Distant Worlds II

Template:ExpeditionInfoBox Distant Worlds II (DW2), also known as Distant Worlds 3305, is the sequel to the Distant Worlds Expedition, the first major community expedition in Elite Dangerous history. It was announced on October 10, 3303, and is expected to launch 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 World 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

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

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 20-week "Outbound" half of the journey, which consists of two stages: the journey from the Core Systems to Sagittarius A* (Waypoints 1-7), and the journey from Sagittarius A* to Beagle Point (Waypoints 8-17). 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 at Waypoint 7, 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 departing for Waypoint 8 and beginning the second stage of the "Outbound" segment.

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.

Departure

The Distant Worlds II expedition will officially depart from the Distant Worlds Tourist Beacon in the Pallaeni system on January 13, 3305.

Expedition Waypoints

The expedition will initially gather at the Distant Worlds Tourist Beacon orbiting Pallaeni A 1 before departing for the first waypoint. 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.

WP	Basecamp Name	System	Planet	Coordinates	Date
1	Distant Worlds Tourist Beacon	Pallaeni	A 1	N/A	January 13, 3305
2		TBA
3		TBA
4		TBA
5		TBA
6		TBA
7		TBA (Near Sagittarius A*)
8		TBA
9		TBA
10		TBA
11		TBA
12		TBA
13		TBA
14		TBA
15		TBA
16		TBA
17		Beagle Point

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 is speculative and is based on the assumption that Environmental Space Anomalies (hinted at by FD) will be discoverable by Q4 3304, and will thus need charting for the Mapping Project and cataloguing. 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 will host several private groups for fleet members to fly safe and to host official meetups. As with the previous expedition. 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

Videos

• File:Distant Worlds 2 A Journey of Discovery

Gallery

• File:DistantWorlds2SplashPage.jpg
• File:DW2 Missionboard.png
• File:BZH7Yae.png
• File:PlaceholderDW2White.png
• File:PlaceholderDW2Blue.png
• File:PlaceholderDW2Black.png

External Links

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