ANNOUNCEMENT Fleet Carriers - Content Reveal Recap

Stephen Benedetti

Community Manager
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Greetings Commanders,

You can now find our Fleet Carrier Content Reveal Video over on our YouTube channel here, where we gave you an insight into the long-awaited Fleet Carriers!
Since our first reveal of Fleet Carriers, we've examined the predefined loadout system and felt that we could take this even further. We have made it so that Commanders will have the ability to customise their Fleet Carriers loadout as they see fit, which will allow you to be fully equipped for any task.
If you haven't watched our Fleet Carriers Content Reveal yet, don't worry, we've got you covered with a full recap of the content below!


WHAT IS A FLEET CARRIER?
Fleet Carriers are massive ships used as a mobile base of operations, offering multiple hanger bays and various services controlled by you, the Commander. Fleet Carriers can be customised to fit different playstyles by managing a number of onboard services, which the owner can tailor to fit their needs, and the needs of their fellow Commanders. With a 500ly jump range, Fleet Carriers provide new opportunities for expeditions and long-range travel, the ability to reload, refuel and repair for conflicts and campaigns, as well as tools and storage for mining operations far from home... and much, much more!

CORE INFORMATION
  • A Fleet Carrier costs 5,000,000,000 credits.
    • If you have the Kickstarter discount, it will be applied when purchasing a Fleet Carrier.
  • Fleet Carriers are individually owned, and the owner can only have one Fleet Carrier at a time.
  • The Fleet Carrier owner can manage docking permissions to allow or restrict Commanders, friends and Squadron members from docking.
    • There is an additional setting that allows owners to prevent Commanders with Notoriety from docking.
  • A Fleet Carrier has 16 landing pads:
    • 8 Large
    • 4 Medium
    • 4 Small
  • Fleet Carriers no longer have determined loadouts, but instead have a variety of services that can be tailored to the playstyle of the owners choosing (much like player ships are).

MOVING YOUR FLEET CARRIER
Fleet Carriers have an astounding maximum jump range of 500ly, allowing Commanders to go further than ever before!
  • For the Fleet Carrier to jump such distances, the enormous FSD used to move the Carrier requires the commodity 'Tritium' as fuel. This can be acquired by purchasing it at starports with refinery economies, or by mining Ice Asteroids.
  • For a Fleet Carrier to move to a new system, the owner must first plot the destination.
    • If the owner plots the destination on the Galaxy Map, the Fleet Carrier will appear, and orbit a body within that system.
    • If the owner wants the Fleet Carrier to orbit a specific body, they can do so by entering the System Map and selecting the body that they would like it to orbit.
    • Fleet Carriers will not be able to enter any Permit Systems, even if the owner holds a permit for that region of space.

  • The owner can decide to jump their Fleet Carrier at any time, but this does take some planning.
    • For a Fleet Carrier to jump, it will take one hour to prepare the crew, and the vessel for the jump.
    • Once the jump is complete, the Fleet Carrier will not be able to jump for another hour as it will need time to recharge.
      • Each jump will incur Wear and Tear costs (more on this below).

HOW DO YOU PURCHASE A FLEET CARRIER?
The Brewer Corporation, the creators of the new Fleet Carriers, now operate Carrier Construction facilities at a select handful of starports throughout human-populated space.
  • As mentioned, only certain starports sell Fleet Carriers and these are visually indicated by 'Carrier Construction' structures found nearby (you can also find these starports through the Galaxy Map).
    • Carrier Construction facilities are a new Starport Service and will appear in the available Service filters on the Galaxy Map.
    • When purchasing a Fleet Carrier, Commanders will find it in the nearest available system orbiting a body.

