Not a good move Frontier - Fleet Carrier upkeep

[Libluini]

The way I see if if u buy a house IRL it still costs you weekly and monthly Bill's, if the Royal navy purchases a new aircraft carrier it still costs the navy for the up keep of the ship, if u don't spend money on ur house it eventually falls apart, if the navy doesn't spend ooodles of money on a ship it falls apart and is eventually decommissioned,
If ED is supposed to be a simulator more than a game then its sticking to real life, it could be worse you could have to purchase more NPC crew to man said carrier and then you'd be paying a weekly crew wage bill in top of your up keep.
Why moan about something before you even get chance to try it out, do you tell a date you don't like her favourite restaurant even tho you never eaten there?
Personally i never found the fleet carrier a must have item.

That's true. Now let's tally up all those upkeep costs for every ship you have ever owned, plus costs for docking in every station you ever docked and deduct it from your account. Hopefully you don't fall too far into the negatives, after all you just agreed Frontier should delete all your ships to pay your debts.

 

[Han Zulu]

Yes, exactly. I hope that inactivity results in the carrier getting mothballed, after a certain period of time - essentially frozen, with whatever debt has accumulated needing to be paid off before it can be re-activated.

And I certainly hope this "huge" debt cannot be accumulated just by not logging in. But if it gets mothballed before than can happen, we are okay!

Basically, you log out, and after some time the staff begins to fire and lay off people in the crew, until it's a skeleton crew, and then they're gone too. You're just a dormant and quiet ship somewhere in space.

Now, if that means there are scavengers stealing stuff, I'm okay with it, as long as it's relating to proximity of the bubble. For instance, if you have your carrier in some never visited area of the galaxy, there shouldn't be a truckload of scavengers there reducing your carrier to just an empty frame.

 

[Skip Rockbounder]

Upkeep is a great idea.

Absolutely... if it comes out of your balance without you having to log in, like bills, they just deal with themselves as the money's in the bank, the trouble should be when the pot is empty, then you can slap me about a bit.

 

[StuartGT]

Press Release recent news | page 1 of 595 | Game Developer

www.gamasutra.com

Once purchased, Commanders can choose whether to invest and open up new services on their mobile hubs, including repair docks, refueling stations, shipyards and more. Incorporating player-to-player commerce for the first time in Elite Dangerous, Fleet Carrier owners can also set tariffs on all goods traded on their Carrier's services to support the weekly upkeep costs, from wear and tear maintenance to crew wages and Tritium, a new fuel commodity needed to power the megaships.

Aspiring Commanders will be able to customize their Fleet Carriers to their hearts’ content, adapting these majestic spaceships to their preferred playstyle, but they will also need to plan and balance their finances to cover running costs, as persistent debt that eventually exceeds the debt threshold could see carriers decommissioned and sold for parts.

"Carriers decommissioned and sold for parts" = lore("despawn from game, refund CMDR")

It's incredibly funny that despite being repeatedly told that full details on Fleet Carriers are coming next week, some CMDRs have panicked themselves into thinking that their Fleet Carrier will get wiped along with all 5b Credits

 

[StuartGT]

Yes, exactly. I hope that inactivity results in the carrier getting mothballed, after a certain period of time - essentially frozen, with whatever debt has accumulated needing to be paid off before it can be re-activated.

And I certainly hope this "huge" debt cannot be accumulated just by not logging in. But if it gets mothballed before than can happen, we are okay!

So, decommissioned then?

 

[Robert Maynard]

Press Release recent news | page 1 of 595 | Game Developer

www.gamasutra.com

"Carriers decommissioned and sold for parts" = lore("despawn from game, refund CMDR")

It's incredibly funny that despite being repeatedly told that full details on Fleet Carriers are coming next week, some CMDRs have panicked themselves into thinking that their Fleet Carrier will get wiped along with all 5m Credits

If it was only 5m credits then there'd likely be significantly less in the way of complaint.

 

[Rubbernuke]

If it was only 5m credits then there'd likely be significantly less in the way of complaint.

I'd complain they were too cheap.

No escape

 

[StuartGT]

If it was only 5m credits then there'd likely be significantly less in the way of complaint.

While that's a now-corrected typo, you know full well that people would be whining without all the information regardless

 

[Robert Maynard]

While that's a now-corrected typo, you know full well that people would be whining without all the information regardless

.... which is why I said "significantly less" rather than "no".

