ship interiors - will they happen

[Lukaz_Chrom]

So what about the Horizons owners, they'd need to buy Odyssey, oops.. (those blinders appear to be working well!)

Oh rly, because last time I checked, ppl that do not own Odyssey can still be attacked by Ships exclusively obtainable through Odyssey RIGHT NOW!
Guess my "blinders" must have prevented me from picking up on that no longer being the case
... And wait a moment ... if I remember correctly ... a certain "Horizons" was once given away for free ... AND EVEN THAT caused a "fuzz"
Is it even possible to make ppl like you happy ?

Surely you already knew that, unless you bury your head in the sand when anything that doesn't meet your narrative is posted here?

Nice try dude, nice try
Btw. I would recommend you to check out SC, it would do wonders for you ²

AND:

I have literally never needed to repair my power plant outside a station. Ever. If that's the only contribution that ship interiors can offer, it's a waste of time.

OHOHO! A 100% undamaged Ship is truly so much easier to maintain than it would seem huh ...
So I guess you NEVER EVER overheated during an exploration-trip which left your power plant damaged?
Well excuse this old CMDR (who is an ARENA-Champion btw. ), for seemingly not flying in the same leagues of skill as you do
Guess I do in fact need that "crutch" ... I truly hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for my horrible lack of skill
(And as mentioned, the power plant is merely the bare minimum ...)

AND PS:

Do you have fdev's design document that shows this is the plan?

You brought up a potential problem (What if you get attacked during Ship Repair?),
I brought up a potential solution (Then you could get simply insta-ported back to your helm via Telepresence.)
...
Funny really ... last time I checked I did not need a "design document" to propose such XD
...
But yeah, I guess we both know such simple concepts are already out-the-window here ;D
So where is your "design document" that would prove FDevs position as to such ?

 

[Rat Catcher]

Oh rly, because last time I checked, ppl that do not own Odyssey can still be attacked by Ships exclusively obtainable through Odyssey RIGHT NOW!

Indeed, they can be bought for credits when available in Odyssey, and used in Horizons - or can be bought only for Arx in Horizons... surely you knew that as an avid player of the game, with infinite knowledge of FD's intent and plans...

Btw. I would recommend you to check out SC, it would do wonders for you ²

I paid my AAA game price years ago, it should be much more suited to you, I think, rather than me, not that I mind wasting that money, I bought CP2077 too...

Is it even possible to make ppl like you happy ?

I'm particularly happy thanks, but then, I don't have totally belief in the game changing substantially before the servers are turned off, so enjoy what exists, rather than continually sniff the vapours...

 

[thistle]

I brought up a potential solution (Then you could get simply insta-ported back to your helm via Telepresence.)

Is that how you would characterise this disingenuous post?

... you are once again purposefully bringing up an argument you KNOW to be without foundation as its already been dismanteled often enough

 

[Rainbro]

Not being able to replace to repair the powerplant is a deliberate design choice, you won't be able to do that if ship interiors were implemented.

I mean, not being able to repair the hull was a deliberate design choice too, until it wasn't and they added hull repair limpets. I don't see any reason why powerplant repairs couldn't possibly be added, with or without interiors. Carriers kind of obliterated the last vestigal remains of exploration risk anyway.
I can think of many better things to do with interiors, and many other reasons why Frontier are never gonna do it, but why not if they somehow did.

 

[r09u3]

I dislike the waste of time walking around a ship in Starfield represents. Did look once, used fast entrance & exit ever after.
Regardless of any feature in a game, some folk will like it, others loathe it...

I feel the same. First couple times I got on the ship in starfield was cool untill I realized there is nothing to do but play home decorating. If I want that I'll go play the sims. And don't even get me started on trying to get past the NPCs that won't move.

 

[Arioch]

I feel the same. First couple times I got on the ship in starfield was cool untill I realized there is nothing to do but play home decorating. If I want that I'll go play the sims. And don't even get me started on trying to get past the NPCs that won't move.

I use my ship-installed crafting workbenches and research stations frequently - and I always enjoy travelling to the cockpit from the airlock, and vice versa. Gives me a real Armstrong moment feeling even with the loading screen airlock.

Each to their own, of course.

The most enjoyment I get from ship interiors in Starfield though (and I expect in Elite should they ever become a thing) is when boarding other vessels.

