Distant Worlds II

Template:ExpeditionInfoBox Distant Worlds II (DW2), also known as Distant Worlds 3305, is the sequel to the Distant Worlds Expedition, which was the first major community expedition in Elite Dangerous history. Distant Worlds II was announced on October 10, 3303, and launched from the Pallaeni system on January 13, 3305.

History

Announcement and Early Planning

On October 10, 3303, CMDR Erimus made an early announcement for the sequel to the Distant Worlds Expedition. Coming in the wake of the reveal of Elite Dangerous: Beyond at Frontier Expo 2017, it was determined that Distant Worlds II would launch in Q4 3304/Q1 3305, after the release of Beyond's exploration-focused Chapter 4 update.

The stated goals of the expedition are:

• We want to create an event that challenges its participants, like DWE 3302 did.
• We want to create interesting basecamp meetups and events, that include all what the first expedition had, and more - specifically utilising whatever new discovery mechanics the new content requires.
• We would like to reach the same scale as last time or beat it, and then take advantage of our large contingent in the hopes the expedition might discover some of the new and mysterious things FD have hinted at!
• We have plans to bring back the Distant Worlds weekly newsletter that proved so popular last time around, and eventually have it again bound into a book as a memento.
• Naturally DWE2 plan to work in conjunction with the Galactic Mapping Project to discover, catalogue, and name new POIs, spatial anomalies, and geological features.
• The expedition will encourage and facilitate all the emergent gameplay that explorers are renowned for into joining and helping organise and oversee certain aspects of this mammoth endeavour; Fuel Rats, Rock Rats, MediCorp, The Repair & Tour Group, The Galactic Travel Agency, Surveyors, Galactic Mappers, Scouts, and even squadrons that will hopefully be able to utilise the new fleet carriers.
• We will put together an experienced organisation team to help create a memorable event.

Expedition Proposal

On January 14, 3304, on the second anniversary of the launch of the Distant Worlds Expedition, the expedition outline was posted by Erimus. The proposal included a Community Goal idea that would be run in conjunction with the main expedition, which if implemented, would incorporate prospecting and mining into the expedition. Early plans also suggested Community Goals to construct a Starport in Sagittarius A* and a Surface Port in Beagle Point; while the former goal was mostly preserved for Waypoint 7 of the finalized proposal, the latter goal was cancelled.

Registration

File:Distant Worlds II 5k.png

An emblem commemorating DW2's 5,000th registration

The expedition began accepting signups on February 1, 3304 (click here to register). Since then, a number of milestones in participation were achieved:

• 2,000 registrants - February 22, 3304
• 3,000 registrants - August 6, 3304
• 4,000 registrants - December 11, 3304
• 5,000 registrants - December 31, 3304
• 6,000 registrants - January 4, 3305
• 7,000 registrants - January 6, 3305
• 8,000 registrants - January 8, 3305
• 9,000 registrants - January 10, 3305
• 10,000 registrants - January 12, 3305

Preliminary Route

The preliminary expedition route outlined on February 1, 3304 proposed that Distant Worlds II would travel through both Sagittarius A* and Beagle Point on the "Outbound" stage, while "The Voyage Home" stage would trace the journey of the USS Voyager. The journey would cover over 200,000 ly and was estimated to take 304 days to complete.

File:DW2 Route draft.png

Approximate preliminary route plan for DW2

Waypoint Scouting Event

On April 1st, 3304, CMDR Erimus posted a call for explorers currently on a deep space excursion to submit POIs or areas of interest that may be suitable to be used as Distant Worlds 2 waypoints and basecamps.

Out of all submissions, 15-20 will be incorporated into Distant Worlds.

Fleet Logistics: Call for Volunteers

On April 16th, 3304, CMDR Olivia Vespera posted a call for volunteers in the bubble to help fleet logistics gather 10 of each available rare commodity in the game across all 3 gaming platforms. Members who answer the call are were asked to join the Fleet Logistics Discord and were given the role, Gatherer. The gathered rares would be stored in "warehouse" ships until they can be preloaded onto truckers.

Finalized Expedition Plan

In early December 3304, Distant Worlds II organizers announced their finalized expedition plan. The expedition will depart from Waypoint 1 in the Core Systems on January 13, 3305 on the 18-week "Outbound" half of the journey to Beagle Point, which consists of four stages:

1. Waypoints 1-5: Laying the foundations for Galactic Core scientific studies, revisiting mysteries of the past, and trailblazing the new age of discovery.
2. Waypoints 6-9: Building the Galactic Core Starport and discovering secrets at the heart of the galaxy.
3. Waypoints 10-12: Mapping the Aphelion.
4. Waypoints 13-15: A journey across the Abyss... and beyond.

