Bigger mail slots

"Well it's like this, you see we built this station, cost us 100t credits, a million people live in it, we designed it for the ships of the time, we didn't imagine ships getting so large, but now we can't kick out a million people, where are we going to put them for a start, and redesigning the letterbox to take larger ships means completely dismantling the station, have you any idea how much that is going to cost and how long it's going to take. And that's without doing the same to every other station in the system!"

You see I don't think we should just try and retrofit all the old stations, you would never do it in real life, and yes I know it's just a game, but I like my universe to be consistent, even if it is just a game. The Panama Canal is an example of this in real life, the old canal locks are to small for the new ships, some of those things are HUGE, but they don't just rip out the old dock, that would disrupt traffic for decades and cause no end of problems, so they built a series of parallel locks and new canal.

So new stations could maybe have the new larger slots, old stations stick with what they have and pilots of big ships either take a bit more care docking, or fly smaller ships into the stations with smaller slots if they can't handle it the way it is.

Oh yes, the mail slot isn't really small, your flying a frigate sized ship, everything looks small!

Sorry but thats just a bad way of thinking of it. First I'm not saying to kicking people off the station for a retro fit, second its bad design floor to only have one way in and one way out, if the thargoids or other extreme terrorist factions attack a station and concentrate there damage on mail slot then the people will be trap with no way out, with a retro fit CG it will fix this problem and a good excuse by adding extra slot. just like air fields and air ports has more than one air strip for takeoff and landings for safty.
 

Lestat

Banned
I'm guessing that English isn't your first language.
I have epilepsy and brain damage. That why my English is bad. I am disabled. Yet I can dock better than you without having issues, without crashing into other ships. Because I use everything Frontier give me. It what I use as therapy.

I use programs to help me write. Yes, I know My writing is crappy. But at least I can dock with no issues unless I have a seizure. which can't whine about that it an illness. I don't think I should whine to Frontier because of Epilepsy.

All you can do is complain about is docking because you are not using all Elite Dangerous functions.
 
Sorry but thats just a bad way of thinking of it. First I'm not saying to kicking people off the station for a retro fit, second its bad design floor to only have one way in and one way out, if the thargoids or other extreme terrorist factions attack a station and concentrate there damage on mail slot then the people will be trap with no way out, with a retro fit CG it will fix this problem and a good excuse by adding extra slot. just like air fields and air ports has more than one air strip for takeoff and landings for safty.

Not really, making changes to the game structures because it is causing problems makes sense for the playability of the game, and as I said I am not against changing the design of the stations, but ED is an evolving universe, not a magic one, making changes to improve gameplay is one thing, performing magic because one player has a hard time docking is another altogether. I live in this universe, I can't look past city sized space stations magically getting a bigger hole in the end, or two holes. The entire structure would have been designed around this opening, it's not something you could or should just change with a hand wave. For a realistic long term imaginary universe consistency is the number one priority, start breaking that and it becomes something other than acceptable.

The process to retrofit a bigger hole in the end would be years of work, depressurising the entire thing for a start, moving the resident population (not talking about players here) onto handy megaships for a few years. Yes I will accept it, if said station is out of action for a reasonable period consistent with the work being done, say 3 or 6 months of real time, but start hand waving and I am going to be annoyed, there's to much of that going on already! And all because one person can't dock, really?
 
When I read 'already committed to the mail slot', I suspect that means landing gear up and engine boost, because that's what I do.
If you do that before checking the slot is clear, you're asking for trouble.
 
Not really, making changes to the game structures because it is causing problems makes sense for the playability of the game, and as I said I am not against changing the design of the stations, but ED is an evolving universe, not a magic one, making changes to improve gameplay is one thing, performing magic because one player has a hard time docking is another altogether. I live in this universe, I can't look past city sized space stations magically getting a bigger hole in the end, or two holes. The entire structure would have been designed around this opening, it's not something you could or should just change with a hand wave. For a realistic long term imaginary universe consistency is the number one priority, start breaking that and it becomes something other than acceptable.

