I'm farily new on Elite Dangerous, I was only focused on making money, getting good ships and upgrading them, but then I begun looking for the lore of Elite Dangerous, and found out about the formadine rift. I searched some threads, like those "so you want to know about the formadine rift (part [number])" but all the discussions were locked. On the final Thread, dating from last year, there was a lot of discussion but the thread was locked as well. What is being done on the present time about it? I didn't find any activity on that so I hope I start it again. I was fitting my anaconda for going to the rift but when driven by a spark of curiosity I ended up finding out that nobody is paying attention to it anymore. Is there anything new to add or is there anybody looking for it?
The Formadine Rift
- Thread starter Nosttromo
- Start date
It was found along with some abandoned settlements and an abandoned megaship just on the other side of the rift. The Zurara.
click for more
A direct path to the Zurara from the bubble will be difficult to cross even with a large jump range.
I found my own way in a 50+ly Asp and had to backtrack and use a lot of jumponium.
My map from my trip out there and then on to the edge of the Galaxy (click for more)
click for more
A direct path to the Zurara from the bubble will be difficult to cross even with a large jump range.
I found my own way in a 50+ly Asp and had to backtrack and use a lot of jumponium.
My map from my trip out there and then on to the edge of the Galaxy (click for more)
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The reason the mega ship and settlements were sent out there is scary, as is the reason they are still there. So is the power of the ones responsible. Same as Zeeman suggested, I recommend checking out the in-game assets yourself.
And that's the point - in my opinion the Formidine Rift is NOT YET solved- the plot just stopped when Salomé was killed (please gather some more information about it in the Formidine Rift thread). Now, with release of Beyond chapter 1 it seems that the whole storylines connect to each other: the Thargoids, the Guardians and the Formidine Rift. For you it means that you have much to read, but it's worth the time and helps understanding the whole thing.
Yes, the story has more or less come to an end. It was originally Drew Wagars story, but it was heavily influenced and pushed forward by us, the community. It was, if you want, something mysterious, tangible and gripping in the vastly empty ED Universe, that fascinated many commanders in the first two years. When FD nearly let the story die in early 2016 it was the community response, that made FD rethink. And so the storyline continued until April 2017, when, as it was said, Salomé, Drews main character died in an ingame-event. And the Dynasty Expedition was revealed. The only thing FD did was place the surface bases in the rift and two other places, then lock them for over four weeks because they were bugged. They placed a tourist beacon between Heart and Soul and they placed the Zurara with its audio-logs.
Honestly, most of the Formidine-Rift content and action was player created and driven, like all the expeditions, that were organized by the Rifters, by the Children of Raxxla and other groups. Drew Wagar was vital too, cause he could help make things happen in the holy halls in Cambridge.
Honestly, most of the Formidine-Rift content and action was player created and driven, like all the expeditions, that were organized by the Rifters, by the Children of Raxxla and other groups. Drew Wagar was vital too, cause he could help make things happen in the holy halls in Cambridge.
The special place of the Rift is that it was hinted at from very early on - the only mysteries to eclipse it are the location and nature of Raxxla and the motivations of our insectoid friends.
In case you're interested, here's a bit more history of the whole thing.
The Formidine Rift originally came from one of the Elite: Dangerous books, Drew Wagar's Reclamation. In there, it was a minor plot point, and a possible way to set up a sequel. Frontier decided to add an Easter egg into the game, but the hints in the book were so vague that without anything more to go on, it most likely would never have been found. As FD later said, said Easter egg would have been the persistent wreckage of an Anaconda, with text-only versions of the log messages. (They wrote this in response to a valid concern that people had, namely about how the Zurara could have been in-game since launch if it was a megaship.)
Now, a good while after the game's launch, the area started to draw speculation (I think it was maybe theorised to be the possible origin of the Unknown Artefacts?), and if memory serves, it was confirmed around then that the whole Rift thing is not just empty lore, but there's actual in-game content related to it. That reveal led to the explosion of player activity in there. As time went on, and people found nothing, Frontier started putting in additional content into the game, not just GalNet articles, but the Dynasty expedition's abandoned settlements and such. There were some community goals, which were pretty good too, albeit flawed. (I think that was the last time we've seen any exploration CGs?)
Unfortunately, the mystery of the Rift still wasn't solved. By this time, Mr. Wagar had been busy writing a sequel to his book, which would be Premonition. For that to be completed though, players would have to find the Zurara (as it was advertised that it would be the players who'd choose the ultimate end of the plot), and for that, they needed more clues. Frontier in the meantime have added more additional content for the big reveal: the Zurara was made into a megaship, and its logs were now voiced - expertly, if I might add.
