I understand the instinct and have felt it in some small regard (I bought a Super Hornet over a Ghost in part because it seemed like the most powerful ship), but I agree. I'm sure many of us are at least somewhat guilty of what you've described, but I was doing my part this last weekend against the min/max mentality. The one that goads me, especially, is this desire that turns into demand to be able to strip the Phoenix of its luxury interior to put back in a full cargo hold. That just smacks to me of blatant buy2win. You can afford a $400 ship and happen to be here during the sale, so you get a Constellation that is statistically superior without any trade-offs, and get to throw away the core concept of the variant?
For whatever reason, that really pushes my anger button.
Edit : about replacing the Phoenix interior with more cargo , they don't say they are going to do it , they say maybe in the future we will do it after the launch of the game in 2 years when everyone will forgot about the phoenix interior ( look like to me a way to calm down people who are crying without doing something)
I definitely agree, I would much prefer it to not be able to be stripped to a Super Andromeda, i.e. every variant is about checks and balances. You give up cargo space for shiny furniture, better power capabilities, a voyeur's/exhibitionist's dream shower, better defense weapons, and some fancy doodads (upgraded fighter plus rover). But the fact that they've mentioned it means that they're seriously entertaining the possibility.
Yeah, right there, no "guaranteed" word, but that's pretty convincing wording that they are at least considering it!
Q. Can I remove the ‘luxury’ interior of the Phoenix to increase cargo space?
A. We would
like to do this in the future. All ships will have some degree of internal customization at launch (similar to the Hangar – after all, you have to put your piano somewhere!) and we plan to expand that as we go… but making the ships flyable and allowing you to alter pre-set hardpoints. (Note that there are also internal hardpoints; the Constellation has space to install mission-specific panels, as mentioned in the brochure!)
So, for everyone wanting to remove the hot tub/luxury interior to have a statistically superior Constellation… we hear you and will be keeping that in mind as development goes forward. But we’re not prepared to promise it at launch at this point.
It seems reasonably clear the bigger engine capacity and the Class 9 turret will be Phoenix specific upgrades that will be
unavailable on the Andromeda and other models.
But then there's that second post:
Q. What happened to the ‘space superiority’ role for the Constellation?
A. There has been no change in this regard when it comes to gameplay! We may use different terminology for the in-universe sale page, but the
Constellation Andromeda (the original model) is still a space superiority platform. Remember Chris once promised that the Constellation could reasonably take on three Hornets… and you were able to see him and his crew do just that in the recent Gamescom live demo!
That makes it seem like the Andromeda is at least somewhat intended to be the Millennium Falcon (looks like a piece of junk but has awesome performance) that so many people want?
Actually since they said that you could add a P-52 to the Aquilla, that also seems quite tempting. I can imagine long range sensors and expanded fuel reserves would actually give more of an advantage for the initial exploration phase (or as an enhanced pair of eyes for the fleet?). I understand that one turret becomes the sensors/science package, but I'm surprised no cargo room was lost to make way for the rover or the expanded fuel reserves. We assume the extended fuel is in place of the missile mounts? But the increased weapons and mounts of the Andromeda and the Phoenix would be more suited to exploring/patrolling hostile areas/
Does anyone know about the max crew value? It is just a theoretical value of how many people could function aboard the ship? Or is it a number recommended to operate all the weapons/systems/pilot? I just wondered why the Andromeda is the only one with crew capacity 5. I guess I would have expected the Phoenix to have fewer with all the extras (and an automated defense turret). Any indication why the Aquilla would have fewer max crew?
Almost everything limited has had at least base value if not a higher value after it goes off sale? Or have there been any exceptions? I was considering purchasing the Phoenix Upgrade now, but not applying it, since I'm still not really sold on how beneficial its upgrades will be . Then either melt it for something else (perhaps an Aquilla upgrade or another ship?) or sell it/trade it on the trading forums?
I think no matter what, if you have a Constellation LTI package, it's important to
not apply the upgrade yet (Though I assume they'd let us know if there was a deadline for applying it before launch?)
With this new information, what are people leaning towards? My gut still says to stick with the Andromeda since it seems to be highly adaptable between roles (fighting/trading/exploring) and even though it would never be the best at any specific role, you could always improve it for certain functions with a few upgrades/strips?