The process to retrofit a bigger hole in the end would be years of work, depressurising the entire thing for a start, moving the resident population (not talking about players here) onto handy megaships for a few years. Yes I will accept it, if said station is out of action for a reasonable period consistent with the work being done, say 3 or 6 months of real time, but start hand waving and I am going to be annoyed, there's to much of that going on already! And all because one person can't dock, really?

I now that ED is a evolving universe and it will take time, but if not now when at some point in time it needs to begin in order to happen and I don't have any trouble in docking, it was troublesome in docking a station in the good old days of Elite in the 80s if you can dock in old elite then ED is walk in the park, But improvement needs to start at some point why not now, people are asking for it.
 
Because it's easier for them to use insults and strawman fallacies than it is for anyone to realize:

Ships get bigger. Mail slot same size. Inefficient design destined to become a bigger problem.

Never mind the stupidity of designing such a system in the first place... Do cars drive into incoming traffic to get on the freeway? Do airplanes take off directly into landing planes and hope for the best?

No.
 
Because it's easier for them to use insults and strawman fallacies than it is for anyone to realize:

Ships get bigger. Mail slot same size. Inefficient design destined to become a bigger problem.

Never mind the stupidity of designing such a system in the first place... Do cars drive into incoming traffic to get on the freeway? Do airplanes take off directly into landing planes and hope for the best?

No.

Getting on and off the freeway using different lanes isn't really a clever design feature, or there wouldn't be HUGE signs facing back in the opposite direction stating "WRONG WAY - GO BACK", presumably for idiots trying to drive into oncoming traffic.

Aircraft typically take of and land in the same direction, into the headwind as this increases the wind speed over the aerodynamic surfaces and reduces thrust, and therefore fuel required for lift. You also find real ATC pays attention, not letting two aircraft on the runway at the same time.

You could consider it a stupid lack of foresight to have to physically move runways, or at least change the signs stating the compass direction to compensate for the shifting magnetic poles but, who knew.

Yup, ships get bigger. Have you seen the wet-docks for large ships yet?
 
I just don't get this thread.. A Cutter and a Corvette can pass through the slot at the same time without touching.

What's the problem?

I assumed people dream of Panther Clipper from FFE, and that would have no way to fit in from that hole without taking something/somebody with it.

I want my Panther back also, even if it would require new kind of stations with bigger mail slots (Dyson Spheres we had concept art about already long ago?) or just Very Large landing pads on some other places like planets, megaships and outposts.
 
Not sure why people keep using the Anaconda / Corvette / Cutter as examples of "big ships", as all of these are significantly smaller than the Beluga.

I'm not sure if two Belugas can fit side by side. Probably yes in theory, but I keep seeing Belugas coming in close to the central axis, there doesn't seem to be a lot of room to spare. And I always take my own Beluga out along the central axis to avoid the notorious "spin problem" (with Flight Assist on, the Beluga stops spinning with the station when its nose passes through the slot, causing the station's rotation to grab and twist the tail: the solution is to go straight out along the axis with FA Off, to preserve your rotation as you leave). At least the Beluga has a centrally-aligned cabin, so aiming at the middle of the slot works. Coming in, I use the docking computer.

But you just have to be observant. Usually I don't slip up now unless it's 2:30am and I'm tired. And when I do, it's mostly the other guy's problem, not mine! I just have to re-dock and pay a fine occasionally.
 
Not sure why people keep using the Anaconda / Corvette / Cutter as examples of "big ships", as all of these are significantly smaller than the Beluga.

