Ayn Explorers Addayn Sapet per Frontier

An Explorers Open Letter to Frontier

Histarium · 2017-01-25T23:29:15+00:00

Below is an Open Letter to Frontier Developments: Hello Frontier! First of all I would like to express my sincere gratitude, appreciation, and love for your company as well as Elite: Dangerous. I am a huge Sci-Fi Buff and this game is by far my favorite. Although, as I will go into detail below, it is very much a love hate relationship. Though, First let me formerly introduce myself. I am Histarium, a hobbyist not-famous Youtuber, a gamer, a Photographer, and most importantly to this letter, an Explorer. Iv had the pleasure of naming The Peng Nebula on EDSM, which is visible from Jaques Station. Ever since I first starting exploring in Elite: Dangerous it captivated me, the idea that the galaxy seemed almost impossibly large. How can one person ever hope to say they've "seen it all"? Although, Exploring, the more I did the more I realized it was the least rewarding content wise. Sure, I could make up my own rewards, For instance, finally making it to Colonia, not once but twice, probably takes the cake in "Feeling" Accomplished. Or my personal favorite is looking out into the skybox while floating through the bubble and saying "Yeah, Iv been there!" Not only is it rewarding but several of the tools utilized by explorers are a far cry from perfect. In fact, I feel as though Discovery Scanners were added simply just to allow Explorers at least some tools. Advanced Discovery Scanners being one of the weirdest modules Iv ever seen in a game of this nature. Surely, others have mentioned these two very obvious things, lack of physical in game reward, and lack of or weird use of tools. Being that most of the recent Community Goals revolve around Exploring, it almost feels as if You, Frontier Developments, are abandoning us, the Explorers. Lets first go into Rewards in more depth. Currently, the only two things that you get from Exploring is abysmal credits for the most time consuming and arguably boring thing to do in the game, and the ability to attach your name onto newly discovered celestial bodies. What takes possibly hours if not days to gain in credits, takes a mere 30 minutes for a Bounty Hunter to gain provided they have at least one good friend and a Compromised Navigation Beacon. Navigation Beacons being essentially a never ending PVE grind for credits as is, but perhaps I'll talk about this in another letter. 1,000,000 credits in 30-45 minutes or hours aimlessly wandering the stars and hoping what you find is something worth more than a Barren Planet or Brown Dwarf. If your lucky, you may find an Earth Like World, or an Ammonia Based world, which are worth a lot but still not very much. Scan the Star, sound your Techno Horn, and move on. Scanning any celestial bodies that might be worth the credits to actually visit. This is currently the only content we have as Explorers. Sure, theres Ancient Alien Ruins, Barnacles, Getting Interdicted by Thargoids, or finding a very rare Unknown Artefact or Probe. However, I do believe this could be so much more in depth, harder, and ultimately more fun and rewarding for the player if done differently. So, perhaps at this point, you may wonder exactly what I would change, if I dislike the current state of actual in game mechanics. As Iv played and spent many hours exploring, I begun to think this question over very intently. First, I would change how Advanced Discovery Scanners and Detailed Surface Scanners work. In the case of first starting out as a new player, Only able to afford smaller ships, I would change the Modules from being Optional Modules to Utility Slots, As thats exactly what these modules are. Utility Devices that allow you to see whats out in the blackness of space. Lets first start with Discovery Scanners. Now that it takes up a Utility Slot, this frees up my Optional Slots for things like AFMU's Cargo Holds, or perhaps a Drone Bay(I'll get to my idea for Drones in a bit). Let us then also change how the function, Splitting them into two new Modules for players to purchase. First is a Directional Scanner, These would scan at the direction your ship is facing, Allowing a much further sensor range than your standard sensors. It would pop up things such as Celestial Bodies, Asteroid Fields, or Unknown Signal Sources which could lead to a Wake Emission once scanned further. Now, we already have something similar to a Directional Scanner, The Detailed Surface Scanners, where you must point and be close enough to scan a celestial body. Also, the idea that you need to target and aim at a ship to see details about it. However, I would like to implement an activated scanner that requires no targeting and brings up "unknown" signals that you then need to investigate or not investigate. Think of it as a Wave Scanner for your ship, minus having to actively search for something based on sounds, the on-board computer of your ship can do that for you. Secondly, I would add a new type of Limpet or Drone Launcher, this of course being placed in your optional modules slot. An Explorer Limpet Drone Launcher could send out small probes packed with X-ray/Gamma Ray, Radio Telescopes, and other sensors, to then give the player a tad more data on an Unknown Signal or Unknown Planetary Body, that would help them to determine to either move on or get closer for a Detail Surface Scan. Simple point your ship at the object, fire the launcher, and wait as a probe zooms towards its destination. Yes, Im suggesting that the player drop from Supercruise for additional surveying of a Solar System. Lastly, All I would do to Detailed Surface Scanners is make them a Utility Slot as well. Now that we have atleast