Assembly Hall

I suggested something in reference to this idea before it was fully fleshed out in Features and Ideas to "test the waters" and get ideas/support for the idea before making the proposal here.

The original posting can be found here:
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=296673#post296673

It met much support, so I figured to post it here with the full listing of ideas that were proposed.

Now for the proposal itself:

Too long have people been complaining in reference to the inability to haul fitted/rigged vessels, to which the response was always "get an Orca." The inherent problem here, was that the Orca was severely limited in size of vessels which would be transported, as it was only designed to carry a couple of mining barges.

What I propose is a ship capable of hauling three fitted/rigged Tier 3 Battleships (but no capital ships). The vessels would be Tier 2 Freighters, broken down by race. And rather than a Ship Hangar Array, they would have a Ship Transport Bay (which would only allow for transport, but not launching or switching of ships in space). They would have no high slots, but would have a small amount of low and medium slots to allow them to fit a modest tank and ECM/Sensor Damps, etc, so that they would not be sitting ducks due to the cargo types they'd be hauling, and they'd be highly specialized for their job.

The Amarr would have the Pillar-class Support Tug:
Manufactured by Imperial Shipment
Support Tug Skill Bonus:
Would receive a 5% bonus to Armor Resistances per level and 10% bonus to Ship Transport Bay per level

The Caldari would have the Pelican-class Support Tug:
Manufactured by Lai Dai
Support Tug Skill Bonus:
Would receive a 5% bonus to Shield Capacity per level and 10% bonus to Ship Transport Bay per level

The Minmatar would have the Bedouin-class Support Tug:
Manufactured by Freedom Extension
Support Tug Skill Bonus:
Would receive a 5% bonus to Agility per level and a 10% bonus to Ship Transport Bay per level

The Gallente would have the Monolith-class Support Tug:
Manufactured by Transtellar Shipping
Support Tug Skill Bonus:
Would receive a 5% bonus to Armor Hitpoints and a 10% bonus to Ship Transport Bay per level

Freighter Skill Bonus:
+0.6 Warp Strength per level

Necessary Skills:
Racial Freighter II
- Advanced Spaceship Command I
-- Spaceship Command V
Racial Industrial V
- Spaceship Command III
-- Racial Frigate III
-- Spaceship Command I

These ships would allow for the transport of a maximum of three fitted/rigged Tier 3 Battleships or a plethora of smaller ships for long distance hauling (would be useful for those pilots who move frequently, neutral contractors who could haul ships for war stricken parties, and it would give a new level of immersion for dedicated industrialists or "space truckers.") These ships would fill a necessary logistical gap in overall operations for the ever-changing sandbox that is the EVE Online universe.

I only suggested it have mid and low slots due to the fact that it wouldn't just be utilized for mass movement in fleet operations. It would also be utilized for moving across long stretches of space, and if cut off from a fleet, it would at least be able to defend itself long enough for fleet support to arrive.

Two to three mid/low slots with no rig slots wouldn't be game-breaking for this type of ship.

And the purpose of it being Tier 2 is to round out the role a little more, and create more immersion.

With above listed slots, it wouldn't allow for a massive tank to be fit to it, or a large amount of EWAR to be fitted to it with the limitations to powergrid and CPU that would definitely be in place.

As for jump capable, I would go ahead and say no to that one. Unless a Tech 2 variant of said ship was eventually created.

I am a little confused as to why another transport ship of any kind is needed right now...but...whatever...more diversity can't hurt.

+1

The Orca is an industrial ship. It's designed to carry a pair of mining vessels and was never intended as a transport ship. Its prerequisites are absurd for someone who just needs to move some fitted ships.

I'd like to see a specialized freighter that could carry 1 million m3 of fitted ships. This would allow for a pair of battleships, or one battleship and a small fleet of support ships. It should not be able to eject ships, but could place them into ship maintenance arrays or unload them in stations.

and this is the way all ideas should be done (features to assembly hall)

+1

Sounds awesome.

Would be even more awesome if the ships in the bay had a chance to fall out as loot when the transport explodes.

That was part of my original concept for it and I don't see why it shouldn't carry on to the proposal here. Not just the chaos Domu. Imagine the tears.

This is a great idea as long as ^^ you cannot eject ships.

+1

Why make 4 different racial versions of basically the same ship?

Just make it an ORE ship.

+1

There are multiple reason you would not have a single ORE ship:

1. RP Reason: Of the non-empire factions the ORE is the least likely to be using one of these for hauling entire ships around - they already have a ship for that. This task would likely fall to the InterBus. InterBus maintains careful neutrality and would not be caught dead ferrying anything that could be considered militaristic (ie: warships). This is what makes Imperial Shipment, CBD Corporation, Transstellar Shipping, and Freedom Extension stay in business.


2. Practical RP reason: An ORE variant of the ship would have the highest amount of HP in shields. Amarr and Gallente would make their own versions that would be more suited for being supported by Oneires. Guardians, Thanates, or Archons.


3. Practical reason: Many pilots have already trained one racial Industrial to V for the use of blockade runners, deep space transports, or freighters. This ship is designed to be useful not only from the perspective of industrial pilots but also from the point of combat pilots that are changing base.