Would You Explore More if Return Was Easier?

[Schmack]

Like the thread title says, if you could return to your system with stations and outposts easier, faster and such, would you be more inclined to set off on a 1000 Lightyear plus mission of exploration? What stops me from going that far is the fact that I have to turn around and come back. I would like to have a Lightyear jump in excess of 500 light years to get back. I would probably only jump a few light years on the way out so I can explore all of the systems.

I am wondering if that will ever happen. I don't understand the need to restrict jump range except for trading purposes. I would like to have a ship that will jump a long distance it would be fine if it does not carry cargo.

I realize some of you prefer the realism of the return trip. Some of you go out there for months. I would not mind being out a few weeks in fact as long as I was doing something new. I don't want to get stuck doing repetitive things just to get back.

I also understand the problem of fuel consumption. I disagree with it however just because the concept of faster than light travel requires about the same amount of fuel to get to speed regardless how far you go. That's why we can send satellites out of our solar system. Once you get up to speed the fuel should be used to stop you if anything.

So what say you? Longer Lightyear jumps with no cargo hold or is 35 light years enough? This isn't just another thread wanting more and more or having the ability to get to the end of the game faster. I don't want to make the Galaxy smaller, but realistically the large majority of it will never be visited by anyone.

 

[Nick Sticks]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, no.
.
The journey, tough, boring or otherwise makes exploring what it is.
.
My small month long exploration journey (in a T6) was made all the more exciting for me making sure my ship held together on the way back.
.

 

[Arindor]

Nope. Exploring, for me, is a means to relax. I certainly don't do it for the CR, but the reward is nice when I decide to return to civilization.

 

[h347h]

Its all about how you explore I guess. I just take short day trips to grind up my explorer rank. 400 or 500 light years out and explore in clusters. I come back afterwards, its usually 11 or 12 jumps back in my exploring anaconda. If I want to see something(im waiting for the HD version of Rift for this for the most part) I go straight to it and sight see while honking along the way there and back. Usually at my highest jump range. Its all about keeping a solid gameplay balance. If you get exploration burn out stay closer to human space, if not and exploring is your favorite thing to do go on those longer trips.

 

[Bran Tse Mallory]

On the way out you will find new systems... This means your exploring!
On the way back you will find new systems... This means your exploring!

 

[stocko1111]

Nope. You have to just take into account that the return journey is part of the whole exploration trip. You can easily explore closer to home within 1000ly and then get back within no time if you've had enough. The best thing to do when exploring long distances is to do it in a loop so you're always going somewhere new.

 

[Strychnine]

Right now I'm 5000+LY from Sol and gaining. For me it's not about how quickly I return, heck, I'm still going, it's about the journey itself.



It's all about going there and back again.

 

[stocko1111]

On the way out you will find new systems... This means your exploring!
On the way back you will find new systems... This means your exploring!

Yup. This ^

 

[Sapient6]

I would explore LESS with a change like that.

​Edit: which means I would play less. Probably quit? There's not much else in this game for me and Frontier shows no interest in adding to it.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Like the thread title says, if you could return to your system with stations and outposts easier, faster and such, would you be more inclined to set off on a 1000 Lightyear plus mission of exploration? What stops me from going that far is the fact that I have to turn around and come back. I would like to have a Lightyear jump in excess of 500 light years to get back. I would probably only jump a few light years on the way out so I can explore all of the systems.

I am wondering if that will ever happen. I don't understand the need to restrict jump range except for trading purposes. I would like to have a ship that will jump a long distance it would be fine if it does not carry cargo.

I realize some of you prefer the realism of the return trip. Some of you go out there for months. I would not mind being out a few weeks in fact as long as I was doing something new. I don't want to get stuck doing repetitive things just to get back.

I also understand the problem of fuel consumption. I disagree with it however just because the concept of faster than light travel requires about the same amount of fuel to get to speed regardless how far you go. That's why we can send satellites out of our solar system. Once you get up to speed the fuel should be used to stop you if anything.

So what say you? Longer Lightyear jumps with no cargo hold or is 35 light years enough? This isn't just another thread wanting more and more or having the ability to get to the end of the game faster. I don't want to make the Galaxy smaller, but realistically the large majority of it will never be visited by anyone.

Nope, the main issue I have with exploring (apart from the slow scanning speed and slow accel and deccel) is the selling of data/loss of all data when destroyed. It's primarily that risk that stops me exploring more and further. I'm not a total credit hoe but it ultimately is how I'm measuring my progress in the game!

 

[EdzUp]

Exploration is about right but I would make the returns on it distance specific not 'how interested they are in x planet'

 

[Leper Messiah]

Exploration is about right but I would make the returns on it distance specific not 'how interested they are in x planet'

yeah a multiplyer for distance from Sol?

 

[Surly_Badger]

Would you play the game at all if there was absolutely no danger from anything except your fellow sociopathic gamers, if you could click and AFK to make all the "credits" you wanted, and nothing took any effort?

