Pandering to explorers

[Alex Brentnall]

I can still see all system maps from my trip and have died since the trip but I did sell the data for it.

"Maybe it's just too early in the morning for me, and I'm just not getting it."

Me too

 

[Jason S]

And what do explorers have in common ?

They effectively are playing the game in single player mode for most of their time.

And FD say a single player game would be an empty experience, but perhaps the explorers prove this is not true.

 

[Rikk]

I understand that we loose our unsold data when we die, and I don't have a problem with that. But what Argarthan is saying is that if Zulu Romeo was to pop his clogs, Sag A* would no longer be attributed to him as his discovery?

Maybe it's just too early in the morning for me, and I'm just not getting it.

Discovery tags are not lost ever.

But when he dies, the system would no longer appear in his map as explored (tbc).

Edit, looks like you do keep systems in your own map when you die now. cool.

 

[Ulysses_W]

Discovery tags are not lost ever.

But when he dies, the system would no longer appear in his map as explored (tbc).

Edit, looks like you do keep systems in your own map when you die now. cool.

Oh, well if that's what this means, I'm not that bothered. I seriously doubt that I'm ever going to come across any systems I previously sold again anyway.

 

[777Driver]

I understand that we loose our unsold data when we die, and I don't have a problem with that.

Wasn't talking about dying with unsold data. Am talking about dying after you have sold the data, you couldn't view that system again in the map unless you flew back out there. If you wanted to review an ELW or interesting system you had been to, only option was to screenshot that system.

 

[ArkSeaJumper]

Aside from the above comments, I do find exploring a good way to save money. I have a bad habit of swapping ships to try them out, buying new guns!.
If I'm away in the big black, I cant spend the earned money. last trip out I made 13M, just took a couple of weeks.

 

[Agarthan]

This can't be true, can it?
Please tell me that Agarthan has this wrong.

Yes, please do.

 

[Agarthan]

I can still see all system maps from my trip and have died since the trip but I did sell the data for it.

"Maybe it's just too early in the morning for me, and I'm just not getting it."

Me too

I guess I could have mistaken systems I lost that weren't sold with ones that had been.

 

[777Driver]

I guess I could have mistaken systems I lost that weren't sold with ones that had been.

They must have fixed it in 1.2, you definitely lost data in the past, you can find a ton of posts on the subject.

 

[Agarthan]

They must have fixed it in 1.2, you definitely lost data in the past, you can find a ton of posts on the subject.

I've only been playing this game about a month and a half now.

 

[Yomamas Fett]

I definitely could get onboard with alot of these Ideas
(but please no misjumps straight into death - at the very max. an emergency stop please... but some variation due to Mass not fully accounted for is perfectly fine)

I sure wish I could purchase actual Exploration Map Data (or at least coarse Data - visited/unvisited - for entire Sectors).
When it comes to Map Data purchases inside civilization, I'm still extremely annoyed I often get lousy, incomplete Data for the Credits spent - yet all Systems are clearly 100% explored since a long time of course. I hate that.

Dirty little Secret #1:
Your data is not shared with any other player, period.
Universal Cartographics should be named Personal Cartographics to avoid confusion. Not publicised anywhere because it would make exploration feel as hollow and superficial as it really is.

Dirty little Secret #2:
The Galaxy can never be mapped.
Sag A runs prove this as anyone of the thousands of folks who make this run will still earrn millions mapping already mapped systems (see DLS #1 above); good for longevity of the game I suppose but kindof sucky in every other way.

Dirty little Secret #3:
Most Explorers jump in , disco horn while starring at a Star and jump out.
Why dont they explore? ADS takes seonds and importantly doesn't create wear on the ship; DSSs create wear and limit explorers.

ADS gives you a nametag on unexplored systems, and the majority of the earning potential of the system. DSS does nothing, I've done 5.5k DSSs in human space, netting ~17m for 4000 systems...had I just jumped randomly into the black for the same number of scans I'd have made 30-60m, just using the disco horn alone. In the same time it has taken me to do 5.5k DSSs I could have visited 12K systems with the disco horn and earned x3 the money and thus rank.


