Passenger ships, are they pointless?

[akaliel]

I think it would be easier to sum things up with the following statement - Why bother doing anything in game when you can fly a noobconda chocked full of economy class passengers and a bit of mode switching..

I think people are mostly just asking for Luxury missions to be rewarding enough that buying one of these ships has at least some purpose. The big gas tank doesn't mean much when the other ships can out range them, and refuel in seconds. That just leaves role playing and I'm afraid for most, Pretendonium alone isn't a rewarding enough resource.

 

[babelfisch]

Technically every ship is pointless apart from the Anaconda. Unless you don't care for the META, in that case all ships can be great. I love flying the good old Cobra. Thinking about it, all ships apart from the Cobra are pointless.

 

[Kayweg]

I think people are mostly just asking for Luxury missions to be rewarding enough that buying one of these ships has at least some purpose. The big gas tank doesn't mean much when the other ships can out range them, and refuel in seconds. That just leaves role playing and I'm afraid for most, Pretendonium alone isn't a rewarding enough resource.

I am no longer as sure about that as i was once.

 

[Dutchman141]

Well technically you could get a Python and Conda and be done with ship buying forever but that would get boring. But I agree that something extra with these ships would be nice. Like 20% bonus for using a passenger ship. Or 20% bonus for using a T ship to run cargo.

Now that's a nice idea!
This would give a lot more reason to buy a specific ship.

 

[akaliel]

I am no longer as sure about that as i was once.

I am. But you need to look outside these forums.

 

[askavir]

The problem isn't the ships themselves, the problem is that luxury missions are lackluster. The three passenger ships have the unique ability to do luxury missions but those missions just aren't that great, so their "unique skill" is mostly worthless.

If Frontier made luxury missions actually worth doing then you'd see the three passenger ships suddenly have a niche. Until that happens they will continue to be second rate to other ships which can do the pax job better.

^^^ This.

 

[Cmdr Tel]

Or you could just enjoy flying them. My Orca boosts to 590! Jumps 40+ And handles like a dream in super cruise. What other large ship matches that?

My Dolphin is my goto daily runabout, not quite the legs of the ASPX or the DBX still but still 40+LY and has suberb handling in regular space and SC with great speed and agility.

Both are good cargo haulers and and excellent passenger ships not to mention their hull tanking abilities or their pure style.

It's not all about making credits but if that's what is important then yeh! Anaconda or Cutter and long boring SC trips with a hold full of riff raff.
I haven't owned a Beluga yet but so far I am more than pleased with the Saud Kruger ships that I do own and they are the top two non combat ships on my list.

 

[smegunit]

They' re useless because there never are enough passenger missions to fill up all cabins.

 

[Hooplah]

Technically every ship is pointless apart from the Anaconda. Unless you don't care for the META, in that case all ships can be great. I love flying the good old Cobra. Thinking about it, all ships apart from the Cobra are pointless.

Being a guy playing Elite in 1984 I tend to agree. No matter how many billions of credits and ships I outfit with two accounts flying the Cobra is an emotional thing. All the other ships are often just eye candy.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

How many luxury cabins can you fit in that Python?

That's right, none.

And outside the passenger realm...

The Dolphin makes an exceptional explorer.

The Orca makes a good mining ship.

The Beluga is a beast in combat.

If you're looking for pointless ships, look at the DB Scout or Asp Scout.

You'll be Scouting for a new ship quickly.

 

[Sapyx]

The "problem" with SK passenger ships is the lack of exclusivity. When first discussed, passenger cabins were only supposed to be able to be installed in passenger ships; regular ships couldn't take anything above refugee/prisoner-class cabins. So if you wanted to run rich passengers that actually paid you decent money, you pretty much needed to buy a passenger ship.

It seems to me that they were worried nobody would do passengers if they were forced to by a special ship just for passengers, so they opened it up almost all the way, so that only Luxury-class cabins were exclusive to the passenger ships. But given that Luxury passenger missions are few in number and hard to find, that particular niche seems to have been squeezed out of existence.

