Why don't basically ALL stations have a shipyard?

NeilF · Feb 21, 2017

Take Obsidian Orbital. You can go there. Dock. Leave your ship there, but not go into a Shipyard? Why?

OK, there may not be ships available there to buy, but you should still be able to go to the Shipyard to at least get ships transferred there, or look at your stored ships?

I guess it comes down to if "ShipTransfer" had simply been put as a stand alone option on the main Starport Services menu, instead of one level down under "Shipyard," what would be wrong?

I'd fly to Obsidian, ask for ship to be transfered there... and?

eg:- (So ship transfer is/was always available irrespective of the Shipyard option)

bootsam · Feb 21, 2017

Thats actually a very pertinent point Neil. I'd kinda noticed that when I wanted my AspX there, but I just went and got it and came back. I wholeheartedly agree with you, you should be able to visit and view stored ships, modules etc.

Windscreen Smudge · Feb 21, 2017

Most of the stations that don't have a shipyard do not have it as a specific choice by the devs, from my observations.

Your example of Obsidian orbital is suitable. They don't want you transferring your ships out there to get engineered en-masse. Grade 5 dirty drives are one of the most desired items in the game and you're expected to donate a little extra time to the game to upgrade your ships to that level.

NeilF · Feb 21, 2017

bootsam said:
Thats actually a very pertinent point Neil. I'd kinda noticed that when I wanted my AspX there, but I just went and got it and came back. I wholeheartedly agree with you, you should be able to visit and view stored ships, modules etc.

I think FD just put it (Ship Transfer) into the Shipyard menu, because it's a logical place for it, but forgot that many stations didn't have a Shipyard (ships for sale) thus needlessly denying this option.

Windscreen Smudge · Feb 21, 2017

NeilF said:
I think FD just put it (Ship Transfer) into the Shipyard menu, because it's a logical place for it, but forgot that many stations didn't have a Shipyard (ships for sale) thus needlessly denying this option.

Many? I can count the number of stations I've seen without a shipyard on one hand.

Even if all they're selling is a Sidey, a Hauler and one other ship picked at random almost all full-sized stations sell a minimum of 3 ships.

Nerwan · Feb 21, 2017

NeilF said:
Take Obsidian Orbital. You can go there. Dock. Leave your ship there, but not go into a Shipyard? Why?

OK, there may not be ships available there to buy, but you should still be able to go to the Shipyard to at least get ships transferred there, or look at your stored ships?

Yeh, Obsidian Orbital annoyed me too because it's crying out to be a stop off station where you can transport ships out to have dirty drives put on them (which is what I was trying to do). The best I could find was a system 170LY from Maia (64 Arietis), I went there with my Asp and summoned all my ships there so I could DD5 them all one at a time. At least it made the round trips in the slow ships only 300LY instead of 1000LY.

777Driver · Feb 21, 2017

NeilF said:
Take Obsidian Orbital. You can go there. Dock. Leave your ship there, but not go into a Shipyard? Why?

OK, there may not be ships available there to buy, but you should still be able to go to the Shipyard to at least get ships transferred there, or look at your stored ships?

Obsidian didn't get a shipyard because we never reached the tier for the community goal. Most other ports without shipyards are due to low population/wealth

bootsam · Feb 21, 2017

I think windscreen makes a valid point though, I can see FD's logic in not wanting ships upgraded en masse. However PP is not at Obsidian and not everyone is interested in engineers. Nor have access to it. Besides I can see it making little difference to the en-masse argument as you can just choose a station in a nearby system. FF for FSD upgrades has an shipyard on the orbital within that system from memory. So its inconsistent maybe.

RamirezKurita · Feb 21, 2017

It's simple, most stations don't have the necessary equipment and internals to store ships en-masse in a way that a shipyard requires. There's a big difference between having sufficient docking bays to keep the station running and having the internals for the storage and maintenance of entire fleets.

It's basically like asking why a supermarket's car park doesn't allow for long-term stay and doesn't have an on-site car dealership. You dock to do business with the station, not to use the station as a personal base of operations.

dunnykin · Feb 21, 2017

Nerwan said:
Yeh, Obsidian Orbital annoyed me too because it's crying out to be a stop off station where you can transport ships out to have dirty drives put on them (which is what I was trying to do). The best I could find was a system 150LY from Maia (This it's 49 Ariets or some such), I went there with my Asp and summoned all my ships there so I could DD5 them all one at a time. At least it made the round trips in the slow ships only 300LY instead of 1000LY.

