Time to Re-Evaluate your Ships (Pledge) - Earning Big ships In PU (new from CR)

[VoA]

I just posted this interview in the Gamescom thread - however.......

How CR responds to the first question is so PROFOUND (and Important) - it deserves its own topic of discussion ...... 

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Basically he says that larger ships (even from a Connie on up) - but even more-so for a Capital Ship....... will have geometric cost increases more similar to the real world (not as extreme - but they are thinking more towards that model and having it take an Org. wide effort to earn the larger ships).

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This means if you are interested in any larger ships......... you should melt smaller ships to get the larger ships - since in-game......... the Larger ships will be MUCH harder to get (we knew this to a degree but it was never described by CR as being this exponential in terms of earned cost in the PU).

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Fortunately I have (and many in Imperium) have already taken the pledge strategy for giving preference to the larger ships........ but there are a number of smaller ships that have recently come on concept sale where people may want to pass on (and save their pledge for the larger ships).   For instance you may want to melt your recent small ship pledges for when the Polaris comes out (likely at Citizencon).   The Anniversary Sale will also (likely like in past years) give people the option to pledge for an Idris and a Javelin.

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NOTE - this can also mean that it could be more cost effective in the LONG RUN to keep individual large ships than have smaller ships mixed into bigger ship packages even though they technically save you $$$ if you were to pledge for those ships separately (since again the bigger ships will be so much harder to earn in the PU)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Another factor to consider is Tony Z's latest comments on NPCs in the PU and large ship crews (you don't have to buy or maintain their contracts individually) = you can contract for a large group of NPCs all at once = like contracting an Idris crew of 75+ NPCs at a time (obviously you can still have your individual close NPCs and Players inter-mixed into the larger crew)

============================

What do you think?........ are you going to adjust your pledge based on this new cost metric CR is talking about for earning ships in the PU?  I don't think this means you shouldn't have any small ships....... but in general you should probably pool most of your pledge around any larger ships you want

[Sparkie]

Hails VOA, great topic as always!  On my two cents worth, I probably will not change my pledge views over this as for me a Capital ship does not fit my desire or playstyle in the PU.  In Imperium we have many who have gone to the larger ships.  I think the Connie or Carrack are the largest I will go as I am an Explorer and would prefer that as my gaming career.  Like I said just my two cents worth.

 

Sparkie

The Dragon

[VoA]

13 minutes ago, Sparkie said:

Hails VOA, great topic as always!  On my two cents worth, I probably will not change my pledge views over this as for me a Capital ship does not fit my desire or playstyle in the PU.  In Imperium we have many who have gone to the larger ships.  I think the Connie or Carrack are the largest I will go as I am an Explorer and would prefer that as my gaming career.  Like I said just my two cents worth.

 

Sparkie

The Dragon

Hi Sparkie,

I think the reason you just gave above is the "best" reason to stick with the ship size you want...... based on how you want to play the game.   Even though I have ships like the Javelin, Idris, (will get the Polaris), 890 Jump .... etc.....  my favorite ship is still the Phoenix because it is the perfect size ship for how I want to play (but obviously I'll play with the other ships as well).

However........ before I eventually ended up at a Wing Commander Pledge level......... I started SC with just a Hornet Ghost ....... thinking that I wouldn't pledge for any other ships and just earn them all in the PU.  Some people also want to start the game "from the beginning" with just an Aurora....... and obviously that is fine as well........ but people were often basing this pledge / game-play decision based on CR's early comments (a couple of years ago) that it may only take two weeks of game-play to earn a Connie (when this obviously is not going to be the case anymore).....

[Sky-Citizen]

6 minutes ago, VoA said:

Hi Sparkie,

I think the reason you just gave above is the "best" reason to stick with the ship size you want...... based on how you want to play the game.   Even though I have ships like the Javelin, Idris, (will get the Polaris), 890 Jump .... etc.....  my favorite ship is still the Phoenix because it is the perfect size ship for how I want to play (but obviously I'll play with the other ships as well).

