which points do exploration have ingame ?

[mysterious42]

hi there, im not the type of being negative here, but i am wondering why we have to scan uncharted systems , and sell the datas ?
in elite dangerous, you can get even to the center of the galaxy in dozens of hours, averagely. while it might be a pretext to gain money, i think
exploration doesnt have much purpose.

in a game where you can travel space very fastly, and that there are vast number of humans skimming space as pilots, it would be quite sure that people knows at least a big bubble of space around the human space.

systems out of the human space are not important; there's nothing here to do.... so people dont really care to have these charted....

i dont like the idea that some players just lose hours of times just scanning systems.

if players are doing, it means the human civilisations must already have done it before much more.

so human civilisations should already knows a great part of the galaxy....

its just another reason to get money in the end

 

[Whiterose]

we do it becuase we enjoy it. Its not about money or time. Its about the beauty of the galaxy. We explore to find new Earth likes and terraform candidates for future expansion. I have been exploring for 28 days, and will probably need another 60 odd days until I have finished my route. If you dont like exploring for the fun of it then dont do it.

 

[dayrth]

Not really getting your point. You seem to be saying that you don't care about uninhabited space because there is nothing there. Then saying you are upset that it hasn't already been mapped. Then saying you are upset because people are spending time mapping it.

What is it you object to?

I'm off exploring at the moment. Don't expect to make a lot of money out of it, but I'm having a great time.

 

[Zenith]

Why do people climb mountains?
Because it's there.

Why did Admunsen and Scott race to the South Pole?
Because they were pioneers exploring an unknown part of the Earth.

It's the same with exploring in the galaxy.
There is some small monetary gain, but you could get just as rich in a number of hours regular trade. It's not about the money (though that is nice), it's about the freedom to go where you want, to see wonderful things, and not to worry if someone is going to pop up and blast you out of the sky because they're having a bad day.

 

[Iskariot]

hi there, im not the type of being negative here, but i am wondering why we have to scan uncharted systems , and sell the datas ?
in elite dangerous, you can get even to the center of the galaxy in dozens of hours, averagely. while it might be a pretext to gain money, i think
exploration doesnt have much purpose.

in a game where you can travel space very fastly, and that there are vast number of humans skimming space as pilots, it would be quite sure that people knows at least a big bubble of space around the human space.

systems out of the human space are not important; there's nothing here to do.... so people dont really care to have these charted....

i dont like the idea that some players just lose hours of times just scanning systems.

if players are doing, it means the human civilisations must already have done it before much more.

so human civilisations should already knows a great part of the galaxy....

its just another reason to get money in the end

I agree with you on some of your points. But If exploration is not your thing, just don't do it.

Personally I only scan systems when I happen to pass through them. I scan some stars and planets, but I generally don't even take the trouble to travel a mere 2000 ls to scan a planet. I do not see the point in doing so. I can make money in more exciting ways. If others find this deep space exploration thing interesting that is fine with me. I think it is good that you can, if you want to.

I also do not care about attaching my name to discoveries. I just do not care about such stuff. I do not want to name planets, or stations, or whatever and I do not understand why people care about such stuff. I do however accept the fact that other people do care, and I think FD should cater to these ED gamers. It is good for the diversity in the game.

I believe things might change for me if there was really something you could do with your findings, or if there was a more specific mission system with exploration in mind. If you for example could take on a scientific, or military mission to go to a certain part of space and explore it. There should really be something to find there then, like perhaps a secret pirate or military base, or some awesome huge ancient derelict orbiting a moon, or something like that.

I also would dive into exploration if I could actually go down to planet surfaces and find strange lifeforms and abandoned alien relics and cities etc. there, or if I could have my own modest base on a beautiful planet I had discovered.

For me exploration as it is, is too bland. Just pushing a scan button and returning with those dry data to sell them to a rather faceless organization just doesn't do it for me. It is too sterile. FD should try to turn this into a more personal and engaging thing.
I believe they eventually will, if they get to it on their to do list.

 

[CMDR DoubleSkulls]

My 6 year old asked me why I was exploring... the best answer I could think of, was because I could Or is it to boldly go where no one has been before?

