Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Overall I would say this would be a pretty radical rework of the T3 mechanics. I guess in the end I would say all the CCP work probably isn't necessary. Yes - the strength of the ship class is versatility, but by the name it's intended for strategic (longer term) fitting adjustments. (tactical 'on the fly' are the strength of the tactical destroyer).

This on the fly fitting just doesn't seem worth it. Here are my thoughts on why that is:
1. T3 cruisers weren't designed to be long haul deep space refittable scanning then combat then sneaking around platforms. That's not their designed role. I see where it might be beneficial and even fun to take a week long run through null doing all sorts of different roles, but historically few folks ever actually do that sort of thing. Is all the below effort worth it for a handful of guys to do this sort of thing - I'll say no and cite the needs of the many.
2. 'I could complete that escalation that is 8 jumps into hostile territory if I could re-do my subsystems on the fly' True, but I kind of feel that the point of those 8 jumps is to get folks moving around and to create player interaction opportunities. Add some risk to the reward and so on. Being able to go travel cloaky/interdicted, then find an empty system to refit, run the site and reconfigure for the trip home kind of goes against the design feature (the 8 jumps) of the escalation.
3. To get players to use it you would have to re-work how rigs work. That's a lot of effort.
4. Changing how subsystems from their current form to scripts is also a lot of work - not worth the effort in my view (see below)
5. T3 cruisers aren't cheap, but they aren't that expensive either. If you really need 3 different proteus fits you currently put in a small amount of time and effort and purchase 3 hulls, sub them out to your specs, rig them correctly and have at it. I don't see that as a bad scenario. Working for what you want gets you playing the game. Earning things is good for the soul. (I really don't want to hear about how a new bro can't afford 3 proteus. I don't care. A T3 cruiser is a very powerful ship that has very low skill requirements. I recommend them to newbros all the time due to the skill req vs. usefulness factor. If a newbro with low skills can only afford one of these very powerful ships - I think he should count his blessing, put the hull to work and earn more.)

Overall - this would be a lot of programming to totally rework this class of ships (and rigs). The added utility would probably see little use. Most older players can easily afford and tend to purchase multiple hulls and for convenience of not constantly refitting will continue to do so. Players that can't afford multiple hulls just need to put their lone T3 cruiser to work so they can quickly have the iskies to buy more.


added note: rigs are supposed to be expensive non removable enhancements to ships, so this idea kind of steps on the design basis for rigs also

Wander Prian, I think we both repeat ourselves now and bring no new arguments to the table.

Alderson Point and Serendipity Lost - thank you for giving productive and thoughtful criticism, and for not being personally hostile. I do not take this for granted :-)

Alderson, I agree with what you say about the current depot mechanism being a challenge to the player. However, I think that gameplay-wise this challenge is not very interesting, nor it is fun - looking for an empty system is mostly a matter of spending time, not spending thought or making quick decisions, and when refitting is the point of the ship you are flying it becomes a turn-off - not because of the risk, but because of the time consumption.

Serendipity, I would like to refer to several parts of your serious answer:

According to the latest CCP talk about rebalancing T3C in fanfest, this is indeed one of their designed roles. They actually describe it as an example. I think that they were not used like that historically due to their unintended limitations: rigs and cargo space.

This is correct, and I have not thought about hs->ls(->ns) escalations when making my suggestion. However, I think that after the much-needed rebalance, T3Cs will not be able to take on the tougher escalations anyway, and this partly solves the problem.

Absolutely, but luckily CCP announced that they are doing just that :-) In their talk they said that T3Cs will be able to unfit rigs and re-use them.

Currently it is. I think that changing it with regards to T3Cs is beneficial.

I think they do.

It does not, but I work with what I have. So far you have only said that "things are like that now, and this means they should stay like that in the future". When you will post a valid argument, like the ones made by others in this thread, you will be entitled to a serious reply.

Thanks! Now that's an argument. My reason is this: in all other ships, space re-fitting should be an extreme strategic choice: possible, but with great efforts. But for T3Cs, space re-fitting should be the way of living. For them it must be as least cumbersome as possible.

Yes, I am. Pesonally I don't think that my suggestion is a very big force multiplier, but this is for CCP to decide. I want to use my 3TC everywhere and in as many roles as possible, and for that I am more than willing to make sacrifices regarding its efectiveness compared to dedicated ships.

No, since these very abilities are among the abilities that should define a T3C. I thought more of limiting their DPS, their tankiness and the like.

I think what I say is quite logical: the versatility of T3Cs should be enhanced, and other abilities should pay the price for this enhancement.

Yes, if this is necessary. Personally I think it is not, because with proper limitations on refitting in space (such as timers and combat timers) the power of a T3C should not be significantly boosted by the fact that it does not need a depot. But the devs know better.