Where is the exploration?

[thistle]

Discovering content is as fast as discovering worlds, you just have to wait for the blue thing to spin.


And some people (me included) believe that this briefness comes at the expense of fun, because it is a repetitive task.

It was effectively impossible for players to find things before, because there was no way to know if any of the billions of systems had something on the surface of one of the many planets and moons. How to find 'things'? Turn the graphics down so the object stood out more, and fly low over the surface. The whole surface. Of one huge planet.

You want to go back to that? In that system, fdev wouldnt have added the new things to discover, because, well why bother.

I'd really like it if you could actually go back and try the old system ...

 

[Burke]

It was effectively impossible for players to find things before, because there was no way to know if any of the billions of systems had something on the surface of one of the many planets and moons. How to find 'things'? Turn the graphics down so the object stood out more, and fly low over the surface.

It wasnt impossible, it was difficult. I had no idea you could turn the gfx down and i still found stuff, plenty of players did. It was a challenge to be mastered. Its a shame they didnt let players put a name tag on the landmarks tbh.

 

[thistle]

The only problem with the exploration system now is that there isn't enough to find. The idea was that they could add more things, rumoured stuff, and feed out new things.

 

[thistle]

It wasnt impossible, it was difficult. I had no idea you could turn the gfx down and i still found stuff, plenty of players did. It was a challenge to be mastered. Its a shame they didnt let players put a name tag on the landmarks tbh.

I accept it wasn't impossible, I'm exaggerating, but people asked for fdev to add more to exploration, it was a bare-bones-wild-west-prospecting-needle-in-a-haystack process (catchy, I like it). Now it's possible and even fun for a wider section of the players.

They just need to add more.

 

[thistle]

I just think the OP is asking for the bare-bones-wild-west-prospecting-needle-in-a-haystack process back again, without perhaps realising what it actually was. The hardcore python 'you had it easy' veterans might want to go back, but I suspect there are a lot more players now doing exploration that would never have bothered, and going back to a system where it was very difficult to find anything on surfaces ... no.

 

[Burke]

I want it back Im trying to think of a good analogy and probably failing but it was like the grind for the special mount in wow or the special wepaon in diablo2. Some people played forever and never got that stuff.

Edit: or getting special tech in eve online. Laying hands on one of those spiky sansha (sp?) ships was damn near impossible. People shouldnt get what they want just cause they complained it was too hard

 

[Faded Glory]

Im not hopeful. I see threads on the forum along the lines of "credits meaningless" cause everybody is so rich. I just annoys me that they took notice of people who play a space game and then complain about travel time. All the effort to make the galaxy and those systems and then selling it as such, what did anybody expect. If being able to go 300 times light speed and more wasnt enough they were probably in the wrong game

One of the biggest problems for the game is the size and scale of the gameworld. And anybody who had the temerity to suggest that things be made more accessible was in for a rough ride here on the fora.

But it does seem to me that the sensible way to move forward would be to allow for different approaches to gameplay, so when players become jaded with one approach they can try something different.

Not sure how easy it is for FD to make something both complex and nuanced and at the same time quick and easy. In some ways that's down to the player to do using different tools and methods. Take as an example how Darkfyre99 gets a feeling of depth and immersion (and has explained her (?) approach in detail on the forums) using the FSS while many other players are delighted with it for the opposite reason, that it makes exploration quicker and easier for them. And I say that with great respect for Darkfyre99 not for a second suggesting that being able to do that is a bad thing.

Hence why I believe that putting in an optional ADS module, providing an alternative way to approach exploration can only be a positive step.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Pathetic, whiny, self-entitled post threads like this one are the main reason I spend almost no time in the forums anymore. Truth is that the majority of the community are out using the new mechanics on the Distant Worlds 2 expedition or-like me-are forging their own paths on their first ever exploration trips. Meanwhile, the exploration haters (who always hated it, even before they saw it) are left here to moan & complain in their little Echo Chamber.

 

[Riverside]

The only problem with the exploration system now is that there isn't enough to find. The idea was that they could add more things, rumoured stuff, and feed out new things.

I think you make a decent point about having more to find (the so far unpopulated 'rumoured' items etc) but the stuff that was added is arguably too easy to find with the mapping/probing mechanism turning what was a massive challenge (that I rose to) into a chore and a frustratingly busy nav panel to have to scroll through.

They added quite a bit of stuff to find in 3.3 on top of what was already there, and I think personally I was able to consume it far more quickly than their art team is able to churn it out. After a few weeks (a few dozen hours of in-game time) I had already effectively consumed the 3.3 exploration addons' content and was not left wanting more. Whereas before it was too hard but I was motivated to keep going back out to search because the number of systems and the search region within each system is so large. The 3.3 update feels like it was aimed at players happy to find anything rather than players looking for specifically something unusual or unexpected.

Confirming there is nothing there now takes too long, but if there is something there it's too easy. It feels off balance.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

Pathetic, whiny, self-entitled post.

Ima just leave this here.