RUNNING A FLEET CARRIER
Although you are the owner of the Fleet Carrier, you are not alone in running the day-to-day operations. For this, your Carrier requires a crew that run the facilities, perform maintenance, and takes your Fleet Carrier wherever you wish to go.
  • You can recruit new crew members, add new services, and even temporarily suspend certain services.
  • All Carriers come equipped with a Commodity Market, Tritium Depot, and a Deck Officer.
    • In order to add and remove services, or hire new crew members to operate them, your Fleet Carrier must be in star system that hosts a station with a new contact, the Carrier Management Service.
  • The services and crew members you have aboard your Carrier contribute to a weekly running cost, deducted from the Fleet Carrier's balance during Elite Dangerous' weekly maintenance.
    • Core costs - These crew members are required to run your Fleet Carrier's core services.
    • Optional costs - These crew members run your Fleet Carrier's optional services, and must be paid the minimum weekly amount for any active service currently utilised by the Fleet Carrier.
    • Maintenance costs - This is the cost of degradation to the Fleet Carrier caused by performing jumps. This is a flat cost added for each jump that the Fleet Carrier has made during that week.
Fleet Carrier Bank
The Fleet Carrier is equipped with its own bank, which holds funds that are used for all Fleet Carrier costs.
  • The Fleet Carrier owner can deposit, and withdraw credits directly from the bank.
  • Fleet Carrier Bank funds are used for all Fleet Carrier transactions, fitting new services, purchasing desired commodities from visitors, and more.
  • The Fleet Carrier owner can also charge an additional fee when visitors use its services. This fee can be set between 0 to 100% by the owner of the Fleet Carrier.
  • If there aren't enough funds in the Fleet Carrier bank to cover the weekly running costs, the Fleet Carrier will go into debt (we'll talk more about this below).

FLEET CARRIER SERVICES
Fleet Carriers provide a base of operations for Commanders and can be customised with a number of services that offer owners and visiting Commanders a range of different options, from selling commodities, to refueling and rearming, and more!
  • Fleet Carrier services are run by the crew, and used by any Commanders who dock on the Fleet Carrier.
  • All Fleet Carriers come with Core Services, which provide the basic functions needed for the Fleet Carrier to trade, receive fuel, and purchase additional services.
  • Additional services can be bought by the Fleet Carrier owner to tailor their Fleet Carrier to their playstyle, and provide a variety of tools for Commanders to use.
  • Services take up space on a Fleet Carrier, and the owner will need to manage the way the space is used.

Core Services
Newly-purchased Fleet Carriers come with Core Services, a Commodities Market and a Tritium Depot, which remain active at all times. Running a Fleet Carrier is no easy task, so a Deck Officer will be provided upon purchase of the Carrier to help manage these integral services.
  • Commodities Market - Allows visiting Commanders to purchase and sell commodities.
  • Tritium Depot- Stores the unique fuelthat the Fleet Carrier uses to jump.
    • Fuel Capacity - Allows owners and visitors to see how much fuel is remaining and the current jump range for the Fleet Carrier.
    • Tritium can be donated to the Fleet Carrier via the Tritium Depot.

Additional Services
There are also a number of additional optional services that can be enabled to make your Fleet Carrier unique!
  • Some starports will be equipped with a Carrier Administration Servicethat allows Carriers to fit new services, restock their fitted services, and hire new crew.
    • This is where you will manage your crew,
  • You can suspend and re-enable services at any time.
  • Each Additional Service has an installation and a weekly running cost.
  • Fleet Carrier owners can sell any installed services at a reduced cost in a system that have a Carrier Administration Service in it (these locations can be found in the Galaxy Map). Alternatively, the owner can enable or disable Additional Servicesat any time, reducing the weekly upkeep for the service.
    • When disabling a service, the crew will remain onboard the Fleet Carrier, and will be charged a retainer fee.
The Additional Services are:
  • Redemption Officer
    • Allows visiting Commanders to sell Vouchersat the Fleet Carrier but at a cost. The Redemption Officer and the Fleet Carrier Bank will take a fee from the sale price, for the convenience of handing in the Voucher onboard.
      • You can sell Bond, Trade Dividends, Bounties, Powerplay Salaries and Codex Vouchers to the Redemption Officer.
  • Advanced Maintenance - Comprised of three separate facilities that allow visiting Commanders to repair, refuel and rearm (restock) their ships, respectively.
    • Repair Crews
    • Refuel Station
    • Armoury
  • Outfitting
    • Allows visiting Commanders to purchase, sell, and store modules at the Fleet Carrier.
    • Module Stock- The Outfitting service can be stocked with a wide variety of module selections available in varying tiers of quality. This allows the owner to customise what others can purchase from their Carrier as they see fit.
  • Shipyard
    • Allows visiting Commanders to purchase, sell, and store ships at the Fleet Carrier.
    • Ship Stock- Similarly to the Module Stock, Fleet Carrier owners can purchase Ship Stocks which contain a number of different ships. These stocks are themed with ships for different roles, for example: the Cargo Advanced Ship Pack includes the highly-respected cargo freighter variants: Type-6, Type-7 and Type-9.
  • Fence
    • Allows visiting Commanders to purchase (and sell) illegal goods from the Fleet Carrier.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Crew Members

