What type of explorer are you?

[Zulu Romeo]

I started out as a sightseer, wanting to see the things I had read about or heard about, with little regard for investigating things along the way unless they looked interesting to me.

Today I still want to sightsee, but now I have a feeling of wanting to combine it with wandering: just picking a direction of travel and seeing what I can find.

Naturally, this will lead to surveyor tendencies perhaps to the point of OCD, as there are planets out there that the pingers will miss and remain uncatalogued - but whether this means I'll get a First Claim on them or not is uncertain: it's not an aim, but it is a bonus, and really I'm just here to take my time, be patient, and enjoy the ride.

OP, you missed an option: "Adventurer" - going out in the hope of finding something new, exciting, even dangerous. Given the findings of others so far, and the GalNet rumours, it seems something might be out there. I want to be something like this now, but it's all pot luck.

Another possible option: "Record Breaker" - people attempting to be the farthest, fastest, most distant, most remote, and longest-lasting commander out there in the great black.

Finally, I picked the final option. I still don't feel like an ELITE explorer, no matter what The Pilots Federation and my exploration profits statistics say. I'm just someone who happened to be in the right place at the right time.

 

[Lunchmoney]

Pinger or Surveyor (OCD), depending on what you mean by scan.

If, after using the ADS (which is everytime I go to new system), I see UNEXPLORED on the nav panel, I fly towards it and scan it until I get info and UNEXPLORED goes away.

 

[Cody]

[video=youtube;_tX3AnKiYb0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tX3AnKiYb0[/video]

 

[ScottGust]

Hmmmm..idk, I noticed the "First Discovered By..." in the systems maps and went out and bought a basic discovery scanner again, been mainly doin combat but love the exploration in ED...anyway, so I guess I'm a recreational explorer...so Tourist I guess ??

 

[Mdu5t]

I'm a Sightseer, travel to interesting and "real" star systems.

 

[Dr Roly]

I ticked all of those apart from OCD and Pinger. Personally, I'd add "photographer" to the list. I like to set up interesting images and screencap them. Take a look at elitegalaxy.org if you're interested. There's a few screenies under my forum name.

 

[Ferris]

Nice thread...

Probably say i'm a wanderer. I do tend to head in the general direction of a tourist attraction but the route that gets me there is normally pretty erratic as I explore the areas along the way.
I hover between surveyor lite and OCD depending on how tired I am... normally the OCD wins out.
And elite.. I want that elite explorer decal.

 

[Jackie Silver]

Finally, I picked the final option. I still don't feel like an ELITE explorer, no matter what The Pilots Federation and my exploration profits statistics say. I'm just someone who happened to be in the right place at the right time.

I think you're an Elite explorer - in the fortunate position of having it confirmed earlier. Like Erimus, say, who probably isn't officially Elite despite travelling a ludicrous distance around the far side of the galaxy...

 

[Geraldine]

Ah, nothing like the 80s for music... before it all went commercial and people realised they could make money out 5 girls who could barely sing.

Some tracks yes but for the proper explorer experience the 70s did it oh so much better ..

Something like this or this. As for explorer options most certainly OCD, gotta find them all!

 

[Nutter]

I don't know what I fall under - I would call myself an extreme explorer, bit like the bear grills fella when he is not living it up in a hotel.

I gun for the strange, hard to reach places, crazy systems, the extreme, like getting as 'high' above Sol as possible. The biggest black hole (non super massive)... all that jazz.

 

[Ilenya]

My picks:
Sightseer: I generally pick some target that stands out (first trip was Barnard's Loop, next was Beutelgeuse and VY Canis Majoris, latest trip was Horse Head Nebula and Heart/Soul)

Wanderer: I'm easily distracted, especially on my latest trip I ended up mapping out all of NGC 7822 and the cluster of O's between Horse Head and Heart/Soul

Surveyor (Lite), Surveyor (OCD): I find myself somewhere in between. I never scan asteroids, but I have been known to scan ice/rocks around a gas giant if I was there anyway. I'll also travel 300kLs to scan that distant black hole or neutron star

Elite explorer: Eventually.....

 

[Axeman3d]

I'm Surveyor (lite) as I tend to be on the lookout for F,G & K stars with high paying planets. If it's 100k light seconds away, it's staying unscanned unless there's a very obvious habitable world there. I tend to avoid just running from nebula to nebula as everyone has been there and I've even met people in them while several thousand light years out. I pick a direction, run for 1000Ly and then settle down into a search for strange new worlds.

 

[Wdfourty]

I'm definitely a tourist, I scan the points of interest, anything else is pointless.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Not that I'd ever go beyond 100,000 ls, but I guess:

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWtCittJyr0

I find myself going out 400,000 light seconds routinely. OCD.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I think you're an Elite explorer - in the fortunate position of having it confirmed earlier. Like Erimus, say, who probably isn't officially Elite despite travelling a ludicrous distance around the far side of the galaxy...

That's very kind of you to say that, and to compare me with a legend like Erimus/Kamzel. I still feel like the rank was somewhat thrust upon me suddenly, though, under circumstances nobody expected.

 

[Slamhamster]

Sightseer - Wanderer - Pinger (if there's one other body 100,000ls away it ain't getting scanned) - Surveyor Lite to OCD (will frequently scan most points of interest but really can't be bothered with asteroids).

As being constantly interdicted by Elite Sidewinders whilst trucking around in a Type 6 has gotten really old really fast in 1.1, I've finally decided I'm going to have a long leisurely cruise into the beyond. Maybe poke around a few supermassives starting with LY Aurigae; a stop off at VY Canis Majoris then do a slow leisurely arc towards Sagittarius A* taking in a few nebulae en route.

Does the mirrored surface composite bulkheads help protect against thermal damage from stars? I had noticed that since fitting it I rarely stray into the 85%-90% range when skimming, but I suppose that could just be due to the B4 fuel scoop being massive overkill on a Cobra.

 

[riley75]

I chose Wanderer and Surveyor (OCD).

One other thing that defines my exploration habits... I've banned myself from ever buying an Advanced Discovery Scanner. To be honest, I don't understand how one can be considered an "explorer" if all they need to do is hold down a button for 5 seconds to find everything. I kind of wish the game had made it have, say, a 5,000 Ls range, instead of infinite.

I also wish the game made you use probes to find Unidentified Signal Sources, instead of them just spawning in front of you no matter how fast you're going in supercruise, but that's a whole other discussion...