Elite Dangerous Catch-All

Hrdina wrote:

We're not a particularly active squadron, though.

There's really nothing FOR squadrons at the moment beyond signing up. It's so weird.

Squadrons are useful for communication, at the moment. That's how we're using them on DW2. If you're in the squadron, you can use the squadron channel without no matter the distance.

Meanwhile, from the DW2 Beluga meetup...

IMAGE(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/954102730670085051/CC56DEE2A86A1279CB9A922104A42C536CB6BA8D/)

We lifted an SRV over 40km into orbit on the top of a Beluga
IMAGE(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/954102730670542454/1E5F73A221DD85AA4E843722F25FF6A5881BDC2F/)

IMAGE(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/954102730670545319/E4466F5C162F3DF4BE0A2B126941F1481DC4983A/)

IMAGE(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/954102730670545880/63F50048D5512B4CAEA1681F6F5C13242B509780/)

Veloxi wrote:

There's really nothing FOR squadrons at the moment beyond signing up. It's so weird.

This was going to be my next question, although expanded to all three things tanstaafl mentioned: squadrons, private group and player faction. What are these?

I gather squadrons at least get you in-game chat channels regardless of location, is that it? By private group do you just mean a private instance of the game only you guys play in (as selected from the main menu)? I wasn't aware of player factions. This is a minor faction that you created and the group supports to remain in power/expand? Do players need to be aligned with same major faction as the player faction does to take part?

Not mine, but...

IMAGE(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/533286148034789397/539168715225169933/unknown.png)

IMAGE(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/533286148034789397/539169649443471361/HighResScreenShot_2019-01-27_18-01-33.jpg)

Yes... that is an SRV in the foreground. We're around 50km up.

StrayTanooki wrote:

This was going to be my next question, although expanded to all three things tanstaafl mentioned: squadrons, private group and player faction. What are these?

I gather squadrons at least get you in-game chat channels regardless of location, is that it? By private group do you just mean a private instance of the game only you guys play in (as selected from the main menu)? I wasn't aware of player factions. This is a minor faction that you created and the group supports to remain in power/expand? Do players need to be aligned with same major faction as the player faction does to take part?

The only current advantage to squadrons is communication, though that may change with future expansions.

A private group is, yes, a private instance. You will only ever see other players from the same private group. It's a middle ground between Solo and Open, so you can sometimes meet other commanders but don't have to worry about getting ganked.

And, as you say, player factions are just a minor faction. You can go to systems where they are active and take missions for them to improve their influence in that system. There is no need to be allied with the same major faction.

Got it--squadrons, private group and player factions all make sense. I'd be curious to check all those out. I have been playing in private recently while I get back up to speed and try to save up some credits.

Some nice images! Reminds me I need to set up controls for the debug camera and figure out how that works.

Do any of you guys use external programs for creating "captain's logs" that automatically associate time, location any images, etc. with written log entries you make as you explore around? I've seen a few listed with this sort of feature (EDProfiler might be the best?) but haven't tried them.

EDDiscovery and EDProfiler are your two best bets there. EDDiscovery (which I use) automatically renames your screenshots to include the system name and timestamp.

You might want to look at the private group Mobius. It's a PvE group with a few thousand members in it, so you have a good chance of meeting someone without having to worry about getting attacked.

tanstaafl wrote:

You might want to look at the private group Mobius. It's a PvE group with a few thousand members in it, so you have a good chance of meeting someone without having to worry about getting attacked.

Definitely.

Mobius looks interesting for sure. I'll explore the squadrons and private groups later this afternoon.

My playtime is also pretty sporadic, but there's still a lot new to me to explore coming back to the game after so long. I'm already making more money via trading and exploration than I ever did early on.

EDDiscovery and EDProfiler look like good tools to start with. I'll explore those as well. Appreciate it!

Edit:

Ran a few more cargo runs for the community goal this afternoon and picked up a second account. I've noticed kind of an annoying bug with outposts. I often can't dock because there's only one medium pad and there's an AI ship there. If I wait, they'll take off but basically every time they crash right into the station, don't clear the pad and I'm never able to request docking unless I jump away and then back to the outpost.

StrayTanooki wrote:

Ran a few more cargo runs for the community goal this afternoon and picked up a second account. I've noticed kind of an annoying bug with outposts. I often can't dock because there's only one medium pad and there's an AI ship there. If I wait, they'll take off but basically every time they crash right into the station, don't clear the pad and I'm never able to request docking unless I jump away and then back to the outpost.