In addition to various community events and exploration opportunities along the full route, a Community Goal will take place at Waypoint 2, approximately 6,000 ly away from the Core Systems, and involve mining materials for the construction of a new Starport, which will be located in a system neighboring Sagittarius A*. At Waypoint 7, the Starport will be constructed and support a second Community Goal to upgrade its amenities for members of the expedition and future travelers. The expedition will remain in the galactic core region for two to three weeks before continuing onward to Waypoint 15 at Beagle Point.

The "Voyage Home" half of the expedition will begin sometime after the Distant Worlds II expedition reaches Beagle Point, and involve the return journey to the Core Systems via an indirect route. More details will be announced at a later date.

GalNet Report

GalNet featured a report on Distant Worlds II on January 4, 3305:

Launch

The Distant Worlds II expedition officially departed from the Distant Worlds Tourist Beacon in the Pallaeni system on January 13, 3305. Due to the number of participants, there were three separate launch events; participants could attend the launch event which was most convenient for them.

• January 13, 3305 at 20:00 UTC (Europe)
• January 14, 3305 at 01:00 UTC (USA)
• January 14, 3305 at 10:00 UTC (Australia)

One hour before launch, participants were also encouraged to meet up at the original Distant Worlds launch site outside the settlement Brooks Point on Pallaeni A 1, and then move to the Distant Worlds Tourist Beacon 30 minutes before launch.

Within moments of the first launch event, the high number of players jumping from Pallaeni is believed to have caused a major server outage.

Expedition Waypoints

The expedition gathered at the Distant Worlds Tourist Beacon orbiting the main star of the Pallaeni system before departing for Waypoint 2. Instead of announcing all waypoint locations simultaneously prior to the start of the expedition, Distant Worlds II organizers will only reveal each waypoint one at a time to encourage expedition members to stay together, focus on the expedition's Community Goals and other events, and thoroughly explore the areas surrounding the waypoints for interesting discoveries.

Stage	WP	Basecamp Name	System	Planet	Coordinates	Date
1	1	Distant Worlds Tourist Beacon	Pallaeni	N/A	N/A	January 13, 3305
1	2	Roald Landing	Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15	7 B	34.283, 79.552	January 18, 3305
1	3		TBA
1	4		TBA
1	5		TBA
2	6		TBA
2	7		TBA
2	8		TBA
2	9		TBA
3	10		TBA
3	11		TBA
3	12		TBA
4	13		TBA
4	14		TBA
4	15		Beagle Point			May 10, 3305

