Panther clipper?

sinkarma

S
Alien said:
It is a stepping stone between a Type 6 and a Python

What people are suggesting for the Panther Clipper is not a stepping stone. Look, I am all for it being in the game, but if I can't justify it being in the game, then you can be sure Frontier won't either.
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then why is there a type 9 in the game?

why don't I just stop the game at the type 7?

Cause the type 9 is just a type 7 with bigger hard points, bigger cargo capacity and slower speeds.

cause it seems to me like your trying to say a panther clipper... which is a bigger, slower, and better armed type 9... would be bad for the game and have no selling point...
 

Alien

Alien
sinkarma said:
then why is there a type 9 in the game?

why don't I just stop the game at the type 7?

Cause the type 9 is just a type 7 with bigger hard points, bigger cargo capacity and slower speeds.

cause it seems to me like your trying to say a panther clipper... which is a bigger, slower, and better armed type 9... would be bad for the game and have no selling point...
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No, I think you misunderstand why the Type-9 is in the game.
The Type-9 is the largest cargo ship you can buy without ranking up in either the Federation or the Empire. It's not designed with hardpoints in mind, that would be why the Type-10 is in the game.

You suggest the Panther Clipper would be a bigger, better armed Type-9 ... again I ask, what's the point? That does not make it a unique selling point.
 

sinkarma

S
Alien said:
No, I think you misunderstand why the Type-9 is in the game.
The Type-9 is the largest cargo ship you can buy without ranking up in either the Federation or the Empire. It's not designed with hardpoints in mind, that would be why the Type-10 is in the game.
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ah but why not turn the type 9 into a stepping stone between the python and the panther clipper?
a large, lumbering ship that uses turrets and has a lot of cargo space without the need to rank up federation and/or empire?

Edit: or better yet! remove the type 9 so the type 7 is the largest cargo ship that you can get without ranking up fed/emp
 

Gauntlet

Gauntlet
Thing is, the modus operandi for the Panther Clipper was massive cargo capacity, impenetrable shields and enough firepower to ward off/destroy any attacker. Essentially we have that in the form of the fleet carrier and it even has the best jump range of all ships too so there's your god mode ship catered for.

That doesn't leave a niche for the Clipper imho ;)
 

Arindor

Arindor
The Panther Clipper will only be available to those commanders who have access to ALL the engineers, obtained all guardian blueprints, killed an unknown number of Thargoids, flown to Hutton Orbital for the mug, played PP in open and undermine a system, made the trek out to Beagle Point and honk before returning to Polaris* (albeit getting the permit for that system is another jump through the hoop fest). All in open and in an unengineered Cobra Mk IV.

EDIT: *only kidding ... there's no permit for Polaris. Yet. :D
 
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SCiARA

SCiARA
Gauntlet said:
Thing is, the modus operandi for the Panther Clipper was massive cargo capacity, impenetrable shields and enough firepower to ward off/destroy any attacker. Essentially we have that in the form of the fleet carrier and it even has the best jump range of all ships too so there's your god mode ship catered for.

That doesn't leave a niche for the Clipper imho ;)
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its too big a jump from a type 9 to a FC
there is definitely scope for huge class ships, i dont think a PCXL (or whatever) should be an impenetrable beast though
 

MVBanks

MVBanks
Yeah, I would like Huge class ships.
Panther Clipper for cargo
Federal Frigate for combat (and reason for Admiral rank)
Royal Battlecruiser, multipurpose (and reason for King rank)
Alliance Manticore for AX combat and no restrictions on AX weapons.

They need Huge landing pad - so 2 or 4 FC's 8 L landing pads can be modded into 1 or 2 H landing pads.
They can not enter the station, so they have bay for one M ship or 2 small.
They have special FSD for micro jumps inside star system, like FC can do.
They have 9-10 class modules, very expensive.
Price is 700M - 1B, full equipped it's 3 - 5 B Cr.

I would like to buy them all - to have a chance to spend some billions and to spend some materials for engineering.
 

Nadreck

N
The Panther Clipper has always been able to fit on a large pad. Anything that can't fit on a large pad is something else, not the Panther Clipper.

There is room for a ship that is considerably bulkier than any existing Large-pad ship. Imagine a stretched T9 that is as long as a Beluga, or two Belugas with the fins removed and bolted together side-by-side, or a Cutter with all the space between the main fuselage and the outriggers filled in with more fuselage. All the big ships currently in the game waste a lot of the available volume.

But the original Panther Clipper was a roomy box with nothing in it, current ships have space reserved for core systems. So the capacity won't be 2,000 tons. I'd anticipate three size 8 slots for optional internals (as its nearest rivals both have two), plus one of each smaller slot (close to what the T9 has, except for the T9's repeated 4/3 slots).

There is an obvious niche for it: bulk-loading a Carrier. However, there is also a problem: it makes the T9, and possibly the Cutter, completely obsolete. The Cutter at least has speed, and maybe better shields.

So what plausible advantage could a T9 have over a Panther Clipper? I suppose the PC could justifiably be even slower and less agile than the T9, and could be given the Cutter's drift issue (which the T9 doesn't have). It could also be given fewer (but bigger) internals to make it less versatile, and landing gear which is useless for rough terrain, but the T9 is rarely used in situations where those would be drawbacks. It wouldn't have the Lakon high-visibility cockpit.
 

Rowander

Rowander
Yes, there's lots of volume available in large pads. Current ships don't use even half of it. There's also the fact that Frontier could be able to innovate in their ship models by using "folding" surfaces for landing: when you lower the landing gear, some parts of the ship conform to the inbox of the station, allowing the ship to enter. If it can be done with the landing gear and weapons, it can be done with bigger parts. The only thing I'm not sure is changing is the hitbox, but that is another problem...

As for the Clipper, I would love if it was not only a bulk carrier, but something more. Something different. Very, very expensive, in the 2bn starting point, 4,5bn+ A-rated. With the best, most exclusive components available. Hardened armor like the FDL. Faster than a T9, not slower. With maneuverability close to the Imperial Clipper in degrees per second but a lot more drift. Close to twice the drift. A real beast to drive properly. A hell of a ship to take into a ring.
Armament should be mostly turrets, and FD should rethink the "only one SLF per ship" policy. Two would be a great addition for the ships that allow it, but this one is the best example.
It would be great too if it was gated with some interesting quest or activity, not only credits. Interesting being the key here.

Key points for this vision are:
  • Something slower than a T9 is boooooring. No please.
  • Costly. A nice credit sink and something to look for in the endgame.
  • Won't leave any ship obsolete. It's too different from all of them because of the unique handling characteristics and turreted weapons.
  • If gated behind interesting activities: a plus.
 

Borko

Borko
Qualityoflife said:
Faster than an eagle, able to leap 50lyrs in a single bound, unscannble cargo, 10 hardpoints, no spoiler, built in assist, slf srv out of the box or any medium sized ship of your choice!
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With you so far, Qual. I think it needs three coffee makers as well. On each side. 😵

fb90706f9df0d67dfa6c8727a4ad3bb435a824dc560867b551b3050535e57cd3.jpg
 
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VR jefranklin18

VR jefranklin18
There were so many better ships in FE2 and FFE than the Panther that are yet to grace Elite Dangerous. I would love to see the lifter and interplanetary shuttle make it in, even if not flyable.
 

CoyoteXStarrk

CoyoteXStarrk
Honestly if I was FDev I would be terrified to release the PC. It's been hyped for so long and so many people have their own expectations about what it's supposed to be that no matter what FDev does they are going to disappoint alot of people.
 
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