 

[EdzUp]

yeah a multiplyer for distance from Sol?

Yeah after all getting to the rim and scanning a system should be rewarded rather than getting all the way out there and coming back to be offered 20k, I went 1000ly out and was offered the same creds for a system that was 20ly away.

 

[Tarman]

Exploration is about right but I would make the returns on it distance specific not 'how interested they are in x planet'

Distance from where, exactly? Noobhomes of various flavours? Sol? Achenar? That's a very specious metric to use for data value. What if you went really really far and scanned just the iceballs and airless moons, compared to someone who can find the hidden ELWs that aren't even 100Ly from the frontier?

 

[Surly_Badger]

Yeah after all getting to the rim and scanning a system should be rewarded rather than getting all the way out there and coming back to be offered 20k, I went 1000ly out and was offered the same creds for a system that was 20ly away.

There is a very worthwhile and important point hidden in the game-play, which may take a while to sink in: the systems 20ly away are not any different from the systems 100ly away. The vastness of space has absolutely no point at all. And that's the point.

More realistic game-play would be that we'd be compensated more highly for finding valuable stuff that was within range to practically exploit. If you found a planetoid of solid platinum 20,000ly away, it'd be worth less because of the travel-time to exploit it than a more or less average metallic ring 20ly away. An earth-like world within practical distance to terraform ought to be worth billions, whereas an earth-like world 20,000ly away is hardly worth a nod or a pat on the back. "Yeah, there's a zillion of them out there."

There is absolutely zero value to anyone (other than the curious boffins at universal cartographics) to know there's a black hole somewhere on the other side of the galaxy. Yeah, so what? We can tell by virtue of basic statistics that there are going to be. One explorer goes out there and confirms that the basic statistics are done and then what? It's not like someone's going to go 60,000ly to look at a black hole that is exactly the same as every other black hole about the same size.

 

[EdzUp]

Distance from where, exactly? Noobhomes of various flavours? Sol? Achenar? That's a very specious metric to use for data value. What if you went really really far and scanned just the iceballs and airless moons, compared to someone who can find the hidden ELWs that aren't even 100Ly from the frontier?

Distance from the planet your trying to sell it too

 

[Schmack]

Would you play the game at all if there was absolutely no danger from anything except your fellow sociopathic gamers, if you could click and AFK to make all the "credits" you wanted, and nothing took any effort?

Well that's a stawman. I'll let you figure that one out.

For people who prefer to explore, they will see nothing wrong with spending months jumping from system to system to scan planets. But let's say you found something you wanted to get back to, it would take you the same amount of time to get back there again and you already been that route. Why would you ever go back?

Having the ability to jump that range doesn't mean you must. You can still explore every single system you encounter. I just don't see why anyone would explore something no one is interested in seeing. That could be just a side note if you could get there or get back quicker. How many of you explorers never see the planets in the systems that you visit? How many of you turn do your advanced scan and jump again?

 

[Tarman]

There is a very worthwhile and important point hidden in the game-play, which may take a while to sink in: the systems 20ly away are not any different from the systems 100ly away. The vastness of space has absolutely no point at all. And that's the point.

More realistic game-play would be that we'd be compensated more highly for finding valuable stuff that was within range to practically exploit. If you found a planetoid of solid platinum 20,000ly away, it'd be worth less because of the travel-time to exploit it than a more or less average metallic ring 20ly away. An earth-like world within practical distance to terraform ought to be worth billions, whereas an earth-like world 20,000ly away is hardly worth a nod or a pat on the back. "Yeah, there's a zillion of them out there."

There is absolutely zero value to anyone (other than the curious boffins at universal cartographics) to know there's a black hole somewhere on the other side of the galaxy. Yeah, so what? We can tell by virtue of basic statistics that there are going to be. One explorer goes out there and confirms that the basic statistics are done and then what? It's not like someone's going to go 60,000ly to look at a black hole that is exactly the same as every other black hole about the same size.

Pretty much this. Just because someone went really really far to get something doesn't mean they returned with anything of value based solely on the distance they traveled.

 

[KING5TON]

I'd explore more if there was anything to actually explore out there.
I'm not the type of person to be interested in different coloured balls.
I'm not entertained by pointing my ship at undiscovered balls and holding down a button to scan it.

Exploration as with many things in the game needs taking back to the drawing board, figuring out what makes interesting gameplay when exploring (scanning balls by holding down a button is NOT interesting BTW) and implementing it.

Again if you look at the DDF it had numerous gameplay elements (such as misjumps, repairs etc..) that would make it much much more interesting. Most are on the cutting room floor and unfortunately probably will never make it into the game as FD seems to have coded themselves into a corner.

I think the most important thing is that FD seed a bung load of stuff to find out there that isn't different coloured balls. Not so much that every system has something cool but not so rare that chances are no one will ever find them ever. There were a million and one suggestions made in these forums since Kickstarter, FD start using them!