Why supply CG's should favor cargo ships

[Cohen the Worrior]

Supply CG's are mostly done by Imperial Cutters because they are fast and agile.
Now it would be more fun if they are done by dedicated haulers like the types, because they are more vulnerable to interception. This means that they will be flying in convoys and escorted by combat oriented commanders. With enemy fighter groups trying to intercept. Think of all the teamwork . . .
Especially when you throw in the odd FC.
In my book, that is a lot more fun than mindlessly hauling cargo back and forth in a Cutter.

But how could supply CG's favor cargo ships? Well, they could give extra weight to their cargo. Not for achieving the next tier, but for determining the top x%. Perhaps that extra weight is 50%, perhaps it's 100%.

How about it?

 

[maehara]

How about no.

Supply CGs are mostly done in Imperial Cutters because they have more cargo capacity in the game than any other ship; and are capable of outrunning almost any NPC hostile they're likely to encounter. I'm not going to apologise for making use of those advantages.

You think it's more fun to do it in a different ship, that's entirely your choice - but that doesn't earn you any right to penalise those who choose differently, which is what you're suggesting.

 

[Rubbernuke]

The problem is the Cutter is too good at what it does, coupled with crazy shield balance in the game.

 

[Nathan84]

Actually it's pretty simple. The Cutter should not have the highest cargo capacity in the game (IF it's unshielded).
Yes it's big, but the shape is absolutely not adapted to cargo hauling.

But go tell that to whoever is "balancing" ships.

 

[CMDR Jago Kain]

I've never needed a convoy to get my T9 or T10 to destination. However I was promoted to Duke two weeks ago so I'm going to enjoy the benefits of hauling in my shiny azure cutter 'Gank Bait'.

I totally agree that the problem is cargo ships aren't the best cargo haulers, and that's poor ship design.

 

[Red Anders]

If the Imperial Cutter is 'agile' can someone please let me have the e-mail for Gutamaya's customer service department so I can go full Karen on them?

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

How about no.

Supply CGs are mostly done in Imperial Cutters because they have more cargo capacity in the game than any other ship; and are capable of outrunning almost any NPC hostile they're likely to encounter. I'm not going to apologise for making use of those advantages.

You think it's more fun to do it in a different ship, that's entirely your choice - but that doesn't earn you any right to penalise those who choose differently, which is what you're suggesting.

How are you penalised?

 

[Robert Maynard]

How would players in Solo engage escort ships?

 

[Northpin]

The problem is the Cutter is too good at what it does, coupled with crazy shield balance in the game.

That would be a problem in an open only game.

My cutter is running 784t of cargo with no shields, so in this scenario i have no idea what crazy shield balance means

In solo of course.
Since the goal of a trading CG is to deliver as much as possible, i dont really have time to avoid other players or stand in queue at the landing pads.

 

[Rubbernuke]

That would be a problem in an open only game.

My cutter is running 784t of cargo with no shields, so in this scenario i have no idea what crazy shield balance means

In solo of course.
Since the goal of a trading CG is to deliver as much as possible, i dont really have time to avoid other players or stand in queue at the landing pads.

The other issue being ineffectual NPCs and ways to make your life difficult

 

[Northpin]

The other issue being ineffectual NPCs and ways to make your life difficult

They are not that ineffectual
I really liked playing the T9.. Until i lost a shieldless one, full of Beryllium, to a NPC Mamba.

Shieldless Cutter has no issues and since NPC are not engineered, they have no chance to boost to 460m/s
4 PDT to deal with potential rockets, missiles or hatch breakers and a heatsink to kill their targeting and off i go.

 

[CMDR Deano The Imperial]

Supply CG's are mostly done by Imperial Cutters because they are fast and agile.
Now it would be more fun if they are done by dedicated haulers like the types, because they are more vulnerable to interception. This means that they will be flying in convoys and escorted by combat oriented commanders. With enemy fighter groups trying to intercept. Think of all the teamwork . . .
Especially when you throw in the odd FC.

