The Quest To Find Raxxla

[Jorki Rasalas]

Hmm, my understanding of it is that DB actually said ‘number stations’ and that it was simply transcribed incorrectly.

It’d be easily done - if you didn’t know what number stations are, then the phrase itself wouldn’t make sense, whereas ‘numbered stations’ would. So transcribing the interview it’d be pretty natural to take what DB said as ‘numbered stations’.

I’m not saying DB is infallible here btw, just that the transcription part is highly likely to have been the cause of that particular error for very natural reasons, whereas from the context of the interview, DB certainly meant number stations, and there’s a high chance it’s what he actually said. Balance of probabilities basically. (I could of sworn the audio’s available somewhere, but I might just be imagining that! )

Anyway, not taking away from your general point with any of that.

The secret society thing might be something we can take as a general clue, it might not. Much like many many other things in that regard!

There’s other things like the Elite Federation of Pilots, which exists within the Pilot’s Federation, so it could be a hint at something like that. Tbh, the general setting for ED is kind of rife with secretive stuff, so secret societies of various kinds are likely to abound in the galaxy. TDW, EFP, CIEP, Black Flight, The Club, INRA remnants, plus the ECOPTMWCTPaB (or whatever the acronym was that some of us came up with a while back for the hypothesised folks who are already on Raxxla! ).

DB’s statement on number stations was during PS4 launch stream, see https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/interesting-comment-by-db-about-stations.352548/#post5519743.
I thought he said “numbered” but it’s a little difficult to hear. He does occasionally make mistakes when talking but it is usually quickly corrected/clarifed, witness MB’s post that it was “number stations”

Secret society: m.youtube.com/watch?v=gDh9G1gDgMU
he talks about getting an invitation to join a secret organisation as being an event that happens at a certain point in a player’s progression/journey through the game. He also says pilot criminality is relevant & says something like if you dont get the invitation it might be because you recently killed that policeman. This is clearly not about permits aquisition! We have assumed it meant TDW, but there might be another secret society in-game that we don’t know about (it’s a secret! ), or maybe there are several factions of Pilots’ Federation - there appear to be several different spellings with different faction descriptions so this may be the case.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Still looking huh? Just my annual check-in. Happy holidays all. Maybe in 2021 someone will be able to walk to Raxxla... Toying with the idea of killing my commander and starting over from scratch again for something to do, but not sure if I have the motivation, haven't tuned in for a while now.

Does the PF have a Samaritans section dedicated to dealing with pilots who are suicidal? Space madness is common... staring into all that Void! Quick, give them a call!

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

I think it something to do with using less materials for the same effects. Like using 4 Imperial shielding instead of 6 to reach same grade.

Ah, so the effectiveness of the engineering process is being temporarily improved as a Xmas bonus! Easier/quicker/less mats to get the improvements, but not improved improvements.

Ah well, there goes my dream of getting an 80ly range on my Phantom

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

I'm still interested to see how they'll deal with players just squashing commanders with space ships (which i will 100% do whenever possible). you can't exactly explain away being ground into the dirt with magic escape pods anymore. And i presume your walking around body is an actual body and not a cyborg avatar-style clone we just happen to have on our ships.

All ground exploration suits will be fitting with titanium reinforcement connecting from helmet along the spine and legs to the boots, and come with a high-powered plasma tin opener to cut a hole in the hull of any ship attempting it, instantly depressurising the craft and perma-killing the pilot

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

I like this idea a lot. Not sure as to how it should be approached or what we’d look for there but great thinking nonetheless. This would also seemingly tie into the right side of MBs back tattoo, the portion that appears to be the pearly gates being a hint to Golden Gate. I still find it very curious that an image of Adamastor was discovered on the left side of tattoo and we just so happened to receive an in game ship named Adamastor mentioned in the super cruise news skit that mentioned a Raxxla discovery around the corner. That’s a mouthful.

I’ll admit I was discouraged when I found out New California was renamed to Argents Claim but this idea could still explain the magazines on the desks of the presenters. The magazines were two regarding Alioth and one about Winking Cat, which also took place first in Alioth.