However........ before I eventually ended up at a Wing Commander Pledge level......... I started SC with just a Hornet Ghost ....... thinking that I wouldn't pledge for any other ships and just earn them all in the PU.  Some people also want to start the game "from the beginning" with just an Aurora....... and obviously that is fine to........ but people were often basing this pledge / game-play decision based on CR's early comments (a couple of years ago) that it may only take two weeks of game-play to earn a Connie (when this obviously is not going to be the case anymore).....

Play style is a good point, the big ships will have a lot of upkeep costs - if all you want to do is fly around engaging in dog fights with vandull raiders for instance you may just want to stick with a small ship which needs less time/resources for upkeep.

If you do want to play with a big ship then getting one now may be a good idea - though as Chris says things may smooth out during the game balancing.

[Taldren]

Currently I have a:

Carrack, Idris, Starfarer Gemini. Looking into the Polaris.

I also have a Gemini to BMM and Gemini to Caterpillar upgrade just in case. Not really a fan of the Gemini TBH.

However, I am sort of worried about what it would take to utilize them. 

[VoA]

10 minutes ago, Sky-Citizen said:

Play style is a good point, the big ships will have a lot of upkeep costs - if all you want to do is fly around engaging in dog fights with vandull raiders you may just want to stick with a small ship which needs less time/resources for upkeep.

Great Point on upkeep cost........ and even just initial out-fitting costs / and supply cost (buying cargo if your big ship is a larger transport ship) ++++++ another thing to consider is that there may not be many missions early on in the PU designed for larger ships.

All of these are important considerations......... but if at any point you really wanted to have a large ship...... this latest CR response should weigh heavily into your decision making.

Example.......... if you were thinking of getting a package with a few Small Ships and a Couple of Medium ships.... (thinking that you would earn your big ship that you want in-game).......... ------>>>>>  Instead....... you may want to get a single small ship and a single large ship (even though it might not get you the package saving $$$ = it might actually technically save you purchase cost in the PU in the long run).

5 minutes ago, Taldren said:

Currently I have a:

Carrack, Idris, Starfarer Gemini. Looking into the Polaris.

However, I am sort of worried about what it would take to utilize them. 

You should end up with two Argo's (one with the Idris and one with the Polaris) ---- to run small missions with. ++ You'll have a Rover for FPS missions from the Ursa that comes with the Carrack (see comment below)

ALSO ------- keep in mind you can supplement your missions with FPS missions instead (if you can't find or afford to operate your larger ships early on).

[Danakar Endeel]

For me I started out with lots of small ships, but have been pruning those back in favor of large(r) ones.

At present time my 'fleet' looks like this:

• 1x Avenger (used as an inexpensive small shuttle if I need to go somewhere with minimal cargo)
• 2x Sabre (these just looked too cool to pass up and were more meant for NPC wingmen or friends who want to borrow them)
• 1x Star-G (free fuel for my fleet and bulk cargo transport)
• 1x Redeemer (my main ship)
• 1x Carrack (my "poor man's Corvette" and explorer)
• 1x Dragonfly (because it's a Star Wars speederbike)

And all of them have LTI so I would only need to worry about paying additional insurance for non-stock gear and cargo.

In addition to that I still have some other ships like a Catterpillar+DF pack as well as another UEE Explorer Pack. But these are more store credit containers for when the Polaris comes around. That way I can have up to $795 worth of store credit available for a Polaris.

[Leonn]

38 minutes ago, Taldren said:

Currently I have a:

Carrack, Idris, Starfarer Gemini. Looking into the Polaris.

I also have a Gemini to BMM and Gemini to Caterpillar upgrade just in case. Not really a fan of the Gemini TBH.

However, I am sort of worried about what it would take to utilize them. 

Nice post @VoA

I have the Starfarer Gemini too and to be honest I don't like it or the standard Starfarer but I remember it being said that is going to be of the most automated of the large industrial ships and subsequently should be easy to run with 1 or 2 players in org owned space churning out easy UEC. I have had my finger on the melt button many times and since I just learned it's now worth $340 instead of $250 I am thinking I may just use it to upgrade to a larger ship. I have the Merchantman too (was going to be my long hauler) and the numbers currently listed to run that ship (8 crew) is just scary. I am sure that will get reduced once it gets some work.

