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The Return of Exploration?

Any chance we could expect a return of exploration missions anytime soon?

I've seen an ingenious method other scifi games have used, in that you talk to an exploration science non-player character and set the parameters of your exploration which can sometimes have waves of enemies but isn't always the case. Once you setup what you want to do you are loaded into the instance in your ship.
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  • captainhunter1captainhunter1 Member Posts: 1,630 Arc User
    Foundry content married to a procedurally generated exploration system would be ideal for Star Trek (Online).

    Not sure we will ever get it though. :'(
  • crm14916crm14916 Member Posts: 1,531 Arc User
    +1 for @captainhunter1 and his comment... The foundry is where it’s at...

    CM
    "Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure science." - Edwin Hubble
  • rattler2rattler2 Member, Star Trek Online Moderator Posts: 58,559 Community Moderator
    The old system also created a few... unplayable scenarios. Every one in a while you'd get a ground mission where you have to kill 5 groups... and one spawns UNDERGROUND.

    Not only that... there was little to no variety in what we do in them. It was always "kill five groups" or "Scan five objects".

    And then there is the ever popular Third Borg Dynasty. :D
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
  • pwstolemynamepwstolemyname Member Posts: 1,417 Arc User
    Why do I have this foreboding feeling that when exploration comes back it will be reduced to a 2d mini game, with exploration 'packs' sold in the C-Store?
  • where2r1where2r1 Member Posts: 6,054 Arc User
    rattler2 wrote: »
    The old system also created a few... unplayable scenarios. Every one in a while you'd get a ground mission where you have to kill 5 groups... and one spawns UNDERGROUND.

    Not only that... there was little to no variety in what we do in them. It was always "kill five groups" or "Scan five objects".

    And then there is the ever popular Third Borg Dynasty. :D

    I used to enjoy those old Exploration missions...because they were simple.

    I am looking at the Foundry stuff, now. Because they seem to be a suitable replacement for me. I do the story the first, though....because I am compelled to know what happens. LOL!

    I can rerun it any time and get to the same place!! Which never happened in Exploration clusters. Then, just wander around the ground maps and fly around the space ones...which is what I used to enjoy on the old Exploration missions.

    Hope this helps.
    "Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
  • sotsogmsotsogm Member Posts: 67 Arc User
    The lack of variety in the Exploration Cluster missions definitely sucked.

    On the other hand, sometimes you'd get a really great environment, something to rival the cover of a '50s or '60s SF magazine or paperback cover, and it would just feel Star Trek as hell until you went back to scanning the five things or killing the five mobs. I do miss some of those skies and rock formations, y'all.
  • baudlbaudl Member Posts: 4,060 Arc User
    edited February 2018
    Exploration was removed due to " improving game content ".

    It's a logical excuse, like cutting off your arm when it has a itch.

    well it was more compareable to removing an appendix...nobody really needs it, but it can cause trouble along the way

    it also got presumably "replaced" by the Foundry
    Go pro or go home
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  • "Exploration" wasn't removed. Randomly generated content was removed. Those two terms do not mean the same thing. For example: New Romulus is almost all "exploration". On the other hand, a star cluster mission where you fight the Klingons (a known species) attacking a federation colony (a known world) is not "exploration". So no, randomly generated content was not "exploration". That said, the game is sorely lacking things LIKE New Romulus, IMO. They need to add many more adventure zones on "newly discovered" planets.
  • wry1wry1 Member Posts: 117 Arc User
    One thing they could do is create a set of missions, and randomly assign those missions once an instance is entered. It would solve the problem of randomly generating missions and spawning. The question is not what they could do, but what they will do. Devs seem to have everyone placated on the notion that they can't produce content, because that would doom the game.
  • sheldonlcoopersheldonlcooper Member Posts: 4,042 Arc User
    I've said it maybe 10 times before but why not 11 - those old exploration missions were my favorite content in the game.

    I liked the moderny asteroid base the best with those long halls. Also the planets with the weird tall colorful treeplants.
    Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."

    "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."

  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    rattler2 wrote: »
    The old system also created a few... unplayable scenarios. Every one in a while you'd get a ground mission where you have to kill 5 groups... and one spawns UNDERGROUND.

    Not only that... there was little to no variety in what we do in them. It was always "kill five groups" or "Scan five objects".

    And then there is the ever popular Third Borg Dynasty. :D
    They did sometimes have neat environments, but were equally likely to have dumb stuff. I made a few pics.
    iota_pi_180_by_marhawkman-d7pcte6.png
    Iota Pi 180, no combat, just run around and tinker with a few weird artifacts. It was neat though, because the colony is built on a mountain top with a nice view.
    rho_horologii_044_xi_by_marhawkman-d7pcsya.png
    Rho Horologii 044-Xi was a geological survey mission, IE: beam down, scan 5 rocks, leave. The scenery was pretty nice though.
    screenshot_2013_09_09_15_56_00_by_marhawkman-d7orbll.jpg
    I forget the name and the map was not particularly exciting, but the story was that I was there to stop the forces of the Terran Empire from building a colony. This was a red-side mission so "stop" meant "massacre".
    screenshot_2014_02_08_17_20_45_by_marhawkman-d7orba4.jpg
    Same or similar plot, different and much cooler map.
    761_md8_by_marhawkman-d75tatu.png
    761-MD8 is a weird one. Notice how I have only one BOff? Yeah, this is why:
    761_md8b_by_marhawkman-d75tbu1.png
    The spawn point was glitched to be a pitifully small platform. And no, I did NOT change graphics settings between this and the previous ones. This map has air that looks like mud.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • edited February 2018
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  • rattler2rattler2 Member, Star Trek Online Moderator Posts: 58,559 Community Moderator
    Yup.
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
  • alexraptorralexraptorr Member Posts: 1,192 Arc User
    Removal of Exploration definitely made the game much less enjoyable for me. Sure it wasn't great but it was a nice change of pace going into a map not knowing exactly what to expect.
    "If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid." - Q
  • questeriusquesterius Member Posts: 8,481 Arc User
    azrael605 wrote: »
    > @rattler2 said:
    > The old system also created a few... unplayable scenarios. Every one in a while you'd get a ground mission where you have to kill 5 groups... and one spawns UNDERGROUND.
    >
    > Not only that... there was little to no variety in what we do in them. It was always "kill five groups" or "Scan five objects".
    >
    > And then there is the ever popular Third Borg Dynasty. :D

    Or the extremely common "round a corner and the floor disappears and you fall forever".

