So since I'm not really much of a warship-person, but still like piloting big ships, liners have become my ship of choice, and the Prison Liner is my all-time favorite. Mostly because currently, even Freelancers can fly it.
But I've noticed that the PL only has a sloppy description for itself. It doesn't even have its own technical-designation, for pete's sake!
So! I sought to remedy this injustice, and I've come up with this draft. I felt that this description would not only entice more people to fly it, but it'll also deepen the RP-background of Sirius history.
EDIT: I make changes to the infocard to help people read the results after you give your feedbacks. Edit currently based on post #8.
Quote:
L-584-B "Endeavor" Liner
Since making new L-584's requires large amounts of capital, while scrapping them represents the loss of that capital, to extend the liners' proverbial shelf-life, engineers found that by dismantling "unnecessary" systems, facilities, maybe a couple of turrets, they created a ship that could be refurbished for almost any job, while being surprisingly-easier to maintain. It was thus that the L-584-B "Endeavor" was born.
Veterans with much fight left in them, these ships are capable of performing a variety of roles ranging from low-cost passenger liners, to glorified cargo haulers, and even as science vessels for the science team on a tight budget. Surprisingly, their most popular use is as prison ships by local forces, so popular in fact that both pirates and police devised their own term for the ship-line itself: the "Charons", in reference to the mythological ferryman who ferried the newly-deceased through to the Underworld. Whatever the mission, be it goods, people or POW's, the Endeavor is living proof that "less is more."
frankly, the description of the Prison Liner as being called... well... a Prison Liner is just as lolzy as calling the Pilgrim Liner a Slave Liner: a biased, singular view that restricts potential face-value roleplay opportunities.
There are people that can heavily-attest to the Pilgrim once having an (in)famous nature of being thought as "ololslaverpewpewpew" without even knowing it's original intended purpose, let alone WHY it was dubbed a Slave Liner in the first place.
How much more for a liner that screams PRISON Liner in its name? It hurts when you decide to roleplay the PL as anything BUT a Prisoner-mover, only to be given weird looks from passers-by, even going so far as to being reported for "bad-RP'ing".
Yuck.
Also, I felt the model-name also helps justify why the PL and the LuxLiner look very similar (L-118 would mean that the L-584 was based off of the former).
But I CAN adjust the infocard a bit to emphasize that the L-118 was most popular as a Prisoner-mover, if that helps. EDIT: Changing the original infocard to help emphasize more on the prisoner-hauling.
It honestly should just be renamed "Liner" for how its used today anyways. Plus it makes all of those blatantly obviously not luxurious folk have an option other than stealing a Lux Liner.
Prison Liners are, both in terms of model and in-game, refurbished luxuary liners (enterprise class). The ship infocard should reflect that - it is still an Enterprise class liner, just a little rough around the edges from old age. I'm not opposed to renaming them - we did the same thing with the Slave Liner (now Pilgrim Liner, which opens up other avenue's of RP for those).
Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.
Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.
(11-24-2012, 09:54 PM)AeternusDoleo Wrote: Prison Liners are, both in terms of model and in-game, refurbished luxury liners (enterprise class). The ship infocard should reflect that - it is still an Enterprise class liner, just a little rough around the edges from old age...
Oh, so it's the opposite? Huh... Didn't expect that. :3
Alright, I'll try to alter the draft-infocard to reflect that history.
But I have to ask, in that case, does the model-name extremely-mean something like L-584-d, as in it's still an Enterprise, but it's one of the "forms" it could be refurbished into?
I agree here, I believe that the term "Prison Liner" is very one-sided and is detrimental to it's roleplay value.
Prison Liners are basically Luxury Liners stripped off it's facilities and some of it's cool looks. It can operate, not only as a prison liner, but also a cheap form of civilian transport (passenger ship) or even have all its roomed stripped and hollowed to produce a makeshift cargo ship.
I say we change the name to reflect that as well.
I don't mind the proposed nickname: "Charon" Liner.
The infocard will probably go like this:
With the price-tag on producing luxury liners often being exorbitantly high, scrapping old liners tend to incur heavy losses. Thus, companies have since found a way to extend a liner's working life. By stripping off all its luxury services and some of its ornaments, a ship that still has the defensive capabilities of a luxury liner and is easier to maintain is born.
Capable of ferrying people and cargo as well, depending on how the insides are refurbished, and heavily armed. Many house polices have employed them as prison ships although finding them in the hands of individuals or corporations, used as cargo vessels and research ships are not uncommon either. Due to it's main use being to carry personnel quickly and safely through the void of space, pirates have thus coined them as "Charons", in reference to the mythological ferryman who carried deceased souls through the River Styx.
Your go at the infocard looks technically good and is reasonably short, but it's not as eye-catching as I want it to be (shouldn't it be, cause it's an advertisement?).
I'll try and base the draft infocard off of your proposal, but then add a little more flair to it, mmm?
Pretty much "Prison" Liners are typically either Run down Retrofitted Luxury Liner or Older models that have since been 'put out of service'. These liners could be anything from a recently decommissioned aging Liner, to an even older hull that's been refurbished.
Timeline goes something like this
Luxury Liner (likely created for OS&C) -> Many Years of Service -> End of Career/Replaced with newer model (Mothballed, scrapped, or sold) -> "Prison" Liner