• Waypoint 1 to Waypoint 2 route
  Waypoint 1 to Waypoint 2 route

Fleet Roles

Icon	Role	Description
File:DW2 Explorer.gif	Explorer	The default role that anyone not selecting a specific role is automatically assigned. Explorers will make up the bulk of the fleet and are those that are not fussed on specialization. During the journey Explorers will discover interesting stellar, planetary, or environmental POIs (like planetary nebulae etc). The very best of these POIs will then be used by Tour Guides, the Galactic Mapping Team, and Fleet Astrophotographers to visit and catalogue during the expedition and waypoint visits.
File:DW2 Fuel Rat.gif	Fuel Rat	Fuel Rats are welcome along on any deep space expedition and are invaluable. They're the last resort for players who get stranded out in the far depths of space.
File:DW2 Miner.gif	Miner	For the first time ever, Prospecting and Mining will have a practical role to play on a deep space expeditionary event, with miners at the forefront of the industrial aspect of Distant Worlds 2.
File:DW2 Fleet Mechanic.gif	Fleet Mechanic	Commanders who rig their ships to carry Hull Repair Limpets and are on hand to offer essential hull repairs to all fleet members who require their services.
File:DW2 Tour Guide.gif	Tour Guide	These pilots will work in conjunction with the Galactic Travel Agency and utilize Multi-Crew. The service will allow many more players to take part in DW2 as passengers and guests aboard Tour Guide operators ships. For RP purposes we encourage Tour Guides to register Belugas, Orcas, or Dolphin-class cruisers with the DW fleet.
File:DW2 Astrophotographer.gif	Astrophotographer	This project will be overseen by Qohen Leth for the official Distant Worlds Imgur Album. Astrophotographers will be encouraged to submit their photos to the album, some of these submissions will be highlighted and written about in the DW2 weekly newsletter, there may even be prizes on offer for a 'pic of the week'.
File:DW2 Fighter Escort.gif	Fighter Escort	Fighter Escort (Fleet Defence Force Squadrons) will be tasked to protect the fleet throughout the entirety of the journey to the far rim and back. More details on this role will become apparent during 3304.
File:DW2 Geologist.gif	Geologist	The prime focus for fleet Geologists is to seek out and catalogue active geological sites and interesting surface features for the Milky Way Society of Organics and Geology (overseen by CMDR MadRaptor - The Galactic Geologist), and the Galactic Mapping Project (overseen by the GMP Team).
File:DW2 Scientist.gif	Scientist	This role will involve charting and cataloging Notable Stellar Phenomena for the Galactic Mapping Project. Scientists will also directly contribute to The Scientific Surveyor Project, whose goal will be to collate a wealth of statistics on star systems, worlds, and asteroid fields (among other things), from which EfilOne will create statistical documents on what the DW2 fleet discovered by journey's end.
File:DW2 Media.gif	Media	This role will encompass Video Makers, Streamers, Mission Chroniclers and Blog-Writers who want to document their own journeys and share them with the community. Like on DW3302, some of the media content created during the expedition may be featured in the newsletters.
File:DW2 MediCorp.gif	MediCorp	This is a semi-roleplayed role and is based upon the concept created by Wing Atlantis. The basic premise is for MediCorp pilots to collect stranded escape pods that are located during the expedition and store them aboard their ships until journeys end, whereupon they will be delivered to a stations search & rescue department.
File:DW2 Fleet Logistics.gif	Fleet Logistics	This is a roleplayed role and is based upon the concept created by Olivia Vespera. There are two aspects to this role. Supply and Trade. Supply will carry food equivalent to the amount required to support a fleet of this size for a 6 month journey into the black. Traders will carry various rare commodities for use in celebrations, or to trade with AI settlements we may encounter.

Private Groups

Like Distant Worlds, Distant Worlds 2 hosted several Private Groups for fleet members to fly safe and to host official meetups. Flying in the Private Group is not a requirement to be on the expedition.

Private Group Name	Platform	Owner
Fleetcomm	PC	Grnbrg
DistantworldsXB	Xbox One	JT442
Allcrowsareblack	PS4	Allcrowsareblack

Squadrons

Distant Worlds 2 utilizes the Squadrons feature added by Elite Dangerous: Beyond Chapter Four (3.3). As Squadrons have a maximum capacity of 500 members, multiple Squadrons were created for the expedition. Joining an official DW2 Squadron is not mandatory, but applicants are required to first register on the official DW2 roster, and anyone found not to have registered is subject to immediate removal. Expedition Squadrons began accepting member applications on January 1, 3305.

Squadron Name	Platform	Owner	Notes
FleetComm [FCDW]	PC	Dr. Kaii	Primary PC Squadron for DW2
Distant Worlds [DWII]	PC	Erimus	1st Overflow PC Squadron for DW2
EDSM [EDSM]	PC	EDSM	2nd Overflow PC Squadron for DW2
FleetComm [FLCM]	Xbox One	EXC Xta80
Distant Worlds 2 [DW02]	PlayStation 4	StormyUK

Multicrew

For the duration of Distant Worlds II, a Multicrew option called "Distant Worlds Expedition" is available. Players who are not actively participating in DW2 can experience the expedition remotely by selecting this option and temporarily joining the ship of a DW2 participant.

Videos

• File:Distant Worlds 2 A Journey of Discovery
• File:Distant Worlds 2 Launch Livestream

Gallery

• DW2 announcement teaser
  DW2 announcement teaser
• Animated DW2 emblem
  Animated DW2 emblem
• DW2 emblem variant
  DW2 emblem variant
• DW2 registration "mission board"
  DW2 registration "mission board"
• The original, outdated DW2 3304 emblem
  The original, outdated DW2 3304 emblem
• 3304 variant 1
  3304 variant 1
• 3304 variant 2
  3304 variant 2
• 3304 variant 3
  3304 variant 3
• Playing in an ice canyon
  Playing in an ice canyon

External Links

• Distant Worlds II Information Index
• Distant Worlds II: A Journey of Discovery
• Distant Worlds II Early Announcement
• Distant Worlds II Fleet Roster Sign-Up Thread
• Distant Worlds II Official Fleet Roster