Large Ship Refueling @ Outposts

[Stealthie]

It's not a 'work around', it's a Q.O.L improvement and could easily happen.
The devs just have precious little time for all these great ideas.
(Truck and trailer pulls up to a fly speck town with one pub, driver looks out "Got four pallets of craft beer for ya". - Loader replies "Nah mate, sorry can't unload ya, no room"
"What?, you got a big empty carpark there, heaps of space"
" Yeah but....... it's only marked out for cars"

Well, yeah.

Just like it'd be a "QOL improvement" if every chess piece on the board could move anywhere, just like a Queen can.
Or like how it'd be a "QOL improvement" if the penalty spot was 6" from the goal line on a football field.

Games having rules, balance and limitations?
Whatever next?!

 

[Vasious]

Isn't the argument of Outposts will find a way to service Large ships the moment the owning faction of the Outposts tried to replace it with a Coriolis

If you want to have large ships dock, buy a Coriolis, pretty sure that is what the Brewer Corp* sales rep tells me


* Based in the Minerva system, check it out for more information

 

[CMDR Corlas]

I absolutely love the idea of fuel and even cargo limpets for big ships at outposts.

In that vein, I would also love to see "prevent the big ships from stocking up at an outpost" missions where you need to blast limpets and be a nuisance against a powerful but immobilized foe, until bigger backup arrives.

 

[EUS]

You do realize outposts have no fire zones and have heavy defenses?

 

[CMDR Corlas]

You do realize outposts have no fire zones and have heavy defenses?

Exactly! Sounds like fun , eh?

 

[Tarman]

This is similar to the ideas currently floating to provide large ships access to outposts for both missions and trade goods. To me it seems most viable for the gameplay (despite common sense; if we really had common sense in 3303 then we'd be TPing our ships wouldn't we >___> ) ensuite with a number of other specializations in landing arrangements so that there would be a more thoughtful and textured range of choices for every class of vessel rather than a binary yea/nay on each item separately or a selection that only improves gameplay for a single niche market, so to speak.

A large range of docking and fueling options makes each of those options less significant compared to the overall game than if we just examine it under a microscope alone. A decent choice of how we accept and select game tasks can provide many more players a chance to find a good combination of available features to suit their needs. A durable heavy-hauler that is just too fat to pad at many locations and frequently requires an offboard vessel or external-duty station assistance for the 3 Rs would be a playstyle choice amongst other viable methods, and not just a way around a current game limitation.

 

[StiTch]

Isn't the point of not being able to dock at outposts supposed to be that they deliberately CAN'T use the station facilities...?

 

[Spookyy]

Great suggestion on the refuel at small stations. Like FD never made a U-turn with game mechanics... Insta travel or how about 3rd person view. and btw i only fly small/medium ships.

 

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

…
I have no issue with a SRV sized "Ships boat" to ferry cargo, fuel and data packages for Missions to and from a large ship and an outpost, but make the Cmdr fly it there and back, so it would be again a choice with consequences, bringing the tools to the outpost, rather than outposts universally having it ready for you

It surely would make a nice addition to the game and add flavor, but it would make large pad ships again the only ships needed.

(I agree with the rest of your posting)

(edit for clarity)
Comment not directed at the quote:
There have been a few threads on this forum about how small ships could be made more interesting and one of the ideas is always making special outposts and surface installations that can only be used by small ships.

The pad size is, in my opinion, a good way to add restrictions to the ships that don't really hurt. The next large pad is on jump away (in most cases), not being able to dock at outposts or other facilities is just a little inconvenience, but makes using small or medium ships interesting. Without that restriction there would be absolutely no in-game reason to use anything other than one or the big 3.

 

[Flavourless]

...Hell, I want Small pad-only locations...

Would be nice.

 

[Lightspeed]

I have never once addressed the issue of whether it would be "realistic".

All I've done is point out that allowing large ships to interact with platforms would remove one of the limitations the game designers chose to impose.

It's a bit rich accusing me of "derailing the thread" (not to mention "trolling") by using real-world examples of games having rules when you're just as guilty of asserting real-world comparisons to suit your own purposes.

Simple fact is, we're playing a GAME.
And one of the ways games attempt to ensure that different play-styles are catered for is to impose arbitrary limitations on what a player can do.


On a different note, I find this all a bit odd for practical reasons too.
Any ship can currently refuel using a fuel-scoop.
And we've got people saying "Oh, but what if your fuel scoop is damaged or what if you don't have one?"
So, erm, how's "limpet refueling" going to improve things?
Are we saying that somebody who doesn't bother to fit a fuel scoop IS going to fit a limpet controller and have a stockpile of limpets at hand?
And they're not going to have been damaged/lost in the same hypothetical battle that rendered the hypothetical fuel scoop useless?
Or that the hypothetical player who didn't bother to fit a fuel scoop IS going to bother to install a limpet controller and buy limpets?

Or is this just going to lead to people moaning that "Well, I could have refueled at a platform if I had limpets so why can't I just land there instead? It'd be more realistic"?

That would introduce a series of choices which the player would have to make - no fuel scoop, but limpets cluttering up the ship, and a controller - well, ok. That's an alternative choice.

But no, the big ship could never land at the outpost - the platform size is the ultimate constraint

 

[Stealthie]

But no, the big ship could never land at the outpost - the platform size is the ultimate constraint

Well, yeah.

That's the way it is now.

You just know that if large ships could transfer cargo/fuel to a platform via limpets or a "shuttle" we'd have people saying "It's not fair! My shuttle/limpet controller could get damaged in a battle so if large ships can use platforms anyway, why not just do it properly and have a large pad at every platform? That'd be more realistic!!!"