    What's exploration without a bit of risk.
    This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
  • szerontzurszerontzur Member Posts: 2,724 Arc User
    Why do I have this foreboding feeling that when exploration comes back it will be reduced to a 2d mini game, with exploration 'packs' sold in the C-Store?

    Pretty much. I don't see the/an exploration system being added back to the game unless there is a pricetag attached to it to justify the development cost.
  • starswordcstarswordc Member Posts: 10,963 Arc User
    Why would we want exploration back? Last time we went exploring we got dragged into a time war.
    "Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
    — Sabaton, "Great War"
    VZ9ASdg.png

    Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
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  • warpangelwarpangel Member Posts: 9,427 Arc User
    Removal of Exploration definitely made the game much less enjoyable for me. Sure it wasn't great but it was a nice change of pace going into a map not knowing exactly what to expect.
    Well I certainly knew exactly what to expect every time I did one of those star cluster missions.

    It was always either:
    1. Shoot some random aliens/alien ships that were doing nothing in the middle of nowhere, just because you're told
    2. Scan some random inanimate objects in the middle of nowhere, just because you're told
    3. Both of the above combined

    None of that was what I associate with the word "exploration." There was no investigation, no problem-solving, no sense of discovery. Just "go where you're told to go and shoot/click what you're told to shoot/click." Nothing unusual ever happened, no redshirts ever died and you never found anything you weren't told of in advance.
    sophlogimo wrote: »
    Because that's ultimately what we must do to survive. If one thing is clear from these past few years is that we cannot engage in navel-gazing while threats rise in the galaxy and at home (the Lukari have experience with that, too).

    Exploration should be in STO. Granted, an improved version over the old Genesis engine. But it should be there. As actual core gameplay, not as some paperwork minigame.
    There should be exploration in STO...but nothing in the "exploration" system was actually exploration. Glitching through the walls of new!ESD to check out the shuttlebay was more exploration than anything in the star clusters.
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  • voyagerfan9751voyagerfan9751 Member Posts: 1,120 Arc User
    szerontzur wrote: »
    Why do I have this foreboding feeling that when exploration comes back it will be reduced to a 2d mini game, with exploration 'packs' sold in the C-Store?

    Pretty much. I don't see the/an exploration system being added back to the game unless there is a pricetag attached to it to justify the development cost.

    People keep saying this and fail to realize there are multiple ways to "justify the development costs". If your base assumption were true, we would never get seasons or expansions in this game, because since they are free, their is no "justification for development costs".

    Money can come from multiple sources, every time someone subscribes they are paying for the game.

    That said, Exploration cluster were terrible. And will probably never give the playerbase what they want. In order to have some "random" encounter. you basically have to have a limited set of pre-established scenarios, the game can cycle through.

    Which is exactly what we had, and everyone agreed was generally terrible. Yes, you can make minor improvements, but the underlying system is still the same.

    There is no way to make a truly random encounter in a video game. It can't happen because EVERYTHING in a game has to be coded. So no matter what, you have to create a linear scenario that the game can go through.

    To create something that actually feels random, you would have to create so much content that it is functionally impossible for the same scenario to pop up again. That is well beyond any company to produce and most likely a waste of resources to even attempt.

    I know people want more exploration in the game, but I don't think it is logically possible in a video game, at least not in an quality that the playerbase would except.
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  • voyagerfan9751voyagerfan9751 Member Posts: 1,120 Arc User
    valoreah wrote: »
    People keep saying this and fail to realize there are multiple ways to "justify the development costs". If your base assumption were true, we would never get seasons or expansions in this game, because since they are free, their is no "justification for development costs".

    This is generally why the release of each expansion had a corresponding ship pack/mega-bundle that correlated with the expansion story. Those pack sales are where the ROI is for the time/work put into creating the expansion content.

    If we are to get a future new and improved exploration system, I don't doubt at all we'll see a mega-bundle of "exploration class" ships for each faction to help pay for the development.

    Fair enough. But that doesn't mean the exploration itself wouldn't be free. Which was my original point. There are multiple ways for Cryptic to "make money" on something. So not EVERYTHING has be to thrown in the C-store/Lockboxes to justify development costs.
  • starswordcstarswordc Member Posts: 10,963 Arc User
    edited February 2018
    > @sophlogimo said:
    > Because that's ultimately what we must do to survive. If one thing is clear from these past few years is that we cannot engage in navel-gazing while threats rise in the galaxy and at home (the Lukari have experience with that, too).
    >
    > Exploration should be in STO. Granted, an improved version over the old Genesis engine. But it should be there. As actual core gameplay, not as some paperwork minigame.

    I was making a bad joke, man. My point was that in Star Trek TV shows, literal space exploration itself was never the PLOT of the episode, it was a plot HOOK to get the cast TO the plot. Which is what "Sunrise" did (I just think the plot that it led to was poorly written nonsensical crud).
    "Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
    — Sabaton, "Great War"
    VZ9ASdg.png

    Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
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