Is jump range really king for exploration?

DCLXVI your God

DCLXVI your God
I am very fond of a long jump range.

Sometimes you just want to get somewhere, and as soon as possible.
And when you want to take it easy, you can go as slow as you like.

I wish all ships could get a jump range closer to the Asp.
 

kofeyh

kofeyh
mossfoot said:
Naw the farther the better but there is a limit. You do have to ask yourself WHY you need to go 60LY at a jump unless your goal is covering distance. For example, I'm only 1600LY out from Sol, in what I've designated Sector MF-1, an almost unexplored patch of space, and am currently using the navigation filters to travel to every single star in a 100LY radius of it (gonna take a while, believe me). For that I certainly don't need a massive jump range. I've got a 30LY range on my KB and that ain't bad, plus I got a fighter to explore in too.
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I don't have to ask myself anything. I took a fully laden cutter (600+ tons of cargo) to Colonia to help unlock crap at Jaques station. ~24-25 ly at a time. You know? It didn't enhance the experience in the slightest. I could have taken 70ly jumps and it would have essentially been the same. Apart from reducing the time. Because with poor range, you spent almost all of it just getting to places. Not getting to interesting places more often.

I flew that glorious beast back the entire way too. Now THAT was more fun. Why? More jump range. It was easier to detour. See cause that's the thing. That's what makes life interesting. With gigantic jump range, suddenly that nebula, or weird looking star a few kylies off the path is no big deal to go visit.

With crappy jump range? That's potentially a couple hours of effort that may have been an entire waste of time. Nah man, I don't need people to tell me "hey you don't really need huge range to be a proper explorer" because I've seen way more interesting stuff having that range. Than not.

Even with glorious jump range, neutron's gift or jumponium, the size of the galaxy still makes it a marathon

I have two commander accounts that have explored. Not my first rodeo. Range? It's glorious. The more the better. :)
 
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WR3ND

WR3ND
kofeyh said:
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Likewise, I for one am not saying lower jump range is better; I'm saying it isn't as important to the basic fundamentals and efficiency of exploration within the context of the game's exploration mechanics as an efficient fuel scoop is.

How someone chooses to go exploring and their general preferences when playing the game can often make this a moot point. Still, I think it's an important fact to acknowledge as it helps open up exploration to different gameplay styles as well as different ships that some people might not otherwise consider using when going exploring, even though they're potentially just as efficient at basic exploration, if not even more so, than some other so-called explorer ships.
 
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kofeyh

kofeyh
WR3ND said:
How someone chooses to go exploring and their general preferences when playing the game can often make this a moot point.
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Exactly. That's kind of the point in Elite; not to follow some specific prescribed path because it's the "correct" way to do the thing. The important thing, really, is to be able to enjoy it. If that's 400 jumps per-one-kylie, then great, go crazy. But doing the same thing more times, over the same period, isn't the amazing experience people like to make out. More it tends to be justification for why it should be, but really isn't.

It's the basis for the "School of the Grind". That repetition, and much more of it, is automatically better than not. Which it isn't. Even remotely. But i guess if one bangs one's head against a wall often enough, either one ceases to feel it, or the cell damage results in a compromised viewpoint. A bit like a hostage falling for one of their captors; a coping mechanism of a sort. ;)

In short - you - do you. Not what everyone else says you should do. If thats at the end of 17 ly jump range, then go crazy. Or if it's 70 ly, drive on!
 
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