 

[Jackie Silver]

Op: bear in mind that the fsd is a new invention. Old hyperdrives were much slower, so it's not surprising that the galaxy is only now being mapped.

 

[Ziljan]

A). The Galaxy is not a static object, nor is any system in it. Computing the precise evolution based on a partial, or earth-based scan is not possible. Likewise, even if you knew the current state, calculating the N-body gravitational equation of the whole Galaxy as if it were deterministic with 400 billion known variables (and a near infinite number of unknown variables) is simply not possible. Therefore new scans and rescanning old systems is the only way to keep reliable information up to date.

B). Light travels at a mere 3 x10^8 m/s. If we rely on light signals to alert us the current state of the Galaxy, we might miss important information about the survival of the human race. By the time we learned about an imminent nearby super nova, it would already be too late.

C). If the center is only 12 hours away then it as close as Europe is now to the Americas. Why wouldn't every bit of commercially viable real estate, mineral resources, and scientific sample of emergent life not be important? America and Europe are vitally important to each other and they have far less economic value that an entire pristine Galaxy.

 

[Lupin]

What no sense of wonder, then I think you are in the WRONG MMO.

 

[puca]

hi there, im not the type of being negative here, but i am wondering why we have to scan uncharted systems , and sell the datas ?
in elite dangerous, you can get even to the center of the galaxy in dozens of hours, averagely. while it might be a pretext to gain money, i think
exploration doesnt have much purpose.

in a game where you can travel space very fastly, and that there are vast number of humans skimming space as pilots, it would be quite sure that people knows at least a big bubble of space around the human space.

systems out of the human space are not important; there's nothing here to do.... so people dont really care to have these charted....

i dont like the idea that some players just lose hours of times just scanning systems.

if players are doing, it means the human civilisations must already have done it before much more.

so human civilisations should already knows a great part of the galaxy....

its just another reason to get money in the end

Why do you play video games, OP? It's just changing numbers in some database somewhere.

 

[dognosh]

hi there, im not the type of being negative here, but i am wondering why we have to scan uncharted systems , and sell the datas ?
in elite dangerous, you can get even to the center of the galaxy in dozens of hours, averagely. while it might be a pretext to gain money, i think
exploration doesnt have much purpose.

in a game where you can travel space very fastly, and that there are vast number of humans skimming space as pilots, it would be quite sure that people knows at least a big bubble of space around the human space.

systems out of the human space are not important; there's nothing here to do.... so people dont really care to have these charted....

i dont like the idea that some players just lose hours of times just scanning systems.

if players are doing, it means the human civilisations must already have done it before much more.

so human civilisations should already knows a great part of the galaxy....

its just another reason to get money in the end

With utmost respect, you don't get it and it isn't for you

 

[Glenn Ross]

in a game where you can travel space very fastly, and that there are vast number of humans skimming space as pilots, it would be quite sure that people knows at least a big bubble of space around the human space.

i dont like the idea that some players just lose hours of times just scanning systems.

if players are doing, it means the human civilisations must already have done it before much more.

so human civilisations should already knows a great part of the galaxy....

If other people, myself included, like doing it, why are you worried about it? No-one is forcing you to do it, why be down on what others do for fun. I don't like football, but I don't worry that other people do.
.
And when I got the game, it was said that 12 systems a minute were being mapped. That does sound like a lot, but when you are told that there are 400 BILLION systems to map, at that rate, it will take 151,000 YEARS to map it all. Even if you decided in 20 years time that you wanted a piece of that action, and forever after have your pilot's name listed as the first discoverer, there will be plenty of unexplored space to have a look at.
.
I have seen systems with over 50 stellar objects in, 6 of them stars. I have surfed suns. I have seen nebulas from amazing angles. I have found 2 Earth-like worlds ripe for colonisation, a huge planet apparently run by Kevin Costner (A Water World), and I have found the Death Star - a planet 428kM in radius, made of 100% METAL. (And sold the plans to the Empire on May the Forth!)
.
And what I have done hasn't even scratched the surface of what is out there. I haven't yet seen a Black Hole, or a Supernova (or even a standard nova come to that), or a nebula from the inside. Maybe some day I'll find intelligent life (I do play in open, so the possibility is real! )

 

[dayrth]

...and I have found the Death Star - a planet 428kM in radius, made of 100% METAL. (And sold the plans to the Empire on May the Forth!)

