Test Server Feedback

On sisi new T2 modules requires only level 1 of skill, the same as T1. I think it should be changed before it lands in tranquility. :)

List style feedback

1. I go to select one signature in the list, and all my probes are unselected meaning I have to go back to the list to reselect them in order to move them around.

2. Signatures scanned to 100% don't save themselves like before, once I start in on a new signature the old ones go back to normal.

3. The new system wide scanner does show signatures as well as anomolies, but not in the list version (which I would recommend you keep because without it that is a lot of flipping around the camera to keep an eye out (I am in wh space and like to keep an eye out for new wh's that pop-up. I do use a probe normally to keep an eye out, combat-type to see any random camping people, but if the new scanner is replacing DSP then those sites need to be listed properly or not at all.

4. The scanning mode is confusing. Is the new system scanner always scanning? The graphic makes it appear so and the scanner button would appear to be for just probes, but if this is not the case I would be curious to know.

5. Being able to launch a single combat probe lets me position it neatly and simply out of range of DS, making keeping myself safe easy. By removing the single launch ability, setting up a fairly standard safety net is not easy in a stupid way. Again, like showing scanning strengths of signatures within the list, this is something that needs to change from how it is currently.

That's all for now, more later

I can see the utility of the probe formations, and moving the whole formation at once without holding down shift is nice but being locked into launching 7 probes is silly. Make it so that pushing the formation button launches a group of probes, but activating the launcher should still drop one at a time.

Losing the DSP and not having signal strength available is going to make life in a wormhole harder. I guess we can differentiate sites based on the size of the bar but the numerical value would be nice to have.

By far the worst thing so far is that sites aren't "remembered" once scanned to 100%. In the old system you could scan a sig to 100% and then move on to the next one without losing the ability to warp to the first. This is no longer possible.

Edit: I just noticed that if you move your probes far enough away from a 100% sig that it won't get scanned again it will remain at 100% and warpable. It's only if it gets re-scanned that the signal strength goes down. Still not great but maybe it's a bug and not a feature.

Sortable results window please.

The sensor overlay is actually kind of nice, but can we turn off the radar sweep animation without losing the sigs? It's a neat effect the first time but it gets old pretty quick (much like the new gate animation).

Hopefully you can iterate this a few times before the launch.

Issues I have found..

Unable to change the scan range of any probe.

* I launch 7 probes in formation but want to change probe 3 to 16 AU. The menu allows it but there is no change in the UI until you hit the scan button. The size the probe's sphere doesn't change either on the screen.

* I scanned down a wormhole and got it to 100% but once I moved the probes away the percentage dropped. Did not stay 100 % like the old scanner would.. Don't know if this is an designed change or an over look. Had the same result with a Data Site.

Shift + Alt to shrink the location of the probes together took a while to figure out. Also there is no on screen display to show you how large the scan diameter is for the probes. You must look at the scanner to determine this.

When you change the size of the range you have to click the scan button to have the scanner update the correct range. There seems to be a disconnect here.

I set one probe to 16 AU and the rest to 0.5AU but they all appear the same size on the screen

I do like the colored changing bar for the cosmic signature you scanning down. I also like the text size and font.

Liking it so far. Please put the "scan" button back at the top of the window though; I ran a few scans and every time I was fighting muscle memory and moving mouse to the top of the window when the scan button is now in the lower pane. Don't see why it's been moved.

Forgive me if anybody said this before, but I believe a 4 probe dispersal pattern would be really useful, along with the old 8 probe limit. Some people were asking about not being able to scan two targets at a time with the present setup. With 4 probe dispersal pattern, launching two such patterns could be possible, thus enabling the old strategy of scanning two locations at a time. It could also help those who just want to launch 4 probes.

PS: I hope you change the habit of the scanner forgetting scanned down results. I hope this has been just an oversight and not a planned feature.

Overall, these changes are very disappointing. You've brought a number of minor usability changes to the scanning system which make a cumbersome interface easier to use. However, you're treating the symptoms not the problem.

Imagine you're a combat pilot. Is blowing up your 1000th ship boring? Or is it still as exciting as ever? I'll wager that most folks would think it's still fun.

Now imagine you're an explorer. Is scanning down your 1000th signature boring? Hell Yes! I'll wager most folks would answer the same. Scanning is a time-consuming hurdle you have to surmount to find/secure/identify the fun stuff.

But why? What's the difference between the two?... The first, involves an activity which changes every time, it's always different and there's infinite room for variation and interaction with others. The second, is always the same experience... every damn time. There's no variety (except what mostly-uninteresting-things you find, where you find them, and how long it takes to find something you actually want), and often times there's no interaction with other players within the scanning system itself, beyond a tedious game of "spam the d-scanner".

The problem is: the process of scanning itself is dreadfully boring. So what's to be done about this?
Add challenges to the process:

• scanning interference (natural and artificial: e.g. solar flares, interstellar dust, gravitational lensing, jamming: preferably strawberry),
• scanner pvp... probe killing hunter killer drones (every scan the enemy makes brings their probes closer to destruction),
• false signatures (e.g. disguise your ship as another ship... Surprise! that's a Tengu not a Hulk),
• back-hacking the signal (use your enemy's probes to pinpoint or decloak them).
• scanning alerts (spamming the d-scanner isn't fun for anyone... if someone is trying to be sneaky and land probes undetected, the probing system itself should encapsulate that dynamic)

Basically, introduce problem solving and human interaction into the scanning/counter-scanning process. And, for goodness sake, don't let it be the same damn, mind numbing tedium over and over.

I'd say the number of "likes' to the initial post so far (6) is telling you all you need to know about this "changes".

You've done a great job making the scanning system simpler by automating a lot of the things that had to be done manually before. Fair enough, maybe it's for the better that scanning becomes more intuitive than its current form. However the way you're implementing it is all kinds of awful.

1. Launching 7 probes at once into space in a wormhole is basically the same as waving your arms in the air screaming "HEY EVERYONE, I'M HERE! PAY ATTENTION TO ME DAMN IT!". While it's convenient for the casual scanner, hunters with subtlety will now die a painful death.

2. Automatically resizing and repositioning the probes may be all good and fun for locking down a single signature, it severely hinders our ability to cover the scan areas that WE WANT TO COVER. For example, we don't want or need the probes to be in their spread formation the second we hit launch... we want them clumped together, so we can use them to evaluate signature strengths without flinging our probes out to every corner of the system for people to dscan. Not to mention, we want to make our own probe formations without having to first drag them back into place.

3. Removing that 8th probe effectively dismantles many of the multi-sig probing layouts that veteran scanners have relied upon. I don't know whose call it was that 7 probes is the way to go, or why it was even necessary to take the 8th probe out, but they are wrong, and they have now angered the bitter vets.

I have no problem with making the system slightly easier to use for beginners, but those neat little automated features you've added that are supposed to be crutches for the new explorer are severe hindrances to the seasoned veteran. So I propose the following:

1. Make the scanning interface more customizable. A simple check box that disables many of these beginner friendly features would suffice. Give us the option to launch the probes 1 at a time if we choose, as well as the option to not have a computer automate our probe placements. This can't be rocket science to implement.

2. We need that 8th probe back. This is not a trivial matter. You've removed something that is critical to the level of depth scanning has evolved into.

3. Make the scan results copy/pastable. Otherwise the 3rd party tools we've developed over the years will be made completely obsolete.

I endorse this wall of text. Also I would like my DSP back!