Useless Frigates

[Cheeseinator]

Why the heck are the frigates so dang useless? First of all, the corellian corvette isn't a frigate and I think that victory class II thing is made up The Acclamator is supposded to be a capital ship, and the banking clan frigate is missing it's huge kick-@$$ gun that is supposed to be deadly to large ships.

 

Now for the useless part:

 

How come they only have 4-5 turrets on them? How come they have no sheilds? and how come on space mygeeto the 3rd frigates have NO GUNS at all?

 

And it seems like the GCW space battles got kinda ripped off. the frigates are small and they don't get a fun one like space mygeeto that has 3 frigates per side.

[PoiuyWired]

well, the fragats are for you to "frag"

 

Basically something for you to shoot at and get points...

 

Yes its quite lame I know, they should at least put some shields of those guys.

[MachineCult]

Yeah but how lame would it be with no frigates at all?

[Commander Obi-Wan]

You know something that would add a little excitment? Being able to use the frigates.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Yeah, they're kinda useless but I think they fufill their desired purpose of basicly just floating around and attempting to cheap kill people, and as an objective to destroy. Even if it's not the most useful thing in the world.

 

In fact I find those cannons to be uncannily accurate, I almost always get killed by a bloody auto turret at least once per game...*hides face in shame*

 

Now being able to use frigates is a good idea (although somehow familier) twould be cool I say.

[toue]

extreemly unuseful even if their turrets are pretty accurate (note try boosting away as soon as possible once they start shootin ya

[Darth Andrew]

Now being able to use frigates is a good idea (although somehow familier)

Then we might as well get into the 'Should capital ships be controllable?' debate, but that's been beaten to death already.

[jawathehutt]

i think i came up with the control the frigate idea

[Commander Obi-Wan]

Then we might as well get into the 'Should capital ships be controllable?' debate, but that's been beaten to death already.

 

Nah.....frigates aren't as big and would make more sense to control. Plus I personally think controlling the Capital ship be stupid unless the maps were more expansive and more capital ships.

[Coraan Talme]

I think a real-time strategy like control system for frigates/capital ships would actually make the most sense. Not necessarily by giving orders to other ships (though this would be extremely good!), but more in the manner of selecting turrets and then clicking on targets that they would fire at / distributing power to shields/repair/weapons or such things. I believe this would be sensible because frigates/capital ships are far too slow to occupy a possible pilot sufficiently and it would be better to give him more things to do than just playing turret-gunner. Navigating the ship could also be handled in rts-manner - or in the usual way. Sadly, it's pretty unlikely that such a complicated measure will be introduced - but I would find it quite exciting. Not sure if that could possibly work - it would definitely be better if the pilot were given additional command responsiblities, e.g. as a team captain- but it WOULD be different in any case. And this game can surely use more options and diversity ...

[PoiuyWired]

Well, thing is, controling the frag-its makes them less of just a frag-it, but something useful.

 

Also its better than making the big Mothership controlable, cause if anything you only lose a little frag to the n00bz and not the entire good ship having the exit blocked by a freaking space rock deliberately, or by bad piloting.

 

Also I would like the fragits getting more firepower. Even if its just "shot the nearest ship" it would be great if its pilotable, better if there is a small cannon on it.

 

Asking for controlable guns/turrets would be bad cause then all firepower would be directed towards enemy mothership, making it more of a ship fight than a dog fight.

[Redtech]

Remember, this is Battlefront, not Battlefield, keep n00b unfriendly ideas by the door, please.

 

We need aimable turrents for the max in friendly fire casualties and matches to last 30 seconds as everyone just does an Episode 3 and blows the other ship to pieces.

[Arc9]

Maybe someone could make a mod that adds more AI and more frigates,capital ships,and fighters...

[PoiuyWired]

Then its shipfight not dog fight... Its more fun to fly an Xwing than a frag-it

[Darth Andrew]

Nah.....frigates aren't as big and would make more sense to control. Plus I personally think controlling the Capital ship be stupid unless the maps were more expansive and more capital ships.

How does it make more sense to control a capital ship than a frigate? I'm sure any commander wouldn't want his primary ship annihilated by fighters simply because he can't move. Also, if frigates only were able to be controlled, most of the fighting would center in the middle of the space battle, while the capital ships just sit and wait unless their forces in the main skirmish are destroyed.

Then its shipfight not dog fight... Its more fun to fly an Xwing than a frag-it

This is a space battle, not a dogfight. A space battle includes dogfighting, along with ship-to-ship combat and boarding actions. If there was an exclusive dogfighting-only mode, then it would make sense to not have controllable capital ships or none at all. But a space battle is a variety of combat forms. Besides, I think it would be cool to maneuver a Venator so it could broadside a CIS cruiser.

[Commander Obi-Wan]

How does it make more sense to control a capital ship than a frigate?