 

[[ kraken ]]

It was effectively impossible for players to find things before, because there was no way to know if any of the billions of systems had something on the surface of one of the many planets and moons. How to find 'things'? Turn the graphics down so the object stood out more, and fly low over the surface. The whole surface. Of one huge planet.

You want to go back to that? In that system, fdev wouldnt have added the new things to discover, because, well why bother.

I'd really like it if you could actually go back and try the old system ...

No, as I wrote earlier, I agree that the FSS was an improvement over the ADS, and I can see how it was necessary. Even though I never tried the ADS, I understand that it made finding new content impossible without probing everything, so it's really not what I'm looking for.

I just think the OP is asking for the bare-bones-wild-west-prospecting-needle-in-a-haystack process back again, without perhaps realising what it actually was. The hardcore python 'you had it easy' veterans might want to go back, but I suspect there are a lot more players now doing exploration that would never have bothered, and going back to a system where it was very difficult to find anything on surfaces ... no.

No, no. I'm asking for a fun way to find that content, because I find that what I have now is disengaging.

FDev has added content, so of course they want us to find it and enjoy it and it shouldn't be a pain to look for it.

I wish that they opted for a way to make the research fun, to make it a game in itself, and I believe that if they did they would have also achieved their goal of making more people engage in it. However, I've learned that to many players exploration with the FSS is fun as it is, so maybe I'm just not doing it right, or I'm not looking for the right things.

I mean, to me the research had to offer a challenge per se. Not an overwhelming challenge, but a challenge that's fun to overcome. Just like a game. There is some games that are just about exploration, and what do they do? They give a hint, a trace, a path to sniff. But I'm not sure that such mechanics could apply at a galactic scale. And then the game is probably there already, I just have to look for the right things.


[edit]

then what's fun comes down to personal preference of course, so if I don't find this kind of exploration fun, that's fine, it's not like I'll force it on me. There's plenty else to do, a huge game FDev has made.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Easy to criticise.a mechanic, of course, but those criticisms carry much more weight when you can clearly ennunciate how you would want it improved. For example, I eventually want the probe mechanic to be used as a means to narrow down the location of smaller-more transient-points of interest, then have a Wave Scanner kick in above our scanners-at a certain altitude-to allow us to track the exact locations of said PoI's. Likewise, I would like for the PWS to be useable in the scanning of planetary surfaces to find these PoI's more quickly.

That said, though, the mechanics we got in December are orders of magnitude better than what we had before, & I have made extensive use of them in my trip out towards the Rim.

 

[Lori Jameson]

Where is the exploration? Have you checked out your window? Last I remember excellent vistas can't be scanned for. Neither can a FSS scanner experience finding rare oddities in deep space for you, especially if you found one yourself.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

It wasnt impossible, it was difficult. I had no idea you could turn the gfx down and i still found stuff, plenty of players did. It was a challenge to be mastered. Its a shame they didnt let players put a name tag on the landmarks tbh.

It's was not challanging. Unless you call spending time just flying over a surface looking in the likely spots for hours challanging. I suppose it was a challenge to not die of boredom, but I don't think that's a good thing.

While I like the probes mini-game, it should not result in pinpoint coordinates there should have been search locations. Then there could be an optional wave scanner module which you could fit which would help you pinpoint these places or you could use the MK1 eyeball if you so wished. You get the pinpoint coordinates after using the composition scanner at the POI.

 

[[ kraken ]]

Morning folks.

Exploration has been a hot topic for months, I'm just some noob who came to reignite the old rancors. Well, do I have all the answers at least? No... I'm a noob.

There is technical reasons that make exploration a little less than enjoyable for some players, some of which we identified. May this thread serve to point that these shortfalls may spoil the experience of new players as well as the old ones. (but mind, I might really be the one new player who is bothered)

Many agree that there is room for improvement, but no one has agreed on an universally better implementation of the current system, so I don't believe anyone should raise issues with FDev, at least until we get some ideas.

There is a post of Riverside that could be developed into a fantastic improvement over the current installment I believe, I'll keep it dearly, but I'm not expecting to see it into the game tomorrow. In fact, I'm not expecting to see it into the game at all. I didn't burst here demanding change as some seem to think.

I did bring with me a fair amount of prejudice for which I apologize, but I've also been treated like "oh, no! This thread again?" since the start. so... peace. Ok?

I don't have anything else to add, I won't even be able to play for a week.

Happy Easter!

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

To stay in line with frontiers.. frontierishness, one doesn't have to tell them what to do at all.

A few of us explored this throughout beta and before, the systems would be really complimentary when used together. We could invent new ways of rewriting what they did as much as we want, but that's not the point. Being gracious for any new changes can see though using both systems as the experience of exploration progresses in a fresh system.

They can be complimentary.

The rewards obsessed design of the new system and the few stalwarts who claim it can't be done is the only thing getting in the way. I think its a moot point anyway because anything to do with fss is meangless / too easy compared to the old system. Think it though and make a list and compare before you argue.