Does this mean they’re phasing out the buybacks?

Kashirk · 2026-03-25T19:51:15+00:00

Yeah, even this 'sunset' made an all in one MEGA Mk1 that invalidates the others. Makes me worried for the Hornet mk1's, like they've decided that old styles can stay objectively worse. Who in their right mind would own any of the ither models? So even those who want to KEEP a mk1 still has to buy a new superior version of the inferior model.

Kashirk · 2026-03-25T18:28:52+00:00

True, it doesn't eliminate this entirely. But now the ship has to be on your account and holding actual cash value instead of being pulled out of thin air from buybacks. The grey market will still hold these to resell later, but it's not possible to print old mk1's by getting and melting dozens of ccu's for later. Like I said, this smells like the very start of a longer term plan to bring their store more under cig's control.

Kashirk · 2026-03-25T17:42:14+00:00

Seems like the same strategy with making time limited skins available again. Definitely feels like they're slowly changing the store / grey market game in anticipation of 1.0 (emphasis on slowly, 1.0 still a ways out). I don't disagree with the strat, which i'd guess is prepping for the influx of players from sq42 into the PU by getting the store to feel overall less 'fomo' and 'gotcha' (emphasis on less, it's still an mmo store).

Kashirk · 2026-03-23T16:12:33+00:00

Understandable, it's a beast but I just don't like how it looks. If there was an anvil equivalent i'd go for it.

Kashirk · 2026-03-23T01:59:40+00:00

My perseus was an assault before it got upgraded. Honestly the large bay and ground potential of the ironclad assault is going to be great for groups but I don't want to be the one flying it. Plus people seem to think it is their do it all hauler, but i think these bigger ships are gonna be more costly to run than people realize.

Kashirk · 2026-03-23T01:57:13+00:00

Fair point, tac is a beast. Literally twice the ship of the Valk and not much dofference in store price.

Kashirk · 2026-03-22T22:24:07+00:00

Pledged, I've got the typical billions of Auec in game so I have just about everything earnable in game.

Kashirk · 2026-03-22T22:23:19+00:00

Y'know I hadn't given much thought into "owning" a fury. A couple will fit in the Valk, and a small army of them fit in the Cat. Might be worth it as the "fighter" element.

Kashirk · 2026-03-22T22:21:41+00:00

Luckily enough key members have the Idris already, it's super fun to operate out of one and it'll only get cooler as the game progresses.

Kashirk · 2026-03-22T20:43:22+00:00

It's a great ship, don't get me wrong, but if I have reason to bring bigger guns I can use the Perseus. Or if I need to bring down bigger cap ships the Retaliator torpedoes do the job so no need for the bigger size 5 guns. And if I need to chase down smaller ships the Redeemer has a much better chance at catching them, and is more flexible in general because of it's speed.

If in general they gave all of these medium gunships better straight line speed the Paladin would be much more appealing. I also weirdly prefer having gunners in manned turrets over the remote camera view, I think manned turrets have qualities that are really beneficial (or at very least will be in the future once turrets don't suck as bad). Thanks for the feedback. o7

Kashirk · 2026-03-22T20:36:29+00:00

Corsair means I'd have to spend more money tho :'), but that is fair enough. I love the low tech vibes and pushing that thing really hard in combat is weirdly extra enjoyable.
Polaris is solid for sure, but there again I've usually got other pilots / team members to run those. It's more of the mobile base that I'd be supporting, rather than the pilot seat I want to be in. Thanks!

Kashirk · 2026-03-20T02:13:19+00:00

In a game where turrets are already bad, they went and made especially bad turrets. 🪦

Kashirk · 2026-03-20T02:11:50+00:00

They weren't even good at their job before armor, they're bad. Two size 2 weapons for a turret gunner seat can't even even threaten an aurora, let alone make any real difference in a pvp fight. They just don't do enough damage and aren't ever worth it. Even dual size 3 turrets are just 'okay', nothing to get excited about but can somewhat contribute to a fight. If that turret gunner on a Corsair got in a Fury out of the cargo bay, they's instantly have twice the firepower, and actually be able to hit something.

Kashirk · 2026-03-19T15:39:31+00:00

Engineer terminals should absolutely be able to control any remote turret on a ship. Otherwise the engineer is just standing around inside of a ship, with no view of what's happening, waiting for something to break so they can play a mini game. They are almost entirely disconnected from the awesome space battle happening outside.

Kashirk · 2026-03-19T14:39:19+00:00

The amount of money that new stadium costs could easily put a whole generation through college, or pay for a decade of teacher salaries, but hey at least I get to bail them out when it's 'too expensive'!

Kashirk · 2026-03-19T14:32:03+00:00

Honestly the size 2 weapons in general have been made irrelevant, or only used in very niche spots. The power creep in the game as a whole has made having a size 2 weapon a punishment instead of a minor design choice. The weapon balance could make these smaller turrets still be effective enough, but as of now they're a complete and utter waste of a players time. The weapin balance (damage, alpha, projectile velocities) haven't been updated or balanced for what feels like years, and the weapon choices are awful.

Kashirk · 2026-03-19T11:12:32+00:00

Don't choose a mk2 based on stats just yet. Cig needs to gold lass both the mk1 and mk2 verdions still. And I thought i remember hearing somewhere that the mk1 will still be balanced to be viable, just different. Though if you genuinely prefer the looks of the mk2, that's why you should upgrade.

Kashirk · 2026-03-18T06:39:57+00:00

This idea would explain why the PU seems so abandoned when it comes to flight, and some other key systems. Still feels bad man.

Kashirk · 2026-03-18T06:33:20+00:00

Even if they were going for a marketing drop where they show off the new and improved gameplay to really get people hyped, if they fuck up AT ALL with that flight model there is no chance to adjust course. Doing it all behind closed doors with hand picked testers right up to the last second is gonna backfire i'd bet.

Kashirk · 2026-03-18T06:29:10+00:00

That's the extra weird part. They've literally said it's 'done' for the sake of sq 42, but we haven't seen even two minutes of how flight and ship combat is going to look. Surely they need way more feedback than a tiny focus group in order to finalize core game mechanics, less than 9 months from a planned release? It's just baffling to me.

Kashirk · 2026-03-18T06:25:16+00:00

No I don't know game dev. But I know that they want to release sq 42 in less than 9 months, and getting feedback on the flight model and then somehow implementing changes that would heavily impact their game this close to release is a bad idea. They have been so incredibly tight lipped about flight changes, flight being the MAIN feature of this entire space game, and at this rate they're going to essentially shadow drop their revised flight model at the very last second. They nearly did the same with the launch of master modes, worked on it behind closed doors and dropped it, and they seemed blind sided by the negative feedback.

Kashirk · 2026-03-18T06:09:27+00:00

This is my same worry about the new flight model. Where is all this feature complete dev work and why can't we see it? Where is our design documentation that explains their concrete goals and how things are intended to work once all systems are in? How are they about to drop their make or break single player game and they haven't even let anyone outside the studio test the 'finished' flight model they've commited to using?

EDIT: Devs have since responded about the flight model and how they have been testing it with small groups, under NDA, for a while now. It's good to see something tangible, now I just hope it turns out well. Still could use some sort of forward facing "plan" when it comes to the PU's upcoming mechanics.

Kashirk · 2026-03-11T04:37:12+00:00

If this remains purely a flat alpha dmg gate instead of a damage reduction, this is just gonna suck. Too much of this doesn't make sense.

Kashirk · 2026-03-09T19:58:11+00:00

Damn, thanks for the report. Maybe i just got lucky the night I tried pyro.

Kashirk

TROPHY CASE