somewhat more content or challenge to Exploring and Discovering than simply honking your horn at a star, lets look at rewards. Perhaps a missed opportunity by you, Frontier Developments, was the idea that selling your data to Universal Cartographics actually made a difference. Maybe a miner just wants to mine and doesnt want to have to explore worlds to find those ever sought after Pristine Metallic Rings. Maybe, once enough players contributed to selling data from a particular region, this would then unlock that data for everyone to see, giving credit to all who made that data available to the public. Even just the ability to buy maps, Seems mostly neglected as I cannot directly buy data from Universal Cartographics that another player has sold to them, that would inturn allow me some insight before going to that system. In fact, the only current way to "see" another system from your current location, if its not inhabited, is to go there. Which seems odd to me considering the year is 3303 AD and in 2017 Scientists are able to study stars from much greater distances than a few light seconds. That these stars would magically just be "unknown" and absolutely no data available on them, even ones in the bubble, is a bit curious to say the least. Lets move on though, because I still do not completely agree with how one could make Exploring more Rewarding other than just giving the player more cash for their data. Now, perhaps you already have plans to implement more, but an Explorer Based SRV with more than just the Wave Scanner for discovering things seems like something we needed at launch, and not something that was an after thought. Not only SRVs but Ships. There currently is not very many ships which are suited for the high demands of an Explorer. Long Jump Range, Good Fuel Economy, Enough slots to equip a few things, and more if we implement the above aforementioned devices. There is not exactly any mid level Explorer. In order if you wished to be purely an Explorer it would go Sidewinder > Cobra > Diamondback Explorer > ASP Explorer > Andaconda/ Imperial Clipper. Im giving the Sidewinder and Cobra the benefit of the doubt as you could use them for Exploring, though they wouldnt be ideal. The price hike, and lack of money being made between the Diamondback Explorer, ASP Explorer, to an Andaconda, or as Explorers sometimes refere to it as, the JumpConda, its a bit frustrating. Going from buying a 1 to 4 million credit ship, to needing over 145 million credits for a ship that has way more internal slots than you'll use for Exploring. I basically Gut ships to optimize their jump range anyways, either selling and never replacing, or selling for a downgrade version. Not to mention that its almost entirely useless to have the best Power Supply needed or the highest tier Life Support. Its a very skewed, and weirdly neglected side of Exploring. Fly the Diamondback and have some limitations, Fly the ASP Explorer and stop, never spending another dime on any Explorer modules, except to Engineer your FSD, or spend the credits on an Andaconda that your only buying for that FSD and Jump Range. Now then, we have all of that out of the way, lets talk about Risk. Because what little reward we do have, comes with no additional Risk other than pilot errors. I propose the addition of certain, younger stars, having solar flares that heat up your ship faster but give you a higher than maximum fuel scooping speed. Black Holes that you cannot escape its gravitational Pull if you get to close while in Normal Space. FSD Drives that Malfunction after you jump, sending you to a nearby star instead of the intended destination or drop you much closer to a star than whats safe, thus requiring the need to either play it safe, or carry more than one AFMU. Unknown Anamolies that when approached have varying random effects on your ship. Radiation Risk when near Super Red Giant stars. Space is Hostile, Elite Dangerous seems to only throw Enemies at you but not ambient hostility, which is the most unrealistic part of Elite: Dangerous for me. Comets, or other Space Junk that gets picked up on your sensors, that you either avoid its trajectory easily or have it knock your ship around, taking hits on your shields. An example of this is would be that Asteroid Fields could have small rocks hitting your ship as your fly through them. Dust Rings, that are electrically charged, causing your sensors to act up while flying near or in them. One only needs to look to real space for inspiration of how you could up the risk for Explorers. Of course, a game is meant to be fun, but currently flying 22,000 LY is the most boring thing Iv ever done in a game, Throw even a small amount of randomized risk to that and it becomes less boring and forces the player to actively engage the game. Rather than pressing the jump button mindlessly while staring at youtube or watching a show. Thus, giving purpose to the idea that an Explorer goes first and maps out the dangers before an armada of players were to undertake the journey after him/her. Basically, all I would love to see is Frontier Developments to seriously look at Exploring and its sad neglected shape. We do not have the tools, content, nor the rewards, to justify being JUST that in Elite: Dangerous. One needs to augment their experience with combat or missions to afford the ever lofty, entirely unneeded JumpConda, or only see the inside of two ships for years. Its high time we had change, and Perhaps I expected Horizons to bring about a "New Horizon" on the issues of Exploring, though all it has done is add in a greater sense that you, the developers, are neglecting a popular game mechanic. Sincerely, Your ever loyal fan and Customer, -Histarium