In the end, for the mystery to be solved in time, players were had to be given clues that, when solved, would literally spell out the name of the system.
FD also added additional content for the big Salomé player event that Mr. Wagar and several player communities organised, so that it would end with players finding another series of voiced logs. (They were activated at the start of the in-game event, and in an ironic twist of fate, somebody stumbled upon them by accident before the event concluded.) Much of the events (but not all, for obvious reasons) surrounding the story later made their way into Mr. Wagar's new book. However, there was so much drama (and even planned sabotage) surrounding the whole thing that I think Frontier was likely soured on the whole concept of players making semi-official events. Seeing everything that went on then, I doubt that we'll see the developers lend help to organising such things anytime soon.
Anyway, as far as I know, there have been no clues that there's anything more to find in the Formidine Rift. There were clues about how there might be more related to the Dynasty expeditions, namely that there were three separate ones sent into three zones (the Rift being one of them), but there was only the one megaship found. As far as I know, we have no idea if there are two more out there, or if it was just the Zurara. But even if there are, the search areas would be so large that it would be practically impossible to find them without further clues to go on.
The Formidine Rift originally came from one of the Elite: Dangerous books, Drew Wagar's Reclamation. In there, it was a minor plot point, and a possible way to set up a sequel. Frontier decided to add an Easter egg into the game, but the hints in the book were so vague that without anything more to go on, it most likely would never have been found. As FD later said, said Easter egg would have been the persistent wreckage of an Anaconda, with text-only versions of the log messages. (They wrote this in response to a valid concern that people had, namely about how the Zurara could have been in-game since launch if it was a megaship.)
Now, a good while after the game's launch, the area started to draw speculation (I think it was maybe theorised to be the possible origin of the Unknown Artefacts?), and if memory serves, it was confirmed around then that the whole Rift thing is not just empty lore, but there's actual in-game content related to it. That reveal led to the explosion of player activity in there. As time went on, and people found nothing, Frontier started putting in additional content into the game, not just GalNet articles, but the Dynasty expedition's abandoned settlements and such. There were some community goals, which were pretty good too, albeit flawed. (I think that was the last time we've seen any exploration CGs?)
Unfortunately, the mystery of the Rift still wasn't solved. By this time, Mr. Wagar had been busy writing a sequel to his book, which would be Premonition. For that to be completed though, players would have to find the Zurara (as it was advertised that it would be the players who'd choose the ultimate end of the plot), and for that, they needed more clues. Frontier in the meantime have added more additional content for the big reveal: the Zurara was made into a megaship, and its logs were now voiced - expertly, if I might add.
In the end, for the mystery to be solved in time, players were had to be given clues that, when solved, would literally spell out the name of the system.
FD also added additional content for the big Salomé player event that Mr. Wagar and several player communities organised, so that it would end with players finding another series of voiced logs. (They were activated at the start of the in-game event, and in an ironic twist of fate, somebody stumbled upon them by accident before the event concluded.) Much of the events (but not all, for obvious reasons) surrounding the story later made their way into Mr. Wagar's new book. However, there was so much drama (and even planned sabotage) surrounding the whole thing that I think Frontier was likely soured on the whole concept of players making semi-official events. Seeing everything that went on then, I doubt that we'll see the developers lend help to organising such things anytime soon.
Anyway, as far as I know, there have been no clues that there's anything more to find in the Formidine Rift. There were clues about how there might be more related to the Dynasty expeditions, namely that there were three separate ones sent into three zones (the Rift being one of them), but there was only the one megaship found. As far as I know, we have no idea if there are two more out there, or if it was just the Zurara. But even if there are, the search areas would be so large that it would be practically impossible to find them without further clues to go on.
When they were built, I took the positioning of the Sirius colonies - in effect, a line pointing to Heart and Soul - as a pointer. But even now I've no idea if that was intended.
I have very mixed feelings about Drew's plot. I really don't like conspiracy fetishism, but I loved having the chance to engage with the story; it gave us something to chase. I thought the idea of writing a sequel to his book as an "embedded reporter" was great, but the result was a let-down for me compared to the first one. And... well, let's say I didn't like the execution of the Salome business and leave it at that. So, mixed.
I have very mixed feelings about Drew's plot. I really don't like conspiracy fetishism, but I loved having the chance to engage with the story; it gave us something to chase. I thought the idea of writing a sequel to his book as an "embedded reporter" was great, but the result was a let-down for me compared to the first one. And... well, let's say I didn't like the execution of the Salome business and leave it at that. So, mixed.
