All exploration signatures visible in agency

It is just like the CSM supported the “skills on demand” change. Who wants to fly in space in a game about spaceships. Don’t be silly.

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To be fair, this can’t be compared. Skill training is “out of game”, like subscriptions or skillpoint trading.

You had to travel for skillbooks. Not anymore. Fair comparison in my opinion.

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Exploration:

  1. The action of traveling in or through an unfamiliar area in order to learn about it.

  2. Thorough analysis of a subject or theme (or star system).

The first point has been long lost… All systems including wormholes have been visited, planets and moons analysed, asteroid belts cataloged and results published by various third party websites. Some of this information has been brought back into the game: Agency, Planetary Interaction window check it out. There is no exploration of this type in EVE Online.

The second point is what is left. Go to a system, determine if there are signatures and scan. Scanning was the barrier to entry to these sites.

Not to long ago, you needed the following: Specialty probes to determine if signatures where in system. Specialty probes to find the sites within the signature list that you were interested in. A ship that could remove the rats in order to complete the sites. Leaving probes behind resulted in lost probes.

Also, you had a ship born analyzer. This had a range of 4au. You where required to fly planet to planet and scan the area to find anomalies. (Now you know why all pre WH, Sleeper and Ghost site signatures are all within 4au of planets).

This was a niche profession because it required patience, practice and time to succeed. It bored many people and many more thought it was a pain to do. The result was a small community that made a LOT of money.

Over time the scanning was changed. Quality of life updates occurred including the creation of custom probe patterns, removal of some probes and consolidation of others.

Then the Odyssey patch occurred. This introduced the Discovery Scanner: Upon entering a system you are now told what anomalies and signatures exist in the system and where they are. You simply needed to scan them down or just warp to them. Probes where automatically recalled to your cargo bay upon system exit. Scanning was made easier with the introduction of predetermined probe patterns and scanning mid slot moduals. A scanning career agent was introduced and the hacking mini game that was never iterated on appeared. Rats where removed from data and relic sites. “Exploration” in EVE was made a beginners profession and prices for most things from hacking and combat sites tanked. (No need to discuss the loot spew mechanic).

When the Agency window was first introduced, it included the system name and jump range like it does now on SISI for all signatures. After threads like this one, the devs removed that information. Here we are again.

The above has been a basic history of EVE Online exploration. Do a Google search:

EVE online exploration 2007

There are some really good guides.

I would respectfully suggest that Exploration as defined at the beginning this post does not exist in EVE and has not for a long time. Only the second part of the definition lingered on until Odyssey. Scanning is the low barrier of entry to finding these sites. Hacking is a profession. Running combat sites is a profession. Exploration does not exist in EVE Online.

Will exploration ever return to this game?

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As a noobie, I can tell you that I can’t see how this helps new players.

Currently, the problem in Hi and Lo sec is finding systems that aren’t being run. Going from system to system to find that site that others have missed is better than sitting in station and racing others to a new site in hoping that you will be the first there.

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Its also better than getting there and finding dozens of cloaky hunters waiting for you.

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Wow, CCP seems really intent on killing exploration type game play off completely.

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Yeah, I agree.

Exploration was what brought me to this game back in June 2008. I actually liked how exploration was back then. It was a ‘Specialized’ career that required high skill level for both the character as well as the player.

Over the years CCP has dumbed down everything in this game, basically turned all ‘Specialized’ careers into easy mode for the instant gratification crowd.

It’s a shame that had to happen.

:expressionless:

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Thanks for sharing this brief history @Tzar_Sinak, as a new player to EVE and also exploration, it is fun and interesting to see how ‘Exploration’ evolved in EVE.

Now, as @Heretic-of-Amarr said, when (not if) this change goes online, it will be who is faster to reach them. That means more trouble for my Astero and more PvP I guess.

It also means, I can sit in station doing trading and not worry about if I am missing out by not traveling from system to system looking for Ghost sites.

EDIT: It just hit me. This would be equivalent to doing exploration and being able to see your orders status, even though you are not in the same region. Right?

EDIT 2: But if all players were to race now to the site, that wouldn’t make a difference because these sites pop-up on random time. Yes? So if I was traveling I would still have an edge because I would be faster (in terms of jump) from the system that has a wanted site.

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Yeah…but it also means that the better sites will be glommed onto by more established players. Newer players, rather than having more equal chances to find something decent - already hard enough, will be pushed out of the exploration game.

Seems like a bad idea to me.

Malcanis’ (EvE) Law poised to strike yet again :
“Whenever a mechanics change is proposed on behalf of ‘new players’, that change is always to the overwhelming advantage of richer, older players.”

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This issue should be spammed on CSM’ campaigns s o no one can say that the community likes the idea

Can someone please help me defining exploration? I feel like, when you know where to look, it’s not actually exploration anymore.

This change is insulting.

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Plus, it’s not actually exploration, it’s more like a … rally?

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o/
My main non-pvp activity is explo.
my first reaction was the same as yours: why make the things easier? eve needs challenge and difficulty. And more selfishly “argh, my relic sites will be more frequently hacked by others, my income will be reduced etc”
But i took a breath and now i am thinking that maybe it could bring more competition and fights. I mean, eve is a pvp game, not only because of fights but also because of competition (for resources, on market etc). Explo also. If cosmic sigs are seen on the agency, maybe it could promote some encounters and fights between some asteros (or bigger ships) in some sites? i often see many systems in null sec with several unhacked sites because systems inhabitants prefer to rat or mine. Maybe it will bring more explorers to these systems? and it will induce some fights?
I don’t know. People are lazy, and maybe most people won’t travel through 10 systems because they see on the agency that there is a system with 3 cosmic sigs there. Only explo will do that, and that’s what they are already doing, so…
I am not sure it will induce a significant change

Too many maybe, my friend, against too many definitives:

Farmers will have an easier time.
Farmers are risk averse, thus avoiding fights.
New players can’t possibly compete.

Plus, the sense for exploration is practically gone.
It’s going to be just another job now.

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It will, at least for those who know how the exploration game works. It’s not common knowledge nowadays how sites are distributed. Explorers who know have an advantage … this will be gone once everybody and their bots can see the sig distribution algorithm without even undocking.

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If CCP insists on catering to players that have the IQ of a peanut, then lets go all the way. Just undock from station, scan in range of 10 jumps, run site, have loot magically appear in hold, dock back in station. You wouldn’t even have to leave the docking ring!

What a stupid, stupid change to “exploration”! This game needs to be harder not easier.

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What is a one word way to say “finally becoming unlazy enough to drunkenly stumble over to exactly where someone said I left all my money in a mindless daze to scoop it all up”? Exploration needs to be renamed to that with this change. ISK ATMs, the new new emergent gameplay.

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what happens to probes? will they be removed from the game? what purpose will they have?

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knowing that there are some cosmic sigs in one system does not remove the need for scanning them to identify them and warp to it

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