Constellation Conversation

[Walex]

Ben jumped in on a podcast today and answered some more stuff on the connie
http://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/2e8kjk/star_cast_qa_summarized/

Nice. That answers even most of my questions, I think! This makes me just want to stick with the Andromeda and just pick up another ship later, haha! Thanks so much for posting that!

Downsizing a ship comes with a penalty, hence you pay to downsize to Taurus from Andromeda. Cross chassis upgrades are there to help you get the ship you want but not to change it at a whim.

I can't tell if that means you'd have to pay a significant amount in game to strip out the interior of an Andromeda so it has increased cargo space (or strip out the Phoenix), but I think they're just explaining why it would cost $ to upgrade a Rear Admiral - LTI pledge package to a Taurus.

 

[starkestrel]

Pay 2 Win in a dogfight? Pay 2 Win hauling cargo? I'd say a starfarer or merchantman is a better investment for cargo hauling. The "best" constellation, when it comes down to a 1v1 dogfight with other variants is probably going to be such a small difference that the piloting and turreting skills will determine the winner instead of who simply has the better ship - CIG has stated that this is the priority. I'd quit immediately if it was Star Trek Online level nonsense "best equipment wins 90% of the time" with little to no effort required by the player. That's why I'm not particularly worried about minor differences in specifications.

I'm not either, but I want to bitchslap people who play victim and throw up a loud stink b/c they want their Phoenix advantages but don't want an actual Phoenix. You know, the pimp-my-ride, luxury touring, gaudy interior gawddamn Phoenix.

It's the Luxury Touring variant! You're just an asshole if you want to buy the luxury touring variant and strip out the luxury portion. (Being able to customize the luxury interior to something you like more is fine. Replacing it with an Andromeda-sized cargo bay is being a dickface.)

 

[Walex]

It's the Luxury Touring variant! You're just an asshole if you want to buy the luxury touring variant and strip out the luxury portion. (Being able to customize the luxury interior to something you like more is fine. Replacing it with an Andromeda-sized cargo bay is being a dickface.)

The problem is that some people will want all of the benefits (turrets, bigger engine upgrade) with none of the drawbacks :( Now, I think I'd be silly buying a Phoenix upgrade just in case they decide to let people replace the interior with an Andromeda cargo bay. It sounds like even if they allow it, it won't be at launch, so that might make it less desirable for people hoping it will be OP at the beginning of the PU. Sadly only time will tell. The podcast summary also brings up the very good point that we don't know all the ship's specs either. There still could be differences in unlisted parts, although I think they'll keep to their philosophy that the Phoenix should come stock with premium/optimum parts.

I think I've always dreamed of being a scoundrel. And scoundrel's don't bother with luxury ships, haha!
As long as I can give the disclaimer that "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself." to any potential passengers, I think I'll be set, haha!

This is probably not the place for it, but has anyone thought about what Names they might want for their Ship/Character. Some people were hoping we could change the name each time it was lost. i.e. The Hunk 'o Junk Mk I -> The Hunk 'o Junk Mk IV (sort of like Tony Stark and his Iron Man armors).

Something like "The Unsinkable Mk. XIV" would be pretty funny!

 

[Desterion]

I like the luxury interior.... parts of it. The hot tub needs to go, as does the shower and the bar needs a lot of work. However they did mention something special for the Phoenix and 890 jump, and that was transporting VIPs. So you can shuttle around NPCs and that could very easily be translated into a different kind of cargo to make money on.

 

[DoubtingJoe]

Would it be that bad to strip out all the chairs and such and still have a fancy interior minus the furniture? I like the star-trek-esque look of the walls and vertical lights but unless the furniture serves a purpose: smuggling high profile diplomats (high profile people want comfort, right?) for large sums of money, mobile strip clubs or legitimate field mobile-command-center functionality it'll be a waste!

I hope there's a luxury version of the starfarer, or HULL C, but they shouldn't have to sacrifice capacity just to look nicer. Why can't you put a shitty, rusty hot tub in the andromeda? If a phoenix or starfarer can fit in the asteroid hangar now, it just means we're buying styles! It will be truly interesting to see how CIG deals with separating buy-for-style vs buy-for-specs, they seem to be jumping back and forth.

-edit- And make it so if you want to strip your phoenix interior, you lose it for 5 days or something. If you want to rebuild your Andromeda to be a battle-connie, you lose it for 10 days. I don't know, but there are so many good opportunities to create incentive for things in a pretend environment!

 

[AstroSam]

 

[AstroSam]

@topic: I own a Phoenix and an Aquila. The design is awesome. Yet I think Connies are not very good on their own and should always have one or two wingmen on their side or - best case - fly within a convoy.

 

[Grimm_Reaper]

Just got the Connie Phoenix this anniversary sale. Not for its weapon load out or armor cause I got better stuff for that but for potential touring use. I've decided to become the Richard Branson of Test Squad and Tweet useless phrases from famous people including myself. So far got the 890J, Genesis S, Phoenix.

The constellation is the ship where you want to be at in game anyways. Its a multi purpose all round ship that can take part in wars, explore and haul cargo. It has a very modular loadout due to its variants and low crew requirements which is easy to solo wit NPC's.

Everyone needs to have one of these or a Freelancer. I would say Caterpillar but its in the big leagues now with the size increase to a 100m.

 

[Plagueis]

I got the phoenix to fly in luxury.

 

[Bruttle]

Everyone needs to have one of these or a Freelancer.

I completely agree. I think these mid size ships are going to be increasingly popular as we get closer to live. I think the vast majority of players are here looking for that space opera feel and this game is certainly looking like it will offer that in abundance. That being said, there are other genres represented as well.

The farmers are here. With mining, gathering, crafting, and even actual farming, there will be a ton of spacefarm-ville players in here. Then you have the COD players that are here (god help us all) and I'm quite sure will be flooding the servers in about a week when 2.6 goes live. We already have the stick jockeys and the sim nuts here with arena commander and even the political players show up from time to time. You don't see them too often in game, but they're here. They're lurking in the forums, stirring up drama and creating hate and discontent...

When it comes to the PU though, you're right. It will be all about these mid sized ships like the connie, freelancer, and cutlass. It looks like the smaller ships just won't have the range to offer the freedom players will be looking for. So, they will be piling in the mid sized ships and flooding the universe with their space opera RP.

 

[MikeNificent]

I have a phoenix and a taurus. One is for work, the other is for play (ish). I know there will be modules for these, and my intent is to create as close a luxury version of the aquila as possible with the phoenix. Kind of an exploring in style type feel is what I'm going for. Better sensors might help with VIP transport missions as well. Not sure how it wI'll all work, but we will see.