Elite has always had an unfilled nice for large volume traders and the recent colonization feature makes the need even more obvious.
I propose large freight ships, that would have much larger cargo space than current ships but less than FC. let's say 5,000 to 10,000 range. These would be slow and require special docking pylons outside instead of inside existing stations allowing the commander piloting the ship to dock, refuel, stock up. The ships themselves would be smaller than fleet carriers but a similar class of ship. These ships also would not be purchased, but rented, and would stay static if they are parked somewhere random but could be returned at any large pylon.
As such, they wouldn't be engineerable and just have stock configurations to avoid having to create all kind of unique modules. Ideally they should have some defenses, maybe SLF and turrets.
These ships would generate their own realspace bubble that would move with the ship and act as a mobile POI. Escorts would fly in the same POI, and any commander in supercruise can target and drop into the POI instead of interdiction mechanics. They would not be conventionally destructable in the same way ships are but have weak components similar to installations that when destroyed would trigger a 'melt down' that would eject the commander piloting and transfer any stored ships to a nearby station similar to rebuy mechanisms, after which it would detonate. This obviously will come with a financial penalty for the captain to pay damages for the rental ship being destroyed while they were flying it.
The ships would also have deployable landing pads. Switching to landing pad configuration from mobile configuration takes time and forces the ship to be stationary for a few minutes. This would allow current normal sized ships to dock and transfer goods as necessary, likewise, the pilot could leave the ship in landing pad mode and fly off with their own regular sized ship.
The ship should have a max range less than a fleet carrier but at least similar or greater to existing ships.
The intent of the ships would be to assist group play, as a large freighter would be more efficient at bulk hauling but may require support ships as escorts, or in the case of mining, players could mine collaboratively, and store all the mined goods on the large freighter which would then go off and sell them.
I propose large freight ships, that would have much larger cargo space than current ships but less than FC. let's say 5,000 to 10,000 range. These would be slow and require special docking pylons outside instead of inside existing stations allowing the commander piloting the ship to dock, refuel, stock up. The ships themselves would be smaller than fleet carriers but a similar class of ship. These ships also would not be purchased, but rented, and would stay static if they are parked somewhere random but could be returned at any large pylon.
As such, they wouldn't be engineerable and just have stock configurations to avoid having to create all kind of unique modules. Ideally they should have some defenses, maybe SLF and turrets.
These ships would generate their own realspace bubble that would move with the ship and act as a mobile POI. Escorts would fly in the same POI, and any commander in supercruise can target and drop into the POI instead of interdiction mechanics. They would not be conventionally destructable in the same way ships are but have weak components similar to installations that when destroyed would trigger a 'melt down' that would eject the commander piloting and transfer any stored ships to a nearby station similar to rebuy mechanisms, after which it would detonate. This obviously will come with a financial penalty for the captain to pay damages for the rental ship being destroyed while they were flying it.
The ships would also have deployable landing pads. Switching to landing pad configuration from mobile configuration takes time and forces the ship to be stationary for a few minutes. This would allow current normal sized ships to dock and transfer goods as necessary, likewise, the pilot could leave the ship in landing pad mode and fly off with their own regular sized ship.
The ship should have a max range less than a fleet carrier but at least similar or greater to existing ships.
The intent of the ships would be to assist group play, as a large freighter would be more efficient at bulk hauling but may require support ships as escorts, or in the case of mining, players could mine collaboratively, and store all the mined goods on the large freighter which would then go off and sell them.