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Yes, I also read Reclamation and yes, Frontier placed some PoI's in the Rift, that's correct. But regarding the plot evolving with first chapter of "Beyond" release, and as it's official (In-Game: Ram Tah) that Guardians and Thargoids action plots are definitely connected, but also the Salomé story (Salomé-Formidine Rift-Raxxla) with the Rift , I think indeed that the last Formidine Rift chapter is not yet written or discovered: the connection is the Guardian story, as lately in the Formidine Rift area Guardian ruins have been discovered - until now this for me was the missing link that recently has been revealed. Or am I wrong regarding Guardian ruins in the Rift, have I maybe misunderstood anything ?
Well I’ve certainly learned something . Thanks marx.
I was aware (and took part briefly) of the search for the comms beacons in three locations, and took part in the Salome event and listened to the resulting logs, but never knew until now that the Zurara was the “it” of the rift ( nor did I think to visit there as I passed by fairly recently.... doh!)
Are we not still looking for Raxxla in that vicinity or do we assume it doesn’t exist until FD hints at it?
. Thanks marx. I was aware (and took part briefly) of the search for the comms beacons in three locations, and took part in the Salome event and listened to the resulting logs, but never knew until now that the Zurara was the “it” of the rift ( nor did I think to visit there as I passed by fairly recently.... doh!)
Are we not still looking for Raxxla in that vicinity or do we assume it doesn’t exist until FD hints at it?
I'm not aware of any, that would be very interesting if there were!
I've heard nothing about Guardian ruins in the Rift, and there's nothing on the lists of known sites, nor Canonn's map compiled from them. (linky) That doesn't mean there's surely none out there, at least the ruins should have shown up on the galaxy map by now. Guardian structures, which are more interesting, don't show up on it on the other hand. So it might be worth investigating, see if you can't find any "brain trees" out there. If you do, that means there are Guardian ruins in the area. For more detail on how they can be found, see Baton's guide.
As far as I know, there has been nothing lore-wise connecting either Raxxla or the Guardians to the Formidine Rift though. The only open question is whether the area really is "haunted", and if there's anything more still there, not just the remnants of the Dynasty expedition. But given that there were no further clues and Salomé's story was pretty much concluded, I think most people have made up their minds that there isn't more to be looked for there.
On the other hand, some distant nebulae do have Guardian ruins around them, and the next step in the Guardian story appears to be looking for distant Guardian structures. (See the map I linked above for the six "Guardian bubbles" that have been found so far.) The new guardian log 26/28 explicitly says this. A few of us are looking for them already, but none have been found so far.
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Hi - yes, what I had in mind regarding Guardian sites/ruins was the 3D map you are linking to (thanks for that), I did not remember where I saw it. So it's ok and I was wrong, in the Formidine Rift so far no Guardian things have been discovered. I wanted to grind the mats for Guardian weapons first, but for me alone it's very time consuming, so I guess I will head to the Rift today or within the next days - I hope I will find something new. I can hardly cope with the fact that this should have been all about the Formidine Rift, I don't want to belive that (call me dreamer
) ......
wait FDev got mad the community was making something that could influence the game? damn now I know why they won't give us player run economy them, seems they don't like people making sand castles in their sandbox when they invite another kids to play
Not sure how you came to that conclusion, unless you just skimmed parts of what I wrote.
FD didn't "get mad". The end results of the whole thing, however, fell short of many people's expectations, and brought plenty of trouble and negativity along the way. I think it even turned off Mr. Wagar from wanting to anything like it again in the future.
An example: given the opportunity to directly control something in-game, many player groups quickly turned to wanting to exclude everyone else. In your metaphor, that would be Frontier inviting kids to the sandbox, and then some kids would want to use the sand to build walls to keep other kids from playing.
FD didn't "get mad". The end results of the whole thing, however, fell short of many people's expectations, and brought plenty of trouble and negativity along the way. I think it even turned off Mr. Wagar from wanting to anything like it again in the future.
An example: given the opportunity to directly control something in-game, many player groups quickly turned to wanting to exclude everyone else. In your metaphor, that would be Frontier inviting kids to the sandbox, and then some kids would want to use the sand to build walls to keep other kids from playing.
I just finished reading of "Reclamation" by Drew Wagar. It is excellent reading, very intense and breath-taking at the second half of the book.
Now I feel inclined to go to the Rift (even though I was passive observer of the story in the game and I know what to expect (or not).
I was reading also recent recapitulation of Salome event at Drew's site, so I am wondering if his comments could be interpreted as a hints
that there IS something still there in the game yet to be found?
Now I feel inclined to go to the Rift (even though I was passive observer of the story in the game and I know what to expect (or not).
I was reading also recent recapitulation of Salome event at Drew's site, so I am wondering if his comments could be interpreted as a hints
that there IS something still there in the game yet to be found?