One does not simply run a Fleet Carrier on their own, they employ a trusty crew to run all of its operations.
  • Each service will have a Head Crew Member, who manages that service's crew. If the owner doesn't like the cut of their jib, they can replace them at anytime.
  • You will also be able to view your Deck Officer, who is responsible for day-to-day maintenance, navigation, weaponry, and other duties you don't want to have to worry about as the owner.
Engineering Blueprints
  • If you have pinned an Engineering Blueprint, you can view them on the Commander interface window at the Fleet Carrier.
Navigation
  • Displays the current location, Tritium reserves and the Fleet Carrier's current jump capability.
  • This is where the Fleet Carrier owner can plot their Carriers jump through the onboad Galaxy and System Map.
Budget
  • Fleet Carrier owners can enable a Tariff for using the Fleet Carrier's services, allowing owners to earn additional funds when those services are used by visitors.
  • This tax can be changed at any time and any funds earned during this time will be added to the Fleet Carrier bank balance.
Livery
  • Just like player ships, Fleet Carriers have a number of customisation options for that extra personal touch.
Security
  • To maintain order, the System Authority will send Authority Vessels to patrol the Fleet Carriers in their system.
  • If the Fleet Carrier owner, or visitors, participate in illegal activity around the Fleet Carrier, then the System Authority will increase their patrols, making it difficult to partake in illegal activity.
  • The Fleet Carrier's security level will increase with the system's Superpower over time if no illegal activities take place, reducing System Authority patrols.
Other
  • Fleet Carrier owners and visitors will be able to view a summary of the Fleet Carrier, showing current capacity, available services, and the local Superpower reputation.
  • Fleet Carrier owners can set the Fleet Carrier's focus, a visual change to the interface, showing visitors an icon linked to the Fleet Carrier's purpose, such as mining, bounty-hunting, pirating and more!
  • There is a new docking user interface when a Commander docks on the Fleet Carrier. Here landing Commanders can Refuel, Repair, and ReStock, at the click of a button, without having to enter the Carrier Services.
  • When a the Fleet Carrier owner is docked on their Fleet Carrier, they can transfer cargo directly to the Fleet Carrier.

DEBT AND DECOMMISSIONING
Being in Debt

  • If the owner is unable to keep up to date with the weekly running costs of their Fleet Carrier, then the Fleet Carrier will go into debt.
  • The debt owed will increase each week if the funds are not added or earned to cover the level of debt accrued.
  • When in the Fleet Carrier goes into debt, all optional services will be disabled and they cannot be re-enabled until the debt is paid (the Fleet Carrier will not operate fully, but it will help to lower the running cost).
  • The owner must pay off all of the debt in the Fleet Carrier bank to get out of debt, and once they do so they can then re-activate any Additional Services on that Fleet Carrier.
  • You can continue to accrue debt for a number of weeks but once it exceeds a set limit, you'll be given a week to resolve your finances or lose the carrier permanently.
  • If this happens, the Fleet Carrier will be shut down and the owner will be notified that the Fleet Carrier has been decommissioned and can no longer be recovered.