Thinking out loud again.

Well, strictly speaking it’s not Adamastor on MB’s back. That figure is taken from the Triton Gate at the Pena Palace in Portugal. However the gate may well have been inspired by Adamastor character in a story by an earlier medieval Portuguese novelist. Of course FD could have decided to merge Adamastor into the lore mix quite independently, or then again perhaps it is all related .......

P.S. careful, Lore Madness is much worse than Space Madness!

 

[{SAS}Stalker]

Jasmina Halsey’s assassination, by some high Fed officials, followed her surreptitious meeting with Mahon. Perhaps she was being kept out of the loop on Raxxla etc and Mahon provided some Alliance insight on Guardians/Thargoids which caused her unscheduled secret diversion? (I’m still not convinced the diversion was to Azaleach!). We have no way of knowing, but I find it telling that the galnet post about that meeting was redacted.

And the answer to your lore question may well be that the Pilots’ Federation is much more than a trade union. I think that’s what the indications are saying. I think they’re saying that PF originated from the Guardians or their descendants (hence the repeated triangle motif) who have been manipulating humanity from the outset. They certainly control the permit locks, and UC from which they appear to have become the richest organisation in the universe, and I think they also control Sirius (else otherwise an enterprising fsd engineer would develop a drive that didnt implement permits).

However, is it still canon that the Alliance reverse engineered Thargoid tech?

Don't need to develop a new FSD, just calibrate our existing one

 

[Rochester]

DB’s statement on number stations was during PS4 launch stream, see https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/interesting-comment-by-db-about-stations.352548/#post5519743.
I thought he said “numbered” but it’s a little difficult to hear. He does occasionally make mistakes when talking but it is usually quickly corrected/clarifed, witness MB’s post that it was “number stations”

Secret society: m.youtube.com/watch?v=gDh9G1gDgMU
he talks about getting an invitation to join a secret organisation as being an event that happens at a certain point in a player’s progression/journey through the game. He also says pilot criminality is relevant & says something like if you dont get the invitation it might be because you recently killed that policeman. This is clearly not about permits aquisition! We have assumed it meant TDW, but there might be another secret society in-game that we don’t know about (it’s a secret! ), or maybe there are several factions of Pilots’ Federation - there appear to be several different spellings with different faction descriptions so this may be the case.

Yes this 'could' all exist and I for one whole heartedly would love this to be in game.

My point is its all inconsistent.

DB talked a lot about various things and development ideas which sounded amazing but they never made it into the game (yet) or they were altered to fit.

I still feel he is 'alluding' to permits. I'm equally likely to be wrong. It would be great if he wasn't but, this is all ancient history, and I think what Im failing to communicate is that we cant rely upon it. Its inconsistent.

I do love this approach to the game, the game inevitably places Cmdrs in harms way, dangles possibilities etc that all require some dubious, nefarious or lethal solutions.

Its actually very difficult to play this game and be law abiding. I tried, early on I roll played as an ex smuggler gone legit, there are ways to obtain the things you need in game 'legally' but its long-winded, eventually something goes wrong.

If DB statements could be accepted as cannon then this could be a great and simple enough mechanism. Agreed.

But this game is infuriatingly inconsistent, why are permit locked systems so special! Some small reason or other, nothing ground breaking and often disappointing.

I feel our perspective of the game is different to what it was intended since launch. Its as likely FD had very simple intentions for the game and a limited number of mechanisms which I feel have been obfuscated over time.

FD themselves stated they got things wrong, that they wanted to take Cmdrs on a journey, but human repetitive behaviour got in the way....is the path still there, was it broken, whats been changed?

All we have now is the Codex. I just feel we should try not to take everything FD has said in past as literal or reliable.

Information is only as insightful as it is reliable, and information goes out of date.

These statements by FD were likely very insightful at the time but now their level of reliability is significantly lower. Only really useful to make assumptions with and maybe develop a hypothesis, on either where things used to be or what modus operandi FD employed.