Yep, that came in with 3.3, it’s annoying, but switching instances normally cures it. I’ve also nudged the stuck ship to destruction (staying below 100km/sec of course) to vent my frustration before now

Moebius is well worth joining, and if you’re after a bit more activity when it comes to squadrons, the infamous Hutton Truckers, East India Company or the Sovereignty may be worth a peek depending on your play style.

Funny, the other day when I arrived at a megaship, I found an NPC ship that had apparently just taken off. It was stuck upside down on one of the domes, trying to thrust upward.

I carefully nudged it until it was freed, then watched it fly off and jump away.

It felt like finding a turtle on its back, flipping it upright, and watching it scurry off into a pond (except turtles are smarter than NPCs).

Ha, well hopefully the stuck ship thing is on their radar to address. Every time I've jumped away and back it's cleared up and there aren't always other ships docked when I first arrive--but it happened enough it was a bummer.

I'll add Hutton Truckers, East India Company and the Sovereignty to my list of stuff to check out. I'm planning to get my current ship outfitted for long range and head way out of the Bubble while I ramp up the new account.

I have an exploration question. I've got myself an outfitted Anaconda for long term and long distance exploration. Now the big question for me is where to go. I'm a space tourist. So far I have visited guardian ruins, a guardian beacon, a thargoid active base, and various outposts and things. But now I had the idea to head out far away from the bubble. But which way should I go? Which direction will lead me to the most probably space to find anything interesting? I know the Thargoids are around the Merope system. But that's really all I know as far as specific concentrations. What about guardian stuff? Are they centered around some system? Should I just head toward the center? Or try to circumscribe the galaxy? Which way do I head to see the most stuff?

Right now I'm at 57 Hydrae to see the anemones, I was thinking of going to see the floating gourds and other things from the Codex. But I would love some suggestions or guidance.

maverickz wrote:

I have an exploration question. I've got myself an outfitted Anaconda for long term and long distance exploration. Now the big question for me is where to go. I'm a space tourist. So far I have visited guardian ruins, a guardian beacon, a thargoid active base, and various outposts and things. But now I had the idea to head out far away from the bubble. But which way should I go? Which direction will lead me to the most probably space to find anything interesting? I know the Thargoids are around the Merope system. But that's really all I know as far as specific concentrations. What about guardian stuff? Are they centered around some system? Should I just head toward the center? Or try to circumscribe the galaxy? Which way do I head to see the most stuff?

Right now I'm at 57 Hydrae to see the anemones, I was thinking of going to see the floating gourds and other things from the Codex. But I would love some suggestions or guidance.

Well you could head to SagA, the black hole at the heart of the galaxy, the Beagal point, the first farthest point from the bubble. Both of those are long trips.

if thats not as far as you want to go, there is also a series of outposts and megaships near the formadine rift you can visit that have voice clips and story notes.

thrawn82 wrote:
maverickz wrote:

I have an exploration question. I've got myself an outfitted Anaconda for long term and long distance exploration. Now the big question for me is where to go. I'm a space tourist. So far I have visited guardian ruins, a guardian beacon, a thargoid active base, and various outposts and things. But now I had the idea to head out far away from the bubble. But which way should I go? Which direction will lead me to the most probably space to find anything interesting? I know the Thargoids are around the Merope system. But that's really all I know as far as specific concentrations. What about guardian stuff? Are they centered around some system? Should I just head toward the center? Or try to circumscribe the galaxy? Which way do I head to see the most stuff?

Right now I'm at 57 Hydrae to see the anemones, I was thinking of going to see the floating gourds and other things from the Codex. But I would love some suggestions or guidance.

Well you could head to SagA, the black hole at the heart of the galaxy, the Beagal point, the first farthest point from the bubble. Both of those are long trips.

if thats not as far as you want to go, there is also a series of outposts and megaships near the formadine rift you can visit that have voice clips and story notes.

I will check out those ships. I don't mind going far, as long as there's stuff to see that isn't more planets and stars.

maverickz wrote:
thrawn82 wrote:
maverickz wrote:

I have an exploration question. I've got myself an outfitted Anaconda for long term and long distance exploration. Now the big question for me is where to go. I'm a space tourist. So far I have visited guardian ruins, a guardian beacon, a thargoid active base, and various outposts and things. But now I had the idea to head out far away from the bubble. But which way should I go? Which direction will lead me to the most probably space to find anything interesting? I know the Thargoids are around the Merope system. But that's really all I know as far as specific concentrations. What about guardian stuff? Are they centered around some system? Should I just head toward the center? Or try to circumscribe the galaxy? Which way do I head to see the most stuff?

