Player Features and Ideas Discussion

So with Pheobe I thought it would be a good idea to skill my main capital toon to fly a rorqual. This so I could have a clone vat bay for me and my close friends and some of our alts with clones in there. If things went badly I could have jumped out and still have our alts with us.

Here's the problem:
The Rorqual ship information states it can hold 6 clones and fit the clone vat bay. Rorqual

This number of clones is not sufficient for our usage, and the Clone Vat Bay I doesn't show any information about how many clones it can hold in terms of numbers or space (m3).

BUT, the skill required to use the Clone bay; Cloning Facility Operation, clearly states:

"Special: Increases a Clone Vat Bay's maximum clone capacity by 15 per skill level."

So this would mean that if you had this skill at level 3, you should be able to hold 6 (rorq base) + 15 + 15 + 15 = 51 clones. This number would be able to hold some of a decent sized corporations clones, but a small number of clones for any big corporation. This makes sense as a bigger corp should be able to spend more money and buy several rorqs or Titan(s).

But again, it clearly states "maximum clone capacity by 15 per skill", no percentage or space (m3) mentioned. Yet with the skill level at 3, my newly bought and fitted rorqual can only fit 8 total clones... 8 Clones is not sufficient even for my alts to be in there, and is a number, judging by the previously linked information found within the game, taken out of thin air. Which means most people in corp would have to own their own rorqual, and we wouldn't be able to move them due to the risk attached without proper support.

The reasoning behind this number might have been valid in a time long ago when the rorqual was designed, when there was less blocs, and smaller scale groups and engagements. This is not feasible anymore.

The max number of clones using the numbers with 15 clones added per skill might be too many still with the skill at level 5. Altough this sorely needs a fix and the Rorqual might need a rebalance or total overhaul all together.



Here's an idea.

As a short term fix. let the first skill level be to use module and increas the Rorqual base number to 10 or 15. If the skill bonus gets changed to +5 clones; the four consequtive skill levels should give X number of clones to the max between 25-50 clones 10+5+5+5+5 = 35 for example. The number should increase from current but not to an unbalanced degree which is something you'd have to look into. But this change would be a quick fix and would be able to deploy to game sooner than an entire revamp of the Rorqual as a whole.

As a long term goal you could look at the rorquals role as a whole.

I hope to see this change soon!

- Vorud

I did put this exact text in a ticket, and they responded saying they had forwarded it to the right people and that:

"We would also encourage that you consider posting your thoughts on the EVE Online forums"

So that's what I did. I've already figured out that for the current context there's missing the symbol "%".

Even so the point of this post is to get a discussion on the "8.7" clones, and if it isenough. When it comes to small to medium sized corporations scrapping together to get something at acceptable cost so they can move around a little bit and build up somewhere else, go help someone or go somewhere to shoot things. They might not be able to afford a Titan, and this is the only option. So a fleet of 1-2 JF couple carriers and a rorq could be an option. Or the idea might spand to other uses, who knows.

So read it, and write down your thoughts, be it the same, completely opposit or something different.

I think the rorq needs a revamp, and I believe that the skill and total possible JC on the rorq should be upped a little.