Discussion: Barge Removal

[Binski]

I think it should be combined with the idea that was also to replace the Zoner Nephilim, and just make it so that it can't be jumped, has maybe half the cargo, goes a little faster, and can use docking modules to serve as a mobile base or 'mother ship' or colony ship. Factions like the Junkers could definitely come up with some good RP barges roaming near the scrap fields, being filled by scrap miners and selling it. Open up freighters and transports to dock on them as well.

Just seems a shame to remove them entirely, I feel that its the already strict restrictions on getting them, makes using them for an RP purpose less frequent, than simply for practical use as mass storage/transportation. If at the very least they make it so it can't be jumped, there's nothing that wrong with barges. If anything it will likely do what the community seems to agree on, and make shipping with a barge a guaranteed group event, and require good inter-player organization. The potential is there for it. I also think official factions should still have access to barges, but again, be forced into conventional shipping with them. Factions with high enough activity will still have no problem putting them to use for both practical and RP reasons. Jump trading is fun but I can understand that some players see it as excessive to use barges and not really ever see them and not even have to fly them far, merely jump point to base, and back. I'd like to see some barge convoys on a regular basis. It might even inspire a larger scale group effort to pirate them!

EDIT:

The use of Barges for jump trading has hugely reduced the ability of pirating traders.

How do we know what we're missing out on though? From what I've seen jump trading is not as common as most people make it out to be (especially with barges) and not the scourge its also described as. However, jumping barges i can understand, but only because its a good opportunity to make a special ship like that get out and cross some systems, be seen and interact etc...To me, the problem is more about how easy it is for a player to supply their base, and how easy it is be to make large scale profits from trading with one. As far as killing piracy, barges simply aren't that common. I don't think they should get any easier to get, but just be forced into conventional shipping.

To me, if someone jumps a barge and makes a bunch of money from trading the 40k units of cargo for a profitable turn around, it doesn't 'take' from pirating opportunities, because its not likely that the player would ship that 40k at a mere 4-5k per shipment if that was their only option. They jump it in one shot because they can, and its more like a bonus for them. Players I know with barges do plenty of conventional trading as well. Having said that, jumping a group of ships with only 3200 unit cargo holds is different than jumping a ship (or ships) with 40K cargo holds.

So to reiterate, drop the barge's ability to jump, and see what happens. If the players that use them now no longer consider it worth it, barges will disappear without needing to be removed. The players that continue to use them, will be doing it the old fashioned way, which would hopefully open up barges to more community inclusion.

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[|nfrared]

You could just make barges unjumpable. Then they would be back to their slow mobile base/storage that they were intended for, instead of being used for jumptrading. Let them move a little faster, maybe 220 cruise.

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Shard - The Faceless One

[Cælumaresh]

You could just make barges unjumpable. Then they would be back to their slow mobile base/storage that they were intended for, instead of being used for jumptrading. Let them move a little faster, maybe 220 cruise.

I was just about to post the same thing so... +1

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Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum

[SnakThree]

DELETE

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[Cælumaresh]

The most i can think of have already been named before:

- Mobile Faction HQ
- Mobile Base
- Storage Ship
- A giant colony ship

But my best guess is, is that not many people would use it like the way its intended too. I am sure though, that at least a majority of the official factions will use it the way its intended to be used. That being said, removing the barge will only piss a portion of the community off. Most people never even see a barge, let alone get to interact with it. So letting the barge stay would have much less of an impact then removing it. For the record, i dont own a barge, its just my thoughts on it.

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This Galaxy is vast; its wonders and beauty are almost unfathomable. But the galaxy also hides dark secrets, some of which have lain dormant since the beginning of time itself. There is a danger in secrets, both in seeking and in knowing. Some things are meant to be hidden from view. Some mysteries defy understanding, and sometimes even the things we think we know are untrue. Some secrets should remain untouched.

Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum

[SMI-Great.Fox]

suggestions regarding any possible alternative usage for the Barge, which would allow repurposing the ship (after making required adjustments) to fill an existing gameplay gap.

Superbattletransport, perhaps? Battleship agility, battleship size, 6-7k of cargospace, gunboat weaponry.
So those, who spend dozens of billions on their barge won't whine much, when their toys will be taken.

Other than that - CTE350AE

Will all the talk on barge here to stay or to the dustbin of disco, I for one agree with those above stating a change for it, like Zayne states above.

