"Mystery signal" mission sequence progresses too quickly

[cubinator]

I know the "story" aspect of the game is in its utmost infancy, and I'm sure what's in the game now is a barebones version of what we might have in, say, ten years. 

That said, I think the whole aspect of finding these giant monoliths moves a bit too quickly as it is right now. Once you've made your first timid steps toward the Mun, you're basically immediately presented with the reveal of the giant exposed arch. And once you're there, the game leads you right to the monument on Minmus, then to Duna without delay. I hope that in the future these signals require more effort to locate, uncover, and decipher. 

For instance, the site on Minmus looks ripe to actually require excavation. Imagine if that crater was filled in with dirt and the signal was detectable just below by rovers. The Mun arch could be something that requires uncovering at first too. And I hope that the deciphering of the "Welcome, younger sibling" message can require some actual effort by the player someday as well. 

In short, I hope that it's possible to play the game for a longer time without knowing if there are other advanced civilizations in space, then without knowing for sure the source of the mystery signals. In real life, we've spent a long time exploring space without knowing whether we'll find life there. We go out of hope, and wonder of what we DO find. Pushing the reveal too early like this might take away from players discovering those reasons to travel to space.

[stephensmat]

The 'Mystery Signal' Arc is how they keep you moving further out into the System. The side missions are how they fill the time between. The rest is design, Trial and Error that will not end, and anything else you feel like doing to unlock the tech tree.

My guess is, even if they don't expand it, and you do tick off all the Monoliths in a day or two, that's "Act One". Even without Colonies, the next step will be interstellar travel.

If there's one thing that the Real history of Spaceflight has taught us, it's that the First Landing is meant to plant a flag and tick a box. Everything after that is the important part.

Edited December 26, 2023 by stephensmat

[Naibakie]

I was hoping to explore other worlds and actually find stuff out about them while running experiments.
Learn about their geological history, potential for life either now or in the past, find water and organic compounds in the soil, slowly open up the possibility of life out there and the awesome ways stars and their systems of planets and moons form and change over time.

Right now the story seems to imply "The real world of space and space exploration is boring, actually. Here's some alien artefacts to fly between to make it not boring." I don't think that's the intent exactly, but that's definitely how it comes across.

I'm not a fan of the current direction.

What happened to the idea of doing actual science and finding stuff out with science in the science update???