From the video I liked the fact that jobs available to larger ships will generate more UEC. I also think fuel and maintenance costs will actually end up significant in the PU. I would love to know a number but my guess would be something like 30% of earnable income form one ship will need to go on fuel, maintenance & insurance for that ship. Also if you have a huge hanger full of massive ships he mentioned that it will cost a lot just to store them.

[Taldren]

3 minutes ago, Leonn said:

Nice post @VoA

I have the Starfarer Gemini too and to be honest I don't like it or the standard Starfarer but I remember it being said that is going to be of the most automated of the large industrial ships and subsequently should be easy to run with 1 or 2 players in org owned space churning out easy UEC. I have had my finger on the melt button many times and since I just learned it's now worth $340 instead of $250 I am thinking I may just use it to upgrade to a larger ship. I have the Merchantman too (was going to be my long hauler) and the numbers currently listed to run that ship (8 crew) is just scary. I am sure that will get reduced once it gets some work.

From the video I liked the fact that jobs available to larger ships will generate more UEC. I also think fuel and maintenance costs will actually end up significant in the PU. I would love to know a number but my guess would be something like 30% of earnable income form one ship will need to go on fuel, maintenance & insurance for that ship. Also if you have a huge hanger full of massive ships he mentioned that it will cost a lot just to store them.

That's what I did to get my Carrack. I had sold my original Gemini to buy the Armada package (which included a Gemini). I was able to buy back the Gemini I sold for $240 and apply a $10 upgrade to make it a Carrack (since atm the Carrack is $350 and the Gemini is $340). I expect the Carracks price to skyrocket when its released. So I basically already gained $100 in value and if the Carrack goes up I will only gain from there.

 

I expect the Caterpillar to do the same as well (and perhaps the BMM), so I will get the returns on those if I upgrade my Armada Gemini , but for now I am sitting on those $10 upgrades.

 

Moral of the story ... ALWAYS BUY CCUs when available. Especially if they are $0. Sitting on 2 Vanguard Warden to Espera Prowler CCUs just in case.

[Danakar Endeel]

Just now, Taldren said:

That's what I did to get my Carrack. I had sold my original Gemini to buy the Armada package (which included a Gemini). I was able to buy back the Gemini I sold for $240 and apply a $10 upgrade to make it a Carrack (since atm the Carrack is $350 and the Gemini is $340). I expect the Carracks price to skyrocket when its released.

Yeah, wish I had considered that and would have just melted my old Starfarer instead of buying the Starfarer>Star-G CCU. Ah well...

[GalYurr]

You can just CCU smaller ships in packs (like the UEE Explorer) to larger ones and retain the savings.

 

UEE Explorer Pack ($495, save $85):

• Terrapin     -[CCU]->   BMM (Then wait for hangar ready price increase to ~$300)   -[CCU]->   $350 Ship  (cost $300, save $50)
• Carrack (wait for Carrack hangar ready price increase to $400)   -[CCU]->   Hull-E (cost $500, save $50)
• Dragonfly   -[CCU]->  BMM (Then wait for hangar ready price increase to ~$300)   -[CCU]->   $350 Ship  (cost $300, save $50)

 

Money saved:  $235

 

This ASSUMES the BMM and Carrack will see at least a $50 price bump when they're hangar ready, which is the only downside; but it's the risk you take if you want to potentially see big savings by this time next year.  The BMM could go to $350 for all we know, in which case you'll save an extra $100.

The Caterpillar is actually the best ship to start with for this at the moment as it could also see it's own $50 bump for hangar rdy very soon; THEN you CCU to a Carrack and get another $50 bump with that.  Then you can get any $400+ ship for $100 less.

Gotta speculate to accumulate.. :0

[VoA]

21 minutes ago, Danakar Endeel said:

... I still have some other ships like a Catterpillar+DF pack as well as another UEE Explorer Pack. ...

Keep in mind the Caterpillar will likely undergo a large price bump like the Starfarer did (maybe $100 extra) - and in that case you may want to un-melt them for that value (or increased CCU potential to something larger).

