Yay! Finally tried exploring...

Spacecat

Spacecat
...and it's kind of boring. I was sort of hoping there would be more rewards for doing it. Yeah, I know you get paid, but not much. I can make as much in one trip to a HIRES as I made in three evenings of exploring. And flying to each planet and moon and scanning them is for the birds. I would gladly pay more for some kind of super scanner that would scan everything in one shot or in a certain range. Also, I wish I could see on the map which systems have been discovered and which haven't instead of it showing everything as "undiscovered" when it really means "just undiscovered by me". What's the point in scanning and mapping everything if nothing in the UC database ever gets updated? Once a system is mapped, it should show up as mapped, otherwise, how will we ever know what's mapped and what isn't? That said, it is kind of fun in a "funboring" kind of way. I just wish there was a bit more to it, like being able to acquire rare items, or getting a reward for scanning enough items or something.

Also, do I even need weapons? I'm beginning to think class 4A shields and the three class 1 peashooters I'm armed with were a bit unnecessary.
 

Pirin

Pirin
Spacecat said:
...and it's kind of boring. I was sort of hoping there would be more rewards for doing it. Yeah, I know you get paid, but not much. I can make as much in one trip to a HIRES as I made in three evenings of exploring. And flying to each planet and moon and scanning them is for the birds. I would gladly pay more for some kind of super scanner that would scan everything in one shot or in a certain range. Also, I wish I could see on the map which systems have been discovered and which haven't instead of it showing everything as "undiscovered" when it really means "just undiscovered by me". What's the point in scanning and mapping everything if nothing in the UC database ever gets updated? Once a system is mapped, it should show up as mapped, otherwise, how will we ever know what's mapped and what isn't? That said, it is kind of fun in a "funboring" kind of way. I just wish there was a bit more to it, like being able to acquire rare items, or getting a reward for scanning enough items or something.

Also, do I even need weapons? I'm beginning to think class 4A shields and the three class 1 peashooters I'm armed with were a bit unnecessary.
Click to expand...

You need the correct mindset to be an Explorer. If you do it for rewards, money or ranks, probably will be disappointed. Things like labelled explored systems or magical "scan everything" devices can only ruin the exploration. But this is a long story.
Different explorers look for different things while exploring. For me there are two main objectives:
1. Interesting or unusual views, landscapes, systems or objects. You need some experience in order to guess where and how to find these.
2. Record braking systems,stars and planets. Currently the game itself doesnt have any cartographics database (which is a big shame and i hope it will be implemented some day), but there are couple of external websites which are rather good and have well maintained databases.

Some tips:
- you dont need to scan everything in a system. This is exceptionally time consuming and doesnt make much sense. You need a little bit of experience to make the educated guess which object is interesting and worth scanning and which is not.
- there are billions of undiscovered systems in the Galaxy. But some distance away from the Bubble. Close to it most of the systems are already scanned.
- in the current state of the game you dont need any weapons. Some shields are almost mandatory if you plan to land on planets. Only for that.
- dont use A grade components for everything. There are many builds posted on this forum, you can refer to some of them.

Cheers and fly safe!
 

avow555

avow555
They have said being armed will be important in the future so no harm running with weapons.
As to boredom, yeh it is, jump scoop honk and nothing else really to do. Screenies are fun of course but apart from that it's just bragging rights.
 

gooddoc

gooddoc
So you're not into Exploring then!....still at least you gave it a try!

I have gained around 95% of my credit income purely from selling Exploration data.....Why?

Simple, I don't do or like pewpew!!!!

In my autumn years I want to play a game that's sedate, something that I can relax to.....not have my poor ailing heart beating at 180 bpm, as I fight my way out of a battlezone.

The exploration side of the game allows me to play at my own pace, in a relaxing way.

You're right about the credits & systems though....but that's the way that FD have worked since day 1....'If it ain't pewpew, put it at the bottom of the to do list'.