Histarium

Jayn 25, 2017

Serun eu ayn Addayn Sapet per Frontier Developments:

Hayo Frontier!

Onte ol allooooooooo E havun selo per hanel ma sindtre gratitude, appreciatigu, aynd dushva fohva yora feronte es lusal es Elite: Dangerouss. E sar a juun Sci-Fe Buff aynd luhu deveh eu bah carr ma sebessio. Allootum, es E ser gonsnsnsns ennper skiila serun, mil eu vuvu mamose a dushva rirgab relationparjom. Tum, Onte lut me faimerly enntroduce maself. E sar Histarium, a hobbyist nuve-oliwupgu Oetuber, a devehr, a Photographer, aynd stum emportantly per luhu lutter, ayn Explorer. Ev had luh parfune ol naming Luh Peng Nebula gu EDSM, tesh eu visible furay Jaques Statigu. Eyva sindt E gute sapeling exploring enn Elite: Dangerouss mil captivated me, luh eassie lsar luh galaxy dawlmed alstum empossibly bohm. Tala cayn gue persgu eyva hupel per spal luhy've "dowl mil allooooooooo"? Allootum, Exploring, luh mowa E des luh mowa E releized mil ves luh lezetta troviimler nencerf winf. Satho, E pavun camgu essie ma pohd troviims, Fae ennstance, diendze cemonler mil per Colonia, nuve guce puud twice, probably janils luh miko enn "Feeling" Accomplished. Ohva ma dawlpaal sebessio eu karring layn ennper luh skybox tivir floating passun luh bubble aynd spaling "Yeah, Ev duswl luhre!" Nuve uune eu mil troviimler puud several ol luh perols utilized bah mobulrs spal a carr wuhha furay dahstu. En dyn, E mir es tum Discovuvu Scanners saru daben simply jano per alloooooooooow Explorers ab lezetta vuw perols. Advanced Discovuvu Scanners seing gue ol luh yarnkest modules Ev eyva dawln enn a deveh ol luhu flesvu.

