Sad trombone for large ship fans

[VR SenseiMatty]

Interesting points and I agree with most of them. I've also noticed that you can get the most proiftable missions with the python (for example the typical "45 politicians require transport).

Concerning the T10 it's a different story. That ship was introduced in the game as a defence line from the Thargoids not for mining.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

It's one thing to use certain ships cos we like to.
The fact remains that (most of the time) the only objective reason not to fly a big ship is when you think there might not be a large landing pad available and there's no objective reason, at all, to fly a small ship.

Course, there are little things that do differentiate between different classes of ship, such as the ability to land on rough terrain favouring small ships, but it doesn't seem like a lot of thought has gone into providing roles for different ships.

As I said, there's a heap of reasons why, in real-life, we don't all drive 40ft lorries and if FDev could manage to translate some of those reasons into ED I reckon it'd add a lot to the gameplay.

If credits were not so easy to get, rebuy would also be a valid reason, but FD have killed the meaning of rebuy now.

I'm not against FD adding more reasons to play all types of ships, but there are reasons now.

And OPs assertion there are no reasons to fly large ships is really strange, since large scale hauling is the first thing that comes to mind, not to mention how combat is usually easier in big ships, so those who prefer ease over challenge will want to fly them.

Still, i still find plenty of reasons to fly small ships over mediums or large.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Concerning the T10 it's a different story. That ship was introduced in the game as a defence line from the Thargoids not for mining.

Doesn't stop it being a nice miner

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

Doesn't stop it being a nice miner

I can imagine... just put few large turrets and watch the fireworks while collecting void opals

 

[Stealthie]

2 - Ok, ill race you in my Viper and you in the Annie But what about running from PvPers? Smaller ships have the better speed for that. PS: Cobra is a small ship, although can't quite hit the speeds of those that can take the EPTs. Also, landing on very difficult terrain can also be done a lot easier in a small ship. So there's an incentive if doing some SRV based missions.

Ah, but that's the thing. A race to what?
If there was some kind of "racing" in the game, we'd have a reason to fly small, fast ships.
If there was a type of mission where, for example, you had to locate and scan a series of surface POIs before a bunch of other ships that'd provide us with a good reason to fly fast, agile, ships.

You mentioned data-delivery missions and they're actually a good example of the problem.
It should yield some kind of advantage to do those missions in a small, fast, ship but it really doesn't.
You either get ignored, in which case you could have completed the mission in a T9, or you get interdicted, in which case you're probably better off being in a fighty ship and just exploding the attacker(s) rather than attempting to elude them.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Ah, but that's the thing. A race to what?
If there was some kind of "racing" in the game, we'd have a reason to fly small, fast ships.
If there was a type of mission where, for example, you had to locate and scan a series of surface POIs before a bunch of other ships that'd provide us with a good reason to fly fast, agile, ships.

You mentioned data-delivery missions and they're actually a good example of the problem.
It should yield some kind of advantage to do those missions in a small, fast, ship but it really doesn't.
You either get ignored, in which case you could have completed the mission in a T9, or you get interdicted, in which case you're probably better off being in a fighty ship and just exploding the attacker(s) rather than attempting to elude them.

Well, i still find it an incentive to fly small ships, so what can i say? YMMV?

 

[Miko]

I don't understand the salt about this one.

So FDev is still trying to wean people away from the big, the most bestest ships.

Adjust.

There's always one... Adjust to me blowing you out of space, short of switching to Solo or Clogging. Come now... Adjust.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Some interesting observations from this thread so far...

There really is no 'game' reason to fly any of the big ships - mediums do almost as well... But I flew my T10 to the Explorer's Anchorage CG (and back) kitted out for mining in preference to any of my mediums - Python would have done the job equally well (or Krait P/II) but it was fun to do so.

Small ships certainly have no advantage in-game either, truth be told, but my choice of NPC bounty hunter is a Courier (love it for data missions too), makes it a bit like a wasp rather than a hornet...

I think we all should fly whatever we like flying, sadly the game gets in the way on occasion!

 

[Stealthie]

Well, i still find it an incentive to fly small ships, so what can i say? YMMV?

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy monkeying around in different ships.
For example, my iEagle is my "data delivery ship" and if I'm trying to rank-up with a faction I'll transfer it across specifically to do DD missions in it, even if I'm flying a Krait or some other perfectly capable ship.

To digress for a minute, anybody else familiar with Vorian Atreides and his Omnius update ship, the "Dream Voyager"?
I kind of feel like that's me when I'm flying my iEagle.

Anyway, even though I enjoy using a variety of ships (if I didn't, I wouldn't have 60-odd of the bloody things!) I can accept that I'm often doing it for RP reasons rather than practical ones.
Which kind of brings us back to the OP.
I love mining in my T10 cos it really feels like you're doing something on an industrial scale but, yet again, I also know I could be doing the same thing faster, and thus earning more credits, by doing it in a Krait or Python.