 

[Leadfoot]

As much as I would love to have ship interiors myself, they will never be practical until artificial gravity is developed.

I just want to get into my imperial cutter at any time any place and go down one deck to where the jacuzzi is located. Of course, without artificial gravity that place is going to be a mess, with water all over the place.

 

[Cosmo]

You had to walk around the ship in Mass Effect or you'd miss out on significant chunks of the game- to the point where the main quests would not be completable. There would be literally no reason to do this in ED unless current gameplay functions are removed.

Yes, ME has important story conversations with crew on the Normandy. This could be added to ED as free or paid DLC. However, a lot of players like to walk inside their ship for immersion's sake. Walk on the bridge, through the corridors, captain's quarters, crew quarters, engineering bay, laboratory, briefing room, armory, life support, medical bay, cargo, fighter hangar etc. The freedom to explore your own ship is something special. If Fdev releases a ship interiors DLC with little gameplay, I bet it would sell like hot cakes.

As much as I would love to have ship interiors myself, they will never be practical until artificial gravity is developed.

I just want to get into my imperial cutter at any time any place and go down one deck to where the jacuzzi is located. Of course, without artificial gravity that place is going to be a mess, with water all over the place.

There could be Galnet news about the invention of new anti-gravity (artificial) or similar.

I use my ship-installed crafting workbenches and research stations frequently - and I always enjoy travelling to the cockpit from the airlock, and vice versa. Gives me a real Armstrong moment feeling even with the loading screen airlock.

Yeah, opening the door and walking down the boarding ramp to the planet soil is a proper Armstrong-experience. Now we have teleportation to a blue highlighted spot.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

I mean, not being able to repair the hull was a deliberate design choice too, until it wasn't and they added hull repair limpets. I don't see any reason why powerplant repairs couldn't possibly be added, with or without interiors. Carriers kind of obliterated the last vestigal remains of exploration risk anyway.
I can think of many better things to do with interiors, and many other reasons why Frontier are never gonna do it, but why not if they somehow did.

True enough actually, power plant repair can be decoupled from ship interiors anyway since neither is dependent on the other if FDev didn't want them to be.

I'd just like to see an argument for ship interiors that doesn't involve something we can already do from the cockpit, isn't just current Odyssey gameplay moved onto a different background in a ship and actually offers me something new like both Horizons and Odyssey did.

The problem is that FDev have left themselves nowhere to go with it. In Starfield I used the ship for storing gear, resources and medical supplies (we already have this in ED), crafting (not needed in ED since it's at every station apart from engineer mods), sleeping for the XP bonus (not needed in ED), storing food/water (not needed in ED) and speaking to my crew (not needed in ED- could have been implemented on carriers if FDev wanted) and boarding other ships to steal gear and the ship itself (good luck getting any of that implemented in ED). Plus if FDev actually did care about ship interiors, they could very easily start that ball rolling with carrier interiors. Cue the tumbleweed, even as far as cosmetics.

That tells me they have no good ideas with this and they'd only be doing it to shut us up, which is absolutely not the right motivation that leads to a good game update.

 

[Lukaz_Chrom]

I'd just like to see an argument for ship interiors that doesn't involve something we can already do from the cockpit,

So you discount all of "Ship Repair" just because you can install an AFMU?
(Which cannot repair everything AND needs a second slot to repair itself [... and despite everything else that was mentioned]).
Well fine. Let's accept that for a moment.
For yes, the #1 argument has never been gameplay, I never claimed anything else. (Allthough it should and could come at a good #2 [Ship Repair ])
But the #1 would be immersion (with the subsequent $) and I frequently like to use Warframe as an example.
You have an Orbiter there that basically does NOTHING new.

You see, when Warframe released there was only a menue.
You could do everything from within that menue.
THEN they transformed that menue into a Ship Interior which they gradually expanded.
You can still do almost everything from a menue if you want.
But people LOVE this Ship Interior and you cannot believe the amounts of $ ppl have spent to decorate them.
A huge boon here would be the ability to invite friends to come and check them out so you can gloat.
Ofc there should be fancy decorations extremely expensive to craft which btw. would go hand-in-hand with Elites
primary design-philosophy: Insane amounts of endless grind. (Not that I ask for more grind but yeah ... just mentioning)
+
It is extremely important to remember one thing:
We are not asking for a castle, we are asking for a FEW rooms and we are happy with them only beeing accessible via loading-screen and only if the ship is stationary.
If this is really too much too ask, then I'm sorry, but I beg to differ. (IMO, even accessing the Interiors while the Ship travels in a straight line should be a doable)

That tells me they have no good ideas with this and they'd only be doing it to shut us up, which is absolutely not the right motivation that leads to a good game update.