The development of the Exploration side of the game has been massively neglected, as the pewpew side of the game has come on in leaps & bounds. But Iv said many times in previous posts, unfortunately pewpew sells any game & that's where the profits lie.

Iv just been to Beagle Point (currently making my way back) with over 1300 other players doing the trip. That's a minimum of 140k LYs of exploring & Im loving every minute of the trip.
Maybe this trip will convince the FD Devs that the game still has a hard core of dedicated Explorers still playing & it's time they got their fingers out of their 'you know what's' & give us some development.

I personally think that it's this lack of development & poor rewards that put players like yourself off Exploration.

But at the end of the day, you Exploring because you love Exploring & nothing else.
 

Jackie Silver

Jackie Silver
Spacecat said:
Also, do I even need weapons? I'm beginning to think class 4A shields and the three class 1 peashooters I'm armed with were a bit unnecessary.
Click to expand...

Shields are vital for planetary landings. Weapons depends what ship you're flying, where you're going, and how confident you feel in your ability to fight other CMDRs, and whether you're paranoid like me. The vastness of space is excellent protection, though there are some locations (the Pleiades, Sgr A*, the various stations of the Outback) where you're more likely to run into muppets. There haven't been hostile NPCs seen in deep space for a long while - which is not to say they aren't there, but that your chances of finding them and wanting weapons to fend them off are remote; CMDRs like the soi-disant Queen of Sadge are the threat.
 

Cdr Voorheez

Cdr Voorheez
gooddoc said:
So you're not into Exploring then!....still at least you gave it a try!

I have gained around 95% of my credit income purely from selling Exploration data.....Why?

Simple, I don't do or like pewpew!!!!

In my autumn years I want to play a game that's sedate, something that I can relax to.....not have my poor ailing heart beating at 180 bpm, as I fight my way out of a battlezone.

The exploration side of the game allows me to play at my own pace, in a relaxing way.

You're right about the credits & systems though....but that's the way that FD have worked since day 1....'If it ain't pewpew, put it at the bottom of the to do list'.

The development of the Exploration side of the game has been massively neglected, as the pewpew side of the game has come on in leaps & bounds. But Iv said many times in previous posts, unfortunately pewpew sells any game & that's where the profits lie.

Iv just been to Beagle Point (currently making my way back) with over 1300 other players doing the trip. That's a minimum of 140k LYs of exploring & Im loving every minute of the trip.
Maybe this trip will convince the FD Devs that the game still has a hard core of dedicated Explorers still playing & it's time they got their fingers out of their 'you know what's' & give us some development.

I personally think that it's this lack of development & poor rewards that put players like yourself off Exploration.

But at the end of the day, you Exploring because you love Exploring & nothing else.
Click to expand...

^^THAT and repped. Exploring isn't everyone's cup of tea (to original poster). Maybe you should try a Chai Latte instead?
 

newman1702

newman1702
While FDev do indeed focus way more on combat than they do on exploring when it comes to developing game mechanics, I don't think exploration is inherently any more or less boring (or interesting, however you want to look at it) than combat or any other activity in the game. This is due to the fact that because of the lack of any kind of story - apart from the ones we tell ourselves - how interesting a certain activity will greatly depend on player provided context. That context may come in the form of you coming up with a personal RP storyline with a motivation of why you're doing whatever you're doing, or in the form of other players and player groups you can group and wing up with, communicate with and do things with, eventually developing mutual interests and working towards those.

For example, you could be a member of a pirate group and blockade systems, or a member of a group dedicated to helping a specific power by helping them expand into certain systems, or an explorer that's signed up for an expedition with many others, said expedition having specific goals. If not that, I think to like exploration you really need to be into astronomy and you need to find data on certain astronomical bodies intreresting (beyond "is it untagged and can I claim it?).

