I've searched for similar threads but didn't find any. We have all been experimenting with Discovery 4.87 for the last year or so, enjoying the changes.
One of those changes I would like to address today is the Liberty Carrier model.
In the 4.87 beta, a new model by Massdriver has been implemented, replacing the old one. If you ask me, with all due respect for Massdriver's work - it's a great looking ship but unsuited for Liberty, thus this change was not really needed (it was the second ship who actually looked like a snubcraft carrier, with external docking bays - the other being the Colonial battleship).
Right now this looks like an oversized salami sausage, like pretty much all of the other houses' carriers (Bretonia and Rheinland), which ain't helping in realism much, due to the fact that it lacks apparent docking space for the snubcrafts.
There's also the matter of ship stats. The old model was better balanced than the current one for two reasons: it's old firepower was enough for it's size (it could siege bases with 3 cerberus turrets firing in one direction at once), and had enough hull resistance to put up a decent fight against it's main enemy (in terms of ship class): the Rheinland Battleship.
What do you guys think, after one year of testing? Should this model be kept, or should we revert to the 4.86 carrier? I for one, like the old one better.
Regards,
titanbot
tl;dr: Do you like the current Liberty Carrier, or you'd like it be reverted back to it's 4.86 form?
I believe that there was a reason for vanillia creators that Carrier was omnitted - or Carrier is in fact, mixed up with Battleship. I wonder how many ships could vanilia Battleship (in pure theory) base. 20? 30? That's not bad count for Carrier IMO.
I quite prefer the new carrier honestly. The old one was a brick, easy target for any projectile slung at it, the new one allows for at least a bit of dodging and movement.
Design wise, I liked the old carrier. It was the ship that I always preferred while playing 4.85. But it was very slow, can't move properly. But nothing like the new carrier is agile or very useful. It is also an easy target for anything. If the carrier is made agile, I would prefer the old one. Looks a lot better than the new one.
That ship is a carrier, not a battleship. It is not meant for direct combat against enemy battleships.
I think that is a problem here.
Theoretically, 1 carrier + 3 bombers would win against a battleship, if the carrier keeps away and fires missiles, even if the battleship has 3 bombers with herself, due to the carrier's superior secondary turret count and either thinner shape or more armour, and the inability for the battleship to use missiles effectively, as they would fly straight into the carrier's CM. And, if it gets tight, the carrier could always recall those 3 bombers to her bays and jump or cloak.
Practically, assembling that kind of an organized and equipped carrier team is quite difficult, due to low number of players, different time zones, the amount of money needed, blokes having their real lives -- and it doesn't even give a guaranteed victory. It's much easier to just bring two battleships.
I think that carriers, as they are now, are relatively impractical in Disco. I think that we need heavy battleships instead. Or light, in case a heavy one is already present, like in Rheinland.
PS: About the model, I really like the new one, but I really liked the old one too. I'm indifferent.
I'm totally indifferent because one model or the previous one doesn't change the fact that its a useless ship in combat. All carriers are useless. Since what @Thunderer said isn't possible because of low number of players, Giving them guard NPC spawns might just be the way to make them worth while again.