Nothing stopping you getting a team together and doing all what you wish in the next cargo CG.

Just sayin'

 

[aRJay]

Supply CG's are mostly done by Imperial Cutters because they are fast and agile.
Now it would be more fun if they are done by dedicated haulers like the types, because they are more vulnerable to interception. This means that they will be flying in convoys and escorted by combat oriented commanders. With enemy fighter groups trying to intercept. Think of all the teamwork . . .
Especially when you throw in the odd FC.
In my book, that is a lot more fun than mindlessly hauling cargo back and forth in a Cutter.

But how could supply CG's favor cargo ships? Well, they could give extra weight to their cargo. Not for achieving the next tier, but for determining the top x%. Perhaps that extra weight is 50%, perhaps it's 100%.

How about it?

Just because they are sleek and fast doesn’t mean Imperial Cutters aren’t cargo ships if they are fitted out that way.

 

[Vetinari]

Bring out the T8, 1500T but worse than the T9, much slower and flies like roadkill - its tonnage is good but as for the rest, well thats why it was withdrawn but maybe theres a market now hey Frontier?

 

[DJBezoar]

The in-game description mentions the cutter as a suitable trading vessel. And I can personally see it as being a cargo ship aesthetically. It has that cargo plane look about it.

But I do think it would be a lot more fun to fly a more vulnerable ship in open. Might be time for fdev to think about the panther clipper

Given trading profits and mining nerfs, I don't think it would be too ridiculous to have a slow hauler that breaks that 1000t mark hah

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

You wanna be a space trucker? Fly the Pachyderm 2000. If it's good enough for Dennis Hopper, it's good enough for me.

 

[Quantis Trap]

Escort Missions:
Hearing about escort missions really opens a sore point for me every time I hear it! It's something Baben mentioned more than once would come to the game and it's still not hear! I want escort missions more than most of the FPS stuff which is coming in Odyssey!

Mission System:
The mission system of Elite Dangerous was vary sad from the beginning and has improved very little! Almost all the current competitor space games have better mission systems. The No Man's Sky and X4 mission systems (just comparing the mission systems) are both far far better for instance. Many other much older games have far better mission systems too.

 

[Dustin81]

Till they finally come out with the Panther Clipper, I'm using my Cutter.

 

[Kyle Stryker]

Escort Missions:
Hearing about escort missions really opens a sore point for me every time I hear it! It's something Baben mentioned more than once would come to the game and it's still not hear! I want escort missions more than most of the FPS stuff which is coming in Odyssey!

Every other cargo haul is a escort mission. I’m interdicted by pirates all the time in my T9 when I’m hauling freight. Just wing up with a guy and I’ll bet you’ll get a pirate chasing you for half of your runs. Better yet, add some cargo racks to your escort and score a little extra scratch at the destination.

As for T9 vs Cutter, I’d rather take extra 20-30 tons per run with a T9 and deal with the poor flight characteristics. I haven’t done the math, but I bet I could haul more tonnage/hr with the T9 than a Cutter for short range hauls. One noteable exception would be the Coalsack CG, where I calculated the Cutter was could haul about 19-20% more freight per hour than a T9.

 

[aRJay]

Every other cargo haul is a escort mission. I’m interdicted by pirates all the time in my T9 when I’m hauling freight. Just wing up with a guy and I’ll bet you’ll get a pirate chasing you for half of your runs. Better yet, add some cargo racks to your escort and score a little extra scratch at the destination.

As for T9 vs Cutter, I’d rather take extra 20-30 tons per run with a T9 and deal with the poor flight characteristics. I haven’t done the math, but I bet I could haul more tonnage/hr with the T9 than a Cutter for short range hauls. One noteable exception would be the Coalsack CG, where I calculated the Cutter was could haul about 19-20% more freight per hour than a T9.

When I looked at the figures a while ago the cargo difference per run was marginal but if you were doing Cg level numbers of runs the speed of the cutter put it ahead as you could do more runs over the period of the CG.

But it is all very dependent on distances to stations, jump distances, number of jumps and personal preference in ship builds.