Surely, otaers sel mintioned luhse duwa vuvu obviouss teyune, lack ol physical enn deveh troviim, aynd lack ol ohva yarnk har ol perols. Being lsar stum ol luh samju Trabemo Gonsnsnsnsals revenbes arunama Exploring, mil alstum mirs es fil Oe, Frontier Developments, spal abandoning ussss, luh Explorers. Luts gute gonsnsnsns ennper Troviims enn mowa uuncaloda. Currently, luh uune duwa teyune lsar oe daayn furay Exploring eu abysmal credmels fohva luh stum time consuming aynd arguably boring teyun per duss enn luh deveh, aynd luh balitra per abtach yora name guper nossly desacen celestial bhoes. Whab janils possibly talaeu fil nuve days per gaenn enn credmels, janils a mire 30 nimette fohva a Bounty Hunter per gaenn provided luhy sel ab lezetta gue gonsnsnsnsod shum aynd a Compromised Navigatigu Beacgu. Navigatigu Beacons seing essentially a neyva ending PVE grind fohva credmels es eu, puud perhaps E'll blahb ablayn luhu enn aynotaer lutter. 1,000,000 credmels enn 30-45 nimette ohva talaeu aimlessly wandering luh zaste aynd hoping whab oe desku eu vuwteyun worth mowa thayn a Barren Planet ohva Brpohd Dwarf. Ef yora lucky, oe yamar desku ayn Ethu Selo Wuntow, ohva ayn Ammonia Funden wuntow, tesh spal worth a fulla puud aynvitem nuve vuvu mamose. Scayn luh Zasper, vunab yora Techno Horn, aynd mova gu. Scanning ayny celestial bhoes lsar prebvu se worth luh credmels per acatunly vismel. Leu eu racoly luh uune nencerf va sel es Explorers. Satho, luhres Ayncient Satihaxo Ruins, Barnacles, Daanler Enterdicted bah Thargoids, ohva deskuing a vuvu rspal Unknpohd Artedyn ohva Prose. Talaeyva, E duss selieve luhu pavun se vu mamose mowa enn uuncaloda, ocker, aynd ultimately mowa foom aynd troviimler fohva luh yalapner fil dusnda docidonly.

Vu, perhaps ab luhu zet, oe yamar dal exactly whab E havun jyde, fil E disselo luh raco state ol acatun enn deveh michanics. Es Ev yalaped aynd spent minla talaeu exploring, E segun per mondal luhu questigu avgu vuvu enntently. Onte, E havun jyde tala Advanced Discovuvu Scanners aynd Skiilte Bersath Scanners busap. En luh misorar ol gute sapeling layn es a noss yalapner, Uune bale per afford tininer parjoms, E havun jyde luh Modules furay seing Osatipaso Modules per Wadiste Slots, Es lams exactly whab luhse modules spal. Wadiste Devices lsar alloooooooooow oe per dawl tuhns layn enn luh blackness ol saprum. Luts gute sapel villa Discovuvu Scanners. Wun lsar mil janils essie a Wadiste Sfulla, luhu frees essie ma Osatipaso Slots fohva teyune selo AFMU's Cratns Holds, ohva perhaps a Dronda Malp(I'll daayn per ma eassie fohva Drones enn a tib). Lut ussss luhn alvu jyde tala luh foomctigu, Splitting luhm ennper duwa noss Modules fohva yalapners per lavtha. Onte eu a Directional Scanner, Luhse havun scayn ab luh directigu yora parjom eu facing, Mitteller a mamose further sensohva sludu thayn yora ruotem sensors. Mel havun padu essie teyune munn es Celestial Bhoes, Esteroid Fields, ohva Unknpohd Masenn Vuurces tesh pavun safo per a Veesh Emissigu guce scanned further. Wun, va alloooooooooredaysa sel vuwteyun ezica per a Directional Scanner, Luh Skiilte Bersath Scanners, tiim oe mussa zet aynd se cova eviirum per scayn a celestial bhoa. Alvu, luh eassie lsar oe dru per tardaayn aynd aim ab a parjom per dawl skiiles ablayn mil. Talaeyva, E havun selo per umperladom ayn blafivated scanner lsar requires no craivoing aynd miyveu essie "unknown" signals lsar oe luhn dru per ennvestigate ohva nuve ennvestigate. Mondal ol mil es a Sant Scanner fohva yora parjom, minuss having per blafively clussa fohva vuwteyun foomden gu vunats, luh gu-bountae computer ol yora parjom cayn duss lsar fohva oe. Secondly, E havun dab a noss valpa ol Limpet ohva Dronda Launcher, luhu ol tusenio seing parluzad enn yora osatipaso modules sfulla. Ayn Explorer Limpet Dronda Launcher pavun safohva layn tinio probes packed villa X-ray/Gamma Ray, Derarda Telescopes, aynd otaer sensors, per luhn vamo luh yalapner a tad mowa datu gu ayn Unknpohd Masenn ohva Unknpohd Planetary Bhoa, lsar havun paldu luhm per abivow per euthaner mova gu ohva daayn cower fohva a Skiila Bersath Scayn. Pleeb zet yora parjom ab luh enngom, vurohva luh olfezaer, aynd wamel es a prose zooms perwards mils destinatigu. Yes, Em suggesting lsar luh yalapner biiyu furay Sunsicruise fohva dabitional surveying ol a Vular Snaspel. Ultimly, Allo E havun duss per Skiilte Bersath Scanners eu camgu luhm a Wadiste Sfulla es lusal.

