Refueling Fleet Carriers

In a sense it would, yes - however I suspect that one of the roles of the Carrier is to offer players a means to remain co-located, regardless of how long they may have been offline, with a view to facilitating group play.

It could also offer players opportunities to provide passenger transport services for other players.

But unless the fleet carrier can do the jump much quicker than the player can it adds no value...

It also means people will just hitch rides to places like sag a, beagle point, colonia etc - thus removing the need to do long distance travelling... although looking at other threads that may be what people want anyway!

Having said that I have no friends and only a few ships so maybe fleet carriers are not aimed at me :)

Will be interesting to see what happens.
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
But unless the fleet carrier can do the jump much quicker than the player can it adds no value...
Much quicker than what?

I very much doubt that the fuel / jump cycle for a Carrier, even optimally executed by a limit Squadron, will permit the Carrier to travel faster than a player in a super-light ship optimised for jump range.
 
Much quicker than what?

I very much doubt that the fuel / jump cycle for a Carrier, even optimally executed by a limit Squadron, will permit the Carrier to travel faster than a player in a super-light ship optimised for jump range.

It depends on how long it will take a group of players to buzz around refuelling the carrier.... If I have to spend say 2 hours filling it up, instead of taking my ship to where it needs to be that's pointless busy work.. Esp if I have to do it to cart around, on the off chance players who have not logged on for a month decide to log in.
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
It depends on how long it will take a group of players to buzz around refuelling the carrier.... If I have to spend say 2 hours filling it up, instead of taking my ship to where it needs to be that's pointless busy work.. Esp if I have to do it to cart around, on the off chance players who have not logged on for a month decide to log in.
I don't see a Carrier as a travel convenience - more of a portable base (and ferry for Squadron members). In that context, convenience and speed of moving the Carrier, or lack thereof, is part and parcel of the decision making process for moving one's base / ferry.
 
I don't see a Carrier as a travel convenience - more of a portable base (and ferry for Squadron members). In that context, convenience and speed of moving the Carrier, or lack thereof, is part and parcel of the decision making process for moving one's base / ferry.

As much as I loathe agreeing with people who post with a grey background... I think you're pretty much spot on with the whole point of fleet carriers - encouraging and facilitating group (squadron) play by making continued copresence easier via a mobile dockable base - something that can be moved around for PP work, BGS work, mining, exploration and, as you mentioned in a previous post, allow people to stay with the group simply by docking on the carrier before it moves location.

Any theory crafting about fuel, jump range, facilities should take this into account - moderately easy to accommodate all group playstyles. As much as the idea of a personal fleet carrier might be enticing, it'll probably be too much work for a solo cmdr, and without a shipyard (I have doubts they will be part of the facilities) then it's really quite pointless for solo pilots.

Re giving passengers a ride, didn't they already state that non-squadron members wouldn't be able to dock?
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
As much as the idea of a personal fleet carrier might be enticing, it'll probably be too much work for a solo cmdr, and without a shipyard (I have doubts they will be part of the facilities) then it's really quite pointless for solo pilots.
Not if the lone player has a number of altCMDRs that they can transport around with them, one ship each.
Re giving passengers a ride, didn't they already state that non-squadron members wouldn't be able to dock?
Joining / leaving (or being kicked) from a Squadron is trivial - so "passengers" could join for the duration of the trip and leave (or be removed) afterwards.
 
Let’s face it.. these things are not often going to be used outside the bubble and that being the case, space stations will do everything a carrier can
I disagree. My Squadron is exploration focused, and having a mobile base would be very handy in systematically scanning a region of space. I could even picture a future expedition based around fleet carriers. Name the lead carrier "Galactica" and that would be really special 😁
 
So, space station is already using this same service when you transport your ship from one station to another right ? Just that now (in future) it shall be opened up. So.. technically.. the transport time shall be quite similar (edit : to travelling from one station to another) ?

Edit : as well as the earning expected to be similar to what you would have paid to transport your ship from station to station ?
 
I'm really hoping there's some good logistics involved.

Either supply then with hydrogen fuel commodity, or deliver water to be refined for fuel.
And repairs and rearming can require other commodities, or raw metals.