I think they could restrict things a little more, perhaps by ship class. Cargo transports should be prisoner-class only. Multiroles like the Asp and Cobra, maybe up to Economy. The Anaconda's got that "ten-forward" observation deck that just screams business/tourist class. Sleeker-looking ships like the Clipper could go up to First, while the top classes were SK only. Stuffing a T9 full of high-class passenger cabins is as silly as trying to fill an oil tanker full of holidaymakers.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

The "problem" with SK passenger ships is the lack of exclusivity. When first discussed, passenger cabins were only supposed to be able to be installed in passenger ships; regular ships couldn't take anything above refugee/prisoner-class cabins. So if you wanted to run rich passengers that actually paid you decent money, you pretty much needed to buy a passenger ship.

It seems to me that they were worried nobody would do passengers if they were forced to by a special ship just for passengers, so they opened it up almost all the way, so that only Luxury-class cabins were exclusive to the passenger ships. But given that Luxury passenger missions are few in number and hard to find, that particular niche seems to have been squeezed out of existence.

I think they could restrict things a little more, perhaps by ship class. Cargo transports should be prisoner-class only. Multiroles like the Asp and Cobra, maybe up to Economy. The Anaconda's got that "ten-forward" observation deck that just screams business/tourist class. Sleeker-looking ships like the Clipper could go up to First, while the top classes were SK only. Stuffing a T9 full of high-class passenger cabins is as silly as trying to fill an oil tanker full of holidaymakers.

I'd be fine with that. And I only fly a Cobra!

 

[Spacecat]

The Dolphin and Orca are actually fun to fly. Will probably never own a Beluga.

 

[knight76]

Passengers should refuse to get one any ship other than a dedicated passenger ship. Certainly for missions paying higher payouts. Luxury missions should pay very well, but carry higher risk, more demands that actually affect payment, penalties for not complying, decent bonuses for complying.

Maybe link more reputation/faction points to doing luxury missions. IE, transporting a queen around is going to get you more rep than transporting some refugees.

 

[Crank Larson]

My Beluga is in the top 1% of all passenger liners out there...

 

[Vacendak]

Orca is a nice explorer. Carries all the necessary modules plus cargo rack for stuff I find. Getting 46lys and if interdicted it turns on a dime, tops out at 452, and boosts to 572 with 5A G5 dirties.

 

[Tobasco da Gama]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the day that I've done enough grinding in my T7 to fly an Orca. Feels like I'm betraying Lakon by saying that, but the Orca just looks damned nice for a ship of its size and flexibility.

 

[Tel Prydain]

I've suggested this before... but rather than giving the passenger ships a "special" cabin-type, passenger ships should get a set % bonus payout at the journey's end (presumably to represent the income from other on-board amenities). Obviously, given the stacking of economy missions the % boost could be an issue... so make the percentage boost be based on the economic level of the passengers. For economy missions the bonus might be just 5% - presumably the budget-minded traveler isn't splashing out on in-flight movies or fancy food. But crank up the bonus for business class and higher, with bonuses ranging from 30-50%. Those business-class and VIP passengers are far more likely to splash out.

 

[SAB380]

If everyone has money then no one cares about money. But those super rich VIPs that want to be transported, they can provide something we want.
Tie luxury passengers into engineer materials, giving out those hard to find materials that we need for level 5 mods.

 

[Tel Prydain]

Passengers should refuse to get one any ship other than a dedicated passenger ship. Certainly for missions paying higher payouts. Luxury missions should pay very well, but carry higher risk, more demands that actually affect payment, penalties for not complying, decent bonuses for complying.

The problem with demands is that when a passenger demands a specific good, finding the nearest station that actually stocks it can be a pain. Plus the bonus is never worth it. And, honestly, when flying a Beluga - do I not have food and wine on board? I mean... really?
I'd rather see the passenger ships be able to fit food synthesizers, booze stations and goods fabricators as modules - they could have 'charges' that are automatically restocked whenever you restock-all (just like a scb or any other module), and the pilot gets a small bonus-payment every-time a passenger uses that amenity. If passengers are complaining it should be because a module/service is empty/expended or doesn't exist. I shouldn't have to break out EDDB every time Jimbo wants a steak meal and then again when Jane wants a venison.