Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Alright, now, EVE players who have been around for some time will remember the way Tech 2 ships looked in comparison to their T1 counterparts of the same hull. Basically, T2 variants of ships looked identical, aside from aesthetic changes in the form of colour schemes. Aside from the colour, a T1 and T2 variant of a ship would look identical. However, lately, CCP have changed this for the better. The Kestrel is a perfect example. We've got the T1 standard Kestrel we all know and recognize, and can picture in our minds.

Then, we've got the Manticore, T2 variant. It has the same basic shape and form, mainly hull layout and outline but with a different colour scheme of course, and most importantly; differently-shaped body/outer shell panels. And that's what i love to see.
It really emphasizes the fact that this ship is in fact DIFFERENT, and is NOT your regular Kestrel. It's a Stealth Bomber.


You may be asking "what's he trying to say". Well, basically, with all of that in mind, apply it to the pirate ships. I can't help but feel really disappointed in certain pirate ships for the way they look. We're going back to the days of old, and simply slapping on another colour scheme for pirate ships. I don't think that's good enough. There should be a little more to visually distinguish those ships, and overall make them more special. Certain ships are out of the question, such as all Sansha ships, which easily look the most alien, and have a completely independant design. NO ships look like the Sansha ships. And there are others, such as the Machariel, Cynabal, etc.


The Guristas ships are a perfect example to which you may apply this design idea. We have the Worm, and the Rattlesnake. The Worm is basically a reskinned Merlin, while a Rattlesnake is a reskinned Scorpion. CCP should really take pirate ships such as these, that are basically reskins of T1 variant ships, and bring out a bit more personality and define them more through design.

Some certain parts of the ship body could be re-shaped into new forms to really distinguish these ships from their T1, non-pirate, Empire variants.



Again, that's fine if they look SOMEWHAT like their T1 variants, but again, go back to what i said about the Kestrel, and apply it to the pirate ships. Make these pirate ships more distinct. Reshape those body panels, give them more character. They are pirate ships, after all. Everything from the Worm, to the Vindicator. Every single ship that simply is a T1 reskin.

This really should happen. All pirate ships based off of a T1 variant look too similar. We've going back to the old, inferior days of EVE in terms of ship design; all applied to just the pirate ships. We need to make this a thing of the past as well.

Keep the overall shape and structure, but reshape those body panels a bit, distinguish these pirate variants of T1 Empire ships a bit more. Give it the Kestrel treatment, or any empire T2 variant ship that was changed physically in a similar manner. Doing away with the lazy repainting treatment. These ships must be even more specialized than they already are. The finishing touch is the physical look being given a good once-over.

Indeed ... i think CCP feel the same at least about T2 anyway the problem is the long gaps between each batch of changes its simply too slow they need to invest more into the art department to allow for quicker and more frequent changes.

Guristas .. should have a tougher more heavily plated look to them to represent the tankiness of them and more prominent drone bays too boot...

Serpentis .. are all about damage dealing so more aggressive hunkier meaner looking ships would be nice.

Blood Raider ... the Cruor and Ashimmu look good actually the Bhaalgorn needs to follow their looks.

TL;DR.

You typed that wall of text just to say that pirate ships need unique models?

I have referred to this ship exclusively as the "Cinnabon" both in and out of game for nearly two years.

the only pirate ship that has been remodeled this days was the daredevil, it looks really cool now. i agree with the OP that pirate ships should have unique hull designs, or be like the bombers, and have some parts that make players remember that some of these ships are heavily modified versions of certain empires hulls.

worm, gila and rattlesnake along with the vindicator and vigilant would enter in that type of remodelation, due to lore origins (their creators robbed the blueprints of these ships and experimented with them in order to make them what they are now). while the bhaalgorn needs a complete remodelation that reflects the bloodraider style (the description of the ship doesnt state if it was created from scratch or if it was the product of stealing an armageddon design so it has sense to make it a unique hull instead of a modified one)

cruor,ashimu,phantasm,nightmare,gila etc :D

I think the Bhaalgorn sort of does, maybe a slight update to freshen it up is all. The Armageddon and variants should get another model to be closer to other Amarr BS designs.