Exoplanet Ross 128b an Earthlike World?

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erlin has just been discovered!  (For those of you who are familiar with the Elite universe….Ross 128 is the system which is host to the Merlin colony, an earth-like world which actually is a moon of the gas giant Aster in the game.)  The similarity of Merlin and this discovery might be astonishing!  I certainly hope the folks at Frontier are paying attention to this news item.

 

Artist’s conception of what the exoplanet Ross 128b might look like on the surface.  (Source: CNN.com)

 

 

Thargoids Nearing “The Bubble”

Alliance logo

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he Thargoid invasion is proceeding nicely — if you’re a Thargoid (or perhaps Prime Minister Ed Mahon).  Unfortunately, the bulk of humanity is governed by the Federation and the Empire; leaving humanity largely vulnerable to retaliation for the rumored attempted genocide of the Thargoid species.  And now, Thargoid encroachment is moving dangerously close to human-held space.  Indeed, non-human attacks have (as of recently) now struck as close to Earth as 70ly!  And we’re not seeing much apparent attention to this emerging crisis from either of the parties who, almost certainly, caused it in the first place.  Where is the mighty Empire?  Where are the fearless soldiers of the Federation?

Starships Wanted

Thargoid logo (proposed)

One solution that the pair of superpowers could offer are new classes of warships that would allow CMDRs to dock and allow the Empire and Federation both to project their might into areas hosting Thargoid activity — like near key installations, such as starports.  Allowing CMDRs to “park” their craft on a carrier class vessel would allow them to always organize and counter-attack in regions affected by Thargoids.  On top of which sooner or later this war will only be won by taking the fight into the territory of the enemy.  If that means using intergalactic hyperdrive technology, such an investment in larger capital ships may become necessary.  That is….if the Thargoid threat is ever to be pacified once and for all.

 

Pirates Using Thargoid Tech?

Are pirates using Thargoid tech to disrupt operations and some starports?  The possibility was raised this past week when one CMDR (name unavailable at present) proposed the notion that stolen Thargoid tech adapted for long-range energy disruption was actually responsible for all of the various starports reporting power problems.  Some groups (like the Ant Hill Mob) have taken to piracy and terrorism, leveraging the Thargoid threat as an opportunity to further the objectives of one small group at the expense of humanity!  If this proves true, I personally believe it should become a new objective to target these groups for decimation once the Thargoid threat has been resolved.  Such groups are demonstrating they are enemies of humanity as a whole, after all, through such self-serving acts!

As of the GalNet update, 30-JAN-3304: Vonarbug Port in the Maridal system, 70ly from Earth, was facing energy disruption activity that may originate from the Thargoids.  Does this mean this station is a target for attack in the near future?

On the other hand, it is entirely possible the Thargoids themselves are responsible for this disruption.  And in either case, the Empire and the Federation need to act together now.  The nearest point where this remote disruption activity is occurring is in the Maridal system, just 70ly from Earth!

The Future of Elite Dangerous: The Great In-Game Debate

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MDRs IronJaguar and SoapyKnight joined me in an unarranged VoiceComms chat session this evening to discuss wing options.

Click to review VFL data from FNS Quantica, January 25, 3304.

Or so I thought.  Suddenly, we were talking about VR gaming and the collective disappointment with how long new features were taking to be rolled into the Elite: Dangerous universe.  As a software developer myself, I’m acutely familiar with how it’s produced.  Prior experience with the world’s largest software production company, Microsoft, has helped that education and acquaint me with the most modern practices involved with the full software development lifecycle.  I thought I’d bring this view to a pair of gaming consumers; one from New York and another a fellow Canadian who lives relatively close, geographically (which is not a given in the world’s second-largest country).  CMDR IronJaguar, in particular, laid the heaviest expectations on Frontier (the producer of the Elite game series).  Could he be convinced to be more understanding of the issues involved in producing Elite: Dangerous?  And what about Frontier’s competitors?  Where is Star Citizen?  What about EndSpace and From Other Suns?  Could they pose a threat to Elite’s dominance in the VR flight sim market at some point?

Watch today’s gaming session here to find out!

Elite Dangerous Universe: Calendar dates?

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ello CMDRs!  It turns out that the date on the Elite Universe timebar (3304) is pretty close to the same day of the week we experience in 2018:

January 3304

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

As you can see from the above, today ‘s date in 3304 (January 24^th) falls on a Thursday, while in 2018 it is obviously a Wednesday.

Just another interesting fact about the gameplay of Elite, brought to you by CMDR Trium!