Would you like Exploration to be buffed?

[thewzdoc]

There is however one thing that is definitely NOT wrong with exploration, and that's money.

Yup...I am by no means an explorer yet (may try that if FD allows multiple characters) but I make 10,000CR or so off of a few systems here and there but it's so unrewarding to actively do as a profession (well for me anyway). Not trying to disparage those that like to do this...

 

[TUXER]

actually no I dont think it needs to be buffed.

I am currently still in my sidewinder with 120,000cr in the bank all from exploring. It does help to find a few systems with a ton of planets in it.

 

[wibbleboy]

But secondly, I don't even understand where all the cries for balancing credit income come from. Yes I know, it's psychology 101, but what does it bother me if someone else earns more money than I do as long as I earn enough and have fun doing it? I see no gameplay related reason why different professions should be balanced in payment. That's not the case in real life, and there's no necessity in game either. As long as each chosen career pays for itself why would one need any more money for it? Now as for PvP elements of the game, they should be balanced for the sake of fairness. But credits aren't a PvP element.

I agree. IRL I could take a job that earns a lot more money; but I want a job I enjoy, even if it pays less. There will always be some other commander which makes more money each day, but does it really matter?

 

[yedoin]

I have been playing eve for a long time .. back in the day when exploration or rather "scanning" was really an effort.

However the games just aren't comparable enough. The problem with elite exploration is twofold:
- it is underpaid
- it is undercomplex aka boring

Solution:
- scale payout with distance from known space like with rare comodities
- implement the kind of mechanics actually proposed in the DDF back in the kickstarter phase (aka probing, missjumps etc.)
- make certain kind of USS only findable with scan equip...put somthing in there like..pirate hubs or secret outposts or small stations with one time trading deals or whatever...
- alternate option: put alliens in there

Problem solved. Now obviously this would be quite some work...i suggest start with increasing payout >_<

 

[Vikinger]

Do you scan every point in each system, or focus for the more profitable ones? I've been focusing on clearing out entire systems, but some people prefer to hunt for 'goldilocks' planets so ignore the contacts further out, since Ice bodies aren't worth much. The most I've ever received is a high 48K for a huge system with multiple stars and more than a dozen planets.

I just look for some profitable good looking planets. I rarely scan a system of its all content.
Iam trying to find metal like planets. Waterbased planets and gasgiant with rings.
If iam lucky I find the metal planets to have 100% metal composition and planets that is suitable for terraforming.
Planets can be suitable for terraforming even if they don't look green and have water . Iam more looking for planets that have clouds.
I never bother to scan icy looking planets ( unless they don't have clouds) and I never scan resource sites.

 

[gtch]

There is however one thing that is definitely NOT wrong with exploration, and that's money.
[...]
But secondly, I don't even understand where all the cries for balancing credit income come from. Yes I know, it's psychology 101, but what does it bother me if someone else earns more money than I do as long as I earn enough and have fun doing it? I see no gameplay related reason why different professions should be balanced in payment.

I agree with this sentiment, but I'd go further and say that making exploration too profitable would actually be a bad thing.

I enjoy exploration as it is now, because I find wandering the universe and discovering new things innately enjoyable. It is slow, but I value that slow pace as a relaxing way to unwind after a busy day. I don't need every moment to be busy (in fact I value being able to read a book while travelling long distances) but I do think there needs to be more depth in the gameplay — more things to discover, more options when something interesting is found (if I discovered an Earth-like planet, I'd want to know a lot more about it...)

What would ruin exploration for me is if everything nearby is already explored. That's presumably what would happen if exploration gets boosted too much and it gets more profitable than other options: the minmaxers out there would write forum posts explaining how to make megaprofits from exploration, and lots of people who wouldn't otherwise enjoy exploration go do it because it makes them more credits. That's a bad outcome for those players, because I think they're missing the point of exploration if they're only in it for the money; and it's a bad outcome for me because I'd have to go further and further out to find anything left to explore.