 

17 minutes ago, Leonn said:

Nice post @VoA

I have the Starfarer Gemini too and to be honest I don't like it or the standard Starfarer but I remember it being said that is going to be of the most automated of the large industrial ships and subsequently should be easy to run with 1 or 2 players in org owned space churning out easy UEC. I have had my finger on the melt button many times and since I just learned it's now worth $340 instead of $250 I am thinking I may just use it to upgrade to a larger ship. I have the Merchantman too (was going to be my long hauler) and the numbers currently listed to run that ship (8 crew) is just scary. I am sure that will get reduced once it gets some work.

You are correct that the Starfarer is one of the more automated ships (requiring less crew relative to its function).  The Hull Series and 890 Jump are suppose to be this way as well (as oppose to a BMM - but everyone including me still loves the BMM = and I honestly think the BMM is undervalued like the Taurus and now Caterpillar = which will all likely see cost increases).  This brings back into relvancy these older theory-crafted threads that still have some value in it (but now modified based on this latest CR interview).....

1. Multi-Squadron Profit Tactics - pt 1 - Profitable Ships [Top 10]
2. Multi-Squadron Profit Tactics - pt 2 - Profitable Missions in the early PU

20 minutes ago, Leonn said:

From the video I liked the fact that jobs available to larger ships will generate more UEC. I also think fuel and maintenance costs will actually end up significant in the PU. I would love to know a number but my guess would be something like 30% of earnable income form one ship will need to go on fuel, maintenance & insurance for that ship. Also if you have a huge hanger full of massive ships he mentioned that it will cost a lot just to store them.

Great points - the increased generation of UEC from the larger ships......... and the increased hangar costs to store them (which may cause some players to even just give / donate / rent / etc...) to Imperium for the Org's use (especially if a player can't afford to operate them  / let alone house them) ((and would be a good use of Org taxes = to house and use people ships that they can't afford to use / house early on)).   We'll probably find out more about this in Org 2.0.

 

22 minutes ago, Taldren said:

Moral of the story ... ALWAYS BUY CCUs when available. 

Yep

20 minutes ago, Danakar Endeel said:

Yeah, wish I had considered that and would have just melted my old Starfarer instead of buying the Starfarer>Star-G CCU. Ah well...

Ya I had both a Starfarer and Starfarer G and already CCU'd my standard Starfarer before the cost increase (so I lost its $100 increase value)

9 minutes ago, GalYurr said:

You can just CCU smaller ships in packs (like the UEE Explorer) to larger ones and retain the savings.

 

UEE Explorer Pack ($495, save $85):

• Terrapin     -[CCU]->   BMM (Then wait for hangar ready price increase to ~$300)   -[CCU]->   $350 Ship  (cost $300, save $50)
• Carrack (wait for Carrack hangar ready price increase to $400)   -[CCU]->   Hull-E (cost $500, save $50)
• Dragonfly   -[CCU]->  BMM (Then wait for hangar ready price increase to ~$300)   -[CCU]->   $350 Ship  (cost $300, save $50)

 

Money saved:  $235

 

This ASSUMES the BMM and Carrack will see at least a $50 price bump when they're hangar ready, which is the only downside; but it's the risk you take if you want to potentially see big savings by this time next year.  The BMM could go to $350 for all we know, in which case you'll save an extra $100.

The Caterpillar is actually the best ship to start with for this at the moment as it could also see it's own $50 bump for hangar rdy very soon; THEN you CCU to a Carrack and get another $50 bump with that.  Then you can get any $400+ ship for $100 less.

Gotta speculate to accumulate.. :0

Excellent point about still utilizing package values and CCU'ing up from them.  I have the Armada, Blue Collar, Exploration and Transport Packs - and I have been CCUing them up from those.

[Danakar Endeel]

50 minutes ago, VoA said:

Keep in mind the Caterpillar will likely undergo a large price bump like the Starfarer did (maybe $100 extra) - and in that case you may want to un-melt them for that value (or increased CCU potential to something larger).

No worries. I got unlucky with the Starfarer as I chose to ccu up to Star-G instead of melt and buy but it taught me to always keep some ships in reserve. As such I already have 2 more Caterpillar+DF packs in my buyback and I am also sitting on a Connie>Cat CCU in my regular inventory.