There are many more DLSs from the "Explorer" experiance, but naming any more would lead to inflammatory replies.....Exploration is totally cart before horse mechanics, and unfortunately no real change to this poor mechanic, rewarding people for starring at stars while honking their horns is planned AFAIK.


What would I suggest to fix this boring gameplay?

1: ADS and DSS are reversed in their rewardss; so ADS functionality stays the same, but if you want the lions share of a discovery then you have to travel to and surface scan a body.

2: ADS and DSS rewards are diminshing returns the further from human space you travel to. Nothing more immersion breaking than getting millions for mapping neutron stars/black holes many 1000s of lys out from human space, no-one in reality would pay you for such data, it's of no use to anyone....in the lore man has been in space for 1000 years, and in that time settled a bubble up to 300ly from Sol...so your data from a neutron star field 7000ly away should just be for the tourism, not for the millions.

 

[777Driver]

Dirty little Secret #1:
Your data is not shared with any other player, period.
Universal Cartographics should be named Personal Cartographics to avoid confusion. Not publicised anywhere because it would make exploration feel as hollow and superficial as it really is.

Dirty little Secret #2:
The Galaxy can never be mapped.
Sag A runs prove this as anyone of the thousands of folks who make this run will still earrn millions mapping already mapped systems (see DLS #1 above); good for longevity of the game I suppose but kindof sucky in every other way.

Dirty little Secret #3:
Most Explorers jump in , disco horn while starring at a Star and jump out.
Why dont they explore? ADS takes seonds and importantly doesn't create wear on the ship; DSSs create wear and limit explorers.

ADS gives you a nametag on unexplored systems, and the majority of the earning potential of the system. DSS does nothing, I've done 5.5k DSSs in human space, netting ~17m for 4000 systems...had I just jumped randomly into the black for the same number of scans I'd have made 30-60m, just using the disco horn alone. In the same time it has taken me to do 5.5k DSSs I could have visited 12K systems with the disco horn and earned x3 the money and thus rank.


There are many more DLSs from the "Explorer" experiance, but naming any more would lead to inflammatory replies.....Exploration is totally cart before horse mechanics, and unfortunately no real change to this poor mechanic, rewarding people for starring at stars while honking their horns is planned AFAIK.

#1: Who cares if the data is shared, we are only concerned about updating our own ships database, only important bit of info is who was here first

#2: The galaxy can be mapped, check the multitude of great explorer topics mapping the galaxy for future explorers

#3: Name one explorer (except you?) That actually cares about W&T, you're going to get 100% W&T no matter what you do, unless you consider a quick trip to Pleiades exploration. Most people that honk and move on are either in Neutron fields, only looking for ELW's, or just in a hurry to get to a specific area

 

[dannysquid]

Exploring by it's very nature is a career for the patient. You spend a lot of time alone, scanning planets and planning routes. I guess this might explain the fact that we don't as a whole do a lot of complaining. I would like to see more stuff out there to find but I think that might come with the Thargoids and the like. I would love for example to have a scanner that could detect which weapons were used to destroy a ship. If you blundered across a wrecked ship deep in space you could scan it and determine what had happened to it with the potential to sell that information.

Explorers also don't complain much because it's very easy.

It would be nice if there was a bit of threat out there -- although not in a insta-kill when you arrive in a system way! Perhaps scanning alerts Thargoids.

 

[Yomamas Fett]

#1: Who cares if the data is shared, we are only concerned about updating our own ships database, only important bit of info is who was here first

#2: The galaxy can be mapped, check the multitude of great explorer topics mapping the galaxy for future explorers

#3: Name one explorer (except you?) That actually cares about W&T, you're going to get 100% W&T no matter what you do, unless you consider a quick trip to Pleiades exploration. Most people that honk and move on are either in Neutron fields, only looking for ELW's, or just in a hurry to get to a specific area

You do realise that your 1st point defeats your 2nd; for if data is never shared amongst players then the galaxy can NEVER be mapped; really hope you can understand this as it's logic 101.


