Quick! Can you name how many player producible ships were added to the game between the Revelations I expansion in Nov 2006 which added the "Tier 2" battlecruisers (Drake, Hurricane, Harbinger, Myrmidon) and the "Tier 3" battleships (Rokh, Hyperion, Abaddon, Maelstrom) and the Incarna expansion in June 2011?
Amarr Magnate - Empyrean Age, June 2008
Orca - Quantum Rise, Nov 2008
EDIT: I was reminded that the four Tech III Strategic Cruisers were added in Apocrypha, March 2009
Noctis - Incursion, Nov 2010
Did I miss any? There have been other ships in that timeframe like the Primus, Zephyr, Apotheosis, but they are all gift ships from CCP that have limited numbers and typically limited utility. And how many have been added since then?
Tornado, Oracle, Talos, Naga - Crucible, Nov 2011
Venture, Dragoon, Algos, Talwar, Corax- Retribution, Dec 2012
Navy Drake, Navy Hurricane, Navy Harbinger, Navy Myrmidon - Odyssey, June 2013
Upcoming:
Astero, Stratios - Rubicon, Nov 2013
One of the big lessons CCP took from the Incarna disaster is that players love, LOVE, new usable ships. I didn't include the Gnosis in the above list as it was a limited gift instead of new ship but it was very functional and still sees a lot of use in space. Thus it is no surprise that for the past three years we have seen more and more new ships added to the game, and I expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future.
But what roles can future new ships fill? Here are some ideas that I think are reasonably likely to be seen in the coming expansions:
Tech I Disruption Battleships - Caldari have the Scorpion, so expect the other factions to get similar disposition ships while the Caldari get a second Combat battleship to compliment the Rokh.
Tech II Frigate Command Ships - Call them Field Command Ships or Squad Command Ships, they are Assault Ships that also fit a single Warfare Link for those fast moving Assault Ship fleets coming in Rubicon I talked about yesterday. (Could also be a Destroyer hull.)
Tech II Frigate Logistics - The Tech I logistics see use but might be just a little too fragile or short ranged, this class will give a bit more pow while still not overshadowing cruiser logistics (either Tech I or Tech II).
Sisters of EVE Battleship - Its only a matter of time.
Navy Rokh, Navy Hyperion, Navy Maelstrom, Navy Abaddon - Hey, there was no real need for the navy battlecruisers either.
Any others?
Posts
Proper Fleet Command Ships - BS hulls (Say the T3 ones) with fleet bonuses and tank. I see no reason why an commander leading battleships would be in a battlecruiser (If anything that should be reversed)
ReplyDeleteFleet Command ship should be a capital ship - a t2 dread.
ReplyDeleteThere's already capital command ships - they're called titans.
DeleteFrigate & cruiser counter-EWAR ships.
ReplyDeleteWhile this would be a tricky niche to fill I think it would be worth while. Unfortunately I think people would only see the ways to exploit this, rather than the benefits of it.
Escort Carriers. Small Carriers that can jump through gates and deploy 5 Fighters or 10 Drones (With Skills of course). Sort of an "introductory" carrier. Give them 1/2 the hauling capability of a standard Carrier. The most important thing is that, like the Orca...they can go through gates.
ReplyDeleteWould make for some great Convoy-ships to haul stuff from Jita to 0.0 or for newer players to get their feet wet. Would also allow for more people to haul their own stuff for a deployment.
You forgot t3's that were added in apocrypha.
ReplyDeleteAdded. Still, I think my point is valid, the rate of ships being added has increased a lot.
DeleteCorax, not Cormorant
ReplyDeleteFixed.
DeleteTech 3 Frigates. I've been demanding them for years and I ain't gonna stop now.
ReplyDelete"Hey, there was no real need for the navy battlecruisers either." Frigates, cruisers and battleships had its navy versions. There was sort of a gap in battlecruiser class and now the gap is fixed.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I wait for pirate battlecruisers. My guess is that their appearance is only matter of time. There is again a gap between pirate cruisers and pirate battleships that begs to be filled. And those ships are already in game (pirate NPC's), all CCP has to do is adding them to LP shops.
Also i'd like to see a highsec carrier. That "baby carrier" mentioned above would do just fine.
I feel like we already have a lot of good options at the low end. I want to see the high end get some love. More capital ships, more high-end BS hulls.
ReplyDelete