Our old ships

[CyberGrim]

A class 1 SCO stabilizer module?

I dont have a problem with Frontier's direction of paid/lore of new generation ships fitted with SCO. I will happily pay for a ship I want, to support the game. I have been waiting for a replacement for my beloved vette for sometime now (federal frigate hint.hint) But after flying a new gen ship in SCO it is hard to go back to an old one. And surely they dont want to make obsolete some 40 odd ships.

so...

A SCO stabilizing module for older ships?

 

[Inscydeus]

I don't know, I don't think the old ships are obsolete. I still use old ships with SCO drives fitted, I just use them differently and I think that's fine.

 

[Felix DiCestria]

They might do that once the new ships are out of Early access, so another year at least...

 

[SergMx]

They might do that once the new ships are out of Early access, so another year at least...

Sorry I didn't quite understand you, provided that new ships are still being added to the game.

 

[SergMx]

I don't know, I don't think the old ships are obsolete. I still use old ships with SCO drives fitted, I just use them differently and I think that's fine.

I don't understand why some people oppose it. Give us a choice, those who like to hang around and overheat in SCO let them continue to do so. And those who don't want to do it, let them use SCO in a new way on old ships.

 

[S0rkvild]

class 1 and class 2 modules. Second gives better optimization of cruise, it is still not as new line of sco ready ships, yet allows majority of ships to benefit from this tech. That would be a good cause for a set of community goals.

 

[galahad2069]

class 1 and class 2 modules. Second gives better optimization of cruise, it is still not as new line of sco ready ships, yet allows majority of ships to benefit from this tech. That would be a good cause for a set of community goals.

Most old ships are obsolete now and such a stabilizer module would not change that. It would just make old ships even more handicapped because you'd need to sacrifice a valuable module slot (which is something that you don't need to do on new ships).

Cobra Mk5 is way better than old small ships in pretty much everything. As a combat ship it's even more powerful than most mediums.

Mandalay is awesome, it's hands down the best taxi/explorer (and it can even be a solid combat ship as well).

Python Mk2 is the ultimate big ship killer, T8 is a very good medium hauler, Corsair is a better version of the Python Mk1. And the Panther Clipper will most probably make other big ships obsolete, at least in terms of cargo capacity.

There are only a couple of niche roles in which some old ships will remain relevant, for example the FDL is still the king of wingfights and the Viper3 is probably still the best racing ship. Maybe you can still use a Corvette or Cutter if you enjoy big ship combat, but that's pretty much it.

 

[Mohrgan]

I had a notion that a new type of Hull/Armor you can buy in outfitting would be a best fix. It would/should be pretty expensive, but it wouldn't take up those optional slots, and it makes some lore sense. Being all hull related. To me anyhow.

Each new ship behaves differently in SCO. Benefits here, flaws there. Going back and developing SCO flight models for each existing ship is trouble. Maybe a few options for basic performance curves. ie. Combat Version = characteristics like the PMk2, Trade Version = T-8, ect.

Long existing builds just get murdered with the need to replace a module for the sake of improved SCO. Let's sure up our hulls against the rigors of 'Goid-drives.

 

[Elyssaen]

I agree with galahad. I'm not totally against it being added as an option, but old ships mostly don't quite compete with new ships even excluding SCO. Losing a module to get SCO isn't going to narrow the gap.

I'd rather see refreshes of existing ships over time, starting with the most underperforming. That would also shake up the meta continuously for years to come – e.g. bring on an Asp Scout and Federal Dropship refresh ASAP and see them enjoy some time as class-leading ships.

I had a notion that a new type of Hull/Armor you can buy in outfitting would be a best fix.

I like the idea of new hull types! If the OP's idea was to be implemented, this would feel better than an optional internal. In general it could be fun to have more hull types that are differentiated in more ways than weight, armour and resistances.

 

[Stealthie]

They might do that once the new ships are out of Early access, so another year at least...

Sorry I didn't quite understand you, provided that new ships are still being added to the game.

We hadn't had a new ship for around 5 years until the SCO ships arrived.
I don't think it's realistic to expect FDev to carry on perpetually adding a new ship every 3 months.

When the run of new ships does come to an end, and there's no more money to be made from selling early access to them, I wouldn't be surprised if FDev have the ship manufacturers announce that they're retrofitting legacy ships with SCO-compatible systems for full functionality.

In the mean-time, as @Inscydeus says, it's easy enough to incorporate SCO drives into the way legacy ships operate.
The SCO drives add more range, so they're an upgrade, and short bursts of SCO are useful for escaping a planet's gravity-well or catching up with a target in SC.