Right now I'm at 57 Hydrae to see the anemones, I was thinking of going to see the floating gourds and other things from the Codex. But I would love some suggestions or guidance.

Well you could head to SagA, the black hole at the heart of the galaxy, the Beagal point, the first farthest point from the bubble. Both of those are long trips.

if thats not as far as you want to go, there is also a series of outposts and megaships near the formadine rift you can visit that have voice clips and story notes.

I will check out those ships. I don't mind going far, as long as there's stuff to see that isn't more planets and stars.

theres not much to see out toward beagle point i don't think, but then who knows what lifeforms are scattered around in the part of the galaxy that don't get much travel. There are also various cool asteroid bases scattered around on the route to beagle and the route to colonia

This was what ultimately killed my enthusiasm for exploration in general. It's doubtful that you'll find anything beyond the copy/pasted stuff that's been found before. I know, I'm being a kill-joy here, but it's true. Anything that would be new and exciting would be unknown-permit-locked away by the developers in the large areas of space that we can't get into. And when they finally release it, it'll be the next mind-numbing grind for players to flock to.

This game has so much wasted potential that it's maddening. I would plan a few short trips before you set out on a massively long one, because I can tell you from experience that the burnout in this game hits super hard... a lot harder than any other game I play. And you don't want to be 20k LY from the bubble if you get bored and want to head back to try something different.

Veil East and Veil West aren't particularly far from the bubble and from there you could decide if you want to go further, or head back and try something else. It's not particularly far out of the way if you want to head towards the core, or Colonia, or even Beagle Point.

Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. Right now I'm just going through the Codex to see stuff already found.

If you’ve not been in and around the Pleiades, fair bit to see there such as the thargoid gen 1 base ships and all the INRA storyline. Bunch of megaships to checkout too.

Once you get out of the bubble, if you’re not into stars and planets... it gets tricky. Yes, there are some old bases and the like in the Conflux and Formadine, as well as a couple of other guardian areas, but visually they are akin to what you’ve already seen.

Maybe do a tour of the nebula, I would have said go look at the area around Barnards and the Witchhead, but a lot of that has been permit locked these days. But if you are looking to see bases and signs of intelligent life, I would stick to within 1k of the bubble.

Thanks for the input! I've traveled to the big Guardian cluster to just screw around and visit some places. I didn't realize that the majority of the shape of the places is raised ground rather than guardian architecture. Still neat though. I like the places that have the ball puzzle more, but this is all good tourist spots. On the way I did see some space crystals and gourds. The frilled alien things are a little too far to visit honestly, Trifid sector, so I may skip that. After that I'll probably hit up the installations and megaships.

Apart from the FSD booster are the rest of the guardian items worth grinding out? They seem to be intended specifically for use against Thargoids but unlike the AX weapons you can still use them on humans if you have to.

The powerplant and power distributor are not engineerable, so you could do better. The shield booster could be useful. The fighters are neat. The weapons are neat but more useful for Thargoids than humans, as you said.

Tamren wrote:

Apart from the FSD booster are the rest of the guardian items worth grinding out? They seem to be intended specifically for use against Thargoids but unlike the AX weapons you can still use them on humans if you have to.

What i've read about guardian weapons is that they are super effective on thargoids, and people were wicked mad cause they weern't off the charts powerful in PVP, but it looks like they are still top tier against human ships anyway.

Apart from the weapons, which as you say are really only useful against thargoids, the bits other than the FSD booster are really only there as timesavers for folks who prefer the guardian loot loop to engineering. Engineering can do better, but if you hate that mechanic, guardian tech can get you 60% of the way there without engineering.

Should I poke it?

IMAGE(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/951851874643825960/AFE210C5C55348DD3532830B69A9D509962D6CE5/)

If you poke it with a laser, i think that might be genocide...

It’ll be fine; I think its a bit of a missed opportunity by FDEV that the only reactions from the new lifeforms and elements seem to be the pods which turn towards you as you approach.

The moment you realize that your ship is almost the size of the outpost...

IMAGE(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/951852175331071913/A8676AABB288098CCC60EF0E811AE603914E668A/)

Hello darkness, my old friend...

IMAGE(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/951852175331072613/AEE3E8222B60EAD1AC06275553A8C5D23959C230/)

The gorgeous Llyn Tegid Nebula (DW2 WP4) just as delightful as the Welsh lake that its named after.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/Z2tw5wF.png)

Are you Shyn Darkly or Darkly Shining in Elite? Or both?

I'm PaleoGamer, but now have alt Anne Trovert as well.