[GalYurr]

You don't get the increased value back if you melt a ship that got a price bump.  If I melt my standard Starfarer for example, I'll get $175 for it not $300.

This is why the CCUs are so important! :0

[Swiftsure]

 

Quote

This means if you are interested in any larger ships......... you should melt smaller ships to get the larger ships - since in-game......... the Larger ships will be MUCH harder to get (we knew this to a degree but it was never described by CR as being this exponential in terms of earned cost in the PU).

They cost cost exponentially more, take exponentially more effort/maintenance costs, and require exponentially more player crew. In return missions pay exponentially more.

Of these costs I believe the real question is getting people together, regularly, and organizing/training them to a competent level. If you have the people you can just pool the credits for a bigger ship, as gaining credits is wildly easier than getting people to cooperate and show up on time reliably. At least in most games I've played. 


I do agree you're better off with fewer ships though. If you have 7 pewpew fighter ships you're probably better off melting 5-6 of those and getting a bigger pewpew boat. However getting a bigger ship is taking a larger risk. What if big ships end up being not great in the meta? What if the type of gameplay associated with your ship ends up being not as fun as you hoped? What if everyone wants to fly their own ship instead of crew and npc crew turns out to be bad/expensive?
I think the safest bet is to make sure you have your solo bases covered with a good combat and a good economy ship before melting the rest for one of them big ones. 

[VoA]

55 minutes ago, Swiftsure said:

However getting a bigger ship is taking a larger risk. 

Agree you don't only want to have a large ship...... but also a back-up ship of some sort (especially since larger ships will have a longer respawn time)

57 minutes ago, Swiftsure said:

 

What if big ships end up being not great in the meta? 

In every decent game I have played - "Meta(s)" are only temporary fads........ until the developers balance things....... or until players discover another unit or build that superceed it (in other words Meta's are a myth) = example in GW2 I was the highest ranked PVPer (yes in the whole game) through Beta and the first few years that I played - I enjoyed coming up with other builds that crushed the "at the time" - meta builds.

1 hour ago, Swiftsure said:

What if the type of gameplay associated with your ship ends up being not as fun as you hoped? 

That's why you have to get a ship that is rare or has value (beyond what you think it has to yourself).   Example - if I only had one ship...... I would get the Phoenix - and even if in game I decided I didn't like it (or got tired of it) - I could sell it for a premium because it is rare (and the top in its class and below for fighting in addition to making great UEC with VIP missions). = Got to think of re-sale value.

1 hour ago, Swiftsure said:

What if everyone wants to fly their own ship instead of crew and npc crew turns out to be bad/expensive?

I think over time SC will break players notion that they have to always be "the captain"..... with fun / dynamic multi-crew options

1 hour ago, Swiftsure said:

I think the safest bet is to make sure you have your solo bases covered with a good combat and a good economy ship before melting the rest for one of them big ones. 

A multi-purpose ship is obviously good to have but they are independent of size (there are plenty of multi-purpose ships = example the Idris is one of the most flexible ships in terms of missions / combat in the game).   My personal favorite again though is the Phoenix and Connies are extremely flexible for multiple uses.

[TheGreatWars]

Honestly I love this video thanks for posting it and I think the time to get should be long and hard i dont wanna see people flying these huge ships like in the first 1 year TBH but if you dont have a org like this i think if your flying solo like maybe you could get lucky and find something worth a lot that will get you from like a starter ship to something bigger like a base free lancer or hull b or something little bigger not to big though 

[Rocket Man]

Thank you Chris Roberts for speaking a little on this model!  Thanks @VoA for sharing.

This pricing model is exactly what I was hoping to be, something exponential that requires a LOT of hard work to earn larger ships.  I want the game to have a level of difficulty that also associates tough decision making (like which ship to purchase next).  Obviously, the price models will change from what we've seen so far, but I anticipate that the economic models will released soon, hopefully for 3.0.  I will stick with my Connie collection to start.  I do have a BMM, but to use it the first week, maybe a month, might be at a loss.  I would hate to fill it only 30% of capacity, then use fuel to move the large mass that is not even half full of cargo.  I still wonder if I would even have enough funds to start shipping with the Connie Taurus in the safe shipping lanes.

