making explorers physically return to sell data makes zero sense

Black Ops

Black Ops
I'm not an explorer myself..but the current setup is silly. why not have "relay stations" seeded in systems, where explorers can upload and send their data? The "Star Wars" universe has a similar system. It's sort of a galactic internet. why wouldn't there be such a thing in the Elite: Dangerous universe?

/discuss
 
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bossbrigand

B
Other than video game mechanics: You can't send information faster than light. Even ships are not truly traveling FTL, they're warping space. You can't stick a frame shift drive on a radio signal. Starships warping from place to place carry information from one starport to the next.
 
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glynie

glynie
Well, I think it makes sense because presumably you're too far away for transmissions to be sent/received - and there aren't any stations out there.

However since they're talking about bringing in-ship Galnet into it and you can chat with your wings members from anywhere, then yeah you have a point.
 

Black Ops

Black Ops
bossbrigand said:
Other than video game mechanics: You can't send information faster than light. Even ships are not truly traveling FTL, they're warping space. You can't stick a frame shift drive on a radio signal. Starships warping from place to place carry information from one starport to the next.
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When it comes to physics generally, or FTL travel specifically, "can't" isn't quite the word. ANYTHING is possible.
 

bossbrigand

B
FalconFly said:
Doesn't make sense - our Ships travel FTL, Information relays travel FTL (criminal acts, Kill-Warrant Scanner Data, in the next Update even global GALnet news viewable in the Ship).
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The ships are traveling FTL only by technicality. The ships themselves aren't moving (or are moving at sublight speeds), they're creating a warp bubble (which is why large masses, which also warp space, are disruptive). Galnet can be explained as being gleaned automatically from nearby stations (until you're way out in the black), but I'll give you ship-ship comms being instantaneous.
 
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EDbubba

E
Black Ops said:
I'm not an explorer myself..but the current setup is silly. why not have "relay stations" seeded in systems, where explorers can upload and send their data? The "Star Wars" universe has a similar system. It's sort of a galactic internet. why wouldn't there be such a thing in the Elite: Dangerous universe?
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One word: RISK

Exploring has very little risk involved other than heat damage, which is easily avoidable. The requirement to physically return simply adds a very modest risk factor to stimulate the gameplay.

If you decided to explore without shields, the "run" back to a station under the threat of interdiction can make it quite tense, and those moments are exactly why it was done that way...
 

Renegade Roach

R
Think of it more as returning to have data from a secure black box scanned and verified. Transmissions are easy to fake, how would they even know that 'generic solar system 897777300-PQY-16 XYZ' really has 39 barren icy moons. They need to go through that data with the 'proper tools'. This also explains why it takes so long to sell your scans.
 
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Ydiss

Ydiss
glynie said:
Well, I think it makes sense because presumably you're too far away for transmissions to be sent/received - and there aren't any stations out there.

However since they're talking about bringing in-ship Galnet into it and you can chat with your wings members from anywhere, then yeah you have a point.
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The original idea was to allow data to be stolen by anyone who destroyed your ship. This puts a physical spin on the act of transferring data.

It can easily be explained using handwavium, anyway. Universal cartographic refuses any data unless it can be physically verified, to prevent fraudulent "troll" fake data. Given elecronic messages can be manipulated, the computer that stores this data must be physically present to verify the legitimacy of the data.

Done. Edit: and ninja'd
 
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bossbrigand

B
EDbubba said:
One word: RISK

Exploring has very little risk involved other than heat damage, which is easily avoidable. The requirement to physically return simply adds a very modest risk factor to stimulate the gameplay.

If you decided to explore without shields, the "run" back to a station under the threat of interdiction can make it quite tense, and those moments are exactly why it was done that way...
Click to expand...

Well, there's always the risk of running into █████████ out in the black, but you can always ██████ to evade it.
 

Greyhawk

Greyhawk
Every earning path needs some risk. I'm an explorer and it would be boring as hell just getting a payout as soon as a system is scanned. Knowing you need to get to safety before unloading your secrets is the adrenaline kick after a long trip out.
 

Makya

Makya
If you didn't have to bring it back, people would simply self-distruct once their data was transferred rather than make the long journey home.
 
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Renegade Roach

R
Greyhawk said:
Every earning path needs some risk. I'm an explorer and it would be boring as hell just getting a payout as soon as a system is scanned. Knowing you need to get to safety before unloading your secrets is the adrenaline kick after a long trip out.
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It also heightens the element of competition. You can go on and scan another million systems over the next year or ten, but somebody may get back and claim all those lovely 'discovered by' tags for themselves. Nightmare.
 
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