Keep Cheap Ships Relevant with More Internal Upgrades

[DocLooshkin]

This doesn't seem like a good idea to me. If you were designing the game from scratch, it would probably be workable, but doing it now seems like it would upset a great many currently-well-balanced things, starting with the purpose of buying larger ships, which would lose most of their appeal. I think FD would need a whole new series of alpha and beta tests just to get the game back into a playable shape. Even then, with every single encounter a potentially deadly one against an unexpectedly much faster and better-armed opponent, it seems to me the game would be a lot less relaxed and fun than it is at present. If I take on a challenge and it goes pear-shaped, that's exciting. If I'm worried about every last currently-suicidal Sidewinder en route to a trade destination, that's just stressful. I wouldn't like that at all.

The idea of specialisations for different ships seems like a better idea to me. I read a suggestion that we might be getting Sidewinders on board Anaconda carriers at some point. I'd like to see that and other niche roles besides. Little fleets of mining Adders, survey Eagles, salvage Cobras and battlefield-repair Asps (all just for example) are something I think would add much to the game, without breaking anything already in place. I think I'd enjoy that.

 

[FuzzySpider]

I like how you read "Let the cheaper ships fit some stronger modules for an appropriate cost and/or have tuning shops to tweak ship performance" and you interperate this as "Let me put c3 guns on my eagle and also make it faster than a Viper", then you base your entire argument off this strawman. I can dismiss out of hand the claim that this would somehow destroy "strategy", as if without this careful balancing act of "upgrade all modules to A (except sensors and life support)" our house of cards would crumble.

Read the post above mine.

I certainly don't give a whit about "roleplay" or "lore" as arguments for or against game mechanics, as these things are so subjective as to be completely meaningless.

I know you don't. You're approaching this as if Elite is a space themed arcade shooter. It isn't, and it won't be.

The only thing being altered in my suggestion would be things things the player can already upgrade via modules. What I am suggesting is already in the game I am just suggesting they take it a step further. If it matters to FD, they can make sure such upgrades fall only within a ship's specific characteristics. But that's their decision.

What you are suggesting, at the very least, is to alter the game so that obsolete ships can take on and destroy advanced ones, and put all the ships on an even footing. I can barely believe I am bothering with this, as it's so far removed from what Elite is they'll never even think about it.

Yes? And? Is this meant to be some sort of clever sting? I like to fly ships that look good. I wager so do a lot of people. If all the ships in Elite looked like garbage, I would not fly them.

Semblence over depth. Pretty graphics over soul and substance. I respect your choices, but there are loads of games out there with glorious set-pieces and stunning visuals you can play for hours before you finish them. Games like Elite cater to a very different market.

It ruins ~my immersion~, you see.

The thing about subjectivity is that it still has to follow logic. Immersion is subjective, but it still has to make sense on some level. Someone couldn't say, for example; "This game is so unimmersive! Why doesn't the sidewinder actually look like a sidewinder snake? Why doesn't the viper hiss? And why doesn't the anaconda kill things by wrapping itself around other ships and crushing them?", because that simply doesn't make sense in the context of the universe it is in.

You're saying fit high class modules to antiquated ships. That's fine. That works. But if you could fit such a module to a light designed vessel you could fit an even more advanced module to a more advanced ship. If you could fit a module to make the Eagle move twice as fast as its design specifications, you should be able to fit a module to a vulture to make it move at ten times its specifications. It'd by like saying "Why can't we fit a better, more modern engine to a Ford model T to make it go faster?" Well you can, but the technology that allows you to do that is the same technology that allows you to make a formula 1 car drive many magnitudes faster.

I actually agree with the notion of keeping ships relevant, but the best way to do that is to simply have ship-specific missions in the bulletin boards. Local sector patrols and escorting duties for vipers and eagles for example.