Decommissioning a Fleet Carrier
  • As Fleet Carriers have a high upkeep, some Commanders may find themselves wanting to relinquish the responsibilities of maintaining their vessel, and paying the crew.
  • If this situation ever occurs, the owner can decommission their Fleet Carrier.
  • By choosing to decommission the Fleet Carrier, it will go into a pending decommissioned status, and the owner will have a several days until the Fleet Carrier becomes decommissioned.
  • Whilst in this state the Fleet Carrier is pending decommissioned,it is still possible to do a number of functions:
    • Dock at the Fleet Carrier.
    • Sell off services (if in a star system with the Carrier Management service at one of the starports).
    • Retrieve stored cargo.
    • Put commodities up for sale.
  • However, the following will not be possible:
    • Purchase new services.
    • Hire crew.
    • You can continue to accrue debt for a number of weeks but once it exceeds a set limit, you'll be given a week to resolve your finances or lose the carrier permanently.
  • The owner of the Fleet Carrier can cancel the Carrier from pending decommission, if they change their mind.
Decommissioned Fleet Carrier
  • Any Commanders who have stored modules on the Fleet Carrier will be notified when the Fleet Carrier is Decommissioned.
    • Commanders can still transfer their modules and ships elsewhere during this period.
    • If the modules are not transferred, then they will be moved the nearest starport with the Carrier Construction service, and will require a standard charge for transferring those modules to a new location.
  • If your Fleet Carrier is decommissioned it will be taken over by a recovery crew and the owner will be reimbursed for a portion of the Carrier's current value.
    • This value is determined by the contents of the Carrier at the moment it was decommissioned as well as its service time and how far away it is from the nearest Construction Dock.
BETA
As it currently stands, we're aiming to launch the Fleet Carriers update in June and will be calling all commanders to experience Fleet Carriers (as both visitors and owners) in two upcoming public betas before the update is live! The first beta will begin on 7 April for PC only, and the second beta which will be launched on PC, Xbox and PlayStation, will take place in May. Please note that there is a chance that these time frames may change slightly in the coming weeks, but we'll keep you up to date on the specific times, dates and instructions in the near future.

We can't wait to see how you use your Fleet Carriers in the beta and how they can affect our wider Elite Dangerous galaxy when the update is live!

o7

 
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Stephen Benedetti

Community Manager
Greetings Commanders,

We would like to thank the community for all of the amazing feedback and questions about the Fleet Carrier Update so far! Since our announcement last week, we've collated as many of your community questions as possible and answered them below.

If you have any additional questions that are not answered here, or in the recap, let us know!

Q. Why are Fleet Carriers such a large investment?
A. Fleet Carriers are massive vessels, which have crew and services with the ability to impact the owner's experience, but also the experience of other commanders from across the galaxy. It's a huge responsibility aimed at experienced commanders with the time and credits to maintain and manage these mammoth vessels, offering potential services to many different players.

Q. Other than Fleet Carriers, what else will be included in this update?
A. Fleet Carriers are of course taking the main stage for this update, but it will also include several fixes from the Issue Tracker. Keep an eye on our forums as we will be publishing the Fleet Carrier Update - Beta 1 - Patch Notes in the coming days.

Q. How will Fleet Carriers interact with Powerplay, and the BGS?
A. Fleet Carriers won't directly affect Powerplay or the BGS and therefore won't include a Power Contact. However, the owner can still use their Fleet Carrier to benefit players coordinating to change the state of given systems. For example, if a system needs certain commodities, Fleet Carriers can load up on supplies and transport them to the system in question. Fleet Carriers provide new opportunities to interact with existing systems and we're excited to see what you achieve with them!

Q. How might an explorer fund their Fleet Carrier's upkeep costs?
A. Whilst Elite Dangerous' top traders might want to turn their Fleet Carrier into a trading post that turns a profit, we expect most Fleet Carriers to be fitted in ways that help players do what they enjoy in the game. For example, explorers who have accrued large sums of cash, they'll be able to take a Fleet Carrier and ferry it out to the remote regions of the galaxy and explore never-before seen locations. Equally, explorers could set their Fleet Carrier up as a trading post in a convenient location to turn a profit while they engage in other activities.

