Would You Explore More if Return Was Easier?
- Thread starter Schmack
- Start date
Would I explore more... if returning was easier... than exploring? [weird]
Pretty sure that would mean I would technically be exploring less.
But what do I know? I only go exploring in a fully combat loaded Vulture all over the galaxy. [haha]
Greetings, Commanders and fellow explorers.
Commander WR3ND reporting in to register my ship, The Ronin, a combat capable Vulture exploration build.
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Background:
Soon after my return from my two month long roundabout expedition to the galactic polar extremities through Sgr A in a Diamondback Scout (documented here), I set about constructing The Ronin from the plans I had pieced together and mulled over for a new ship while on my return to colonized space.
The Alioth Independents faction was more than willing to grant me access to the Alioth system and temporary exclusive use of some of their shipyard and outfitting facilities at Irkutsk (never mind the pronunciation) in exchange for a portion of the cartographic data from my expedition. This way I was able to personally oversee the outfitting and testing of the ship without the distractions, inconveniences, and security risks involved in sourcing components elsewhere.
Special thanks to the Irkutsk facility management and crew for securing all of the necessary components.
Service Role & Capabilities:
The Ronin is a highly specialized, combat capable exploration ship designed to withstand, deter, and neutralize hostile threats when necessary, while still providing all the essential exploration functionality, though with the trade-off of having a fairly underwhelming jump range potential. It can also serve to function as a highly mobile and cost effective space superiority fighter, though it isn't ideal for bounty hunting as it does not contain all the recommended components for that.
In short, this relatively small ship is the "vigilante" of exploration ships, designed to roll with the punches and dish out justice between bouts of exploration to secure valuable cartographic data.
Original Loadout:
https://coriolis.io/outfit/vulture/...f22f2i.AwRj4zyA.CwBjYRhAmW4gzOIA?bn=The Ronin
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Current Standard Loadout:
https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/vul...AA=.EweloBhAOEoUwIYHMA28QgIwV0A=&bn=The Ronin
Service Accomplishments:
An ongoing mission tophoto bombcatalog semi-local nebulae and secure their corresponding cartographic data.
Excluding file formatting and compression, all nebula images are unmodified and natively rendered with a resolution of "8K" (7680×4320). They are taken roughly in line between Sol and the nebulae with their vertical center planes perpendicular to the galactic plane.
Veil Nebula West
Veil Nebula East
Sadr Region
Pelican Nebula
North America Nebula
Elephant's Trunk Nebula
Cave Nebula
LBN 623
Pleiades Nebula
Hind Nebula (system interior view)
California Nebula
Eskimo Nebula (system interior view)
Iris Nebula
Pencil Nebula
R CrA Nebula
IC 4604 Nebula
Dumbbell Nebula
Thor's Helmet
Seagull Nebula
Rosette Nebula
Jellyfish Nebula
Monkey Head Nebula
Crab Nebula
Witch Head Nebula
Barnard's Loop
Skull and Crossbones Nebula
To be continued...
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99th ship registered in the Crab Nebula Expedition of 3302. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=241638
Waypoint 0 (launch site) – Mitterand Hollow (coordinates 56.20, 121.77)
Waypoint 1 – Merope 5 C (coordinates -26.34, -156.40)
Waypoing 2 – Betelgeuse 2 (coordinates 69.68, 72.91)
Waypoint 3 – Trapezium Sector DQ-X C1-9 12 A (coordinates 14.0 , 143.6)
Waypoint 4 (cancelled) – 2Mass J06410581+0952478 1 A (coordinates 42.0, 174.1)
"Winter is coming," presumably.
Waypoint 5 – ALS 299 6 D (coordinates -35.54, 161.37)
Waypoint 6 – Seagull Sector MX-U C2-3 9 A (coordinates 0.35, 133.74)
Waypoint 7 – Rosette Sector HW-W C1-3 A 2 C (coordinates 45.66, 174.21)
Waypoint 8 – Jellyfish Sector DL-Y D50 7 B (coordinates 73.67, 26.25)
CNE Photo Competition submission, featuring the Jellyfish Nebula, the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Rosette Nebula, the galactic plane, and of course my ship, The Ronin – "Celestial Dreams" – non-edited category.
