I've spent the last few hours browsing through all the ship categories and I can't seem to pin point the reasoning for some of the ship classes so i would like clarification on what makes a ship fit into a specific class.
To give you some examples of this:
Frigates Class - Half of them are labelled Cruisers in their name, in fact there's more cruisers than Frigates.
Gunboats - 3 of the ships in gunboats don't make any sense, the Saboath, Alpha Starwing and the Starsaber MKII
We've seen the Lucrehulk moved from Super Cruiser to Cruiser despite originally being a Super Cruiser.
People I've spoken to on IRC have stated different opinions, length, laodout and so on but even comparing those it doesn't make sense. The Alpha XG-1 Starwing is 6m long making it the smallest Gunboat.
The Starsaber XC-01 Starfighter MK2 is a gunboat but the MK1 isn't? Jevon mentioned it was to do with the missile launchers but then that doesn't make sense with the Hertrinar Bomber (Fighter Class) has 3 missile launchers and yet is a fighter. And since the MK2, XG-1 and Saboath can all squad up to 12 in a squad it makes them the most numerable gunboats and yet the JM5k has considerably less firepower (Which if we argue it on the loadout) should be a fighter and not a gunboat.
So I'm trying to find out the reasoning behind what determined a ship to be in a category when some of these don't make sense at all.
Edited By: Gideon Kaine on Year 14 Day 57 18:07 ____________
Length has nothing to do with it. This was all Jesfa's doing so he can perhaps provide a more definitive answer, but I know that he was considering firepower and function primarily.
Some have been changed since the initial release, and there will likely be further tweaks to this as well since the reason for these changes pertains to the upcoming R&D system. This is a preliminary change, and the classifications don't really mean anything yet.
Yeah that is definitely a matter of function and weaponry -- the Tabder is intended for hauling so it falls into the freighter classification under this system.
I think what Lilith means is like me she has been screwed by the reclassification of the Tabder. I put in a lot of skillpoints in capital ship piloting (levl 4) just to fly the Tabder for my faction, CEC.
Will the admins be offering us a chance to to reset those skill points ?
Most likely not. The game is in beta and so you must be prepared to be screwed on some things. We cant just give people mulligans every time something is changed.
Somehow I don't believe enough people put points into one skill specifically for that one single ship that this would be justified. For significant overhauls of numerous skill functions and all of the races (as occurred recently), it is another matter.
..And then what happens if that ship receives a different classification later? Again, this is only a preliminary change in preparation for R&D and will likely be subject to further review as R&D continues to be developed.
I actually did always take high Capital Ship piloting skills for that reason, well not for Tabder alone, but ships like it because heavy duty industry needs heavy duty ships that can carry lot more than mere smaller haulers. So yeah, it does bug me for that reason, I don't put skills into smaller ships piloting because I dont need to, and if I do it I'll be piloting all those other ships slower. But meh, there are other things that annoy me a lot more.
Well we are digressing from the main purpose of this topic, I'm still waiting on Jesfa to give a proper answer because all I see is "It's this reason but Jesfa decided so he'll tell you!" since so far most reasons don't seem to stand properly when compared to ships of similar/perhaps better stats in their proper classes.
I am pretty sure its role, look at capitals they are all military terms Corvette: Escort Role Ship, Frigate: Heavy Destroyer, Capital: Large Warship ie Battle ship or aircraft carrier (yes I know they were taken from the dictionary but still hold value I believe). Thus the Tabder would not be a Capital.
Would be interesting if the piloting skills would determine which ship they affect by size, instead of class. Thats how classes were determined before anyway, wasn't it?
“Yeah that is definitely a matter of function and weaponry -- the Tabder is intended for hauling so it falls into the freighter classification under this system.
- Syn ”
So what separates the Tabder from the C-3 other than one is used primarily to freight Items/ships/vehicles while the other is used to freight RM's? Neither ship has weapons, both are commonly used for transporting things.
Same question I had, Brand..
I'm assuming that it has something to do with having a docking bay, perhaps the ability to carry a group of fighters aboard.
Interesting discussion though..
While looking through the ship archives, I couldn't find the "Infiltrator" or some name like that.
Remember the one that was storied to be used by the sith lords and having cloaking capabilities.. I beleive it was a fighter, has it been removed??