I was honestly not sure if I really needed an 890J...

[Talonsbane]

The second possibility for boarding without a crimestat would be against criminal targets: slavers, smugglers, pirates, etc. Much of this is bounty work. No one has said yet who gets the ship when you capture a bounty, or if you take it from a pirate or slaver. I intend to investigate this fully once the mechanics come into game. I love the idea of privateering, but not the idea of a crimestat, so bounty hunting gone wild where you get to keep the ship sounds good to me. Slavers. . .kill them and keep their ships I say! And I just know those Outsiders have a Polaris that belongs to me.

I feel that in the spirit of the classic days of piracy on the high seas, that if pirate players are allowed to capture, claim & use another player's ship until it is destroyed, that it should also be allowed that a bounty hunter that captures criminal with a bounty should be allowed to legally do the same with the ship of the criminal. In fact, I would like to see them have missions where bounty hunters would capture NPC criminals & then use their ships to infiltrate criminal organization compounds to further take down NPC crime syndicates. I hope that this makes sense to others.

 

[undertones]

Hopefully it doesn't have that oddly-placed floor glass of the 600. You can look right up at the bottom of the bartender just by watching tv downstairs

 

[Shadow Reaper]

. . .I would like to see them have missions where bounty hunters would capture NPC criminals & then use their ships to infiltrate criminal organization compounds to further take down NPC crime syndicates. I hope that this makes sense to others.

It makes sense, but the issue is not so much what makes good sense, but how to reward players for boarding actions without actually giving them ships. CIG's primary revenue comes from selling ships (even if they don't call it that) and they don't want to injure their cash cow. So I would expect some kind of compromise. I seriously doubt you'll be able to capture a ship and sell it through in-game means. Have to wait and see. Certainly, if you can capture a Vanduul Void Bomber or Kingship, you ought to be able to sell it to the UEE for in-game money only. I would expect SC to support at least that much. They have control over the issue since they can decide on a whim what to allow/provide insurance for and what not. There is going to be outlaw insurance for stolen ships, but it is going to be very expensive compared to normal insurance, according to CIG.

 

[Bambooza]

It makes sense, but the issue is not so much what makes good sense, but how to reward players for boarding actions without actually giving them ships. CIG's primary revenue comes from selling ships (even if they don't call it that) and they don't want to injure their cash cow. So I would expect some kind of compromise. I seriously doubt you'll be able to capture a ship and sell it through in-game means. Have to wait and see. Certainly, if you can capture a Vanduul Void Bomber or Kingship, you ought to be able to sell it to the UEE for in-game money only. I would expect SC to support at least that much. They have control over the issue since they can decide on a whim what to allow/provide insurance for and what not. There is going to be outlaw insurance for stolen ships, but it is going to be very expensive compared to normal insurance, according to CIG.

They already said that you can sell captured ships to black market fences, strip them of their modules and then scrap them or use them until they get destroyed (there was talk of it only being for the play session and once you log out it despawns but I believe it was later clarified as being a misunderstanding). Stolen ships would not be able to land at most stations and would be hunted as missions given by the insurance company to reclaim stolen property. The dynamic game play on this alone is exciting and I am sure most stolen ships would be stripped and sold off quickly so as to not risk losing out on the payday.

We also have to remember that once persistence is enabled we will no longer be able to just walk up to any ship kiosk and pull up any ship from our inventory. Also ship modules, and gear on the ship can be just as valuable or more valuable then then ship itself.
That you would also be able to get a black market item that would allow you to change the ship id and thus claim it permanently and even get it insured.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Also ship modules, and gear on the ship can be just as valuable or more valuable then then ship itself.

Yes, in fact this is why I am gravitating toward a stock fighter that costs me nothing when I get my ass shot off. Despite it is so under-hung, I am loving the Razor EX more and more. I'm just not sure how it can manage with only short range guns. There are VERY few vids of the EX in combat. Makes it hard to imagine what it's like to fly.

 

[Bambooza]

Yes, in fact this is why I am gravitating toward a stock fighter that costs me nothing when I get my ass shot off. Despite it is so under-hung, I am loving the Razor EX more and more. I'm just not sure how it can manage with only short range guns. There are VERY few vids of the EX in combat. Makes it hard to imagine what it's like to fly.

Its fast. Get in observe then jet out. I have this feeling that these small ships like the Razer, 325 possibly the Blade, Gladius, Hawk and Arrow will have a successful career as Torpedo interceptors.

I have to wonder how effective they will be against bombers larger then the Gladiator or Eclipse in disabling the bomber itself.

 

[Deroth]

Its fast. Get in observe then jet out. I have this feeling that these small ships like the Razer, 325 possibly the Blade, Gladius, Hawk and Arrow will have a successful career as Torpedo interceptors.

I have to wonder how effective they will be against bombers larger then the Gladiator or Eclipse in disabling the bomber itself.

Swarms.

 

[aivartron]

.. even its billard table is humongous, rumors say ..

 

[Bambooza]

Swarms.

Player pilots will always be the limiting resource so why put all of your pilots in small craft when you could do more when putting them in larger ships?

 

[Deroth]

Player pilots will always be the limiting resource so why put all of your pilots in small craft when you could do more when putting them in larger ships?

Simple, the cost, kind of like why the F/A-18 is still so popular.

 

[Bambooza]

Simple, the cost, kind of like why the F/A-18 is still so popular.

In the real world cost is always a factor and has been played out across many battlefields. But in the game world were everyone is richer then kings and governments costs become secondary to the number of players and time available.

Even in Test with a unfinished game we have more ships then pilots as the game goes live and players are able to earn and keep wealth the amount of ships acquired will only grow but the amount of players and time available will still be the same.

So the question is not what ships can we afford but what combination of ships with the available players would provided the best possible outcome. If putting a couple of them in Arrows to provide interceptor screening of torpedoes is better then that is the answer or if putting those same players in hammerheads with AI gunners with added bonus of providing defense against fighters and short range bombers then that's were they should be. Costs really are immaterial with in the game world.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

. . .in the game world were everyone is richer then kings and governments costs become secondary to the number of players and time available. . .

So the question is not what ships can we afford but what combination of ships with the available players would provided the best possible outcome.

I agree completely, though I would note that there are some exceptions. If you want to build a strike team exclusively with Vanguards, you can likely do that here at TEST. However, if you wanted to send a strike team of all Eclipse, you could have trouble. Most players won't own that bird, so you could have trouble mounting that kind of offensive.

OTOH, looks like there will be precious little to stop an Eclipse assualt, so maybe they'll become popular once you can buy them with game funds. I know I want one.