You really do ignore the factor here.
I mean ok, lets pretend that Ship Interiors are actually everything evil and bad that their opponents like to describe them as,
so what XD ?
If they just do a half decent job (and I think it is hard to screw up a few rooms only accesible through loading screens),
FDev will still earn more $ from them than from anything else really, which can then be re-invested into different features.
WITH the added bonus of "shutting us up".


PS:

As much as I would love to have ship interiors myself, they will never be practical until artificial gravity is developed.

I just want to get into my imperial cutter at any time any place and go down one deck to where the jacuzzi is located. Of course, without artificial gravity that place is going to be a mess, with water all over the place.

This IS a good point, but this really comes down to a design decision.
FDev could just come up with a galnet-news-story and introduce artificial grav (as Cosmo suggested)
OR (as I like to say) they could just do it XD ...
As I love to say: Did ANYONE ever complain about Luk and Han not fLoATinG ArOUnD in the Falcon ?
BUT:
FDev obviously went for a far more realistic depiction of space and I respect that.
Furthermore, the #1-design inspiration for Elite was likely Kubricks 2001 Masterpiece
Ergo. I guess the good old Magnet Boots will be the way <D
BUT²:
If you want a jacuzzi I see no issue with that either, just have a force-field prevent the water from flowing around
And that's just an idea I had like, after 5s thinking about it.
Any creative writer/designer with at least half of a brain can come up with solutions to such questions.

...
All I ever wanted in Elite was to stand on that lookout-deck of my Anaconda and gaze at the Stars ...

 

[Jack Winter]

I don't think the discussion is about evil and bad, not even about shutting up a few vocal individuals..

It really is about what will the new gameplay be, and if there is no new gameplay I seriously doubt that Frontier will finish developing them.

I'd personally be fine with derelicts, and shooting ships up until they can be boarded and looted, or possibly be captured in their entirety.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

So you discount all of "Ship Repair" just because you can install an AFMU?
(Which cannot repair everything AND needs a second slot to repair itself [And despite everything else that was mentioned]).
Well fine. ... Let's accept that for a moment.
The #1 argument is not gameplay anyway, I never claimed anything else.
That would be immersion and I frequently like to use Warframe as an example.
You have an Orbiter there that basically does NOTHING new.

You see, when Warframe released there was only a menue.
You could do everything from within that menue.
THEN they transformed that menue into a Ship Interior which they gradually expanded.
You can still do almost everything from a menue if you want.
But people LOVE this Ship Interior and you cannot believe the amounts of $ ppl have spent to decorate them.
A huge boon here would be the ability to invite friends to come and check them out so you can gloat.
Ofc there should be fancy decorations extremely expensive to craft which btw. would go hand-in-hand with Elites
primary design-philosophy: Insane amounts of endless grind. (Not that I ask for more grind but yeah ... just mentioning)
+
It is extremely important to remember one thing:
We are not asking for a castle, we are asking for a FEW rooms and we are happy with them only beeing accessible via loading-screen and only if the ship is stationary.
If this is really too much too ask, then I'm sorry, but I beg to differ. (IMO, even accessing the Interiors while the Ship travels in a straight line should be a doable)


You really do ignore the factor here.
I mean ok, lets pretend that Ship Interiors are actually everything evil and bad that their opponents like to describe them as,
so what XD ?
FDev will still earn a lot of $ from them (more than from anything else really) which can then be re-invested into different features.
WITH the added bonus of "shutting us up".


PS:

This IS a good point, but this really comes down to a design decision.
FDev could just come up with a galnet-news-story and introduce artificial grav (as Cosmo suggested)
OR (as I like to say) they could just do it XD ...
As I love to say: Did ANYONE ever complain about Luk and Han not fLoATinG ArOUnD in the Falcon ?
BUT:
FDev obviously went for a far more realistic depiction of space and I respect that.
Furthermore, the #1-design inspiration for Elite was likely Kubricks 2001 Masterpiece
Ergo. I guess the good old Magnet Boots will be the way <D
BUT²:
If you want a jacuzzi I see no issue with that either, just have a force-field prevent the water from flowing around
And that's just an idea I had like, after 5s thinking about it.
Any creative writer/designer with at least half of a brain can come up with solutions to such questions.