 

[Nickolai]

"Carriers decommissioned and sold for parts" = lore("despawn from game, refund CMDR")

It's incredibly funny that despite being repeatedly told that full details on Fleet Carriers are coming next week, some CMDRs have panicked themselves into thinking that their Fleet Carrier will get wiped along with all 5m Credits

Exactly - I highly doubt you can just lose your 5 billion instantaneously.

Even if the decommission mechanic is simple, and it's possible to happen during inactivity...we will probably get our credits back.

I just wish that Fdev could confirm that with a simple statement and stop this panic. "If the carrier gets decommissioned you will be refunded the balance of the credit value of the carrier minus the debts (which can only go up to a certain percentage of the value)" - something like that.

 

[StuartGT]

"FDev, we want info on the next update, some small details will do"
"Here you go, and the full details will come next week"
"OMG if i interpret these small details in the worst possible way, the outcome is terrible. I can't wait until next week for the full info, i need it now"

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Greetings Commanders,

While Fleet Carriers require a weekly upkeep for crew and enabled Fleet Carrier services, there are a number of options which will allow owners to earn credits and cover the ongoing running costs of a Fleet Carrier. There's more to the debt and decommissioning of a Fleet Carrier, and it's not something that should happen if the player hasn't incurred a HUGE amount of debt. We understand there's a fair bit of concern about this but rest assured, we'll be going over this in quite a lot of detail in the upcoming Content Reveal livestream next week.
There are also going to be two public beta periods where you'll be able to test this for yourselves and share with us your feedback.

Thanks for your understanding!

I'm currently 1000s of light-years away from civilisation. If I crash land to get back to the bubble will fleet carriers be cheap enough for me to test?

 

[StuartGT]

Exactly - I highly doubt you can just lose your 5 billion instantaneously.

Even if the decommission mechanic is simple, and it's possible to happen during inactivity...we will probably get our credits back.

I just wish that Fdev could confirm that with a simple statement and stop this panic. "If the carrier gets decommissioned you will be refunded the balance of the credit value of the carrier minus the debts (which can only go up to a certain percentage of the value)" - something like that.

FDev have said full details will come next week.

 

[Han Zulu]

Exactly - I highly doubt you can just lose your 5 billion instantaneously.

Even if the decommission mechanic is simple, and it's possible to happen during inactivity...we will probably get our credits back.

I just wish that Fdev could confirm that with a simple statement and stop this panic. "If the carrier gets decommissioned you will be refunded the balance of the credit value of the carrier minus the debts (which can only go up to a certain percentage of the value)" - something like that.

Here's a question though, if you can transfer your ships to the carrier (not sure if this is a confirmed mechanics yet), what happens to your fleet if the carrier is gone?

 

[EdzUp]

Five billion for more grind is stupid, it depends on the cost of the upkeep but to be honest if it's to high then it will be a PP. If the whole thing is too low then they will be everywhere.

 

[StuartGT]

Here's a question though, if you can transfer your ships to the carrier (not sure if this is a confirmed mechanics yet), what happens to your fleet if the carrier is gone?

They spawn somewhere else.

 

[Fenwe]

Thank you for the information!

 

[Zhark]

Has that actually been Beta tested though?

 

[monr0e]

I really do think this needs a bit more forethought. Decommissioning an entire carrier seems inappropriate, when in space it's far more likely that the crew would just up and leave. I think that's the better approach here - a crew needs to be hired and paid to operate the carrier, and if they don't get paid they leave. This leaves the carrier non-operational until a new crew is hired.

 

[Fenwe]

I think the FC is somewhat the exploiter award. Those who managed to make 100 mil cr/hr based on some glitch in the game that was later nerfed or fixed or for those who found the most effective money-making grind-mechanics and spent 24/7 for weeks, they're the ones who can get it. For the players who play it just for fun and doing different activities without grinding, there's not much chance of making that much, except if you've done if for years.

scratches head, no the one we are supposed to think with I mined. Started mining to buy new ships. Kept mining when I heard FCs were coming, because I knew they weren't going to be cheap.

I went on 1 mining trip every week. The trip took me 2 evenings because of my available play time...

So no, it isn't about exploitation. It's about making the right choices. I wanted an FC. I mined for the funds so I can buy one.

See how that works?