I don't wish to push one opinion over another, but discussion is necessary to highlight bias, and open our minds to alternative possibilities. Every possibility is justified as long as we hold it up to the light. I never want to imply anyones point of view is not justifiable.

This is why we tin-foil.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Oh yes, I agree! It’s good to talk! Discussions in this thread have been the most fun since... well, I forget ‘cos I’m getting old, but I’m sure I used to have other sources of fun, something to do with young ladies in Lave....

(Edit: you want FD consistency too?? Watch out-here comes another aerial porcus porcus! )

Yes, many things that were discussed around the time of the original design discussion forum and related interviews/posts/ streams seem to have been forgotten/changed. This is to be expected in development of a complex game, I just wish FD would be more upfront about what has changed, why, when, if there is any possibility of a feature coming back at some stage, and especially about lore changes since this is the history our characters have grown up with and defines the context of in-game life. Of course documented history doesn’t necessarily (often?) reflect the true historical events & I think FD are deliberately trying to bring that “fog of history” into the feel of the game, but!

However the “secret society” idea from the video is reiterated in the Codex when it talks about the recruitment practice of the Dark Wheel. They needn’t have done that if the secret society idea had been dropped, so I think this was corroboration of the fact. I also think that as a couple of devs appear to have said either the Elite missions are still in-game, or they cannot comment, that this is a storyline which is deliberately obfuscated to keep us guessing but it’s there to find. It’s working, this is post 20,180!!!

 

[Rochester]

Yes again true.Then again FD also imply that every element of game play style is seemingly justified. E.g. being a pirate, breaking the law doesn't stop you becoming Elite, in fact in some instances it expedites it.

Nor does the Pilots Federation kick you out for just killing everyone.

Factions have short memories, assassinate a few diplomats, then hand over a few credits and alls forgiven. Your rep goes up / down / then up again.

Nowhere does FD stipulate that crime stops your progression. I think this was inferred at the start, but only inferred, much like a gentlemans agreement, so yes maybe crime does impact some progress bar - but surely, that ought to have been stipulated someplace (and dont call me Shirley) I honestly feel the game was launched incomplete, and has been put together over time like Theseus’s ship.

Private Site

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Yes again true.Then again FD also imply that every element of game play style is seemingly justified. E.g. being a pirate, breaking the law doesn't stop you becoming Elite, in fact in some instances it expedites it.

Nor does the Pilots Federation kick you out for just killing everyone.

Factions have short memories, assassinate a few diplomats, then hand over a few credits and alls forgiven. Your rep goes up / down / then up again.

Nowhere does FD stipulate that crime stops your progression. I think this was inferred at the start, but only inferred, much like a gentlemans agreement, so yes maybe crime does impact some progress bar - but surely, that ought to have been stipulated someplace (and dont call me sherley) I honestly feel the game was launched incomplete, and has been put together over time like Theseus’s ship.

Private Site

Ok Shirley!
(You don’t moonlight as a wrestler do you?)

But TDW are described explicitly in the Codex as a band of adventurers etc, so I’ve long argued that they wouldn’t be interested in the normal faction mission stuff. I can’t see the real DW offering assassination missions etc. This is partly what makes me think TRDW might be a PF group-not a normal faction. TDW in SD may be the outer rim of TRDW (as described in Reclamation); we need to contact the inner wheels. But I’ve no idea how we do it!

 

[CMDR Zulu]

You’re probably right sir. I have gone lore crazy probably hundreds of times in this thread by now.

I enjoy a little creative madness from time to time but if I test my wild ideas and come back empty handed I’ll own up to it.

I need to start creating an ED RPG campaign by now with how much tinfoil I created or subscribed to here. It’s very hard to get a Cobra Mk III to fit in a normal DND setting haha.

 

[Rochester]

Ok Shirley!
(You don’t moonlight as a wrestler do you?)