That way, carriers can operate outside he bubble.

If micro materials are used, I hope it's just for some added optional bonuses, like jumponium.
 

dxm55

Banned
I'm really hoping there's some good logistics involved.

Either supply then with hydrogen fuel commodity, or deliver water to be refined for fuel.
And repairs and rearming can require other commodities, or raw metals.

That way, carriers can operate outside he bubble.

If micro materials are used, I hope it's just for some added optional bonuses, like jumponium.

Does your ship have a fuel scoop?

There. That's how you refuel a capital ship. Not with some unnecessary grind.

However, it could be a good idea to have squadron pilots scrounge around for materials to extend the jump range. Similar to jumponium for your own ships.
 
I don't see it that way - as the Carrier will, presumably, be able to transport docked CMDRs whether they are online or not - so they may well become a good way to keep a group of players together, simply by them docking on the Carrier at the end of the play session and, on rejoining, they will be on the Carrier, wherever it may have travelled to.

Disagree on both counts - Discord can't transport the offline members of a Squadron around the galaxy and I fully expect Carriers to be able to be used outside the bubble simply because, as stations can fulfill some functions, they can only do so where there are stations - Carriers will very probably be able to travel to systems where there are no stations at all (and none for some distance).

There are a few potential problems here though, that I certainly hope have intelligent solutions:

1. What happens to the ships and commanders traveling by Carrier when the Carrier owner gets disconnected because they’re unable to reach the Transaction server, or because their mom is tired of calling them to dinner and pulls their plug, or any of the myriad reasons people get disconnected at inopportune times?

2. What contingencies are/will be emplaced for those traveling by Carrier if/when the Carrier operator takes those people to some distant place, like Beagle Point, disconnects and is unable to return for an extended period of time?

These are the two big concern items that come to mind.

As for fuel... I’m still thinking 100 tons of Polonium per light year, plus 10 tons of polonium per carried ship, per light year will be what we’re looking at.
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
There are a few potential problems here though, that I certainly hope have intelligent solutions:

1. What happens to the ships and commanders traveling by Carrier when the Carrier owner gets disconnected because they’re unable to reach the Transaction server, or because their mom is tired of calling them to dinner and pulls their plug, or any of the myriad reasons people get disconnected at inopportune times?

2. What contingencies are/will be emplaced for those traveling by Carrier if/when the Carrier operator takes those people to some distant place, like Beagle Point, disconnects and is unable to return for an extended period of time?

These are the two big concern items that come to mind.

As for fuel... I’m still thinking 100 tons of Polonium per light year, plus 10 tons of polonium per carried ship, per light year will be what we’re looking at.
Based on my expectations:

1) The Carrier will be persistent and shall remain visible even when all Squadron members are offline. It will not use Supercruise at all, rather jumping from normal space to normal space. CMDRs will be free to leave it at any time (other than when in transit).
2) See 1).

Polonium? I hope not.
 
Based on my expectations:

1) The Carrier will be persistent and shall remain visible even when all Squadron members are offline. It will not use Supercruise at all, rather jumping from normal space to normal space. CMDRs will be free to leave it at any time (other than when in transit).
2) See 1).

Polonium? I hope not.

I’ve actually thought along the same lines, which is also why I anticipate these being non-combat, non-combatable structures, like other megaships, otherwise people will be returning to the game to find their carriers reduced to rubble regularly.
 
There has to be the ability to refuel at the main star because otherwise it's going to be impossible to go anywhere fairly quickly if you have to keep resource hunting every 'x jumps' whilst out in the black. That said there's no reason why they cant have a need for specific smaller numbers of other materials to either make that jump happen or to increase its range, or to have ships dump fuel in it to help.
 
There has to be the ability to refuel at the main star because otherwise it's going to be impossible to go anywhere fairly quickly if you have to keep resource hunting every 'x jumps' whilst out in the black. That said there's no reason why they cant have a need for specific smaller numbers of other materials to either make that jump happen or to increase its range, or to have ships dump fuel in it to help.

Why should they be able to 'go anywhere fairly quickly'?

Getting a carrier to Beagle Point should be a major undertaking, not just a 10 minute refuel cycle between jumps.
 
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