*Edited (continuously).
Key findings:
Reliable public statements known directly or corroborated.
As attested to in this forum when questioned the CEO David Braben (DB) has confirmed that Raxxla ‘exists’. Michael Brookes (MB) additionally indicated that Raxxla was somewhere in the galaxy and it at least was considered as a story line for being played out in game.
Thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/
The Community Manager Arthur Tolmie (AT) confirmed in a 2021 interview concerning Raxxla: “It’s there. Clearly it’s there. I’ve said this in another stream, I’ll say it today, it’s been going a longtime. The payoff would have to be great, and that’s all I will say on it”.
Source:
Source: https://youtu.be/FYNGKV8fZ6Y
In the same interview AT confirmed that FD has a modus operandi (MO) of inserting key content over time, even into systems where there is existing activity.
Upon launch a minor faction identifying itself as the Dark Wheel emerged in the Shinrarta Dezhra system (SD) which used to issue the historical Dark Wheel (DW) missions.
These missions indicated a link between the DW and Raxxla through its use of terminology from original Elite lore. Later in 2021 FD confirmed these missions were removed and are no longer in game for reasons unconfirmed.
Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-9584643
In Aug 2022 FD support confirmed ‘Trinkets of Hidden Fortune’ which were linked to the DW missions, although still in game were effectively now just a curiosity and that the ‘story’ they related to was not currently active.
Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-9925296
Drew Wagnar confirmed FD provided him lore which outlined the DW faction in SD was bogus/front.
Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-9529268
FD in 2021 confirms in relation to Polaris, that not all active permit locked regions have active permits, nor are all currently accessible to players, one such example being Polaris.
FD in 2021 when questioned directly (see below) regarding the DW faction supposed ‘invite’ that is alluded to in the Codex and the pdf manual, specifically FD’s response was: “There are some factions and invites which may not be active yet, but may become active in future. Again, we cannot confirm the nature of these invitations”.
The Codex currently indicates by way of inclusion, the DW faction in SD maybe bogus/front and that the ‘real’ DW hands out an unidentified invitation and in regards to this, players cannot contact the real DW directly, but it is the real DW who contacts the player and said contact is incognito, the DW identity is never provided, supposedly only upon discovery of the real DW station by way of the information provided within it is this confirmed.
The Codex currently indicates that the DW originally utilised a disused Orbis station on low energy that orbited the eighth moon of an unnamed gas giant.
The Codex currently indicates by way of inclusion, the DW has been in existence since the earliest period of interstellar travel which began in the 22nd century.
ED lore suggests hyperspace tech existed since the 22nd century. Modern hyperspace drive did not come into existence until 3290.
The Codex confirms the real DW station is of the oldest Orbis design developed by the Federation who originated on Mars in the 22nd century.
All Orbis Starport’s with the exception of those under construction are permanently stationary. There does exist at least 1 Orbis Starport with engines which has the ability of moving between stars named Jaques Station currently located in the Colonia System, prior to this it was located in the Facece system, whose gas giant / y-class brown dwarf does have 8 moons.
Humanity established its first colony outside of Sol on the planet Taylor Colony in Tau Ceti in 2159.
Between 2190 and 2230 humanity’s first colonies were; Sol ; Tau Ceti; Delta Pavonis; Altair and Beta Hydri.
By 2288 Eotienses was colonised.
By the year 2292 the furthest known settled system was Achenar, made by Marlin Duval who died suspiciously in 2296, this initial journey was described as treacherous across what was then unexplored space.
Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-9856307
The Codex confirms the date and location of where the mystery of Raxxla was first recorded as Tau Ceti in the year 2296 attributed to a ship board mechanic ‘Art Tornqvist’ and his drunk partner ‘Cora’.
The next recorded settlement after this period is Arcturus in 2304.
All of the above systems, utilising Sol as the centre and Achenar as the furthest part, describe a sphere of influence
At launch FD issue a PDF manual, within which is a message from ‘a friend’ that alludes to a test.
https://hosting.zaonce.net/elite/website/assets/ELITE-DANGEROUS-GAME-MANUAL.pdf
There exists in game the practice of ‘honk and go’ where players ignore systems content, utilising them solely as navigational waypoints or fuel stops.
There exist systems in the ‘human bubble’ which have only ever been partially mapped as well as thousands of colonised / non colonised and low profit brown dwarf systems which haven’t been scanned by everyone.
Data can be lost upon ship destruction and errors caused by FD. Every players ‘Visited Stars List’ is stored locally but it only records data since version 2.2. and this data may still be lost following a game wipe.
Key Findings with low reliability
Not corroborated or unknown.
Cmdra Ascorbious stated that a certain FD employee confirmed at a Lavcom Q&A circa 2015/2016 that the system with Raxxla in was visited by a player, but it was not discovered.
https://m.twitch.tv/clip/SnappyScaryMousePupper
Drew Wagnar iterated that he heard FD comment that they know why it hasn’t been found, he also has gone on record that DB told him directly that Raxxla was in game and they know where it is.
The Codex provides information which reads as counter intelligence with inclusion of the statement that “According to
self-professed Dark Wheel expert Lyta Crane ... ... ... rival experts have accused Crane of
forging her evidence in order to maintain the revenue from her billions of followers.”
The date referenced in the codex relating to Tau Ceti creates a sphere of influence, within this resides a series of systems relevant to the world tree Yggdrasil as well as a system called Pandemonium, with relates to the writings of John Milton; a favourite author of MB. It can be described as being upon the ‘outer rim’ of said sphere of influence.
Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-9856307
The reference used in the early DW missions was that relating to the Song of the Spheres, this term was used by John Milton to describe the Prima Mobile, the model universe which contained all of creation and formed a spherical shell around Earth (Sol).
Below the base of said sphere was Pandemonium, the capitol of Hell.
Within the DW missions pilots were tasked to acquire ‘Trinkets of hidden fortune’, of which description identifies the goddess Fortuna (Greek counterpart for Tyche) both systems exist in game.
Fortuna is linked to the phrase ‘eyes to see’ in relation to: The Metamorphoses of
Apuleius (later source inspiration for A Midsummers night dream); generally Fortuna is described historically as blind or blindfolded; her wheel ‘Rota Fortunae’ is tied to the ‘silent song’ itself relating to the zodiac, and her wheel can have six spokes.
In relation to the identified sphere of influence said systems do appear within this sphere and are relatively close together.
Dark Systems: These were supposed to be hidden areas where mystery resided, these would be abundant but only detectable once a section of interstellar space had been mapped.
Drew Wagnar Premonition it states: “ER 8 system played host to a dull brown dwarf; they used to call them dark systems”.
Assessment:
There is a
realistic possibility that Raxxla is in game and can be located based upon the public statements of the company CEO, the Senior Producer and Community Manager as well as 1 third party witness.
There is a
realistic possibility that the location of Raxxla is to be within a relatively close proximity to Sol, based upon the current game lore and Codex which provides specific temporal interstellar points of interest.
The level of possibility is no higher as a result of logical assessment of the key findings provided, and an absence of evidence to the contrary, the use of active permits or inactive or active narrative can therefore not be corroborated.
Therefore Raxxla must be currently discoverable using conventional mechanisms applicable to any player regardless of ability, allegiance or progress, if not true then the key findings are 100% false, as a rule no higher probability can be ascribed.
Assumptions:
The SD DW and or real DW station and invite attested to in the Codex and manual are
not currently active, as a game mechanism for locating Raxxla etc; but they all relate to a narrative element now removed or yet to be turned on.
This is based upon the clarification that the DW is bogus and cannot be contacted without an invite; additionally FD confirm the use of narrative elaboration which fits their statements concerning non-activated invites, the confirmation the DW missions are removed, the DW ‘story’ may well be dormant, and FD modus operandi for inserting key content over time.
The real DW station, like Raxxla is relatively close to Sol, if not in Sol or another early system. The DW stations low energy signature would render it
invisible to sensors, potentially only being discoverable through ‘eye contact’, fixed coordinates provided via a mission, or via close proximity detection.
The existence of Orbis stations with the capacity for interstellar travel allows the possibility the DW station has re-located at least once, or is not in relatively close proximity to Sol and may no longer be orbiting the 8th moon of a gas giant and could be anywhere.
The sphere of influence identified in the key findings, is a construct of MB and is a physical representation of the Primum Mobile of John Milton with Pandemonium at its base and it is this sphere of influence which houses the ‘outer rim’ described in the older DW missions.
The presence of Donars Oak recently injected into the game is a link to the tree of Yggdrasil, depicted in game via a series of systems within the sphere of influence noted above identifying that some portion of the Raxxla story is active, or it is a primer for future narrative content.
Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-9856307
Raxxla is within a dark system, effectively now know as brown dwarf systems, these are prevalent yet relatively uninteresting locations.
Intelligence gaps:
It is unknown if the historical statements made by FD are currently accurate or were made out of context, they remain
reliable as public statements, but are generally
untested, highlighting the need for confirmation as to if Raxxla is currently ‘accessible’.
Such statements may have been made against an alternative game narrative or mechanism which may have since been replaced, removed or paused.
It is an unknown what relevance Fortuna has in relation to the current Raxxla codex or what ‘eyes to see’ means in correlation to ‘Astrophel and the spiralling stars’.
It is unknown if the Codex’s uses of obscure references are intentionally coded clues which may provide additional insight; or are narrative markers, at present such information is too extensive to be reliable and is open to speculation, therefore it does not form part of this report at present (tin-foil).
It is unknown if FD employs an automated naming database to assist writers / populate content, if this is the case such naming of characters and locations within the Codex and game generally could be totally arbitrary and meaningless.
It remains an unknown if Raxxla was historically visited but not scanned. This fits with common player behaviour, which would be known to FD and although logically viable is ultimately irrelevant, except to support a number of assumptions such as; that Raxxla is an astronomical object that can be scanned by normal methods and doesn’t require any permit nor invite; that players ignored certain types of systems over others and Raxxla resides in one of these dull systems; or that the method, application or limitations of navigation at that time provides some additional insight.
At present it does not provide sufficient information to assess a general location without more scrutiny.
Recommendations:
Join the ‘Great Potato Hunt’ but conduct a search pattern of all systems discovered prior to 2296 namely Sol ; Tau Ceti; Delta Pavonis; Altair; Beta Hydri; Eotienses and Achenar.
Searching should include the use of all scanning processes even if said body is already discovered; it also should include close by sling shot navigation of each body to potentially identify non-scannable but visually apparent objects.
Conduct a search of the entire bubble of influence identified by the key information temporal data, with a focus upon anarchy systems as well a brown dwarf systems.
Conduct a search of the exterior of the bubble of influence (outer rim) identified by the key information temporal data.
Map the sphere of influence alongside the Yggdrasil systems to assess any relationships, combined with any other information such as Fortuna.
Continue to review of the Codex text to provide additional information to support assumptions or widen this report.
Source: https://youtu.be/eYnF17oKutQ