But TDW are described explicitly in the Codex as a band of adventurers etc, so I’ve long argued that they wouldn’t be interested in the normal faction mission stuff. I can’t see the real DW offering assassination missions etc. This is partly what makes me think TRDW might be a PF group-not a normal faction. TDW in SD may be the outer rim of TRDW (as described in Reclamation); we need to contact the inner wheels. But I’ve no idea how we do it!

Thats the spirit.
Good sound reasoning

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

You’re probably right sir. I have gone lore crazy probably hundreds of times in this thread by now.

I enjoy a little creative madness from time to time but if I test my wild ideas and come back empty handed I’ll own up to it.

I need to start creating an ED RPG campaign by now with how much tinfoil I created or subscribed to here. It’s very hard to get a Cobra Mk III to fit in a normal DND setting haha.

You’re not the only one!
Wild ideas, testing them and discussion is what this thread is all about. It’s not as if we have anything concrete to go on!!
And I hear tinfoil can be recycled into Anacondas, if you find the right station!

 

[clavain]

Does the PF have a Samaritans section dedicated to dealing with pilots who are suicidal? Space madness is common... staring into all that Void! Quick, give them a call!

I blame Drew for the idea. As usual.

 

[Han_Zen]

I blame Drew for the idea. As usual.

The one with a hat or the one with an axe?

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

The one with a hat or the one with an axe?

Whatever happened to the ninja penguin??
Miss him!

 

[clavain]

The one with a hat or the one with an axe?

The one with the hat. He recently started a new commander. Imitation as the sincerest form of flattery and all that. Or is it mockery? Never could remember that one. Updated just now but haven't got up the nerve (motivation) to start it up and hit the kill switch yet (or to reset up my joystick and throttle and keybinds, sigh.) Although the strange draw of parallax might pull me back in more than the new exploration changes (eventually, maybe). Parallax and lockdown.

 

[Fiera]

You only have the key, but you haven't found the gate. You need to find the station.
I don't think there are any in game mechanics that leads to the DW station. I suspect that it has to be found by interpretation of obtuse hints and visual searching.

MB only said that Raxxla was in game, and not whether it was accessible at the time. Maybe they were waiting for Odyssey mechanics to turn it on? (as a Zurara-style "it was always here" reveal). It does seem to be hard to find a station when you have a broken canopy and working sensors that do pick it up, so a "dark" station sounds way worse.

It seems as though the "station salvage" mechanics in Odyssey might be how TDW station is even used, if the station is still lost. But it is not hard to imagine that even an abandoned (or staffed, but without interstellar communications, etc) "dark" station could use a small amount of fuel occasionally to maintain orbit. Maybe some more detailed mentions of TDW station (clues) are in another station or planetary base requiring Space Legs. Maybe in addition to being cut-off from interstellar contact, they are waiting for help rebuilding once they are found again.

 

[simulacrae]

I ran across a feasibility study for a new restaurant/bar someone wants to put in at Rackhams Peak...

Spoiler: Bijou

 

[Han_Zen]

MB only said that Raxxla was in game, and not whether it was accessible at the time. Maybe they were waiting for Odyssey mechanics to turn it on? (as a Zurara-style "it was always here" reveal). It does seem to be hard to find a station when you have a broken canopy and working sensors that do pick it up, so a "dark" station sounds way worse.

It seems as though the "station salvage" mechanics in Odyssey might be how TDW station is even used, if the station is still lost. But it is not hard to imagine that even an abandoned (or staffed, but without interstellar communications, etc) "dark" station could use a small amount of fuel occasionally to maintain orbit. Maybe some more detailed mentions of TDW station (clues) are in another station or planetary base requiring Space Legs. Maybe in addition to being cut-off from interstellar contact, they are waiting for help rebuilding once they are found again.

Raxxla could well be uaccessable. I have this memory of MB or DB saying: ‘we know how to get there’, but I can’t find that interview.
Knowing how to get there could mean knowing you have to wait ten years, so it really doesn’t matter.

No one from FD has claimed that the DW station has been in the game from the start. It probably wasn’t and may still not be.