In Elite: Dangerous, the Eagle has always been an entry level craft while the Falcon and Kestrel do not yet exist.
No?
It was great before we had all these victory machines, now it's pretty useless. With the speed increase suggested in the OP, it will still be pretty useless as a combat craft, but it would at least be capable of running from most situations.
May I ask, what is not ''entry level'' for you? Is every combat ship except the Vulture and ferdelance supposed to be a ladder step to the ''big boys''? This is a worrying development that reeks of traditional MMO thinking.
Look at the Cobra and the Asp: This is a great example of how you can make a more expensive ship more attractive, while still having a use for the Cobra.
Ok, so you don't like how the results of your own poll have gone so you're now going to, on the strength of a personal anecdote about who you run into, claim that this is based on a PvP and PvE perspective. Ok, you're completely wrong (for a start there are many systems, for a second thing you don't necessarily play at the same time as others, and for a third many people use a different name here and in game), but let's just make the outrageous assumption that you're correct....
The game of Elite is, and always has been, PvE. This is a game with a dynamic universe where you can, for the first time, interact with other people playing. It isn't World of Tanks or Warthunder or one of those games. If your principle idea in playing is to hop into a ship on day 1 and take on all comers (even if you don't expect to defeat them) in an arena style contest then you're quite simply playing the wrong game.
The Eagle is worth 10k. The FDL is worth 50million. That's a difference of 5000 [in magnitude], and that's not even including the cost to upgrade and arm each ship, which only amplifies that magnitude. To properly outfit a FDL takes weeks (if not more) of playtime, grinding, bounty hunting, trading, whatever in order to do it. So if you're saying that the Eagle should be at all comparable to the FDL what you're basically saying is that all of that work, in essence the core game of Elite, the very soul of it, isn't really what this game should be about at all. I absolutely think you should be able to enjoy a space fighting game, but Elite isn't the one you're after.
The Eagle is fine as it is because it is cheap and needs no further purpose than a throwaway vehicle. It is already pretty quick and extremely agile. It can be bought almost immediately upon starting the game. 30 minutes of trading in a sidewinder, or one or two missions from the bulletin board, and you can get this thing. You can fly it out, fly it around, smash it to pieces, and easily cover the insurance costs.
This vehicle costs 10k. THAT'S it's niche. It doesn't need another niche to go with it.
I think the name of it is pretty immaterial; the Sidewinder is a desert dwelling venomous snake which is a fantastic survivor, and here it is the weakest ship. Why isn't it called "The Garter"? I demand a buff to the Sidewinder!
As much as I think ED should follow the traditions of previous elite games, this simply isn't FE2 any more. Doing the Sol-Barnard's run for 20 hours shouldn't result in you being capable of fitting a gigantic behemoth with 10 shield generators, practically invulerable to weapons fire and ramming everything smaller than a Lynx. This worked in the previous games, but now, there needs to be other ways to reward players for their successes and earnings.
It is possible to balance large ships so that they remain attractive, while not making the smaller ships inferior in every aspect.
No one is saying ''Make the Eagle as good of a combat ship as the Vulture/Fdl!'', but I do think that the Eagle should be comparable to them. I think that the Eagle should have a place where it can be more useful than the other ships. Being cheap isn't a real niche. I think the ''throwaway ship'' excuse is a lie that doesn't ground itself in realistic thinking. I can't imagine any situation where you would find the low rebuy more useful than survivability/firepower, except possibly if you're flying around in beginner systems griefing players, and want to do it for as long as possible.
About the name: I wasn't talking about the name. The Eagle is an interstellar fighter craft that was developed for naval use. That is why it should be a useful fighter craft (though it is now getting obsolete). Ships like the Falcon and Kestrel would be the real throwaways, although I actually think that even those could find a real niche if they were implemented in ED, as extremely agile, but very weak and short-ranged light fighters.
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