Oh but what would we have to get this fixed?!

First would be the time to find a modeller...begging to get a model done.... having the model made... then getting it hitboxed... oh the humanity.

BUT.

Let us dig back into the bin of tears, screams, and utmost rage box for a moment to find that most of the work has already been done.

We go from this:




To......THIS:

*que shower of sparkles and glitter for everyone*

I say chap isn't that the Zoner Nephilim replacement that was supposedly shot down? Why you'd be correct.

Oh the differences and simplicity before us and look, it fits perfectly with RP ideas:

- Mobile Faction HQ
- Mobile Base
- Storage Ship (sorta)
- A giant colony ship
- Supercarrier

The model is done. Yep. Will it take time to fully hitbox? Shorter time than starting from scratch it will. Will it make EVERYONE happy?... I don't know.

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[larzac]

suggestions regarding any possible alternative usage for the Barge, which would allow repurposing the ship (after making required adjustments) to fill an existing gameplay gap.

Superbattletransport, perhaps? Battleship agility, battleship size, 6-7k of cargospace, gunboat weaponry.
So those, who spend dozens of billions on their barge won't whine much, when their toys will be taken.

Other than that - CTE350AE

Will all the talk on barge here to stay or to the dustbin of disco, I for one agree with those above stating a change for it, like Zayne states above.

Oh but what would we have to get this fixed?!

First would be the time to find a modeller...begging to get a model done.... having the model made... then getting it hitboxed... oh the humanity.

BUT.

Let us dig back into the bin of tears, screams, and utmost rage box for a moment to find that most of the work has already been done.

We go from this:




To......THIS:

*que shower of sparkles and glitter for everyone*

I say chap isn't that the Zoner Nephilim replacement that was supposedly shot down? Why you'd be correct.

Oh the differences and simplicity before us and look, it fits perfectly with RP ideas:

- Mobile Faction HQ
- Mobile Base
- Storage Ship (sorta)
- A giant colony ship
- Supercarrier

The model is done. Yep. Will it take time to fully hitbox? Shorter time than starting from scratch it will. Will it make EVERYONE happy?... I don't know.

Love this, even if i would like to keep barges as it is.

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[GamerGirl]

Before we made our playerbase as kruger in omega 7. We did use our barge to fill and supply our transports. With the playerbase this is much more secure, we have not a problem anymore with red hessians doing f1 in our fields and log in when we are playing and open fire when they see us on the radar. I have had more pleasure with the barges then with the playerbases and i hope we can continue doing this in the next versions of the discovery mode. So we have more options then less. We use with barges the docking module slots on it to let ships dock, protect and to mine for the barge a flying station. I know we did jump the ships some times to gallia too, but with the change of the laws of gallia this is made impossible. Is it really needed to take the ship itself too?

[Lythrilux]

Here's an idea: Make them fit their actual purpose of being "Mothership-esque" vessels and be able to carry more docking modules

Or give them a specialized DM slot that allows the docking of gunboats or maybe even small cruisers.

Think of it in terms of a Mothership/Flagship from Homeworld: Large, tank-ish vessels that everything else in the fleet revolves around and protects. It can't fight on its own, but it can certainly build plenty of smaller ships to do the fighting.

Basically: Make it a super-carrier, possibly with its own ways of producing things like docking mods or something

then balance it by ripping the shield off. Because why not.

I like this idea.

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[Sath]

Removing jumping ability from them is a good idea, but removing them altogether is, ermm, not so. My suggestion is to increase it's speed to somewhere around 200 or 250, and rescaling it to fit into the tradelanes and making it a near normal trade ship but highly vulnerable to pirate attacks.

Or else, it can be made to act as a moving space station, by increasing the amount of docking points on it. As I read in the Taureau's infocard, make it a war supply ship. Maybe the size of the ships dockable on it can be increased, making it accomodate one or two gunboats (not sure about it).

I am sure that many such kind of RP opportunities might evolve from the barge instead of the usual "hardly movable mobile station".

EDIT: Oh cool, most of the posts that I now read state the same thing. Slightly increase its cruise speed, and rescale it to a more usable version, maybe reduce it's hull and make it just like another trade ship except that it is SRP or already owned. A mobile carrier would be a cool idea and given that it's size is nearly double or triple to that of the normal carriers, it can maybe accomodate higher class vessels and a slew of other small fighters and bombers.