Hello!
We've been having an(other) lengthy discussion on jump ranges.
The general consensus is; no one can agree on anything. Lol
But I'm putting forward this suggestion anyway.
The Problem*
Jump range generally** doesn't make a good balance for ships. It simply makes them more tedious to travel in. There is very very little gameplay in using your range to escape an aggressor, most don't give chase.
* It's only a problem to some. Lol
**It does work, but needs refining.
The Anaconda Conundrum
Many believe the Anaconda is the odd one out for jump range. It has an unusually low mass for its class, and a Class 6 FSD slot.
However, I believe the Anaconda is one of the few ships that I believe actually gets it right.
If you equip it for lightweight, you get rewarded with excellent range, at the cost of pretty much everything else.
If you equip it for heavy duty work, such as dedicated combat, the range falls considerably.
This means, the game actually balances the Anacondas range vs it's task very very well.
You are able to balance your needs, with your jump range.
My Proposal
Is basically make more ships like the Anaconda. Allow ships to have a broader FSD range, which drops significantly the higher the mass of the modules / cargo.
It's entirely self balancing, there is no possible way to make a dedicated combat ship jump a significant distance, unless you compromise somewhere.
Applying similar logic to almost all the other ships, would allow you to tune your ship almost exactly to your needs, and probably more importantly, allow you to enjoy travel in any ship, providing you outfit it for that.
I hate to bring up the Corvette and FDL again, but I am. Lol
These two (and the T9), due to their hull mass and/or low class FSD, suffer greatly, no matter what. Even stripped down, these ships still don't jump particularly far.
My Anaconda and Corvette are both set up more or less the same, for general PvE work.
Yet my Anaconda can jump 50% further on the same FSD, due to its lower hull mass.
The Other Problem
Messing with hull mass, I believe, also messes with a ships handling. Which would create a headache for all ships. Lol
And the hull mass and thrusters seem to be what gives the ships their handling characteristics (plus some base stats too).
So, my suggestion is, make a hidden "fake" mass or something, which the FSD will read from to determine its jump range, instead of its actual mass. Then you can tweak it at your leisure, without messing with anything else.
Alternatively, allow the installation of larger FSDs in some ships. Although, this can also have odd side effects of giving those ships extreme jump ranges with equipped for lightweight.
A stripped Corvette with a 7A FSD would then jump 36~ly(54~ly modified), instead of 20~ly(30~ly Modified).
The Other, Other Problem
The final problem, is the Anaconda again. It's the odd one out, but it simply can not be nerfed now, without drastically impacting all the CMDRs currently out exploring in one.
But like I said, I think it's actually the other ships that are wrong, not the Anaconda.
Maybe it's something that could be experimented with in the next beta?
Summary/TL : DR
All I'm basically saying is;
Similar class ships, should have similar range when outfitted in a similar manner.
There is no gameplay reason why a battle-Corvette and battle-Conda can't have a similar range. Or a stripped Corvette and Anaconda having a similar range.
I'm not looking for the Anaconda, Corvette, Cutter, etc to have identical jump ranges. But a 50~% difference is rather huge.
All I'm basically saying close the gap, please?
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
We've been having an(other) lengthy discussion on jump ranges.
The general consensus is; no one can agree on anything. Lol
But I'm putting forward this suggestion anyway.
The Problem*
Jump range generally** doesn't make a good balance for ships. It simply makes them more tedious to travel in. There is very very little gameplay in using your range to escape an aggressor, most don't give chase.
* It's only a problem to some. Lol
**It does work, but needs refining.
The Anaconda Conundrum
Many believe the Anaconda is the odd one out for jump range. It has an unusually low mass for its class, and a Class 6 FSD slot.
However, I believe the Anaconda is one of the few ships that I believe actually gets it right.
If you equip it for lightweight, you get rewarded with excellent range, at the cost of pretty much everything else.
If you equip it for heavy duty work, such as dedicated combat, the range falls considerably.
This means, the game actually balances the Anacondas range vs it's task very very well.
You are able to balance your needs, with your jump range.
My Proposal
Is basically make more ships like the Anaconda. Allow ships to have a broader FSD range, which drops significantly the higher the mass of the modules / cargo.
It's entirely self balancing, there is no possible way to make a dedicated combat ship jump a significant distance, unless you compromise somewhere.
Applying similar logic to almost all the other ships, would allow you to tune your ship almost exactly to your needs, and probably more importantly, allow you to enjoy travel in any ship, providing you outfit it for that.
I hate to bring up the Corvette and FDL again, but I am. Lol
These two (and the T9), due to their hull mass and/or low class FSD, suffer greatly, no matter what. Even stripped down, these ships still don't jump particularly far.
My Anaconda and Corvette are both set up more or less the same, for general PvE work.
Yet my Anaconda can jump 50% further on the same FSD, due to its lower hull mass.
The Other Problem
Messing with hull mass, I believe, also messes with a ships handling. Which would create a headache for all ships. Lol
And the hull mass and thrusters seem to be what gives the ships their handling characteristics (plus some base stats too).
So, my suggestion is, make a hidden "fake" mass or something, which the FSD will read from to determine its jump range, instead of its actual mass. Then you can tweak it at your leisure, without messing with anything else.
Alternatively, allow the installation of larger FSDs in some ships. Although, this can also have odd side effects of giving those ships extreme jump ranges with equipped for lightweight.
A stripped Corvette with a 7A FSD would then jump 36~ly(54~ly modified), instead of 20~ly(30~ly Modified).
The Other, Other Problem
The final problem, is the Anaconda again. It's the odd one out, but it simply can not be nerfed now, without drastically impacting all the CMDRs currently out exploring in one.
But like I said, I think it's actually the other ships that are wrong, not the Anaconda.
Maybe it's something that could be experimented with in the next beta?
Summary/TL : DR
All I'm basically saying is;
Similar class ships, should have similar range when outfitted in a similar manner.
There is no gameplay reason why a battle-Corvette and battle-Conda can't have a similar range. Or a stripped Corvette and Anaconda having a similar range.
I'm not looking for the Anaconda, Corvette, Cutter, etc to have identical jump ranges. But a 50~% difference is rather huge.
All I'm basically saying close the gap, please?
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead