back to the bubble for a couple of days at a time. In reality I guess most of that is down to the fact that I am going to popular places.

Next outing im going to pick a random place sever thousand kylies out and go there and hopefully I'll be all alone and able to discover something cool like a purple geyser or      off big volcano.

The big thing is it still pays especially cashing in at a station who's paying extra for exploration data as happens from time to time.

 

[Manticore]

I never left exploration.

I might be doing cargo runs to the Bubble out of Sothis/Ceos at the moment for large credit stacks but I'm still scanning as I go; that's exploring. I've discovered a system with dual water worlds and a ELW yesterday alone.

Exploring never stops for me.

When I get the new ship I want I might be off into the deep again.

 

[Mengy]

That is part of the problem; I honestly don't know. I've done practically everything there is to do in elite. From mining, to piracy, to exploration, to community goals (heck, i participated in the first ever one) and after such a long time it's a bit hard to find reasons to play. I already own two anacondas, various ships and more money that i could ever need, all of which i obtained before i even begun exploration, so at the moment it's really exploration or bust for my primary account at least (as i reset my savegame on my secondary)

I'm constantly finding new reasons lately to play. I do a fair amount of mining too, not to mention combat, mission running, trading, etc. I don't really do any of it for the credits, I do it just to enjoy myself and have fun. This is why I've never even been able to buy an Anaconda yet, lol. I honestly do find mining fun, and I even still do ice mining even though it is literally the least profitable thing in the game right now, I just like the scenery of ice rings.

But when it comes to exploring I do it for the sightseeing mostly. And partly for the hunt of interesting and bizarre systems. I don't even really care if it's tagged or not, if it's new to me then I'm happy. After seeing countless worlds with Allitnil or Stupid Hippy on them you kind of have to become numb to it!!!! Still I've gotten my name on a few interesting things out there too.

But then, I'm the kind of guy who can spend hours with Space Engine just gallivanting across the cosmos looking at stuff, so maybe I'm just odd...[wacko]

 

[iain666]

That is part of the problem; I honestly don't know. I've done practically everything there is to do in elite. From mining, to piracy, to exploration, to community goals (heck, i participated in the first ever one) and after such a long time it's a bit hard to find reasons to play. I already own two anacondas, various ships and more money that i could ever need, all of which i obtained before i even begun exploration, so at the moment it's really exploration or bust for my primary account at least (as i reset my savegame on my secondary)

There's clearly an Elite shaped itch that still needs scratching and you're clearly feeling drawn back to the game. It is just a game though. Log in, see what's new since you were last here, have a play.

If you're having fun again then huzzah, keep playing. If you're quickly bored then put it down and walk away for another 6 months.

Treating any game like some kind of chore that you have to get through is the quickest way to ruin it.

You've been gone 6 months, some new bits have appeared, lots is unchanged. Give it a whirl and if it's fun again keep playing if it's not then just let it lie until you need to scratch the itch again.