I don't think they'll wipe any player assets. It'd be a surefire way to discourage playing. Is like the brat next door destroying the sandcastles of other kids. No adult does that.
Honestly, I dont think you'd have to. I think what you could probably get away with is "battle damage" that has to be repaired, you could make it so the carrier needs various mined substances dumped into carrier services by the owner (and their friends) to "repair" various components. If Fdev ever allows carriers to manufacturer stuff, you could refine this system into, you go mine raws, refine the stuff into components and that's what the repair process calls for. But for now you could get away with just asking for raws and it's implied the carrier refines it and makes it into what they need.
And incuring battle damage imo would be subject to the owner using it in combat, not in all situations, so I can understand not wanting it just sitting somewhere minding it's own business and the "brat" as you say, going from instance to instance damaging carriers unchallenged. (If Fdev does insist on this, then I want to be able to set KOS lists for the carriers "station" guns. Not only that, but I want the System Authority Vessels to be changed to Carrier ownership, meaning they would deploy where ever the carrier is regardless of whether it's an inhabited system or not. basically made into a Combat Air Patrol that prioritizes defending the carrier and it's owner.)
But outside of that, if that's not a concession, I would want battle damage to only be incurred when the owner elects to use the carrier in combat and the carrier "copy" is getting shot up, the damage from these engagements are tracked, and applied to the "real" version of the carrier. Obviously to completely disable a carrier would take ALOT of pounding, alot of use.
As far as actual battle damage, like how damaged can a carrier get if taken to the extreme and assuming you don't repair between engagements, but a carrier taken all the way down to 0. The extreme should be:
A) every module can be disabled, meaning the carrier acts like you have no optional services installed. (Obviously the owner's outfitting and shipyard functions would remain to facilitate repairs and switching ships). Visiting Cmdrs would basically see the barebones options on the carrier services screen, They could see a repair "depot" button, that like the tritium depot, brings up a list of material the carrier needs to repair, so visiting Cmdrs can contribute to it. The owner would be able to put in his repair goods via the button on their services menu too. However the owner has additional options, like setting what repair tasks are being done, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. So for example, the owner might want to get the shipyard and outfitting up and running first to enable their friends to be able to quickly switch to mining ships to speed up repairs. Or perhaps get the jump drive working to jump the ship to where a inhabited system is to again, procure repair materials quicker.
B) The FSD get's "damaged" meaning jump range is limited, further damage limits it more until the jumpdrive completely is disabled, meaning no ability to jump, until it is, at least minimally repaired to get working, and further repairs increase the limit until back up to 100%.
C) visible fires on the hull, breached hull panels, the ATC acting "Panicked" when they contact you. (In other words like damaged stations often do.), Onboard for Odyssey players, the crew would be wearing flight suits or Maverick suits, engaging in repairs, welding, fixing, etc. Their conversations bleak or focused only on repairs type dialogue. The lighting would be alert status, the ship would be groaning and you'd hear muffled sounds of back pressure, the occasional explosion. etc.
So this being the worst case scenario, this would of course be likely the most expensive in terms of repair cost, cost in this case being materials NOT credits. Getting to this point needs to be a concerted effort, it shouldn't be one unlucky use of the carrier's combat mode and all of a sudden your carriers broke. To get to this level, we're talking repeated tactical jumps and repeated poundings till HP flatline AND, you're not repairing or having anyone else repair in the meantime. And of course there would be various damage states between the two extremes of 100% and 0%
But even in this dark situation, the carrier will never EVER blow up, you will never lose it and your stuff, and the carrier still works for the owner, the way a base level carrier would, minus a disabled jump drive. And from there the carrier owner and their friends will be able to build the carrier back up with various materials you have stored. (Again, if Fdev ever allows carriers to manufacture things, then you could store the repair materials as commodities to assist in repairs OR put out a buy order of commodities for cmdrs to fulfill.)<- I dont want them to require commodities if they can't be made by the Cmdr because I don't want a carrier to be stuck because they aren't near the bubble or Colonia.
But with due effort and diligence, the carrier can be brought back up to 100 percent, where all modules start working again, jumpdrive is restored to 100%, the hull is repaired and returned to normal, and the crew back in their default state like normal.
And keep in mind if you choose not to use the tactical jump/combat mode, that's fine and you won't have to deal with this. But it would be an option for those who want to use their carrier more "forwardly"