Wear and Tear should be an explorers #1 enemy, as distance travelled in SC creates wear and tear (and nothing else) the fact that this is notthe case is further proof that Jump-Honk-Jump is a damaging gameplay mechanic.


Your 3rd point (impressive mind-reading BTW) is just reinforcement of my original conclusions after testing DSS 5.5K times "Jump-Honk-Jump" makes you the cash, DSSs are for saps.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

You do realise that your 1st point defeats your 2nd; for if data is never shared amongst players then the galaxy can NEVER be mapped; really hope you can understand this as it's logic 101.


Wear and Tear should be an explorers #1 enemy, as distance travelled in SC creates wear and tear (and nothing else) the fact that this is notthe case is further proof that Jump-Honk-Jump is a damaging gameplay mechanic.


Your 3rd point (impressive mind-reading BTW) is just reinforcement of my original conclusions after testing DSS 5.5K times "Jump-Honk-Jump" makes you the cash, DSSs are for saps.

Im with 777Driver here. True explorers aren't in it for the profit so use DSS and get the first discovered tags.

If you're there for the profit you may as well go play woosh laser kapow in RES sites.


I do believe we are off topic now though, im unsubscribing before I cause more problems

 

[777Driver]

The Galaxy is getting mapped, am personally not bothered about in game, that data is only needed for my ship database. As a whole the galaxy is being mapped by the community. I would be curious to know what you have contributed to these projects?

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=116450

Spoiler

You say people only honk and jump to save wear and tear, I say you are talking rubbish. W&T plays no part in an explorer's mind, it is just part of exploring. Plenty of discussions on how W&T can be improved, fact is at the moment FD have not given any hint that it is changing.

Point 3-Well if you only care about the cash, you should probably find another profession. Personally I scan for areas that will be interesting once Planetary landings come into play.

 

[Yomamas Fett]

Riiiiight.

Maybe you should go trading

Et tu Ziggy?

Dirty Little Secrets should be told to anyone setting up to go exploring, Im just doing a public service

I dream of my data actually being of use to other players, but we both know that is not the case.
Ive scanned 5.5K objects (I explore for fun, not for cash), but TBH I'd be much better just heading off to scan Sag A like every other Jump-Honk-Jumper, I'd save a small fortune in W&T costs and make many times more cash.

OT: Explorers don't complain because it's the easiest way to make money in the game, a couple of days in the black can net you the same as a trade grind, up your rep with factions and has NO risk associated other than the strawman argument of "killer stars" (the argument defeated by setting the throttle to zero before leaving hyperspace)...It's easy mode and pandering to players egos, and in the wider game it achieves nothing.

Maybe if more of us complained about how hollow exploration is (compared to how it could be with a few easy changes) then we'd see some welcome improvements.

 

[Rikk]

Wear and Tear should be an explorers #1 enemy

Why should it be an explorers #1 enemy?

 

[Yomamas Fett]

Why should it be an explorers #1 enemy?

Because explorers should be travelling large distances in SC to DSS objects (you know...exploring), W&T is thus the mechanic for limiting explorers; like ammo for weapons limiting combat orientated players.

Honk-Jump-Honk defeats this as the player is travelling almost no distance in SC and thus avoiding W&T.

 

[dannywhac]

There's a lot of cobblers being said by someone in this 'ere thread.

You don't get first discovered by just honking for starters - you have to DSS to get your name in a system.

And as for exploration being the easiest way to make credits in the game and 'its the same profit as a trade grind' - it's not. You can make (max) around 500k credits an hour (and that's if you're far away from the bubble and are lucky with TC's and ELW etc). Compare that to trading in anything T7 and above (or a Hauler on the rares run) and it's a paltry amount. The only thing that pays less is mining.