[flamadin]

Great post @VoA, I'll mind your suggestion  

Also I tried to access the 2 link with the profit tactics but they are forbidden to me. May I access them in some way or they are limited to Imperium Members?

 

1. Multi-Squadron Profit Tactics - pt 1 - Profitable Ships [Top 10]
2. Multi-Squadron Profit Tactics - pt 2 - Profitable Missions in the early PU

[faquarl25]

On August 21, 2016 at 7:43 PM, VoA said:

Agree you don't only want to have a large ship...... but also a back-up ship of some sort (especially since larger ships will have a longer respawn time)

In every decent game I have played - "Meta(s)" are only temporary fads........ until the developers balance things....... or until players discover another unit or build that superceed it (in other words Meta's are a myth) = example in GW2 I was the highest ranked PVPer (yes in the whole game) through Beta and the first few years that I played - I enjoyed coming up with other builds that crushed the "at the time" - meta builds.

That's why you have to get a ship that is rare or has value (beyond what you think it has to yourself).   Example - if I only had one ship...... I would get the Phoenix - and even if in game I decided I didn't like it (or got tired of it) - I could sell it for a premium because it is rare (and the top in its class and below for fighting in addition to making great UEC with VIP missions). = Got to think of re-sale value.

I think over time SC will break players notion that they have to always be "the captain"..... with fun / dynamic multi-crew options

A multi-purpose ship is obviously good to have but they are independent of size (there are plenty of multi-purpose ships = example the Idris is one of the most flexible ships in terms of missions / combat in the game).   My personal favorite again though is the Phoenix and Connies are extremely flexible for multiple uses.

Agreed

Metas are builds that are decent against most builds. However, they are fads because once they become too popular one of two things happens.

1. If the game is well balanced (as I hope star citizen to be) people will just make a builds to take it out like you did.

2. If the game is badly balanced, it will remain OP until the developer nerfs it (and developers tend to over nerf so it becomes unusable).

[GRIZZ]

22 hours ago, GalYurr said:

Gotta speculate to accumulate.. :0

Get em' while their hot!

[AstroJak]

 

This means if you are interested in any larger ships......... you should melt smaller ships to get the larger ships - since in-game......... the Larger ships will be MUCH harder to get (we knew this to a degree but it was never described by CR as being this exponential in terms of earned cost in the PU).

They cost cost exponentially more, take exponentially more effort/maintenance costs, and require exponentially more player crew. In return missions pay exponentially more.

Of these costs I believe the real question is getting people together, regularly, and organizing/training them to a competent level. If you have the people you can just pool the credits for a bigger ship, as gaining credits is wildly easier than getting people to cooperate and show up on time reliably. At least in most games I've played. 

I do agree you're better off with fewer ships though. If you have 7 pewpew fighter ships you're probably better off melting 5-6 of those and getting a bigger pewpew boat. However getting a bigger ship is taking a larger risk. What if big ships end up being not great in the meta? What if the type of gameplay associated with your ship ends up being not as fun as you hoped? What if everyone wants to fly their own ship instead of crew and npc crew turns out to be bad/expensive?

I think the safest bet is to make sure you have your solo bases covered with a good combat and a good economy ship before melting the rest for one of them big ones. 

Sound advice, i totally agree.

AstroJak

[Fizzlefuse]

Very interesting. On one hand I'd love to right now get a Carrack instead of my DUR, or even a Reclaimer if I could. It might take a long time before I'll be able to earn enough to buy those in the game.

On the other hand, putting down the hard work in-game to eventually buy that larger ship would be a amazing adventure and imagine what it will feel like when you finally see that ship in your hanger/in orbit... Knowing you can point at that ship and tell your friends; "do you have any idea what i went through to get that? howmany bounties I had to collect? Howmany tons of cargo I had to haul? How many asteroids I had to mine?"

Plus, at that point you're already deep into the game and know most of the ins and outs, how to make credits and maintain a healty income.
To operate and maintain a massive ship right when the game launches might prove rather difficult as we're all still trying to figure things out.