I'm not sure if two Belugas can fit side by side. Probably yes in theory, but I keep seeing Belugas coming in close to the central axis, there doesn't seem to be a lot of room to spare. And I always take my own Beluga out along the central axis to avoid the notorious "spin problem" (with Flight Assist on, the Beluga stops spinning with the station when its nose passes through the slot, causing the station's rotation to grab and twist the tail: the solution is to go straight out along the axis with FA Off, to preserve your rotation as you leave). At least the Beluga has a centrally-aligned cabin, so aiming at the middle of the slot works. Coming in, I use the docking computer.

But you just have to be observant. Usually I don't slip up now unless it's 2:30am and I'm tired. And when I do, it's mostly the other guy's problem, not mine! I just have to re-dock and pay a fine occasionally.
I have to say that is one good idea with assist off.
 
Only ship I ever found a nuisances to get through the mail slot was a beluga. That thing is major fish hook. Basic rule, keep it strait and steady. And if it did catch, well, good luck! When I traded it up to an Anaconda, was like, Wow, this is a breeze to fly after that. :cool: (tho I did scrape the bottom for small while a lot.) darn paint job costs..... [alien]
 
Because it's easier for them to use insults and strawman fallacies than it is for anyone to realize:

Ships get bigger. Mail slot same size. Inefficient design destined to become a bigger problem.

Never mind the stupidity of designing such a system in the first place... Do cars drive into incoming traffic to get on the freeway? Do airplanes take off directly into landing planes and hope for the best?

No.

Lets stop with the attacks, there's no strawman fallacy here at least from the POV of the leave it alone it's fine argument, stop trying to use these sorts of things to silence others. You in fact have just thrown up a couple, docking a ship in a spaceport is in no way analogous to driving into oncoming traffic on a freeway and it is in fact misrepresenting the opposing position that with the existing systems there is enough information to dock safely. And claiming that this is the same as two planes on the same runway is not very useful since planes don't have 6 axis of movement and are restricted in maneuverability, unlike our ships. I will put this here;
Strawman fallacy


  • 1.
    an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument.

    "her familiar procedure of creating a straw man by exaggerating their approach"





  • 2.
    a person regarded as having no substance or integrity.

    "a photogenic straw man gets inserted into office and advisers dictate policy"





Now I don't know which one of these you think you have spotted here but I suggest you need to detail it wherever you think you have seen it.

The position here is that many (dare I suggest most) people have no problem docking ships of any size using the existing systems available and have said so.

One player in particular, although there may be others, is demanding that all ingame structures be adjusted because he isn't able to dock large ships.

Now I am against any such massive changes because it destroys the integrity of the imagined universe, this is what the ED universe is like, if manufacturers build ships they either build them with the existing station architecture in mind or work out some other way to get people in and out of existing stations. Personally I think if people aren't able to dock big ships they should have their big ship licenses revoked but that's just me. Other people manage fine with the existing systems in place for docking, oh minor tweaks are fine like improving queuing and stuff like that, but going around and making the mailslot bigger for every station in the galaxy just isn't a reasonable solution, and I suggest no matter how much you demand it, it's never going to happen.
 
Regardless - it’s possible to fly any vessel full throttle into the mail slot without damage

even the cutter which will take the full station length to stop!!!

Spacial awareness, get practicing there is loads of room in reality, the queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier pilot worked with less than a meter under the ship in Portsmouth and they got that through the channel fine.
 

Lestat

Banned
I Toss suggestions how to avoid problems. It seems people ignore them. If my computer could handle video and the game at the same time. (It seems I had an early video of me docking an Anaconda) I would Post a how-to video for docking or leaving the station. To help the Op.

1 How to select next target to locate potential threat

2 How to zoom in and out on Radar to locate potential threats

3 Use sound to tell if a ship coming at you. Surround sound work best. (I tend to listen to classic rock. The first two work fine for me so I tend to ignore the sound.)

4 Someone suggested assist off and exiting out the center or some ships.

Oh, I did have a video I made. But it 3 years old before the Elite game was even released. I was in Alpha and Beta. When docking was a lot Harder. But it does show How I locate potential threats. Using Radar and selecting next target. It was not just AI I was looking at but real people. That Anaconda was an early ED backer.