Waypoint 9 – Monkey Head Sector KC-V C2-3 1 (coordinates -18.00, 47.06)
Waypoint 10 – Crab Sector IH-V C2-3 A 11 A (coordinates -28.99, -36.00)
CNE fleet before jumping to the Crab Pulsar
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Successfully found a route through the Crab Nebula Labyrinth and discovered definitively that a minimum jump range of 23.88LY is required to reach the Crab Nebula and Pulsar. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/271103-Navigating-the-Crab-Nebula-Labyrinth
Heading toward the Crab Nebula
Minimum jump range required (as pictured heading back out)
I use a tier 5 FSD range mod on all of my ships for the sake of efficiency.
Jump range is actually largely irrelevant to basic exploration where systems per time is how efficiency in basic exploration is measured. Fuel scooping, for example, is generally much more important.
Players that race off somewhere are essentially either racers (obviously), sight seers, truckers, or long distant jumpers (Distant Stars). As mentioned, this has little bearing on actual basic exploration. However, I suppose the exception to this would now be passenger missions which effect exploration rank.
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Human colonized space and previously tagged systems are insignificantly small in comparison to the total vastness of the galaxy and the number of systems within it.
The main problem I have with jump range power creep is that it shrinks the effective size of the galaxy down and serves to trivialize its vastness and scale, not so much its effect on exploration specifically. If something is too far away for convenience, players get the option of making meaningful decisions in the game and an added sense of agency and accomplishment in overcoming a perceived inconvenience or challenge, and if it isn't worth it to them, they don't have to do it.
Gratuitous 16K Glory Shot...
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I found my return the most exciting part. So, nope. 
And so says the real aliens too. Earth is way more interesting to explore (and/or create and play with).
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Ooops. I didn't realise this was a necrothread. Note to self: pay attention to dates more often.
Why? Surely it is better to resurrect a thread if you want to discuss the same subject, rather than create a new one and find that all the same things are repeated ad nauseam? Though of course, this subject has spawned millions of threads already.
And of course, instant travel (which is what was requested in the OP to get back from exploring) is an awful idea.
Since I explore in a circle, the journey is the return.
My next trip will be a circumnavigation, so the return is just as easy as the rest of the trip.
The return from other more typical trips have no bearing on the trip itself.
The return from other more typical trips have no bearing on the trip itself.
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I have a suggestion for instant return after a 1000 LY exploration mission: (and its not even an exploit)
The trick is - doing the math the right way.
If you plan to go on a 1000 LY exploration mission, and think the 1000LY way back home is too cumbersome for a "dedicated" explorer like you... your solution would be:
Plan your mission for 500 LYs.. then turn around after going for 500 LY (or do a circle) and fly the remainder of the 500 LY back home.
With this type of route planning your exploration mileage is actually 1000LY and when youre done with your last jump after covering 1000 LY, the next jump will directly put you back in an inhabited system.
Problem solved.
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Ooops. I didn't realise this was a necrothread. Note to self: pay attention to dates more often.
The cat is out of the bag now.
But a necro thread can be just as useful as a new one.
Got to agree; No, no, no. Though, in a slight defense of the OP, I feel ya.
I now avoid that by turning around and heading back at the slightest hint of "Exploration grindiness" during the trip.
That way by the time I am really sick and tired of it the barn is in sight.
EDIT: Ooops. Just read the date on the OP. Wonder if he ever made it back?
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No no no. There is zero exploration accomplishment unless you succeed be returning from whence you came.
CMIV
CMIV
I explore because I want to, not because it's a way to make money. Well, the money is nice, but it's more of "I want to see what's out there" than the money.
The thing is, it's not about the end result (ie, hand in data, get paid). It's more about the journey itself. You could come across a planet with pretty rings, or see twin suns each with a ring around it. It's uncommon, and it's an amazing sight. So you take pics, and you show other explorers, and we all admire it together with you.
