making explorers physically return to sell data makes zero sense

I don't return to sell my data. I just take the opportunity to sell it when I'm forced to return to re-stock on beer and whiskey!

When I was in the US Navy, the Chief Bosun's Mate on our sub would say he only needed to pull into port twice a year to pick up the mail, and take a fresh-water .
 
its likely a gameplay mechanic. so that explorers do actually have to physically return to get credited for first finds. So yes theerotically you could spend the rest of your life .....and your childrens, childrens, childrens lives exploring. you wont get credit for first finds till ya come back home ;-).
 
I personally dont fret too much about the 'logic' of it all. Its just the way it is because its the way it is. And if it changes then that will be the new way it is. I apply the same standard to the rest of my life. Keeps me sane...

Exactly. Because the explanation provided by several other commanders doesn't hold up to logic. Same as the Galnet think in 1.3. If that's possible, then FTL transmission must be possible. And then it should be possible to send data across the galaxy easily. But this is a game and we need to have risk vs reward. Otherwise it's not a game, but a "press this button to receive your fully A kitted Anaconda and 2 billion credits" thing.

So, like you, I do not fret too much about it. The first time you go exploring it's scary, but after a few short test runs it has become routine and isn't scary anymore.
 
I like this as it gives a risk with exploring, all our efforts could be for nothing if were not careful

I find it a realistic measure which keeps exploring interesting and a little risky
 
I've always imagined the Universal Cartographics being this old, huge bureaucrazy which requires one to turn in the data manually and sign the finding forms by hand. At the office. That's why it takes so long, those damn forms.

(Because of the age and size of the department, the ICT stuff there is always behind its times. Legacy systems etc.)
 
I've always imagined the Universal Cartographics being this old, huge bureaucrazy which requires one to turn in the data manually and sign the finding forms by hand. At the office. That's why it takes so long, those damn forms.

(Because of the age and size of the department, the ICT stuff there is always behind its times. Legacy systems etc.)

Lol, quite. Stamping a date with a countersignature, manually filed in an old wooden filing cabinet, with huge grandfather clock ticking in the background with a fog of pipe smoke.
 
Just got back from a 10K jaunt (20 technically 10 out and 10 back) and nothing gets the blood going like that last bit home - I even get my dog to leave me alone for 20 mins so I can scoop and run home fast so that I don't loose all that data.

The OP has a very valid point but I think it's a part of the game - perhaps an advanced probe that shoots the data home - like a rescue buey (sp?) used to transmit data from distressed subs. Part of it though resides in the truth that nothing exists out there yet, so the data has no place to go to to come home. The comms w/ friends is just a social aspect to allow us to remain somewhat sane.

See you in the void.
 
... the fact that I can barely remember how to put my landing gear down. ...

.

Now that I think of it,
I actually really have forgotten. I'll have to go to the control options to find out which key I bound it to.

Back on topic, It makes perfect sense to me.
It's all about risk and reward.
 
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dayrth

Volunteer Moderator
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.

I like this. The best explanation I've heard so far :)
 
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I prefer it the way it is. You fly 8000 ly into the black, and with each stellar "close call" you get more and more worried about your precious data. At the beginning of a trip you aren't that concerned. After you've dropped from hyperspace into the very narrow space between two stars a couple of times, you are Very concerned.

Essentially, it's the part that makes exploration a game instead of a screen saver. It's the risk vs reward.

While it's off topic, I honestly feel that the opposite is the real problem: you're so far out from civilized space for so long that Explorers aren't really part of the game most of the time. I had a chance to show Elite off once, and the reaction was "cool, but can we fight another ship?" Well, yes we could.... If I wasnt several days of playing (or one very painful death) away from NPCs or players.

So you're thinking "how can I stay out here longer?" and I'm thinking "how can I explore without being soooo far from my home systems?"
 
I'm sorry, but thats not entirely true (depends on what semantics you use).

You can however TRANSFER information faster than light would have reached the same destination. Today in 2015 (actually some years ago), we can literally transfer information from one location to another instantaneously, without any travel time. This is due to quantum entanglement where two entangled particles instantly affect one-another no matter the physical distance. If you change the spin of particle 1, it immediately also changes the spin of particle 2. Thus, by changing the spin in a patterned sequence, you can transmit information. The same concept as using 1's and 0's (sending an electron, or not sending an electron) to create a binary message.

just so someone doesn't go reading that thinking it's true...it's not correct. No information is passed via entanglement. The paradox is that probability seems to "transfer" to the unmeasured particle. However it is understood that this "probability" is intrinsic in the physics.

Changing the spin of one doesn't change the spin of the other remote particle, that is not how it works.

I suggest reading the wiki on entanglement, the one that explicitly states this mechanic cannot be used to send information.

Pretty much comes down to if that one is "red", the other must be "black".

There is no confusing semantics here
 
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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.

Best story-logic explanation yet.
 
I've always imagined the Universal Cartographics being this old, huge bureaucrazy which requires one to turn in the data manually and sign the finding forms by hand. At the office. That's why it takes so long, those damn forms.

(Because of the age and size of the department, the ICT stuff there is always behind its times. Legacy systems etc.)

You have to turn in the 80 column punch cards in person. The 110-baud acoustically coupled modem has a pretty huge error rate over interstellar distances.
 
This might have been mentioned already, but light travels quite slowly through the galaxy. It would take 200 years for any data signal transmission from an exploration ship to reach Sol from the edge of inhabited space. It would take 25,000 years for that same information to reach Sol from Sag A*. I haven't heard of any Ansible technologies or subspace communication relays, but if they exist, then likely wouldn't work outside of inhabited space because of a lack of relays. However, that doesn't explain why data couldn't be transmitted from within human space, or why "undiscovered" stars have Nav beacons.

The thing that really doesn't make sense however is that if we use Nav beacons to jump close to a star in human space, then what signal are we jumping to wild space? The star itself? If that is the case, then why do we need nav beacons at all?
 
Yes, some stuff makes sense, others don't, it's a game :)

All the following is possible (i.e. can be implemented) :
Sell stuff instantly
make scanning 6 times faster
make FSD spool up 6 times faster
give us a few outposts in the middle of nowhere, and at the core
load new systems faster
make Super Cruise 10 times faster
Insta detail scan bodies from a distance
speed up fuel scooping

but then where would the fun be in getting to SAG A* in less than 3 hours ? :D
 
Well we could say it is a need for a 'secure' link or a link that in some way can confirm the data, just because it is a game mechanic, does not mean that a reason for it cannot be made.

That said, I really would like to see more wandering stations maybe smaller outpost like stations, of corporations that are travelling the star system to find stuff as well, I mean why wouldn't they be? They should naturally be spread VERY VERY thin, but it could allow explorers to dock there instead and do emergency repairs and such, instead of having to head all the way back to civilized space? and they could possibly sell explorer data there as well, though maybe less profit earned since it would be troublesome for the flying outposts to send the data back to civilized space?

thoughts?
 
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We could use radio waves.....I get Radio Sidewinder without any delay no matter where I am in the galaxy
 
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We could use radio waves.....I get Radio Sidewinder without any delay no matter where I am in the galaxy

I only listen to it while in the 1000/1500ly radius around populated space… roleplaying and immersion reasons.

EDIT: although happy we will be able to see the Galnet news from the cockpit as for 1.3, it bugs me that you will still be able to pick up the news from 100.000ly out in the deep...
 
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