[video=youtube;2XlUDpcgQ2U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XlUDpcgQ2U[/video]
 
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@varonica

I've detailed the strawman fallacies used against my suggestion in prior posts, and I *will* continue to use the pointing out of logical fallacies to 'silence' others, because a point is invalid if it's based on a fallacy. You don't have any right whatsoever to tell me whether I'm allowed to point out logical fallacies, so get off your horse.

Since you choose to restate what I've written inaccurately (seems to be a problem many posters have when responding to others), you can be ignored too.

For example, I didn't say cars drive into oncoming traffic on the freeway. I said they don't drive into oncoming traffic to GET on a freeway. Furthermore, ships ARE restricted in their movements in the mail slot, particularly when more than one ship of a certain size are present. To be more clear, my airplane analogy was referring to actually departing the runway and climbing for altitude. No airport in the world has oncoming traffic head directly for airplanes just leaving the same runway. You also speak about trouble docking, when my comments are clearly about entering and exiting spaceports with mail slots and large ships which don't permit the passing of other large ships simultaneously, in particular when flown by AI. While you might consider that to be 'docking,' I do not. The game also appears to consider 'docking' to be touching down on the landing pad (you know, when they say "docking clamps engaged.") I've also not 'demanded' anything related to this. It's a suggestion, in a suggestion forum.

Were you against the ability to suddenly land on planets and all ships magically finding a planetary approach suite hidden deep inside their hull? You know, since you're so concerned about the integrity of a fantasy video game.

Added to the list.
 
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Lestat

Banned
Hay Trekari did you not see how I enter the station. At the time Elite Dangerous was made They thrown all the Kickstarters and people who paid for Alpha and Beta in the bubble. The stations back then were pretty scary places and it was a place to fear. You don't even how easy you have it now. But even back then. If you use Common Sense there was nothing to fear. You know Laziness is not a skill to worship.

As you can see in the video I stop and then study the radar also select targets in the station to see if they are moving and to see what direction they are facing. I still use those skills. They never failed me.

You want the game super easy. All we want you to do is use Common Sense flying.
 
Since you choose to restate what I've written inaccurately (seems to be a problem many posters have when responding to others), you can be ignored too.

For example, I didn't say cars drive into oncoming traffic on the freeway. I said they don't drive into oncoming traffic to GET on a freeway.

No they don't, because a freeway is a high speed connection, if you drive the wrong way onto a freeway ipso-facto you are driving the wrong way on a freeway, as simple as that, it's not anywhere comparable to entering a station because when entering a station what you are doing, if we must do car analogies, is entering a car park, many of which have two way entrances where each car must keep to their own side, your analogy is flawed and misrepresents the position you are arguing against, therefore it's strawman. I guess we can ignore you as well from now on.
 
@varonica

I've detailed the strawman fallacies used against my suggestion in prior posts, and I *will* continue to use the pointing out of logical fallacies to 'silence' others, because a point is invalid if it's based on a fallacy. You don't have any right whatsoever to tell me whether I'm allowed to point out logical fallacies, so get off your horse.

You don't know what strawman fallacy is since you seem to be using them yourself. You are welcome to point out logical fallacies, but in my experience in logic, which is extensive, people who run around declaring all and sundry a logical fallacy usually don't understand them properly, since you are determined to use this tactic to "silence others" it appears you are not here to discuss anything but to browbeat people into acquiescence, not a good idea.
 
I don't think bigger slots are the answer. However, the current system just isn't realistic (At least not at all stations)... One slot would not be used for entrance and exit unless the docking system controlled both of them.

My thoughts are that either two slots are needed (a fly-through on spherical stations and side-by-side slots on those stations with only one available facing) or the docking computers should also queue and guide your ship out, so that the system gives a "time-slot" to your ship instead of continuous entering ships to avoid.
 
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