Q. What will happen if you are unable to access the game, and your Fleet Carrier gets decommissioned?
A. Fleet Carriers come with a lot of responsibility and maintenance, and if for some reason the owner can not access the game for a period of time, they can set in place several ways to stop their Fleet Carrier being decommissioned. As it will take a lot of debt for a Fleet Carrier to be decommissioned, the owner can make sure there is enough funds in the bank to cover costs over a lengthy period of time. The owner can also reduce costs by suspending or completely deactivating services entirely, minimising the outgoings. Certain services can also be set up to generate income in a system with a high traffic for supplies, generating income for the Fleet Carrier over time.

If these options fail and the Fleet Carrier gets decommissioned, the owner will still receive a 'salavage cost' for the Fleet Carrier. If a Fleet Carrier is decommissioned, the owner will receive a salvage cost equal to a portion of the purchase price plus any additions such as modules or other items stored on it.

Q. Will any in-game discounts be applied when purchasing a Fleet Carrier?
A. Only Commanders with 'Kickstarter Outfitting' or with the Founder Tier (and higher) discount will receive a discount when they purchase a Fleet Carrier. Fleet Carriers cannot enter or be bought from permit-locked systems (including Shinrarta Dezhra).

Q. How do you obtain Tritium?
A. Tritium cannot be refined from other minerals and is instead obtained from directly mining ice asteroids, or being purchased from some starports. Be warned, Tritium is a commodity and therefore can be stolen or lost like any other commodity!

Q. What happens if your Fleet Carrier jumps into a system and runs out of fuel?
A. Fleet Carrier owners will need to plan their trips carefully as there are high risks in being stranded, especially with a vessel that can jump 500ly away. Tritium can also be stored on the Fleet Carrier. Visiting commanders may also stop by to donate fuel or sell it to the Fleet Carrier, providing more fuel for jumps!

Q. Will Fleet Carriers be persistent in the universe? Even if you are offline or play in Solo Mode?
A. Fleet Carriers themselves are persistent in the galaxy across all game modes, whether you are online or not, and player ships docked at one are subject to the usual normal game mode and matchmaking rules. If a Commander docks on a Fleet Carrier in Solo which then decides to jump to a new system, the commander who is docked will jump with the Fleet Carrier, even though they are in Solo.

Q. Can Fleet Carriers be stolen by other Players?
A. No, other players cannot steal a Commander's Fleet Carrier.

Q. How many landing pads are there, and will it be possible to store ships on Fleet Carriers?
A. Fleet Carriers have 16 landing pads for the owner and fellow commanders to use. If the Fleet Carrier has the Shipyard Service, commanders will also be able to store their ships onboard (these ships do not use up any additional capacity, the Shipyard handles this for you). The landing and storage of ships acts in the same way as regular starports.

Q. Can Thargoids attack Fleet Carriers?
A. No, Fleet Carriers do not attack Thargoids, and Thargoids do not attack Fleet Carriers.

Q. What is the Fleet Carrier jump process?
A. Fleet Carriers and their crew need to make preparations before the vessel begins its Hyperspace Jump. The preparations will take one hour to complete, and whilst this is happening, all Commanders in the vicinity will receive several alerts throughout the countdown, warning them of the time left until the jump commences. When the Fleet Carrier arrives at its destination, there will be a one hour cooldown before it can begin preparations to jump again. We'd love to hear your feedback on these timescales during the betas!

Q. Can anyone store commodities in a Fleet Carrier?
A. Only the Fleet Carrier owner can transfer commodities into the Fleet Carrier's personal storage and back again, similar to how cargo transfer works between SRV's and ships.

Q. Are Fleet Carrier names unique?
A. Fleet Carrier names are not unique across the galaxy and can be changed by the owner. However, each Fleet Carrier has a unique callsign that appears on the Navigation Panel which cannot be changed.

Q. Are Fleet Carriers manually controlled from a bridge?
A. No, Fleet Carriers are not manually piloted by the player and instead, manned by a Deck Officer who helps oversee the operations and running of the Fleet Carrier crew and services.

Q. Can a Fleet Carrier go into Supercruise?
A. Fleet Carriers do not use Supercruise to travel, and instead use Hyperspace Jumps to navigate through the galaxy.

Q. Can you sell Guardian Weapons or Modules from a Fleet Carrier?
A. No, it will not be possible to sell materials, Rare Goods or modules that need unlocking from Fleet Carriers.