...
All I ever wanted in Elite was to stand on that lookout-deck of my Anaconda and gaze at the Stars ...

Again, the problem exists that for any argument about what FDev could add with ship interiors, is why they're not already doing it with carrier interiors - especially cosmetics, since that interior already exists and we even have an office in there that surely is the lowest hanging of fruit for more customisation option.

We can't even remotely swap modules on any of our ships from the shipyard. Four years and the most we can do is swap to a different ship- which we can do just as easily while sat in the hanger. As I said previously, if thats the level of input FDev are willing to put into the on foot part of the game after all that time spent fixing it in the first place, better to stick with the space flight stuff, because at least they're passionate about that (to be fair, I wouldn't blame any of the devs who were involved in fixing Odyssey post launch for never wanting to touch any part of on foot gameplay ever again- if you don't touch it, you don't break it).

 

[Lukaz_Chrom]

Again, the problem exists that for any argument about what FDev could add with ship interiors, is why they're not already doing it with carrier interiors - especially cosmetics, since that interior already exists and we even have an office in there that surely is the lowest hanging of fruit for more customisation option.

Very good question:
Very simple answer:
A. VERY VERY FEW ppl own a fleet carrier in contrast to those that don't [I have 2,5k hours and will likely never own one].
B. Guess what: There are TONS of fleet carrier customization options nevertheless already; Just not for the insides yet because that framework hasn't been programmed yet XD
I can almost gurantee you though, as soon as personal Ship Interior Decorations are out, you will be able to do so for Fleet-Carriers too.

PS:

It really is about what will the new gameplay be, and if there is no new gameplay I seriously doubt that Frontier will finish developing them.

Ship Repair, which I will not get tierd of repeating, and which no AFMU can save you from.
I mean, to name another point, is the idea really so far fetched, that I MAYBE just want to save a slot ? For like ... anything else?
And if you don't want to accept Ship Repair as an answer, then I guess sorry.
BUT: As mentioned, while gameplay is ofc A big factor, it is not the do-all & break-all factor you seem to paint it as.
That would be customer-satisfaction, aka. $ => Ship Decoration / Immersion.

 

[Jack Winter]

Boo for ship repairs as a reason to do interiors, and boo for the idea of a cut scene moving from the bridge to the inside.

Like others point out we can already repair all but the power plant or the afmu itself (if not carrying two).

But give me EVA and boarding of ships then we're probably onto something.

 

[Lukaz_Chrom]

Boo for ship repairs as a reason to do interiors, and boo for the idea of a cut scene moving from the bridge to the inside.

Like others point out we can already repair all but the power plant or the afmu itself (if not carrying two).

But give me EVA and boarding of ships then we're probably onto something.

Well congrats. I have respect for anyone that simply outright admits when he is against something for personal-preference reasons.
At least "Boo" is a more respectable argument than trying to find hairs in a soup which simply don't exist.
[Yet when it comes to the "cutscene", it is a loading-screen, not a "cutscene" XD and OF COURSE I'd rather have a seamless transition as well,
thing is, it is a technical compromise that might actually be unavoidable, BUT a compromise that would be MORE than worth it, that you can believe!
Especially if they mask it with the same elevator-system they basically already have.]

Ah yes, + I forgot smth:

As I said previously, if thats the level of input FDev are willing to put into the on foot part of the game after all that time spent fixing it in the first place, better to stick with the space flight stuff, because at least they're passionate about that (to be fair, I wouldn't blame any of the devs who were involved in fixing Odyssey post launch for never wanting to touch any part of on foot gameplay ever again- if you don't touch it, you don't break it).

And you are right
FDev already DID THAT ² After Odyssey released, we basically got almost nothing in terms of content, actual fixes etc. for a VERY long time. (Except for Thargoids I guess)
Loud voices began to already proclaim Elites actual death via "maintanance-mode".
Guess what forced FDev to return to their once-GoldMule?
:
Or rather ... the fact that they desperately needed it after the failures of their other projects and their subsequent 90% stock drop.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

Very good question:
Very simple answer:
A. VERY VERY FEW ppl own a fleet carrier in contrast to those that don't [I have 2,5k hours and will likely never own one]
B. Guess what: There are TONS of fleet carrier customization options nevertheless already: Just not for the insides yet because that framework has been programmed yet XD
I can almost gurantee you though, as soon as personal Ship Interior Decorations are out, you will be able to do so for Fleet-Carriers too.