 

Size.

[PoiuyWired]

How does it make more sense to control a capital ship than a frigate?

............

**!!SNAP!!**

This is a space battle, not a dogfight. A space battle includes dogfighting, along with ship-to-ship combat and boarding actions. If there was an exclusive dogfighting-only mode, then it would make sense to not have controllable capital ships or none at all. But a space battle is a variety of combat forms. Besides, I think it would be cool to maneuver a Venator so it could broadside a CIS cruiser.

 

Well, imagine a n00b controlling the frigate. Wprsde of all you get a dead frigate due to dumb decisions, and lost the ship(some points) and a few guys. NOW, you launch all fighters out of the capital ship. A n00b controlling it can basically screw up the whole game by placing it in stupid positions.

 

Also, if there are a bunch of BIG SHIPS then fighters will be quite outgunned, and most people will want to get the big ships, which are quite limited in numbers, so there will hardly be any player controlled fighters at all, not fun.

 

I mean, player controlled ship-2-ship combat can be fun, but thats not for BF2, or BF3 for that matter. I mean, ships the size of MF(or other YT series) would be the biggest "suggested size" for the game. I think someone did make a flyable MF/YT-1300 back in BF1. Now I would really want a YT-2000 ... but a YT-2400 would also be great.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Why should the game be designed around how a minority of twits would abuse it? The only thought they should be givin is the addition of a "vote to boot" button in my opinion.

 

Now, it's true that some people might make bad decisions and lead to a frigate/capital ship loss due more to lack of expirence than malice. I say this is to be expected in a game like battlefront. Not everyone is going to be an expert, some newer guys (and even a few vets) make mistakes. It happens. Just a game I say, chalk it up to experience and try to do better next time.

 

If people are really uptight about the potential for mess ups, then they could add a point filter sort of like speacial classes. So you have to work your way up to controlling a capital ship/frigate. Make it customizable I say (actually I say this about nearly everything...) So if you want only elite players flying your ships so be it. If you want a more relaxed settings where people can do whatever, and possibly mess up then thats cool as well as far as I'm concerned.

[Darth Andrew]

How does it make more sense to control a capital ship than a frigate?

Size.

Take a look at the Republic's frigate (which should be a cruiser more than anything), and then look at the Venator. The Acclimator is bigger than the frontal section of the Venator. Now tell me that isn't a capital ship, especially when compared to the Rebel's frigate; it's frickin' huge next to the corvette. Besides, it's supposed to be difficult to maneuver a capital ship, not a walk in the park.

Also, if there are a bunch of BIG SHIPS then fighters will be quite outgunned, and most people will want to get the big ships, which are quite limited in numbers, so there will hardly be any player controlled fighters at all, not fun.

How many capital ships do you think there'd be in a space battle? I think 2 capital ships and 3 frigates (each filled with plenty of fighters, bombers, etc.) per team would be plenty; plus it would vary in the number of big ships per map. Also, on the next-generation systems, they would most likely be able to handle a larger number of AI/human players so space battles wouldn't feel empty.

 

Why should the game be designed around how a minority of twits would abuse it? The only thought they should be givin is the addition of a "vote to boot" button in my opinion.

 

Now, it's true that some people might make bad decisions and lead to a frigate/capital ship loss due more to lack of expirence than malice. I say this is to be expected in a game like battlefront. Not everyone is going to be an expert, some newer guys (and even a few vets) make mistakes. It happens. Just a game I say, chalk it up to experience and try to do better next time.

Listen to ParanoidAndroid you all must. A wise being is he/she/it/whatever.

If people are really uptight about the potential for mess ups, then they could add a point filter sort of like speacial classes. So you have to work your way up to controlling a capital ship/frigate. Make it customizable I say (actually I say this about nearly everything...) So if you want only elite players flying your ships so be it. If you want a more relaxed settings where people can do whatever, and possibly mess up then thats cool as well as far as I'm concerned.

This I think would work. Also taken into consideration could be the number of teamkills verses enemy kills that a player has, thus weeding out many of the treacherous TKers.

[Coraan Talme]

Yes ... a commander piloting a capital ship - this would indeed be great! And I do agree that it should be possible to accomplish ... after all, doesn't it already work in a couple of other tactical multiplayer shooters? Sure, it might be problematic sometimes and won't always work smoothly, plus - it is almost guaranteed that some people will find a way to abuse this. But that's not an unsolvable obstacle!

