Um, accidentally? That sounds off, what do you mean by that?
More importantly though, your main point - why wait? - is spot on. There should be nothing stopping anyone from organising another large expedition. In fact, EDSM expeditions happen all the time, and there are always targeted exploration expeditions going on, but the key difference is there's very little (practically zero) marketing for expeditions. (For targeted exploration, this is little wonder: even managing assignments for, say, twenty people can be quite some work, and scaling that up to two thousand would be far more trouble than it'd be worth.) So anyone who wanted an expedition on a similar scale would need to muster as much support from Frontier as DW2 did, which was far more than they gave to any other expedition before DW2 or after it, and do a lot of marketing. Without the established Distant Worlds brand to help with that.
Would it be possible to make it happen? Sure. Would it be a lot of work? Sure. Would it be easier to just ask for the DW organisers to do it? Sure - but they've made their stance on this quite clear, so yes, while just asking for DW3 is easier, it's not going to work.
That said, if we are talking about exploration - much of DW2 was about establishing a presence deep in the galaxy, and this part turned out to be much more popular than the rest of the expedition - there should be a specific goal, specific destination(s) in mind. This one would be a pretty difficult problem to tackle though, especially since these days, there isn't really any area in the galaxy that would stand out, and draw in explorers en masse on its own. (Whereas if Frontier dropped a hint that Raxxla is in, say, Vulcan Gate, you'd see players swarming there without any planned expedition)
One more thing: would it be technically feasible to hold large events planetside in Odyssey? That's a good concern that @M_72 has raised, and while I have no personal experience with those, I have seen some videos (from the Buur Pit) showcasing plenty of players doing just that. So it could at least be no more trouble than it already was at DW2's time.
To be frank though, I don't think it's adding new exploration content that could draw in lasting attention from many players, but new mechanics: and more specifically, new mechanics for colonisation. Practical benefit to the exploration data that people sell, because right now it's only credits, rank points, and some BGS effects (that most players ignore anyway). If Frontier gave people more reasons to find new rare planets, stars, spaceborne or planetary life, that would most likely help so much more than just adding new content to scan and be done with.
Great post +1
I think you hit a nail on the head there when you state that expeditions don't get much marketing or virtually no support from Frontier (I've always suspected exploration isn't one of Fdevs favorite past times, and the ones who were interested, Ed Lewis and Will Flanagan, are gone from frontier). That may be an issue.
One point though, if I recall, DW2 didn't get any support from frontier until around 3,000 players had signed up and it began making headlines in the magazines. It was only then that Frontier jumped on board and agreed to give DW2 the Explorers Anchorage CG that Erimus had written as a possible mission goal. Frontier awarding CGs to groups or events isn't unique to DW2, plenty of others got them too. And lets not forget that DW2 was originally written as a Carrier based event, with a Cannon/Gnosis style ship accompanying the fleet, which Fdev denied, then later announced Carriers were delayed. DW2 did get other support once FDev were on board, like GalNet articles, as well as stuff that was after-event content like the tourist beacons and the science array, which appeared in game several months after DW2 had ended.
The point being, I would hope Frontier would support another major community created expedition (doesn't have to be DW3), if that event generated enough interest off its own back, got thousands of players interested, and the gaming magazines on board, like DW2 originally had to. Nothing was given off the bat on DW2s end, it was earned by having great ideas, a clear and concise set of roles and player projects that inspired people to sign up, a great promotion campaign and marketing (if I recall, the organizers themselves invited Polygon and Kotaku aboard very early on). Marketing is the key, and both Distant Worlds expeditions showed how to do it. Frontier should support events that show potential and have good ideas written into them and what they're attempting to achieve, but Fdev won't instigate them imo, as on the whole, they've been reactive, not proactive, when it comes to player events in Elite.
Timing is also key. You say there's nothing stopping a group setting up an expedition today and marketing it, and you're right, there isn't. But I don't think the timing is right for the reasons I wrote about previously. The game isn't in a state to host a multi-thousand player event, and its not fair to console players if someone does - which I doubt Fdev would be happy to embrace and advertise tbh. (Unless you're talking specifically about an event in Horizons only, which again I doubt Frontier would promote now anyway).
Your point about the galaxy not having the same draw as it once had is spot on too. the reason why the EDSM expeditions don't attract many players these days is because sadly they aren't doing anything new or imaginative. No disrespect to the organizers, but they're reruns of expeditions people were doing 6 or 7 years ago. Sight seeing tours.
DW2 was out of the box in that regard because it incorporated all sorts of projects and events that got thousands to sign up, then was awarded their CG that got thousands more involved. I can't recall any others following in the same vein. The onus really is on Fdev here though, until they give players the content and tools to do more than go sight seeing, there's not much else organizers of events can offer.
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