Not that many players own carriers? Did I miss some sarcasm here?

The framework does already exist for carrier interior liveries, FDev haven't built on it or seen fit to make any of them Arx purchasable. Plenty of ship kits and paint jobs have been made in that time though.

The issue is gameplay, and there isn't anything new to add. You keep mentioning ship repair, but I'm not alone in never repairing myships outside of stations, because we simply don't have to as it's quicker to just get to our destination. I've had my powerplant sniped in PvP fights, didn't matter, I just carried on with 50% output.

Guess what forced FDev to return to their once-GoldMule?

Glad you mentioned that. Yes, Odyssey was one of the causes of their problems they had that resulted in them scaling back in some areas
So they went back to basics of what made the game good. Space flight. Anything else relies on game mechanics that it turns out really aren't popular.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Not that many players own carriers? Did I miss some sarcasm here?

The framework does already exist for carrier interior liveries, FDev haven't built on it or seen fit to make any of them Arx purchasable. Plenty of ship kits and paint jobs have been made in that time though.

The issue is gameplay, and there isn't anything new to add. You keep mentioning ship repair, but I'm not alone in never repairing myships outside of stations, because we simply don't have to as it's quicker to just get to our destination. I've had my powerplant sniped in PvP fights, didn't matter, I just carried on with 50% output.


Glad you mentioned that. Yes, Odyssey was one of the causes of their problems they had that resulted in them scaling back in some areas
So they went back to basics of what made the game good. Space flight. Anything else relies on game mechanics that it turns out really aren't popular.

There is plenty of extra and good content that can be added to on foot gameplay, whether that's ship interiors or something else. It just hasn't been done yet, unfortunately. I really so enjoy the on foot gameplay, but it's limited in the variation of what you can do.

There needs to be more, whether that's exploring the interiors of crashed ships on planets or space EVA to derelict ships in space (for mission rewards or PP rewards), or getting missions to get a piece if software from a scavenger base on a planet which you could in various ways, go with violence or stealth your way in using the cutting tools etc.

I really like the mechanics we have for on foot play, there is just not enough options to use them.

To say there isn't that much to add is just wrong. There is a ton that can be added which would make the on-foot gameplay much better.

 

[Lukaz_Chrom]

Not that many players own carriers? Did I miss some sarcasm here?

No you didn't <D
Sure I would personally estimate that there is a surely a LARGE amount of ppl that own one.
But dude, nowhere NEAR next to the ppl that don't <D² (and nowhere near ready to stand on their own legs)
"Potential-Customerbase" is the keyword here.

The framework does already exist for carrier interior liveries, FDev haven't built on it or seen fit to make any of them Arx purchasable. Plenty of ship kits and paint jobs have been made in that time though.

Dude ... Uhhhh "liveries" have NOTHING to do with a framework to actually put LARGE variably spacable interior decorations into a walkable space.
The CLOSEST thing we have for this are the bobbleheads XD
This is about CODING, not about the storefront <D

The issue is gameplay, and there isn't anything new to add. You keep mentioning ship repair, but I'm not alone in never repairing myships outside of stations, because we simply don't have to as it's quicker to just get to our destination. I've had my powerplant sniped in PvP fights, didn't matter, I just carried on with 50% output.

That is a decision you are free to make, and yes, it is totally viable.
But given how comparably easy it would be to implement Ship Repair, why not have the option?
There are no "downsides" to Ship Repair <D
EXCEPT for someone SPECIFICALLY not desiering to "get his hands dirty" so to speak.
And personally, I do in fact RESPECT THAT
I never called for the "removal" of the AFMU after all <D²

Glad you mentioned that. Yes, Odyssey was one of the causes of their problems they had that resulted in them scaling back in some areas
So they went back to basics of what made the game good. Space flight. Anything else relies on game mechanics that it turns out really aren't popular.

