Why is there "Unexplored" when populated by Outposts/Starports?

[Ozmos]

This has been bugging me for a long time.

Why, when there is an outpost or a Starport, is there anything left that is "Unexplored". That sh*t would be charted by the time any spaceport had a chance to be built.

Certainly they would have decided to explore the rest of the system to discover anything else that might be there worth building an outpost near. At least to the extents of the Advanced Discovery Scanner.

It gives players something more to scan, I guess, but I don't feel like there is a shortage of non-populated systems to scan.

 

[Brachra]

To add to this, Why..in a system thats clearly full of players. and tons of players flying around my current location, is there "Unexplored" Is everything Unexplored until each person explores it for himself?

 

[Gorodd]

+1 its a small immersion breaker...

 

[Obsidian Ant]

This has been bugging me for a long time.

Why, when there is an outpost or a Starport, is there anything left that is "Unexplored". That sh*t would be charted by the time any spaceport had a chance to be built.

Certainly they would have decided to explore the rest of the system to discover anything else that might be there worth building an outpost near. At least to the extents of the Advanced Discovery Scanner.

It gives players something more to scan, I guess, but I don't feel like there is a shortage of non-populated systems to scan.

It is unexplored to you and your ships computer. Not unexplored to the outpost.

It's like your satnav not having roadmaps for certain countries / towns.

 

[prophet1]

Just think of this as your ship's nav computer coming with system maps for a set of core systems (those that are pre-explored for everyone), and missing the latest navigational updates from the stellar cartographics (which you can fill in by yourself through exploration or purchase from the galaxy map).

 

[Ozmos]

Just think of this as your ship's nav computer coming with system maps for a set of core systems (those that are pre-explored for everyone), and missing the latest navigational updates from the stellar cartographics (which you can fill in by yourself through exploration or purchase from the galaxy map).

Ya this was the first thing that I was thinking of, and for awhile I explained it away with that. But then I just saw it in a Federation system. Then I had the thought, that the major allegiances would probably care if their cartographics were up to date.

It just seems like, at the very least, this information would not be useful/valuable if I tried to sell it at a different Federation system. But I'm pretty sure I can sell it for normal prices to the same allegiance.

 

[Fen Harel]

I've taken this to mean that the local NPCs have just not gotten around to doing a detailed mapping of the system. Or maybe they have and just have been trying to keep the details a secret. Either way, scanning those systems are good for a modest amount of credits.

 

[ste]

I think if its unexplored the outposts should be hidden as well as the planets.

It seems to be your own personal collection of data, stuff your own computer knows, not somebody else. You increase your knowledge by exploring or buying data. And each individual does the same.

 

[prophet1]

Ya this was the first thing that I was thinking of, and for awhile I explained it away with that. But then I just saw it in a Federation system. Then I had the thought, that the major allegiances would probably care if their cartographics were up to date.

It just seems like, at the very least, this information would not be useful/valuable if I tried to sell it at a different Federation system. But I'm pretty sure I can sell it for normal prices to the same allegiance.

Perhaps it's not Federation buying off your data then (Stellar Cartographics may just serve as an in-between interface to put you in contact with the buyer), but some independent corporation looking for prospective extraction sites in the more recently and not fully explored systems.

The gameplay problem with removing an opportunity to scan those systems would be with new players who wish to explore - they have little else to train their skills on. Because exploring any non-inhabited systems in the bubble of colonized space is basically looking for an answer to a question - "Why is this place still empty?". You always find same answer why (they have nothing of value), and the payout is appropriately small.

 

[Quineloe]

There are various reasons as to why this is the case, and they're all perfectly plausible

1. the information is not public knowledge. Unexplored means you don't have the data, not that this astronomical body was never explored before. That's why you can D-Scan it and sell that data.
2. The system may have been explored with outdated equipment. Modern discovery scanners will reveal new information that is currently not yet known.

 

[EMarkM]

I've taken this to mean that the local NPCs have just not gotten around to doing a detailed mapping of the system. Or maybe they have and just have been trying to keep the details a secret. Either way, scanning those systems are good for a modest amount of credits.

Yep - the system is new to you and your navigation log, and the data is saleable because systems further than 20LY away would like a new update.

That's how I roleplay it, having thought about it in some depth when first playing, along the lines of what the OP wrote.

 

[N-Zed]

I think if its unexplored the outposts should be hidden as well as the planets.

It seems to be your own personal collection of data, stuff your own computer knows, not somebody else. You increase your knowledge by exploring or buying data. And each individual does the same.

I kind of feel the same way about this. I have NO idea if it would have been good overall or not but when I started playing and opened the galaxy map and BOOM everything was there - my jaw hit the ground. Then I zoomed in and saw the individual star systems and something dented in my brain. I started to think, wait - so it's already explored if it's cleared marked on my map here. My player character, his computer NAV and the global community all know of these systems existing... Fair enough no problem.

Wait... what if all that was on my map was the one dot that represented my star system I was spawned into? What would THAT imply? Whoa... oh holy crap... I'd have to find it all myself... suddenly that felt way more interesting to me. Of course it could wind up being a total clusterf- but man... wouldn't that be something? To have to literally chart your own way around and see your progression dotted and visually drawn by your ever growing map?

I dunno but is SOUNDS neat.

 

[ste]

I kind of feel the same way about this. I have NO idea if it would have been good overall or not but when I started playing and opened the galaxy map and BOOM everything was there - my jaw hit the ground. Then I zoomed in and saw the individual star systems and something dented in my brain. I started to think, wait - so it's already explored if it's cleared marked on my map here. My player character, his computer NAV and the global community all know of these systems existing... Fair enough no problem.

Wait... what if all that was on my map was the one dot that represented my star system I was spawned into? What would THAT imply? Whoa... oh holy crap... I'd have to find it all myself... suddenly that felt way more interesting to me. Of course it could wind up being a total clusterf- but man... wouldn't that be something? To have to literally chart your own way around and see your progression dotted and visually drawn by your ever growing map?

I dunno but is SOUNDS neat.

I like to chart as much as I can. It helps having knowledge of the area. I even buy it sometimes too.

 

[WalterHWhite]

Perplexing at first. There is some kind of 'cooldown' of players discovering things that then gets flipped to undiscovered, I think.

There's people I've known for years but what they're up to lately is undiscovered Some people have discovered either of us in the meantime. From the anti-immersion-breaking pov, it makes sense that not everyone would be immediately aware of new information.

You do get paid less for cartographics that've been turned in before.