As for myself, I rather just have a humble start, going out in my Freelancer or my Hull B and figuring out how everything works, what i can and cannot do.

Adventure is out there!

[VoA]

5 hours ago, flamadin said:

Great post @VoA, I'll mind your suggestion  

Also I tried to access the 2 link with the profit tactics but they are forbidden to me. May I access them in some way or they are limited to Imperium Members?

 

1. Multi-Squadron Profit Tactics - pt 1 - Profitable Ships [Top 10]
2. Multi-Squadron Profit Tactics - pt 2 - Profitable Missions in the early PU

Ya they are restricted to Imperium Members

[AstroJak]

6 hours ago, AstroJak said:

They cost cost exponentially more, take exponentially more effort/maintenance costs, and require exponentially more player crew. In return missions pay exponentially more.

Of these costs I believe the real question is getting people together, regularly, and organizing/training them to a competent level. If you have the people you can just pool the credits for a bigger ship, as gaining credits is wildly easier than getting people to cooperate and show up on time reliably. At least in most games I've played. 

I do agree you're better off with fewer ships though. If you have 7 pewpew fighter ships you're probably better off melting 5-6 of those and getting a bigger pewpew boat. However getting a bigger ship is taking a larger risk. What if big ships end up being not great in the meta? What if the type of gameplay associated with your ship ends up being not as fun as you hoped? What if everyone wants to fly their own ship instead of crew and npc crew turns out to be bad/expensive?

I think the safest bet is to make sure you have your solo bases covered with a good combat and a good economy ship before melting the rest for one of them big ones. 

 

Sound advice, i totally agree.

AstroJak

I know i'm breaking a rule here by commenting on my own post but taptalk did something really weird, i was quoting someone else who was quoting swiftsure and it mashed all three together as if i made the attached post... not sure if that came out right?

anyways the last line was my only comment, i just wanted to clear the record so no one thinks i'm stealing their post.

AJ

5 hours ago, Fizzlefuse said:

Very interesting. On one hand I'd love to right now get a Carrack instead of my DUR, or even a Reclaimer if I could. It might take a long time before I'll be able to earn enough to buy those in the game.

On the other hand, putting down the hard work in-game to eventually buy that larger ship would be a amazing adventure and imagine what it will feel like when you finally see that ship in your hanger/in orbit... Knowing you can point at that ship and tell your friends; "do you have any idea what i went through to get that? howmany bounties I had to collect? Howmany tons of cargo I had to haul? How many asteroids I had to mine?"

Plus, at that point you're already deep into the game and know most of the ins and outs, how to make credits and maintain a healty income.
To operate and maintain a massive ship right when the game launches might prove rather difficult as we're all still trying to figure things out.

As for myself, I rather just have a humble start, going out in my Freelancer or my Hull B and figuring out how everything works, what i can and cannot do.

Adventure is out there!

@Fizzlefuse i love the idea of earning the ship of your dreams in game, the hard work, the adventures that got you to that point make it more than just a purchase... its the reward!  For myself however, i lack the time to grind and appreciate CIG letting me buy in to help the game evolve by getting these larger ships sooner than i would otherwise be able to get them in game. 

I am sure there will be some players, with 40+ hours a week, who will have an idris in no time, but that's not me. My plan is to stick with the larger ships for industry and trade plus combat. With the recent comments from CIG regarding purchasable crews for large ships, i'm encouraged that i'll be able to hire a crew to man several of my Hull C, who i will then assign trade tasks via my tablet while i work. If escorts are required i'll hire either NPC's or more likely post the mission with Imperium. I hope to have my 4 Hull C's and 4 Gemini working as much as possible via this system.

You might ask then, "what am i working towards if i already have some of the biggest ships", well my answer would be; i want to be able to generate the kind of funds that will effect change in an environment through economic interaction. I guess i'm thinking big and would like to see if a player could establish some kind of economic node and if so, how would that node affect the local economy? eg) will the people dress differently, will other businesses moving into the area, will crime increase/decrease, will the buildings start the evolve? I want have a ringside seat and be part of the change, whatever that change maybe, time will tell.

 

AJ