To clarify I don't have an issue with the range of an Asp, I have an issue with the differences being so big between the ships, resulting in nothing more than forcing players to choose from only two ships if they don't like unnecessary honk-jumping. Give me alternatives to the Asp, and make all the ships have fairly close ranges. The only balance it provides is one of tedium, which, to me, is shoddy game design...
I agree that more alternatives would be nice! However, I disagree that shrinking the spread on jump ranges would be a good idea. Why are we trying to make the ships
more similar?
The fundamental disagreement here seems to be about what purpose jump ranges serve. Those generally against mucking with the jump ranges (I'm not necessarily one of them, but I'm sympathetic to their arguments) view jump range as a limitation and mechanic as built-in to the gameplay as limitations on weapons' rates of fire, ammo, the size and number of module compartments on a ship, etc. Those in favour of changing the jump ranges on the Corvette, or all ships, view jump ranges, and jumping itself, as an unnecessary or distasteful part of the gameplay because of its repetitive, tedious nature.
I totally get why people find jumping tedious. What baffles me is why people think the solution to this tedium is simply to increase jump ranges. Surely if one doesn't like jumping, one would prefer to abandon this mechanic altogether? Why not campaign for "jump gates" or some other mechanic that lets you cross vast distances instantaneously, no jump range needed? Increasing jump ranges seems like a band-aid solution that doesn't address the underlying issue all that well.
Similarly, I'm sympathetic to the idea that one only has a few hours (if that) a day to play the game and doesn't want to spend all that time jumping. I am in the same boat, time-wise. Again, though, I simply view this as the way the game works: I have to plan my journeys, and the longer they are, the more carefully I have to plan them. I take pride in what I've learned as I make more journeys. I get that an hour spent jumping before you have to shut off your game and go to bed might seem dull. But is it any more dull than spending an hour
or more on the surface of a planet collecting synthesis materials? Should we make synthesis materials more abundant to combat that? Is it any more dull than having to spend upwards of ten minutes sometimes travelling in supercruise between the drop-out point and a station? Should we change the way jumping works so we can come out right next to the station of our choice?
Note that I'm not being sarcastic when I ask these questions; I'm not saying making any of those above changes is tantamount to the satirical "instant win" button suggested earlier in this thread. Those are serious questions; I'm sure most if not all of those changes have been proposed on these forums at least once. And that's my point: Frontier could certainly change the game to remove any or all of the mechanics that people think are "tedious." But how do we decide which ones should be changed, if any? And what purpose does that really serve?
I'm not saying finding jumping tedious is wrong. But if one finds jumping tedious, there are just so many other things in Elite that seem like they would be
more tedious.
The A rated life support seems a bit over the top too...