Without said context, which is entirely player provided, every activity will become boring rather quickly - I don't really see RES bounty hunting any more or less interesting than scanning black holes in the neutron fields; at the end of the day it's the same old activity you keep repeating. The only difference is that due to FDev's focus on combat there's more distractions in that side of the arena, which can keep you interested a bit longer. But without finding your own context of who your commander is, how does he fit into the universe and why he does what he does, you will eventually end up writing one of those "mile wide and an inch deep" steam reviews written by people who simply came in with wrong expectations. It's like dating a brunette for a while and then dumping her because she's not blonde, when she wasn't one to begin with - it's not the game that's shallow in this case, it's the player failing to recognize what he's getting into and making an informed decision with appropriate expectations :)
 

[VR] optimal_909

[VR] optimal_909
gooddoc said:
The development of the Exploration side of the game has been massively neglected, as the pewpew side of the game has come on in leaps & bounds. But Iv said many times in previous posts, unfortunately pewpew sells any game & that's where the profits lie.
Click to expand...


Indeed, as much as selling SUVs allows Porsche to build sports cars for the niche. :)
As much as exploration can be seen as neglected, just a year ago I though it's impossible to make a game like Elite and even if it were possible, there would be no demand. At the end of the day, pew pew happens in the bubble, which is tiny compared to our exploration playfield.
 

gooddoc

gooddoc
Despite all my comments about how the game is developed, I still enjoy playing the game - & all I do is Explore.

My current game clock of 20 days 9 hrs 51 mins says a lot!
 

Cdr Voorheez

Cdr Voorheez
newman1702 said:
It's like dating a brunette for a while and then dumping her because she's not blonde, when she wasn't one to begin with - it's not the game that's shallow in this case, it's the player failing to recognize what he's getting into and making an informed decision with appropriate expectations :)
Click to expand...

^^ Brilliant:) But seriously to OP, give it a go, it is a slow burner and creeps up on you like a Special Forces operative and cuts your bond with the bubble like a Fairbian Sykes knife through an exposed carotid artery.
 
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shreddog

shreddog
The more I explore the more I appreciate this incredible game. Not only are the sights to been seen beautiful, but I get this fascination over what an incredible universe we live in.
I'm currently out towards the Formidine Rift(I think :p ). Taking my time. Just found my first Earth Like yesterday(finally! yey), after weeks of travelling the cold vacuum of space it was a sight to behold.

Here's a short vid when I first arrived at this world. The music I had playing in the background matched perfetly with my arrival :)
[video=youtube_share;m90q_e_SBUk]https://youtu.be/m90q_e_SBUk[/video]

And a second shot before leaving
[video=youtube_share;FnnpIEY7h0I]https://youtu.be/FnnpIEY7h0I[/video]

Now towards the Rift and eventually the galactic rim, passing the Heart and Soul nebulas.
[video=youtube_share;gu7VzCNn-wQ]https://youtu.be/gu7VzCNn-wQ[/video]
 
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dognosh

dognosh
gooddoc said:
So you're not into Exploring then!....still at least you gave it a try!

I have gained around 95% of my credit income purely from selling Exploration data.....Why?

Simple, I don't do or like pewpew!!!!

In my autumn years I want to play a game that's sedate, something that I can relax to.....not have my poor ailing heart beating at 180 bpm, as I fight my way out of a battlezone.

The exploration side of the game allows me to play at my own pace, in a relaxing way.

You're right about the credits & systems though....but that's the way that FD have worked since day 1....'If it ain't pewpew, put it at the bottom of the to do list'.

The development of the Exploration side of the game has been massively neglected, as the pewpew side of the game has come on in leaps & bounds. But Iv said many times in previous posts, unfortunately pewpew sells any game & that's where the profits lie.

Iv just been to Beagle Point (currently making my way back) with over 1300 other players doing the trip. That's a minimum of 140k LYs of exploring & Im loving every minute of the trip.
Maybe this trip will convince the FD Devs that the game still has a hard core of dedicated Explorers still playing & it's time they got their fingers out of their 'you know what's' & give us some development.

I personally think that it's this lack of development & poor rewards that put players like yourself off Exploration.

