Sad trombone for large ship fans

[Jaggid Edje]

Obviously I fly large ships as often as I can because I prefer them. Please disagree in a way that respects that I created this post in good faith.

On this we totally agree. I also like the larger ships. And, like you, I do often feel more encouraged to use a smaller ship.

Honestly this isn't just a large ship problem because the same is true for Small ships. The game gives more incentives to use medium ships over both small and large. Heck, I only have 2 small ship in my fleet of 11 total ships and only one of them actually gets any use (a DBX, which I use as a taxi). In comparison, at least I do use all 3 of my large ships pretty regularly, despite leaning toward the medium ones most of the time.

Has Frontier shared any metrics regarding what the "most flown" ships by players are in terms of hours in game of usage? That'd be really interesting to see.

 

[Lazuras Poe]

First they ruined large ships for mining by making the Imperial Clipper, Python, or Krait the meta for core mining.

Frontier still have NEVER made single player haulage missions for the large ships. Still, in 2019. All of the missions still max out at the Pyuthon 220t or so (most being 180t). There is no progression for haulage missions after the Python. Yeah you can try stacking the missions but then you deal with higher spawn rates for pirates, etc...

Now we come to today's news. They are excluding large ships altogether from the trade goal of the Interstellar Initiative.

1. Metagame is for players who min max, thats not the fault of the developer, thats a playstyle that some prefer over others. Player choice.
2. You want to max load a ship for max profits for no risk. 'Omg pirates shootz at meeeeee....'
3. Explicit statement about FDs intent to 'exclude' players... Plain wrong.

Nope... Nope... Just.. Nope.

Off you go now.

 

[SpaceScania]

Being forced to try new ships can be a lot of fun. Thanks to some other CMDRs recommendations I am doing a long haul in a... Beluga of all things, and loving it.

OP, try doing some cargo running in a Federal Drop Ship, it's a medium ship that flies like a large. You could haul a couple hundred tons with it if you gut it.

Actually I really love the Federal Dropship! My current idea for mine is to outfit it for search and rescue. I want to look for systems in incursion states and swoop into NHSS's and save pilots who had to abandon ship. I almost have that build ready to go.

 

[Stealthie]

Ideally, it'd be nice if there were different activities that especially favoured all sizes of ship.

Sure, you can go deep-core mining in a T10 but all that means is you're going to be doing it more slowly than you would if you were flying a Krait or a Python.

To use mining as an example, how about creating some kind of "mining survey" mission (locate 20 deep-core 'roids for us) which'd give me something to do with my 900m/sec Viper?
There could then be deep-core mining for the medium ships and laser mining for the large ships.
All of these activities might yield a roughly similar rate of pay if you're doing it well and you're in the best ship for the job.

Not necessarily saying that all ships should have their own "niche" in every activity but it'd be nice if FDev could create different things that especially favour each class of ship.

 

[SpaceScania]

Not necessarily saying that all ships should have their own "niche" in every activity but it'd be nice if FDev could create different things that especially favour each class of ship.

Yes! Thanks for putting it succinctly @Stealthie (totally not my forte). I really feel that my argument boils down to this. If Frontier embraced this simple principle I think it would make the game more enjoyable for a wider range of CMDR's.

 

[Tarman]

Yes! Thanks for putting it succinctly @Stealthie (totally not my forte). I really feel that my argument boils down to this. If Frontier embraced this simple principle I think it would make the game more enjoyable for a wider range of CMDR's.

This is also a much nicer framing for discussion than the vibe of your OP. Having a wide variety of things to do for more ship classes and outfits is a good idea. Having everything be accessible by everything because some stuff can be hard or less suited is far less topic-worthy.

 

[Captain Willard]

It's about time FD did more for small and medium ships.
I pushed many times for more outpost only cg's, that always got howled down by large ship owners wanting to dominate the events. I have small medium and large ships so I can adjust to whatever is thrown my way.
Maximizing profits is a joke btw. No matter what you do you're making credits.
I play to waste time and have fun.

 

[[VR] Goooost]

It is so hard to be a fan of the large ships right now in Elite Dangerous.

First they ruined large ships for mining by making the Imperial Clipper, Python, or Krait the meta for core mining. Don't get me wrong, mining in the Clipper is fun. But this was really disappointing as it was the one raison d'etre that sort of made sense for ships like the Type-10. What is the point of that ship being in the game now? Right, now it is just a cumbersome waste of time to mine in that ship.

Frontier still have NEVER made single player haulage missions for the large ships. Still, in 2019. All of the missions still max out at the Pyuthon 220t or so (most being 180t). There is no progression for haulage missions after the Python. Yeah you can try stacking the missions but then you deal with higher spawn rates for pirates, etc. Haulage missions stop being fun after you move up from the Python. Python! Python! Python! Ugh....

Now we come to today's news. They are excluding large ships altogether from the trade goal of the Interstellar Initiative. Small and medium ships only. Basically the Python is what everyone will use to maximize profits. I was actually looking forward to bringing my Type-9 out there but now there is no point. I hate having my hand forced like that. Play your own way as long as you like the Python and/or Krait!

Please Frontier, not all of us want to fly the Python or the Krait Mk II all the time. Please remember that some of your players really like the large ships and I think we are starting to feel neglected and excluded. I don't think we should have to wait until 2020 to have a little consideration shown for the large ships that some of us really love to fly.

There's even less love for extra large ships. Where the hell is my panther clipper?

 

[Lazuras Poe]

We have a variety of ships, all of them suit one role over another, some better than others.