Ah yes ...
And that includes the recently added Base-Building I assume
(If you even deign to call it that ... I prefer "Station-Spawning")
+
atm. ALL the Odyssey-Gameply still lacks the certain smth.
It is STILL an unfinished cake ...
But the redemption is close! The doors simply have to open
So why leave it unfinished?


PS:
I absolutely AM AWARE that Ship Repair is 100% NOT as desired of a feature for Ship Interiors than say EVA,
BUT understand my PoV for a moment (yes I am biast towards Ship Repair because I like machines and stuff ;D)
BUT² whenever I argue for something I first think of its economic viability, and Ship Repair (especially if restricted to core-modules [or even JUST the Power Plant])
would be LEAGUES cheaper to implemet (as in easier to code) ...
just saying

 

[Ian Doncaster]

You keep mentioning ship repair, but I'm not alone in never repairing myships outside of stations, because we simply don't have to as it's quicker to just get to our destination. I've had my powerplant sniped in PvP fights, didn't matter, I just carried on with 50% output.

There's certainly a very narrow band of danger level and scenario where:
- your ship takes any damage worth caring about at all
- your ship is not actually destroyed
- you have a spare N seconds/minutes to leave the ship drifting while you fix it because whatever caused the initial damage has stopped
- this is going to be a better or more convenient idea than heading to the nearest station before anything else goes wrong

Long-range exploration without carrier support is the obvious case at the moment.

That could be changed in theory to make it a much more common event, without outright breaking anything for people who didn't own the interiors expansion:
- more routine presence of module-damaging hits through shields
- much higher supercruise interdiction chances so patching up between fights makes sense
- more sophisticated damage model for modules (rather than so many of them being "works absolutely fine down to 1% integrity, then suddenly fails") so that even minor damage does something noticeable
- significant reduction in AFMU speeds so that a manual fix is quicker (the AFMU's advantage is that you can keep using the ship in the meantime)
...but it doesn't feel likely to be something Frontier wants to do given the direction of travel over the last decade.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

No you didn't <D
Sure I would personally estimate that there is a surely a LARGE amount of ppl that own one.
But dude, nowhere NEAR next to the ppl that don't <D² (and nowhere near ready to stand on their own legs)
"Potential-Customerbase" is the keyword here.

So a large number of people own carriers, which means a market for (by definition) dedicated long term players, that FDev aren't catering to that they could be doing if they wanted to with anything relating to interiors.

Dude ... Uhhhh "liveries" have NOTHING to do with a framework to actually put LARGE variably spacable interior decorations into a walkable space.
The CLOSEST thing we have for this are the bobbleheads XD
This is about CODING, not about the storefront <D

Which if implemented would be a welcome addition to carrier interiors after 4 years. They're certainly ploughing on faster with the same framework in stations rather than touching any of this with carriers though. Doesn't inspire faith.

Ah yes ...
And that includes the recently added Base-Building I assume
(If you even deign to call it that ... I prefer "Station-Spawning")
+
atm. ALL the Odyssey-Gameply still lacks the certain smth.
It is STILL an unfinished cake ...
But the redemption is close! The doors simply have to open
So why leave it unfinished?

Why would I talk about colonisation in relation to on foot gameplay? They have nothing to do with each other. Although why you'd leave Odyssey gameplay as it is is simple, it was financially written off. That's going to put off the investors if they suggest expanding it.

There's certainly a very narrow band of danger level and scenario where:

• your ship takes any damage worth caring about at all
• your ship is not actually destroyed
• you have a spare N seconds/minutes to leave the ship drifting while you fix it because whatever caused the initial damage has stopped
• this is going to be a better or more convenient idea than heading to the nearest station before anything else goes wrong

Long-range exploration without carrier support is the obvious case at the moment.

That could be changed in theory to make it a much more common event, without outright breaking anything for people who didn't own the interiors expansion:

• more routine presence of module-damaging hits through shields
• much higher supercruise interdiction chances so patching up between fights makes sense
• more sophisticated damage model for modules (rather than so many of them being "works absolutely fine down to 1% integrity, then suddenly fails") so that even minor damage does something noticeable
• significant reduction in AFMU speeds so that a manual fix is quicker (the AFMU's advantage is that you can keep using the ship in the meantime)

...but it doesn't feel likely to be something Frontier wants to do given the direction of travel over the last decade.

Certainly there would be a few questions if combat is made more difficult as you've described and a (likely) paid DLC gave a mitigation for it.