Player Features and Ideas Discussion

This would leave it in the position that it has to be a nerf one way or the other, you just get a choice of what your nerf is. Freighters are crap enough without being nerfed. If they removed the cargo element, and that's the bit that should really be static, they could easily balance the modules against the defense and speed, allowing pilots proactively looking to survive to do so and AFK pilots to be at increased risk.

As it currently sits, the only way to not get ganked in a freighter is if the gankers don't want to gank you. It's not like there is any step you can take beyond making yourself less appealing to survive. So from a gameplay perspective, they are terribly designed.

Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies.

This argument is probably the most popular among the "don't change freighters" brigade, yet it's by far the dumbest. It's based on the assumption that if they were to add slots, there's no way they could balance freighters to be the same as they are now, which is utterly ridiculous.

It's perfectly feasible for them to add a freight bay to avoid cargo expanders becoming an issue, then reducing EHP so that a decent omni fit brings you up to the same level as now.

I'd say that allowing choice should be the number one priority for a sandbox game, and currently freighters have none. You get in a freighter and you are at the mercy of the people who target you. Pretty much the only thing that will save your once they've chosen to target you is incompetence on their part. There should be a way for an active pilot to proactively take action to make themselves more difficult to gank.

This.

In Eve, anything that can be fixed by flying with just one other player was never broken in the first place.

yes.

Being a person who has hauled, and been ganked for it (not since the insurance changes however), i did think about how freighters could be changed to make it a less likley affair.

Truth is, they have a lot of EHP, and as a big ole tub of hauler, they dont need mod slots (they would just be filled with cargo expanders, and easier than ever to gank). So, where does that leave us as for a solution?

1. make them like tech 3's, with 2 subsystems per piece--but 3 pieces instead of 5 (it doesnt need offense, or engineering). They would have
a) cargo
...... first sub: cargo, 85% of current.
...... second sub, ship maint bay, whihc is 3/4 of current cargo, and about 35k of normal cargo.
b)propusion subs
...... first, current speed and agility, 3% to cargo cap.
...... agaility (5% per level)
c) defensive subsystems
...... first, current--BUT, add a ship-specific 50% damage control (like the special edition ship that has the sansha's scanner thing).
...... Second, one that adds 2 rig slots, and say, 200 for fitting them. Could be any rigs. and 4% resists to shields or armor per lvl. you get 30% less base HP.

...... would allow an astounding array of usefulness to freighters, imho. perosnally, i would agility fit the thing to no end.
..... if CCP made the switch, everone would get all the first subs with their current ownership of the ship.

OR!

CCP makes it so when you assemble the ship, a damage control (that you cant remove) is set into the lows, made JUST for that ship--not as powerful as a t2, maybe equal to a t1--but if you want to use it, you HAVE to activate it. This means, if you AFK, you get ganked like normal... and if you dont, you have a better (not perfect) chance of surviving.

i actually just want the second option, and the other was just a dream.

... or you just dont haul more than you should--calculate the cost of them ganking you, and dont go into 'profitable' territory with what you haul (they figure 50% drop rate, remember).

Tears and giggles are free....and even they make ganking a freighter worth it.

So where are these many pyerite freighterload ganks.
(One of the many) First rule of the market, if you think something's wildly profitable and nobody's doing it, you're probably missing something. Free money doesn't lie on the table long.

If a freighter can be taken with ISBoxer, as evidenced by the kills posted, that should invalidate the earlier posts telling the haulers "get friends, get help!"

As I've posted before, reduce the freighter's cargo bay to the point where a T2 cargohold expander will provide them what is now their current capacity, and give each ship one low slot, 35 CPU, and 1 powergrid.

Let the pilot decide what he wants to fit.

And, before all of you 'leet PVPers' start whining and crying about 'don't give haulers a DC II!', just think - you know damned well that tougher haulers will mean bigger loot drops.

Give hauler pilots the same choice every other pilot gets - what do they need the most? Tank, speed, agility, or cargo capacity?

I missed that part of the forum rules. Thanks for pointing that out, though they were not intended to inflame tempers but just to show what I was talking about. You're absolutely right though and I'll look out and not do that again! ;)

I'm not suggesting we make freighter ganking not worth it, it is just too easy (IMHO), I don't think it needs to go away because it is a legitimate practice in the grand scheme of things. It has just been put out of balance if you ask me and a little evening of the odds is in order, that's my stance with this one.

I think highsec ganking needs to be reasonable costly and difficult, not as easy as it has become.

When I was building Battleships to prepare for tiericide, had I sent my pyerite alone, I would have sent about a freighterload of pure pyerite every day.
As it was, I mixed higher value minerals into my couriers for knapsacking reasons, but that would just make the freighters more interesting to gankers, so that doesn't help your argument.

People do have tens of millions of pyerite needing to be shipped.

But, to allow for your use of rhetorical devices, where are all the ganks of the Freighters filled with just low end minerals? Or are you going to claim that nobody ships low end minerals around?

EDIT:
I did your job for you and took a gander at the first half page or so of Zkill's freighter kills, and the only 2 ganks valued under about 5-6b ISK had double wrapped packages.

What they need to do is slash the base cargo capacity for all freighters, add rig slots, low and medium slots and grid and CPU such that you can't exceed the 1,000,000 m3 cargo capacity (to prevent capitals from being hauled into high-sec). Jump freighters get one less rig slot. This was you could buff the sheds, hull, armor, velocity, align time, warp speed, etc.

Where's the Millennium Falcon when you need it?