 

[Sunleader]

I dont even know why they bother even excluding Large Ships like this.
All the Ships in this Game are Effectively Fighters and Oversized Fighters.

There is not a Single Truly Large Ship that in this Game.
I often Suggested to Include a New Ship Design.
Namely Frigates and Destroyers.
So we get an actual Larger Ship which doesnt work like a Fighter and is basicly all Front Weaponry making Passes at Enemy Vessels and Turnfighting.

The Currently Largest Playable Ships in the Game are Corvettes.
Having all of their Firepower Focused on the Front and effectively playing the same as any other Gun and Torpedo Boat we have in the Game.

And the Largest non Playable Ships are basicly Stations which cant do any kind of Maneuvering and whose Weapons are basicly Non Existent and only Consist of small Interceptor Batteries to keep Smaller Fighters away.


If we want to Talk actual Large Ships.
This would mean we would first need to Actually Add a Ship Class that is not just another Fighter.
A Ship Class where Weapons are not all Frontal Focused and Reliant on the Ship Pointing its Front to the Target.
But instead having Weapon Arrays that are Capable of Fighting around the Ship
With Ship Systems that dont Focus on Maneuverability and getting your Front to the Enemy.
And instead having Systems that try to Defend the Ships Position against Enemy Fire and keep the Enemy in Distance of the Ship.



We dont have that.
And I dont think we will ever get that.
Which is why I am barely Playing anymore.

Everything just feels the same Anyways.
When I got the Conda I was thrilled for a Week. But then I basicly Realized that its no Different from a Python.
And now that I got my Cutter I am all the more Aware that there is literally no Difference aside from some Superficial Interior Statistic Values.

 

[Rat Catcher]

There's always one... Adjust to me blowing you out of space, short of switching to Solo or Clogging. Come now... Adjust.

.... another "look at me, I've got a big one!" post...

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

I think Anaconda has enough leg space so you dont suffer thrombosins.

 

[Morbad]

I have to respectfully disagree here. Mission stacking increases the risk of enemy NPC's interdicting. This has really adverse effects for CMDR's trying to do haulage missions in a Type-9. It pretty much mandates that you would use a Cutter which is much more defensible. Each mission has a chance to spawn these encounters.

A Type-9 is plenty defensible against NPCs, or most CMDRs for that matter.

 

[The Replicated Man]

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

I use a Cobra for Mining. 3 cracked asteroids later and I have 60 million in my cargo hold.

 

[CMDR Valleys]

Is this a joking thread. Big ships are way too catch all as it is! The Conda desperately needs a Nerf, that and the killing of the smaller ships to make them even more viable earlier in the year (when heating made the big ship players upset). That and the increase in turn speeds which turned them into massive turrets!

When i was a lad and before engineers came along it was a skills contest with the better pilot able to chase of Conda’s even when in smaller ships.... sadly its now money and time to grind takes all. Flight turn rates have been exaggerated to a point where smaller ships don’t turn as well, speed is comparible with the big and medium ships, unless engineered for speed.... perhaps a general readjustment of the flight curves are needed to restore some balance.

MORE THREADS ON SMALL SHIP VIABILITY NEEDED.

 

[SpaceScania]

There really is no 'game' reason to fly any of the big ships - mediums do almost as well... But I flew my T10 to the Explorer's Anchorage CG (and back) kitted out for mining in preference to any of my mediums - Python would have done the job equally well (or Krait P/II) but it was fun to do so.

Small ships certainly have no advantage in-game either, truth be told, but my choice of NPC bounty hunter is a Courier (love it for data missions too), makes it a bit like a wasp rather than a hornet...

I think we all should fly whatever we like flying, sadly the game gets in the way on occasion!

Totally agree. The game gets in the way sometimes and yeah the Krait and Python are the do-it-all ships a lot more than the large ships these days. I too like to fly the large ships for fun but I feel like the game often penalizes me for making those choices. Not always, but enough to be noticeable.

Which kind of brings us back to the OP.
I love mining in my T10 cos it really feels like you're doing something on an industrial scale but, yet again, I also know I could be doing the same thing faster, and thus earning more credits, by doing it in a Krait or Python.

Yeah, again I agree here. Too often the Krait and/or the Python are just better. I am okay with these ships being better at some things but not almost everything.

A Type-9 is plenty defensible against NPCs, or most CMDRs for that matter.

For you maybe, but I am not that great at combat and I've had a lot of difficulty stacking haulage missions in a Type-9. Enough difficulty that it was more frustrating than fun.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Flying in a straight line in a Cutter is fantastic!

Until you hit a bend, that is.

 

[EUS]

Dunno what the OP is on about, the Corvette is the best mining ship.
And the explore-Orca is fantastic.

 

[Jaggid Edje]

And the explore-Orca is fantastic.

ExplOrca? What's the jump range on one of those once fitted and engineered for exploration?

 

[EUS]

Mine's over 54, but I built it for speed as well as exploration, so not an exploration meta-build.