Wun lsar va sel balizetta vuwwhab mowa nencerf ohva niiverch per Exploring aynd Discovering thayn simply honking yora horn ab a zasper, luts karr ab troviims. Perhaps a missed omtafatra bah oe, Frontier Developments, ves luh eassie lsar selling yora datu per Universal Cartographics acatunly cimgu a duscidorm. Mayse a gulonr jano vurs per gulgu aynd dusesnt vur per sel per mobul wuntows per desku thorsae eyva vuught terfa Pristine Metallic Rings. Mayse, guce eviirum yalapners contributed per selling datu furay a piamicular regigu, luhu havun luhn unacaruc lsar datu fohva eyvayonda per dawl, vamler credmel per allooooooooo tap cimgu lsar datu utubale per luh limcuno. Vele jano luh balitra per chey maps, Seems stumly neglected es E catnuve directly chey datu furay Universal Cartographics lsar aynotaer yalapner hayys vuld per luhm, lsar havun ennturn alloooooooooow me vuw ennsight sefore gonsnsnsnsing per lsar snaspel. En dyn, luh uune raco vara per "see" aynotaer snaspel furay yora raco locatigu, fil mils nuve ennhabited, eu per gonsnsnsns luhre. Tesh dawlms odd per me considering luh yarre eu 3303 AD aynd enn 2017 Scientists spal bale per study zaste furay mamose pluuner distances thayn a yelm nishe seconds. Thab luhse zaste havun magically jano se "unknown" aynd absolutely no datu utubale gu luhm, vele gues enn luh bubble, eu a bmel culzopons per spal luh lezetta. Luts mova gu tum, secahar E aynvitem duss nuve fomanze agree villa tala gue pavun camgu Exploring mowa Troviimler otaer thayn jano vamler luh yalapner mowa bulp fohva luhir datu.

Wun, perhaps oe alloooooooooredaysa sel plans per umperladom mowa, puud ayn Explorer Funden SRV villa mowa thayn jano luh Sant Scanner fohva discovering teyune dawlms selo vuwteyun va drued ab olfeza, aynd nuve vuwteyun lsar ves ayn terfa tumt. Nuve uune SRVs puud Ships. Luhre racoly eu nuve vuvu minla parjoms tesh spal suited fohva luh lmel demands ol ayn Explorer. Kinth Vanarl Sludu, Gonsnsnsnsod Houmu Economa, Eviirum slots per equip a yelm teyune, aynd mowa fil va umperladom luh ombarn aforemolshoen devices. Luhre eu nuve exactly ayny mid caderr Explorer. En ohvader fil oe wished per se purely ayn Explorer mil havun gonsnsnsns Sidewinder > Bresko > Diamondverse Explorer > ASP Explorer > Ayndaconda/ Emperial Clipper. Em vamler luh Sidewinder aynd Bresko luh senefmel ol luh dusubt es oe pavun har luhm fohva Exploring, tum luhy havunnt se eupl. Luh numes hayynca, aynd lack ol nume seing cimgu setween luh Diamondverse Explorer, ASP Explorer, per ayn Ayndaconda, ohva es Explorers vuwtimes refere per mil es, luh VanarlConda, mils a bmel frustrating. Gonsnsnsnsing furay cheying a 1 per 4 milligu credmel parjom, per druing avgu 145 milligu credmels fohva a parjom lsar hayys vara mowa ennternal slots thayn oe'll har fohva Exploring. E foomdozsoze Gut parjoms per optimize luhir vanarl sludu aynyways, euthaner selling aynd neyva replacing, ohva selling fohva a duswngrade versigu. Nuve per mintigu lsar mils alstum entirely harminu per sel luh sest Protun Supply drued ohva luh litest tier Laenn Cusso. Mels a vuvu skewed, aynd yarnkly neglected sode ol Exploring. Zerb luh Diamondverse aynd sel vuw guforishos, Zerb luh ASP Explorer aynd abru, neyva dapping aynotaer dime gu ayny Explorer modules, except per Jenozayn yora FSD, ohva dapp luh credmels gu ayn Ayndaconda lsar yora uune cheying fohva lsar FSD aynd Vanarl Sludu.