But at the end of the day, you Exploring because you love Exploring & nothing else.
Click to expand...

so repped, well said :)

OP : Kudos for giving it a go :cool:

General observation : Imho as people get bored with the same old same old in any game they drift away to newer games, as many will do from ED to SC. The only ones staying will be the hardcore players, like us Explorers. FD better start giving us the love within the next 2 years or I forsee many leaving and only leaving behind the super hardcore players(much smaller subset of the hardcore) .

FD is balancing the potential of this game(explorers) with the financial side(pew pew/trade), and I understand that.
I am willing to give ED another 2 years, but if exploration doesn't improve vastly, once FD has seen to the needs of the pew pew/trade brigade , I will leave.
 

[VR] optimal_909

[VR] optimal_909
dognosh said:
so repped, well said :)

OP : Kudos for giving it a go :cool:

General observation : Imho as people get bored with the same old same old in any game they drift away to newer games, as many will do from ED to SC. The only ones staying will be the hardcore players, like us Explorers. FD better start giving us the love within the next 2 years or I forsee many leaving and only leaving behind the super hardcore players(much smaller subset of the hardcore) .

FD is balancing the potential of this game(explorers) with the financial side(pew pew/trade), and I understand that.
I am willing to give ED another 2 years, but if exploration doesn't improve vastly, once FD has seen to the needs of the pew pew/trade brigade , I will leave.
Click to expand...

I think exploring already improved vastly just a couple of months ago with landings, and there are lots of other interesting features on FDs agenda. I understand things move fast in this age, but I feel negativism is a bit overdone.
 

askavir

askavir
dognosh said:
General observation : Imho as people get bored with the same old same old in any game they drift away to newer games, as many will do from ED to SC. The only ones staying will be the hardcore players, like us Explorers. FD better start giving us the love within the next 2 years or I forsee many leaving and only leaving behind the super hardcore players(much smaller subset of the hardcore) .
Click to expand...

Exactly.

More interesting exploration gameplay is a matter of waiting a couple of years.

Right now ED has no competition. That will change. All of those competitors will feature combat, as its the most widespread, common, same old same old, beaten to death kind of gameplay in the world of videogames. Some of the incoming competitors will actually be far more combat-focused than ED, like Infinity Battlescape and Star Citizen.

But the thing is: combat does not retain long-time players. Its the other content than retains players for long. Combat oriented players are always the more likely to switch to another combat-oriented game. And there are many, many pewpew games around. Pewpew makes for the initial impact on sales. But its everything else that really makes a difference on the long run.

And when the competitors launch, the real selling point, the thing ED has than no competitor has, its a real galaxy. Our real galaxy.

Infinity: Battlescape only has a single star system, its a 100% pewpew game. Star Citizen's galaxy is pretty but tiny in comparison to ED's, and also fictional. No Man's Sky is huge, but its a space legoland game, with pink dinosaurs and angry stomping robots in raimbow colored space. Its a scifi fantasy game, not a space sim.

ED's galaxy, a real galaxy, our galaxy, is the game's main long term asset. And its the thing that FD has to take advantage of, as none of its near-future competitors can match it.

So the day will come when the focus moves away from the pewpew and goes back into the space sim part of ED. Space pewpew will no longer be the decisive factor due to overabundace of pewpew alternatives.
 
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dognosh

dognosh
optimal_909 said:
I think exploring already improved vastly just a couple of months ago with landings, and there are lots of other interesting features on FDs agenda. I understand things move fast in this age, but I feel negativism is a bit overdone.
Click to expand...

Negativism would be me quitting everytime I get any of these :
1. system map lock forcing me to shut ED down
2. realising I can't do my own waypoints, such a simple thing, and can be local to my own PC
3. losing my destination everytime I quit ED for the night, again can't be that difficult ?
4. my SRV exploding for no reason at all
5. local instance not working for only 16 players, let alone 30 or more (even when on each other's friend list)
6. mid air docking just above surface of planet
and another dozen problems just in exploration I can't remember...

ED is the best game I have played, doesn't mean I will not criticize when needed. I am giving it a total of 4 years, which is not a bad amount of time :)
 
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