What I did is put the drives into storage and transferred the drives to Palin. Conda can fit 5A upwards which got most done in 1 trip.

Farmboy · Feb 21, 2017

Someone should propose a CG to get a shipyard upgrade at Obsidian Orbital then, so that it can have the ship-handling facilities it needs to accept ship transfers. There is enough new going on out there now, compared to when the Orbital was constructed, that it's a reasonable enough request.

Nerwan · Feb 21, 2017

dunnykin said:
What I did is put the drives into storage and transferred the drives to Palin. Conda can fit 5A upwards which got most done in 1 trip.

Yes, that's a great idea. Cheaper too. Damn, I've got an exploraconda too.. why didn't I do that

Punished Mobius · Feb 21, 2017

Take it another step further and allow the purchase and delivery of ships to your station of choice through a catalogue.
Galactic logistics is willing to ship out to Colonia, surely they can find me a new ship from the next system over.

tengri · Feb 21, 2017

NeilF said:
I think FD just put it (Ship Transfer) into the Shipyard menu, because it's a logical place for it, but forgot that many stations didn't have a Shipyard (ships for sale) thus needlessly denying this option.

Give them a little more credit - they would never forget to put stuff that makes life more unpleasant or annoying or miserable for their players.
The other side though...

IndigoWyrd · Feb 21, 2017

Curious to know...

If the last station at which you dock is the place your remains are shipped when you're done with your insurance adjuster...

What would happen if:

1. The last place you docked was Obsidian Orbital, where there is no shipyard
2. You died and did not rebuy the ship in which you died, opting instead for the generic freewinder?

777Driver · Feb 21, 2017

IndigoWyrd said:
Curious to know...

If the last station at which you dock is the place your remains are shipped when you're done with your insurance adjuster...

What would happen if:

1. The last place you docked was Obsidian Orbital, where there is no shipyard
2. You died and did not rebuy the ship in which you died, opting instead for the generic freewinder?

1. You return to Obsidian Orbital in your rebuy ship. A shipyard is not required for a respawn, just like outposts or smaller surface settlements.

2. opt for the free sidewinder and you return to your starter system. In my case that would be Aiabiko.

Have a feeling I'm missing something obvious in your question :-/

B1rdy · Feb 21, 2017

777Driver said:
Obsidian didn't get a shipyard because we never reached the tier for the community goal. Most other ports without shipyards are due to low population/wealth

^This is the reason. There is no point in discussing "balancing" Engineers.

NeilF · Feb 21, 2017

777Driver said:
Obsidian didn't get a shipyard because we never reached the tier for the community goal. Most other ports without shipyards are due to low population/wealth

You've misunderstood the point?

A shipyard was simply whether you could buy/sell ships there. Then when FD put in ship transfter they put it into the Shipyard options, thus meaning it's not available unless you can buy/sell ships there... It seems an unnecessary/questionable limitation.

ie: Why can't I ask for ships to be transfered to Obsidian Orbital for example? What would it break?

In short the main Shipyard option should be there (maybe the option should be called "Ships" instead of "Shipyard"), and I should then be able to transfer ships, but I simply shouldn't be able to buy (or sell?) ships there (as before), in the Shipyard.

RamirezKurita · Feb 21, 2017

NeilF said:
You've misunderstood the point?

A shipyard was simply whether you could buy/sell ships there. Then when FD put in ship transfter they put it into the Shipyard options, thus meaning it's not available unless you can buy/sell ships there... It seems an unnecessary/questionable limitation.

ie: Why can't I ask for ships to be transfered to Obsidian Orbital for example? What would it break?

In short the main Shipyard option should be there (maybe the option should be called "Ships" instead of "Shipyard"), and I should then be able to transfer ships, but I simply shouldn't be able to buy (or sell?) ships there (as before), in the Shipyard.

The ability to store ships would require significant ship storage and the infrastructure to move ships from docks to the storage bays, which it stands to reason that only stations that sell ships would have (alternatively, if a station has such storage, ship vendors and resellers will set up shop there).

Mendaharin Tusca · Feb 21, 2017

Question I asked myself many times is.. why do so many stations HAVE them? what most large stations and bases should have are RETAILERS, but shipyards? Gosh no.. shipyards should be huge sprawling monstrosities spanning miles and miles in a very select few industrialized systems.