We have modules and ship fitting choice to tailor those ships towards one role or another, bonus if you match a loadout to a ship that is geared towards one role over another.
I.e. asp explorer for exploring, vulture for killing.
More mileage, bigger guns.

.... Aaaaand we also have engineering to tweak those modules for whatever role you choose to build a ship around.
Pretty much you can do what you want...

I dont think you guys know what you're onnabout.

Pros and cons... Not perfect ship builds for every single individual cmdr.

Y'all want the moon on a stick hey.

 

[SpaceScania]

Having everything be accessible by everything because some stuff can be hard or less suited is far less topic-worthy.

I never argued that every ship should be able to do everything. I don't recall ever advocating for that. I agree that would water the game down and would make the differences between the ships meaningless.

If you are referring to the Interstellar Initiative then I respectfully disagree. I do think it was a mistake to totally exclude large ships from such a large major in-game event, but I acknowledge that I may be in the minority there which is fine. Hopefully they will be included next time.

 

[SpaceScania]

I pushed many times for more outpost only cg's, that always got howled down by large ship owners wanting to dominate the events. I have small medium and large ships so I can adjust to whatever is thrown my way.

Hey that would be great too. I have no problem with some parts of the game being more focused on small and mediums as long as the large ships still get viable roles too.

 

[Stealthie]

We have a variety of ships, all of them suit one role over another, some better than others.

We have modules and ship fitting choice to tailor those ships towards one role or another, bonus if you match a loadout to a ship that is geared towards one role over another.
I.e. asp explorer for exploring, vulture for killing.
More mileage, bigger guns.

.... Aaaaand we also have engineering to tweak those modules for whatever role you choose to build a ship around.
Pretty much you can do what you want...

I dont think you guys know what you're onnabout.

Pros and cons... Not perfect ship builds for every single individual cmdr.

Y'all want the moon on a stick hey.

Okay, let's start with an easy one...

What does the Cobra Mk3 do better than any other ship in the game?

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Regarding mining and ship sizes:

Small and mediums for deep core. Large for suface mining. Surface mining also brings in good credits, and with a large ship you can be very efficient about it with lots of collector limpets.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Okay, let's start with an easy one...

What does the Cobra Mk3 do better than any other ship in the game?

Everything!

 

[CMDR Cknarf]

Y’all can’t see it, but after reading the OP, I’m making an enormous wankin’ gesture with both hands.

 

[War Eagle]

I'm sorry, but are you suggesting that you have to play using "the best" ship for a given task? Because you don't. Use what you want, don't worry about others' profit margins, and outside of pvp there is no meta as all other activities are non-competitive. Now you can stop stressing over nothing.

I totally agree with her, I had a T7 very early and you can't really mine with it as in core mining due to the size 1 hard points- I made suggestion for size 1 charges. Because of this I had to buy another ship that can only carry 1/4 of what the T7 can.
I think they don't want a multi-role ship, they just want everyone to end up with over 100 ships. I have been playing for about 5 weeks now and already have 8 all with different rolls.
**Well except the original Sidewinder- it's useless.

 

[Phil JMac]

I love my T9 and T10

Unless something has changed in the since the last patch I could evade everytime in my T9. I used to stack any fetch mission I could find at a station them fill her up at the other end. Incoming pirates would be lining up on the way back and it was common to get 3 chain interdictions in a row but if you stay calm you could beat them all... Only lost her once

T10 is my mining ship of choice - I have no problems core mining in it and the view makes it all worth it.




As for the Guardians thing? - If I wanted to park in central London I wouldn't take an HGV

 

[B1rdy]

I kind of agree with the OP in part. The tag line for the game is "Blaze Your Own Trail." This should be the same regardless of what size ship you want to fly for whatever task you want to do. Right now I'm having a hard time justifying using a large ship for anything when I consider income vs operating and potential rebuy costs.

"Blaze your own trail" means you can do what you want within the given set of rules of this game. It doesn't mean everyone should be able to defeat any Thargoid in a starter Sidewinder. It is an absurd attitude towards a (video)game.

This is not my argument at all. I have no problem with the fact that there are some activities in the game that are better suited for small or medium ships. Variety of roles and ships are a universal good in Elite Dangerous. But there should be a balance and in other areas of the game there should then be tangible meaningful advantages for large ships. Right now I am arguing there is almost no reason to choose a large ship in the game at all. Medium ships are almost always a better choice. Also, I would argue its not great for the game to exclude large ships entirely from a major event like this.

You are partially contradicting yourself. I agree large ships have to dedicated role in ED, small ships haven't either. If the current II would provide large landing pads, large ships would be probably the best way to go. Especially in this case having only outposts is perfectly fine with regard to lore and game world integrity. Having special requirements for tasks can make a game more interesting, because it makes the player to consider new circumstances and make a choice.
While I agree medium ships seem to be a superior choice most times in ED, I think, however, the game could be more fun, if it forces certain ship types for some tasks, but with a compelling reason.

 

[Midian Cabal]

On this we totally agree. I also like the larger ships. And, like you, I do often feel more encouraged to use a smaller ship.

Honestly this isn't just a large ship problem because the same is true for Small ships. The game gives more incentives to use medium ships over both small and large. Heck, I only have 2 small ship in my fleet of 11 total ships and only one of them actually gets any use (a DBX, which I use as a taxi). In comparison, at least I do use all 3 of my large ships pretty regularly, despite leaning toward the medium ones most of the time.

Has Frontier shared any metrics regarding what the "most flown" ships by players are in terms of hours in game of usage? That'd be really interesting to see.

In lack of better statistics, here's some...

 

[Rubbernuke]

In my head, every time you boost in a T -10 you hear sad trombones.