That was worth +2 rep. Shame it only lets me give 1.

... Maybe some day I'll find intelligent life (I do play in open, so the possibility is real! )

Possible, but very unlikely.

 

[wiblflibl]

mysterious42

Your OP sounds like one of those "people are playing the game in a way I don't like so they should stop" posts.

Or am I missing the point of your post?

i dont like the idea that some players just lose hours of times just scanning systems.

Um, then do something else maybe? Exploration isn't compulsory!


... and +rep for Glenn Ross.

 

[Aegis I]

hi there, im not the type of being negative here, but i am wondering why we have to scan uncharted systems , and sell the datas ?
in elite dangerous, you can get even to the center of the galaxy in dozens of hours, averagely. while it might be a pretext to gain money, i think
exploration doesnt have much purpose.

in a game where you can travel space very fastly, and that there are vast number of humans skimming space as pilots, it would be quite sure that people knows at least a big bubble of space around the human space.

systems out of the human space are not important; there's nothing here to do.... so people dont really care to have these charted....

i dont like the idea that some players just lose hours of times just scanning systems.

if players are doing, it means the human civilisations must already have done it before much more.

so human civilisations should already knows a great part of the galaxy....

its just another reason to get money in the end

It is fundamentally the same reason why some people trade and some engage in battles. Motivation may vary across different people, but ultimately, they do it because it is fun. There is logically no merit in people playing a game that isn't fun is there?

The same goes for exploration. Exploration is fun for some people. As seen in your post, you are not one of them, but people do it because it is fun. In fact, the argument on getting money is probably least relevant for explorers, for you get much more credit/hour doing trades and battles.

 

[Murishani]

Just throwing my two cents in.
I tried trading, after shifting my 50th batch of the same stuff, and after my 100th rare trading run of the same rares to the same stations, I decided it was all exactly the same.
I tried bounty hunting and warzones, at first this was enormous fun, I did a lot of it, but then after Id killed my 200th anaconda I realized that more or less, this was all the same, over and over. Every fight may be slightly different but it wasnt enough to keep me interested.
I finally went back to exploring (my original intent in the game). Many systems are similar, much of it is exactly the same, sometimes it can feel like a grind. Yesterday an area I explored got put into Erimus's mapping project and it felt awesome, Ive seen countless nebulas and beautiful sights, Ive got a folder full of screenshots, Ive felt homesick, Ive felt lonely, Ive felt frightened (playing in asteroid fields can be scary), and Ive had a renewed sense of wonder in a legitimate scientific field.

Ultimately I am exploring in Elite Dangerous because in all honesty, the trading, the combat, the mining, its all been done before in some other game and Ive played it already. It's done WELL here, don't get me wrong, but as an explorer I want to be on the frontier of new stuff. No game has EVER done this massive a simulation of the galaxy or open space, I want to try the new thing, I want that, I want to be out there because thats one thing Ive never done.

 

[Bacon Sarnie]

Im out in the black because I got bored of the grind, bored of the need to make money bored of seeing the same systems day after day.
I'm out here for the shere joy of it, seeing sights not many others have seen, discovering black holes, white dwarves, super massive giant stars, neutron stars, gaseous nebulas and also to put my mark on the galaxy.
Knowing that probably long after Ive gotten bored and stopped playing the the "Discovered by Bacon Sarnie" will be there for all who follow my trail to see.
Also if the devs are true to their word and give us an every expanding universe the systems we find, the ELW's we discover will be colonised and stations will be built, giving future players far more options on where to go and what to trade, fight, fly and so on
Im heading back in to populated space in a few days, want to be back before power play 1.3 goes live.
Will spend a few weeks checking it out then I know full well I'll be refurbing the Fried Slice and heading back into the black, want to head out from Sol to the rim straight down.
The money is an after thought, as long as I can repair and refurb with I've made I'll be happy.

