Martian Relic

[Zimous]

Hi,

Since the release of the game we had a tourist beacon and a GalNet article mentioning some sort of relic or artifact found on Mars in 2280. The article claims we won't know more until the Feds decide to disclose further information to the public. That was

So my question is, will we ever get a follow up or closure on this artifact? Would be nice to at least know if it's Thargoid or Guardian in origin, or something else. If this is another plotline which has been discarded or discontinued by the devs, it would still be nice to get some sort of closure, even if you have to make up a new plotline for it. Otherwise what was the point of putting it in the game in the first place? I think we have enough incomplete mysteries in the game, would be nice to have this one closed so at least we can discard it as related to Thargoids, Guardians or even Raxxla.

I think 1000 years is enough time for the Feds to share this information with the public and get some closure on this. Unless FDev still has plans for this? In which case could those plants be acelerated a bit? Anyways, thanks for reading!

 

[Kira Goto]

Some people (me included) speculated that the relic was what Cocijo came to Sol for, but then why would it go right above Earth instead of Mars where the thing is probably held in some ultra-secure vault… unless that was a symbolic act while the Titan’s purpose in the system was an entirely different one. Not like they’re gonna tell (Frontier definitely said they had one that was beyond sightseeing humanity’s origin system and terrorizing the local population)…

… but I think the relic might be of Guardian origin. Mostly because of the fact that its size suggests a data drive of some type, and that the terraformation of Mars succeeded on only its second attempt. And well, I don’t think the Thargoids would have an interest in attempting terraformation of Mars. Nevermind in a way that would (only) help humans.

It is of course also possible that the first attempt simply provided enough information with which to successfully terraform a difficult world like Mars (with its lack of magnetic field and whatnot). I’m just not sure it is as plausible humans would have been able to get it to work that quickly without some external assistance.

(And yeah, if it could have any significance to the ongoing lore it would be nice for it to have some development… I could see it having some meaning within the Thargoid story anyway.)

 

[Zimous]

I don't think it's Thargoids in origin. Michael Brookes on his fiction diaries talked about the sentient species in the game and mentioned Thargoids, the sentient species we killed in Achenar and also the mars relic, insinuating it's a different species than Thargoids. Perhaps Guardian, but no way to know unless FDev shares some info with a GalNet article, or a tourist beacon.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

No writer would 'give closure' to such a neat McGuffin without necessity.

1. the Elite universe hasn't come to and end and there may be a story about the artifact coming in some years.
2. any closure using a few dry sentences in a GalNet article would only lead to complaints because of 1.
3. if the artifact is only fluff and may stay fluff forever it makes the Elite universe richer. There's nothing better than an unsolved mystery What would we all do if Raxxla is revealed? We would ask for the next big mystery!

 

[Zimous]

What would we all do if Raxxla is revealed? We would ask for the next big mystery!

That's literally the wet dream of most explorers and treasure hunters, figuring out this huge mystery and then get new mysteries in a regular basis. Nothing wrong with that honestly and if FDev cared about their players they would do exactly this, as they have done in the past but mostly stopped. Elite Dangerous is the perfect game for space mysteries, it's a shame it's so under used these days.

 

[Zimous]

In fact they could milk Raxxla by providing small pieces of information through multiple puzzles over the years. Even if Raxxla wasn't found players would learn more about Raxxla and have a blast doing so. I think most players expected this to be the case with Raxxla and/r the Dark Wheel. They could still do it if they wanted.

But this is going off-topic, this is really about the martian relic and if FDev would be willing to share some additional lore on it, even if it's not conclusive, through a GalNet article.

I mean, lore wise it would make sense the population would be demanding the Federation to reveal more details on this, considering our wars with the Thargoids. It would make sense people would want to know if it's in any way related to the Thargoids, or even Guardians. And if FDev has any intentions of advanving this plotline I think this would be a good time for it, you can argue that after this third war with the Thargoids and the attack on Sol and the core systems people would want to know as much as possible about them, and would demand at thew very least a confirmation or denial of the Mars artifact was Thargoid related and if they were present in Mars at one point.

Or FDev could make up something new entirely and use the Mars artifact for it. Anyways, this is just a suggestion, the decision is theirs to make.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

[...] it's a shame it's so under used these days.

Can only agree but it is what it is. Sure, it is hard to build more story in a universe which is populated by many players who have a vast range in participation from casual to 'full time investment', means: eating through any new game feature within hours to days. Elite isn't a game which adjusts its pace to your playstyle and therefore any story element must stay active for some weeks to even months or only a handful of players can experience it (see Spire Sites, Titans, etc.).

It seems that FDev sees more benefit to drive forward other mechanics than exploration, mystery and lore.

Edit: forgot an important 'not'