The ONLY times I had ever wished I could return faster, intact, are for long, grueling Buckyball races. The first time I made it to Sag A* I wished for a quick return that didn't involve blowing myself up But later on I learnt to appreciate that the journey back is a much a discovery as the journey there.
The thing is, it's not about the end result (ie, hand in data, get paid). It's more about the journey itself. You could come across a planet with pretty rings, or see twin suns each with a ring around it. It's uncommon, and it's an amazing sight. So you take pics, and you show other explorers, and we all admire it together with you.
The ONLY times I had ever wished I could return faster, intact, are for long, grueling Buckyball races. The first time I made it to Sag A* I wished for a quick return that didn't involve blowing myself up
But later on I learnt to appreciate that the journey back is a much a discovery as the journey there.
Ninja'd
The return does not need to be just a fast-tracking jump fest. Instead of heading out on a straight line and then returning the same way, return through a different route, and make the return part of the exploration expedition.
Also, bringing the data safely home to claim it is part of the exploration gameplay. Heck, currently its pretty much the only exploration gameplay.
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With jumping we're not talking about FTL travel. You're ripping a hole (2 holes?) in the fabric of reality and connecting two disperate points in space by traveling through an alternate dimesion aka Witchspace. The fuel consumption is needed to generate the energy to open up these rifts.
It's not out of the question to imagine that we might get some more versatile or longer-range jump technology at some point, given that we're almost certainly going to be grinding out a new tier of engineer upgrades once the Thargoid updates start rolling in, but for your particular problem, I'd rather see an alternate solution.
What if we ripped a page out of No Man's Sky and introduced player-owned massive freighter-type ships? In NMS, it's essentially a non-pilotable mobile base that you can summon to a particular location, where you can dock your ship for refuel, repairs, etc. We already have the dockable megaships; there could be some variant of this idea made available for players to own. What if, as an owner of a Freighter, you could always see it's location on the galaxy map, and using that interface you could target a particular star system and instruct it to travel there? It would take X amount of real time to get there, so you couldn't just summon it on a whim, but if you were already on an exploration trip towards a particular destination, you could tell it to start heading to that same destination, and it would be waiting for you when you arrived. Once docked at the Freighter, you'd have access to basic repairs, you could swap out modules, sell (or maybe just store) your exploration data, refuel, etc. I think this would be more fun than 500ly jumps, and it would help keep the sense of scale in the galaxy.
I kinda get the question posed (in the thread title anyway), but anything to shorten the return trip would likely be in conflict with everything else related to travel and would not make any sense, that I can think of amyway.
I love exploring, and I like the jump ranges. I love going out further and further, and I love exploring landable bodies. I don't love that moment where I have a sudden urge to participate in a CG or just get back to civilization, and realize that I am somehow 25,000 LY away, and that just fast tracking it will take me over a week to get back!
The "fix" is that I need to always think about the return time the further I travel and plan accordingly, not for a fix from FD, in my opinion.
I love exploring, and I like the jump ranges. I love going out further and further, and I love exploring landable bodies. I don't love that moment where I have a sudden urge to participate in a CG or just get back to civilization, and realize that I am somehow 25,000 LY away, and that just fast tracking it will take me over a week to get back!
The "fix" is that I need to always think about the return time the further I travel and plan accordingly, not for a fix from FD, in my opinion.
Nope. I return to exploration periodically and the jump range and time to return is just fine. 1k LY is nothin, my last trip was around 110k I believe, took about a month and came home 2.1 billion richer after passengers and LYR 5.
If you want to skip exploration and return faster, there is a way: set the map to boosted calculation and ride a neutron highway home.
If you want to skip exploration and return faster, there is a way: set the map to boosted calculation and ride a neutron highway home.
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Even if there were things out there, with the current discovery mechanics (spotting things with your eyeballs after accidentally stumbling into them) you'll never find them anyway.