 

[Thoris]

As to question of why not more has been explored already when humans have been going to space for a long time?

Maybe as stated, better FTL drives weren't available yet. But more likely, the sheer number of stars in the galaxy, plus in "reality" you're probably not done "honking" a system and doing some quick 30s scans I rather suppose that an actual explorer might take days or even weeks exploring and scanning a single system.

Exploring in E is quite painless, but in reality...imagine having to spend weeks or months in a spaceship, no chance to go out and stretch your legs (unless you find an earthlike . Or imagine having a real problem with your ship..and noone is going to come to rescue you. I don't know, but I think even with FTL drives available it would take a loooong time to explore the whole galaxy!

 

[Kancro Vantas]

hi there, im not the type of being negative here, but i am wondering why we have to scan uncharted systems , and sell the datas ?
in elite dangerous, you can get even to the center of the galaxy in dozens of hours, averagely. while it might be a pretext to gain money, i think
exploration doesnt have much purpose.

in a game where you can travel space very fastly, and that there are vast number of humans skimming space as pilots, it would be quite sure that people knows at least a big bubble of space around the human space.

systems out of the human space are not important; there's nothing here to do.... so people don't really care to have these charted....

i dont like the idea that some players just lose hours of times just scanning systems.

if players are doing, it means the human civilisations must already have done it before much more.

so human civilisations should already knows a great part of the galaxy....

its just another reason to get money in the end

OP, some people, like most explorers if not all, have always like stars, planets, moons and the uniqueness that life beholds on Earth....hence we have spent countless hours learning and reading about orbits, and the latest missions to Mars and Titan, or what the HUbble and newer telescopes in space are revealing to us, or the origin of Universe, and how come the Sun never stops creating so much energy...and all those things that now I'm sure you must find irrelevant and boring, and lacking the "depth" and "trascendence" of Google stock going up or the latest Mustang...

With that being said, the Galaxy that ED has put in the game, has many, many elements based on those things I mention before about space science...and that's why we spent so much time out there exploring..because it brings us this fascination that you seem so annoyed by...

But it will be the time, in that family reunion, or that party at work, or with your kids, where you will be asked about that game you play so much, and you will start talking about your Fer De Lance, and your rare run to Lave, Orrere and George Lucas Station, or the Lugh War...we explorers, on the other hand, will point to the Sun, or to the stars on that night and will tell a tale or story on what we've learned about them thanks to Elite Dangerous, and how that knowledge is shaping how we think about ourselves....

And that's why, I don't care if scanning ETA Carinae, or The Pleiades or the Eagle Nebula bears any credits, or has any impact or not on the fictional Empire....my gains are worth much more than credits and they lie way beyond the boundaries of the game.

EDIT: I noticed you only have been in the forums for 3 days and who knows for how long in the game. I invite you to make an exploration of systems around your location...there are many things you might not know about.

 

[Nexolek]

It's hard to put into words why I love exploring so much. I've been a combat pilot since beta 1. All I did was explode things for 8 months! Trading is not for me. I didn't really even think about exploration either. I kept seeing Barnard's Loop and the other nearby nebula and thinking, I'll go there someday, but there were too many things to explode so I stuck around and kept fighting.

Then one morning shortly after the war for Lugh something in my brain snapped and I had to leave. By the time I got into the game later that day I had already researched outfitting, knew exactly what I wanted for my Asp, and a little while later I was gone. I only came back 22 days later to get a Clipper for 29% off. A few hours later I was gone again. Fast forward to today and I'm thousands of light years away.

Spoiler

It's not about the money. I'm in the neutron field right now, but I'm not farming it. It's neat to have my name all over the galaxy, but it's not that either. It's the feeling of wonder and awe that does it for me. The realization of how small we really are. It's jumping into a system and having my jaw hit the floor. Or discovering a system that's so awesome that I don't want to leave.

I guess what I'm getting at is that for me it's more of a feeling than anything and I'm absolutely hooked. I also don't expect everyone to like it either. To each their own.

Edit: I should also add that I love astronomy. I've been fascinated with everything beyond Earth since I was a kid, so exploring in this game is like a dream come true.