 

[metatheurgist]

That would just increase the number of "Can we please have 1 more C1 slot/X module built into ship" threads.

 

[SlickPBW]

I don’t think any of my old ships are obsolete and I use them all the time.

 

[S0rkvild]

Most old ships are obsolete now and such a stabilizer module would not change that. It would just make old ships even more handicapped because you'd need to sacrifice a valuable module slot (which is something that you don't need to do on new ships).

Obsolete ships, what a nonsense. Compromises are common in Elite. You want supercruise assist and auto dock - you have to sacrifice two slots. Some may want, some may want yet another hull or shield reinforcement, some may want a small collector or fsd interdictor. Simply you can't have all in this game. Period. I can live off with without a supercruise assist and have sco optimizer to have less hectic flight to a mining spot in my Python.

 

[galahad2069]

I don’t think any of my old ships are obsolete and I use them all the time.

Obsolete ships, what a nonsense. Compromises are common in Elite. You want supercruise assist and auto dock - you have to sacrifice two slots. Some may want, some may want yet another hull or shield reinforcement, some may want a small collector or fsd interdictor. Simply you can't have all in this game. Period. I can live off with without a supercruise assist and have sco optimizer to have less hectic flight to a mining spot in my Python.

By "obsolete" I simply mean there's an objectively better alternative to most old builds now, with the exception of a few niche roles.

For example, you might have had a DBX taxi, now you can fly a Mandalay which is not only SCO-optimized, but it's also faster, tankier, handles way better, jumps further, and it can even fight back if necessary, the only (pretty insignificant) downside being the inability to land on S pads which does not even exist if you compare it to an AspX. The Corsair is a straight up upgrade to the old Python, especially in the Pacifier+rails banktank role. Which old medium ship is comparable to the T8 as a cargo ship? Which one can kill a big ship faster than a Python Mk2? Not to mention the Cobra Mk5 which is a way more powerful combat ship than any other small ship (and many mediums).

It's pretty hard to pick any specific role in which one of the new ships won't outperform the best one from the old ship category. There are a few, but not many.

 

[SergMx]

Most old ships are obsolete now and such a stabilizer module would not change that. It would just make old ships even more handicapped because you'd need to sacrifice a valuable module slot (which is something that you don't need to do on new ships).

Cobra Mk5 is way better than old small ships in pretty much everything. As a combat ship it's even more powerful than most mediums.

Mandalay is awesome, it's hands down the best taxi/explorer (and it can even be a solid combat ship as well).

Python Mk2 is the ultimate big ship killer, T8 is a very good medium hauler, Corsair is a better version of the Python Mk1. And the Panther Clipper will most probably make other big ships obsolete, at least in terms of cargo capacity.

There are only a couple of niche roles in which some old ships will remain relevant, for example the FDL is still the king of wingfights and the Viper3 is probably still the best racing ship. Maybe you can still use a Corvette or Cutter if you enjoy big ship combat, but that's pretty much it.

I'm very happy for you. But I don't understand why you're stopping us who want to play differently. Yes we want to spend a slot on old ships to fly normally on SCO. Why does anyone else care what we do?

 

[SlickPBW]

By "obsolete" I simply mean there's an objectively better alternative to most old builds now, with the exception of a few niche roles.

And I disagree. I’m not trying to push my thoughts on anyone else.

 

[galahad2069]

I don't understand why you're stopping us who want to play differently.

I don't understand what made you think I'm stopping you.

 

[galahad2069]

And I disagree. I’m not trying to push my thoughts on anyone else.

You can disagree all you want, that's not going to make anything I said "nonsense".

 

[SlickPBW]

You can disagree all you want, that's not going to make anything I said "nonsense".

And I never said anything of the sort. Move on.

 

[SergMx]

By "obsolete" I simply mean there's an objectively better alternative to most old builds now, with the exception of a few niche roles.

For example, you might have had a DBX taxi, now you can fly a Mandalay which is not only SCO-optimized, but it's also faster, tankier, handles way better, jumps further, and it can even fight back if necessary, the only (pretty insignificant) downside being the inability to land on S pads which does not even exist if you compare it to an AspX. The Corsair is a straight up upgrade to the old Python, especially in the Pacifier+rails banktank role. Which old medium ship is comparable to the T8 as a cargo ship? Which one can kill a big ship faster than a Python Mk2? Not to mention the Cobra Mk5 which is a way more powerful combat ship than any other small ship (and many mediums).

It's pretty hard to pick any specific role in which one of the new ships won't outperform the best one from the old ship category. There are a few, but not many.

We paint our ships because we like the look. I like the look of the T8, but I don't like the look of the Corsair, no matter how good it is, I don't want to fly it.