However, my guess is that the technical part is the bigger problem. A huge capital ship that actually MOVES around - complete with its own interior and bots and players also moving and fighting aboard it? Could be hard on our poor computers ... wouldn't it draw too much processor power? On the other hand, there are those big carriers in Battlefield that do exactly that, although they are perhaps a bit less complex. Well, I don't know. Anyway, frigates certainly should be manageable ... and yes, making them more sensible sounds like a very good idea indeed. And - in either case - there ought to be SOME kind of option for a team commander that actually is able to coordinate all this wild fighting. And - as I said - I do think that the bridge of a capital ship or a frigate would be the ideal place for him (or her, we are a highly civilized community ). Coordinating the team's attack and his own ship at the same time. Imagine: an actual bridge - with officers and guards standing around (well, a few at least) and an admiral, bent over a holo-map of the battlefield, who has to be defended against an enemy's boarding party. Now THAT would be fun ... in my humble opinion, anyway.

[PoiuyWired]

Listen to ParanoidAndroid you all must. A wise being is he/she/it/whatever.

 

This I think would work. Also taken into consideration could be the number of teamkills verses enemy kills that a player has, thus weeding out many of the treacherous TKers.

 

Well, there is a reason why many places have FF=OFF on many servers.

 

It makes the game generally more enjoyable.

 

Yes, a vote2boot is good for the game, so did a vote2depose function to kick someone off piloting a big vehicle(like a flagship) should they be pilotable.

[Darth Andrew]

Imagine: an actual bridge - with officers and guards standing around (well, a few at least) and an admiral, bent over a holo-map of the battlefield, who has to be defended against an enemy's boarding party. Now THAT would be fun ... in my humble opinion, anyway.

That would be nice, though it could also serve as the place where some turrents could be manned and where a command post on the ship would be. Also, should the map be like the map in the Confederacy war room in Episode II? To me it would be more of a gimmick than anythng, as all other players currently can bring up their own map.

[ParanoidAndroid]

I think that would be cool, I would love to see an actual bridge, complete with commander NPC's running around and a holo-map would be cool as well. It would be really great if the ship commander (be he player or bot) could plot courses using the holo-map. Maybe it could be an actual unlockable class, the ship commander armed only with a pistol but with the ability to command the ship.

[Redtech]

Sounds cool. I would make the pistol decent though. After all, what if his ship gets invaded? Also, it has to be a Mon Calamari for the rebels! It has to! "It's a trap!"

 

Well, it makes space battles more interesting. You have a lot more options on what to do rather than buzzing around. The people lamer at flying can do invasions, the tactical minded could move the cap ships or frigates, and people can man guns or defend the ships if invaded.

 

Mind you, I think we need vocal messages of WTF is going on though (unless comm relay is destroyed!) such as "Command ship moving, frigate moving, frigate is under attack, Command ship has been infiltrated" etc. Just make it a once only message only repeated every minute if the situation is urgent (like an invasion that hasn't been repelled yet).

[Coraan Talme]

I've nothing against a decent pistol for an admiral - though I think that slightly higher health (personal deflector shield?), a few Stormtrooper guards & a bit of team coordination (Don't let those pesky rebels get their dirty paws on our admiral!) might be sufficient. After all, he doesn't need to be a jedi-in-disguise ... defending him( or her) is mainly the job of others.

About the planning part - well, the holo map might well look like that in Episode 2, Darth Andrew ... (though my vision of the bridge looks more like that of a star destroyer ... ... but we've got every side in Battlefront anyway - and yes, we do also need a Mon Calamari's bridge (yes- definitely with a Mon Calamari admiral!) that can be invaded by brave imperial marines!) ... yet it need not even reflect the actual combat situation, that would indeed be a gimmick, I suppose - it would probably be a static image, that you can access to go to the real command map. This, of course, would lead to the necessity of sensible voice commands Redtech mentioned. The current babble that's going on in the hangar (Deck X is on fire!) or in space (There's a fighter behind you!) is quite atmospheric but largely completely irrelevant & inaccurate (A fighter?? I just launched from the hangar, and that's everything that's behind me! And there IS just one deck and - no, it is not on fire!) - and that's a shame. You do not really get the impression that there's a large, coordinated battle going on (...perhaps because there isn't ...). How about a commander that can give you orders like 'Attack that target!', that you can acknowledge by pressing a button - which gives you a lock on that target? Or of course the 'Ship is being boarded' /'Bridge under Fire' kind of warning Redtech mentioned. Those are just simple things that could already make a big difference ... I think our views on this are very very compatible

In any case, making the bridge an additional command post or the place where turrets can be operated would make sense, too. I also agree with Paranoid Android. Officers & techs running around surely would give the bridge the proper kind of feeling. Officers in proper imperial naval uniforms, of course. And, for example, good old Thrawn as an admiral. And more classes to choose from! More pilot uniforms! Properly clad imperial marines with black helmets! Space troopers that can launch into space and fight there! Repair teams, following the orders of the admiral to repair damaged ship systems! Emergency light and zero-g when life support fails! Oh well ... some of it anyway I could go on forever about all the possibilities ...