So tomorrow is the Hull Series Talk. I'll be honest here, I have very mixed feelings about this line of ships and it isn't because of lack of defense or manpower or something little. My main concern, lol concern, is that they have basically wiped the field clean as far as cargo hauling is concerned.
So your Banu MM the other day had 6K cargo capacity making it a very attractive option to own one day to haul. Same with the starfarer and even the Taurus as a freighter. Now they have had all their capacities cut by 3/4 so the MM only has 1500 SCU which puts it out of the running for any really serious cargo hauling and only the Hull series can move a bunch of cargo at once AND requiring escorts.
Not only is the cargo very exposed to space which will let people scan it easily and take what they want if they can corner it but your maneuverability that was once at least acceptable on the other ships is now cut so far down on the Hull Series it isn't even funny. Literally space whales and no flippers. And if you don't believe that then go look at the lack of maneuvering thrusters listed "coming soon".
Another thing is the appearance. I was really lookng forward to this line of ships because sometimes I like to run cargo or haul my own stuff to a new place etc. For the record I bought a Hull C because LTI and opportunity later but anyway back to appearance. I was epxecting something very large and boxy with a fully enclosed cargo bay that at the Hull E level could transport whole ships. No we got the Orion having sex with the Freelancer and I really wanted this:
Large, bulky, holds a bunch. Thats the Caldari Charon Freighter from Eve Online btw but it looks like it'll take some damage and keep going. Oh something else, I never got one of the above in Eve before I left. I got the Gallente one instead because of other reasons but never a Charon so the Hull Series was gonna fulfill that for me.
For all that though I will say that I like the appearance of the ships when they are FOLDED UP. Might be one of the only things I like about them.
So tomorrow when I put the Hull Series up, its going to be a Commentary piece like the Vanguard. In the future I may like the ships more than I do now but making serious cargo hauling almost exclusive to the Hull series bites. Hard.