Q. Does the Fleet Carrier's economy affect the surrounding system's economy?
A. The Fleet Carrier is an independent vessel and will not affect any system's economy.

Q. What happens if a Commander attacks a Fleet Carrier?
A. Fleet Carriers act in the same way as stations, outposts and planet ports, if they are attacked they will fire back to eliminate the threat with onboard turrets.

Q. Can you buy multiple Fleet Carriers?
A. A Commander can only own one Fleet Carrier at a time, however, if the owner decides to decommission their Fleet Carrier they can purchase another one.

Q. What happened to the support vessels?
A. We examined the concept of predefined load-outs through the use of support vessels, but they restricted the level of customisation that we wanted Fleet Carriers to have. We removed the support vessels and changed it so that Fleet Carrier owners had more control of the Fleet Carriers' customisation.

Q. Can a Fleet Carrier and a Capital Ship jump alongside each other?
A. No, Fleet Carriers and Capital Ships will not be able to jump alongside each other.

Q. How much control does a Fleet Carrier owner have over a Fleet Carrier's destination?
A. If a location is selected directly from the Galaxy Map, the Fleet Carrier will orbit the first available interstellar body. If a location is selected from the System Map, the Fleet Carrier owner can specify which body they want the Fleet Carrier to orbit, providing there are not too many other Fleet Carriers orbiting the same location.

Q. Can the owners remotely manage their Fleet Carrier?
A. Fleet Carrier owners can use the Remote Fleet Carrier Management option in the Internal Panel on their ship to access Fleet Carrier Management Services.

Q. Can we visually customize our Fleet Carrier?
A. Similarly to other ships in the game, you will be able to customise your Fleet Carrier through the onboard Livery.

Q. Can Fleet Carriers land on planets?
A. No, Fleet Carriers cannot land on planets.

Q. Will Carriers have the same gameplay interactions as Megaships? ie Turrets, Data Terminals, Comms Array, and Cargo Bay
A. No, most of the interactions will happen once a Commander has docked on a Fleet Carrier.

Q. Can Fleet Carriers be used in conjunction with Rescue Vessels at damaged starports?
A. Fleet Carriers can support Commanders as they go to help damaged starports, but they can not directly aid Rescue Vessels at these damaged starports.

Q. Can I manufacture commodities for trading on a Fleet Carrier?
A. Fleet Carriers only deal with trading commodities and do not have the facilities to make, grow or manufacture any goods.

Q. If the market onboard can be set by the player, what happens if the player decides to sell narcotics etc. and then jumps to a system where they are illegal?
A. It is up to the Fleet Carrier owner if they would like to sell and buy goods that are illegal in that system. Although the Fleet Carrier itself will not get into trouble for selling illegal goods, any ships caught carrying illegal goods can be caught by the System Authority surrounding the Fleet Carrier

Q. Can Fleet Carriers be ordered to jump into unexplored systems?
A. Yes! If a Fleet Carrier jumps to an unexplored system it will target the primary star as its destination.

Q. Will a log of Fleet Carrier actions be kept, similar to the CMDR journal for player actions?
A. There will not be a dedicated Fleet Carrier Journal, but a Commander's Journal will include some of the transactions that they might have with a Fleet Carrier.

Q. Can players steal from Fleet Carriers in the same way goods can be stolen from Megaships and Installations?
A. No, Fleet Carriers do not have any external cargo bays.

Q. Can I open a Black Market on my Fleet Carrier?
A. Yes, Fleet Carriers have an additional service that allows Commanders to trade stolen goods.

Q. Can Squadrons pool money to purchase a Fleet Carrier (with the squadron creator being the owner of the carrier)?
A. It is not possible to donate credits to a specific Commander.

Q. Which aspects of Fleet Carriers are subject to feedback and suggested changes during the beta?
A. Similar to our previous beta, we appreciate every piece of feedback that you contribute to the development of the Fleet Carrier Update. We need Commanders to come together and test both the durability and functionality of Fleet Carriers as both owners and visitors to ensure a successful launch.
 
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