I was wondering if the much vaunted panther clipper has been hyped up by the community to a point whereby it cannot possibly come into the game without either breaking any semblance of balance the game may have, or if it adheres to the critera required for frontiers vision of balance, it would only ever disappoint he players?
Panther clipper.... Have we preemptively hyped it out of existence?
- Thread starter VR Jay Le Chardon
- Start date
Makes sense. Hype is toxic.
I remember the Clipper from FFE, though. That was the one that looked like a brick with stubby little legs on it, right? And needed more crew than could usually be found at one station without having to spend weeks in accelerated time. And was slow as... well, as a brick; and had the jump range of a brick.
I remember the Clipper from FFE, though. That was the one that looked like a brick with stubby little legs on it, right? And needed more crew than could usually be found at one station without having to spend weeks in accelerated time. And was slow as... well, as a brick; and had the jump range of a brick.
The OP pointed out that either they DO try to match the ship to the hype, in which case the ship will overbalance the game; or they'll keep it balanced with the game and thus disappoint the Panther fans who want it to be, you know, more than a slow and clunky brick.
That it was. It was pretty much a plower wrecking all the ships that bumped into it where as an endgame ship, the tool for the best killrate to attempt to reach Elite ranking. In FFE one also had the other branching choices of Turner Argent or the thargoid scout with its death ray.
A panther clipper in ED could still be special and distinct enough, imo. Just give it big shields like the cutter and maybe about double the cargo space available, while keeping the hardpoint convergence as bad or worse than the T9/T10's.
There is a way of bringing it into the game, essentially making it something like a "type eleven super slug bulk transporter", as in an asteroid with landing gear and a gazillion cargo capacity, but not a combat ship by any manner or means. However its previous iterations ability to carry a ridiculous amount of shields and firepower manifesting its self as something of a death star (minus the cheesy thermal exhaust weakness plot devices from all three movies) is the bone of contention. The panther clipper when loaded out as a tank, could survive anything the games it appeared in had to challenge it with. Sadly there are still a lot of players from those games, such as my self, and amongst that demographics there is likely to be some who relish the chance of facetanking a farragut in their uber-invincible-end-game panther.
I think that if they choose to introduce the Clipper they need to take it to the extreme or don't introduce it at all.
- Make it huge both in size and hull mass
- Make it the worst handling ship
- Make it the first ship with rear mounted hardpoints (for turrets)
Essentially make the damn thing a literal flying castle. Because that seems to be what people want.
- Make it huge both in size and hull mass
- Make it the worst handling ship
- Make it the first ship with rear mounted hardpoints (for turrets)
Essentially make the damn thing a literal flying castle. Because that seems to be what people want.
If the ship is capable of (just) fitting through the slot imagine the problems when NPCs get their hands on them !
I think the Panther died the day the T9 got it's second class 8 internal slot. And yep, I think the forum hype around the Panther is at fault.
If a ship this massive ever comes into Elite, i hope it brings something new, not just more cargo space. Like a diferent method of docking with stations. Docking outside because its too big to enter the slot. Ability to dock with installations. New planetary base types with huge pads for the Clipper. Maybe these new bases would only be available in atmospheric worlds. We wouldnt be able to defend ourselves like we're flying a heavy fighter. We could only rely on turrets and fighters.
I'd just like a ship kit and some shiny paint jobs for the existing Gutamaya Clipper.
Sorry. Irrelevant.
True, though.
Sorry. Irrelevant.
True, though.
You might very well be right.
The Panther should be something special. It would serve no purpose as just another one of the big ships.
In the previous games it was in a class of its own. For that to work in ED I think it should be a new class of big ships that uses an external docking method, has a shuttle on board, and requires crew.
Also I feel that FDev should first implement a good and solid npc crew mechanic, because it is quite ridiculous that we can pilot all these big vessels just on our own. This travesty has to end asap.
I've often joked with the Community Management team about how the Panther Clipper flies against thargoids, does mining or deals with pirates. However, I don't really want the ship in the game if all it is is a t-9 on steroids.
As this ship is supposed to be so big it either can't dock or just scrapes through the docking port, it will probably be part of the 2020 update if it's included at all.
As this ship is supposed to be so big it either can't dock or just scrapes through the docking port, it will probably be part of the 2020 update if it's included at all.
I don't see why people want a ship the size of a Panther Clipper, it's not like it's hard to earn credits in ED.
Cutter, Corvette, Beluga, T9 and T10 are big enough imho.
I'm all for new ships, ED is all about ships, but a Panther Clipper is definitely not what I'm waiting for, a medium sized Gutamaya ship or explorer, that's a whole other story!
Cutter, Corvette, Beluga, T9 and T10 are big enough imho.
I'm all for new ships, ED is all about ships, but a Panther Clipper is definitely not what I'm waiting for, a medium sized Gutamaya ship or explorer, that's a whole other story!
Amen to that brother o7
I want the Panther badly, and just as a big lumbering cargo ship. Just because I hate the fact that the Cutter as a multirole fortress still holds the cargo space crown with a passion. True enough, you can't build 760t Cutters anymore, so in theory the T9 has an ever so slightly edge, but they are still out there. I have one.
If there has to be new mechanics, have them on a completely new ship and give us the Panther as is, with 1000-1200t cargo space.
If there has to be new mechanics, have them on a completely new ship and give us the Panther as is, with 1000-1200t cargo space.
I want one for BGS work (and repairing stations, CGs etc) at least 1,000t shielded cargo capacity, preferably 2,000t. Revenue isn't the primary motivating factor for me (for many long standing players), having an effect on the galaxy is, based on current supply & demand levels. over about 500t the profit per canister goes down (for A-B trading) anyway.
However the maximum influence one player can have per hour is a balancing factor for the game. If the ship capacity went up the targets would probably go up too, so assuming that balance is currently okay (I think repairing stations shouldn't require so much stuff but it's only a bit too high) we may as well just leave the game as-is with a 792t unshielded Cutter as the max. The Cutter ticks a lot of the same gameplay boxes in ED as the Panther Clipper did in FE2, it's the biggest, toughest win button and a status symbol.