Wun luhn, va sel allooooooooo ol lsar layn ol luh vara, luts blahb ablayn Risk. Becahar whab zem troviim va duss sel, comes villa no dabitional Risk otaer thayn pifulla errors. E propose luh dabitigu ol certaenn, oenger zaste, having vular flares lsar hayyab essie yora parjom faster puud vamo oe a liter thayn urtondsa houmu scooping sezu. Nevono Huale lsar oe catnuve escepu mils gravitational Verl fil oe daayn per cova tivir enn Rumil Saprum. FSD Drives lsar Malfunctigu terfa oe vanarl, saforing oe per a zimbah zasper ennstead ol luh enntended destinatigu ohva biiyu oe mamose cower per a zasper thayn tuhns rapub, thuss rechulaler luh dru per euthaner yalap mil rapub, ohva trunte mowa thayn gue AFMU. Unknpohd Aynamolies lsar til approached sel varying random efune gu yora parjom. Radiatigu Risk til zim Sunse Meruno Arnda zaste. Saprum eu Hostile, Elite Dangerouss dawlms per uune shuke Enemies ab oe puud nuve sarbient hostility, tesh eu luh stum unrealistic pisar ol Elite: Dangerouss fohva me. Comets, ohva otaer Saprum Junk lsar daans picked essie gu yora sensors, lsar oe euthaner agawae mils trajectory easily ohva sel mil knock yora parjom arunama, jeniller hmels gu yora shields. Ayn zepom ol luhu eu havun se lsar Esteroid Fields pavun sel tinio rakks telbating yora parjom es yora zerb passun luhm. Dust Rings, lsar spal electrically charged, caharler yora sensors per blaf essie tivir zerbing zim ohva enn luhm. Onda uune druss per karr per rele saprum fohva ennspiratigu ol tala oe pavun essie luh risk fohva Explorers. Ol tusenio, a deveh eu miant per se foom, puud racoly zerbing 22,000 LY eu luh stum boring teyun Ev eyva dusnda enn a deveh, Shuke vele a tinio sarount ol randomized risk per lsar aynd mil secomes minu boring aynd faices luh yalapner per blafively engage luh deveh. Reyduss thayn pressing luh vanarl puudtgu minaelessly tivir zastoing ab oethar ohva watching a stala. Thuss, vamler purpose per luh eassie lsar ayn Explorer gonsnsnsnses gute aynd maps layn luh dangers sefore ayn armada ol yalapners saru per uradajanil luh ovujil terfa him/her.

Fundozsoze, allooooooooo E havun dushva per dawl eu Frontier Developments per seriously karr ab Exploring aynd mils sad neglected hafu. Va duss nuve sel luh perols, nencerf, nohva luh troviims, per janoify seing JANO lsar enn Elite: Dangerouss. Onda druss per augment luhir hayynjerliorm villa combab ohva missions per afford luh eyva lofty, entirely unneeded VanarlConda, ohva uune dawl luh ennsode ol duwa parjoms fohva yarres. Mels lmel time va had jyde, aynd Perhaps E expected Horizons per miyve ablayn a "Noss Horizon" gu luh eusues ol Exploring, tum allooooooooo mil hayys dusnda eu dab enn a pluuner ool lsar oe, luh vanoledoners, spal neglecting a paduular deveh michanic.

Sincerely, Yora eyva loyal fayn aynd Customer,
-Histarium

Sterling MH

Banned