Another good choice would be the Anubis, with Order equipment. Resale value would probably be less than a Starflier but having the Anubis gives you quite a head start. So people could get busy earning real money right away - either by trading or by fighting, whatever their preference is. On the other hand they would not be forced to trade - the Anubis can earn up to $1 million per hour and I think this compares favourably to hauling cargo.

Allowing either trading or fighting from the start is a good idea. In the standard game, the most effective starting strategies always involve trading (or smashing storage depots)to buy a Rhino ASAP and then trading your way up to a Dromedary, Drake, or Barracuda.

I'd suggest still a low-level ship, but give it a decent loadout of guns to start with instead of two Justice squirt-guns. Something like a Dagger with Zoner class-3 Helios guns would be balanced and appropriate. You could also start the player at somewhere like Freeport 4, allowing access to decent-paying missions over in Bretonia and making it a bit more difficult to get on the lucrative trade runs from Manhattan and to pull the storage depot quick-cash and reputation tricks.

Just my 2 cents from someone who hasn't played a whole lot of multiplayer, but has traded his way to a class-6 ship or better within an hour or so every time...

humpback

may the force be with you... always... oh, and advance australia fair

It would be great if you started with no ship and 15k credits. You would have to buy one of the 2 manhattan ships you could afford, the Rhino or the Patroit. With the Partiot, you could get a good set of guns and shields to go along with the ship and then start doing missions. For the traders, but the Rhino and you still have enough cash for some cheap commodities which you can run to a nearby base. Something for everyone.

Falcon, good idea. But I think it favours traders much more than fighters. Once a trader has a ship with decent cargo space and one spare dollar in the bank they are less than an hour away from being millionaire. A fighter has to work much harder and longer to earn the first million unless the starting ship is a fighter around class 5/6 or so.

Of course, the start location should be set corresponding to the ship class. Bretonia for class 4 (Dagger/Defender/Clydesdale), Kusari for class 5 (Crusader etc.), Rheinland for class 6. Nothing is more annoying than flying a bleeping gunboat like the Anubis in Liberty - perhaps even having to do missions against Starfliers in order to improve the Ageira rep or to increase level until decent missions become available.

what if the game asked you "what do you want? a fighter or a freighter?" and the game gave you a preset balenced ship.

that would mean being able to set up custom scripts at the start of MP, and I haven't seen any ini file that'll allow it. However, I'm experimenting with the different ships and starting positions in my server, Freelancer Heaven. One thing I noticed of the juni fighter, there isn't any nano or battery limits, which means you can stock up on as many that you can buy. I favor starting out in the Bretonia system. lots of criminals are gunning for you, and the increased challenge discourages loiterers to find another server. I'll probably try out the xeno faction with the starting ship being the dagger with class 2 guns, although a startracker would work just as well. Tonight, just for kicks, I'll drop every new account on that planet of the apes in a eagle with a class 9 shield and a couple class 9 weapons. Since there's no dockable place to sell items there, I'll probably max out the nanos and batteries too. *shrug*

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There is no knowledge that is not power.

As far as blowing up the storage depots to further line your pockets, the simplest solution would be to destroy them yourself, before anyone else gets the chance.

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There is no knowledge that is not power.

Captain Tylor, make that a Starflier with standard equipment (2 x Justice Mk I, class 1 shield, 3 nanos/batts), a Zoner's reputation and $1 million credits. It works a treat ... The N***d dock campers at Planet Primus/Gammu and the radiation on the Omicron Gamma side are very effective filters.

@ Sherlog,

Where did you get the stat that the Anubis can make 1 million an hour? That seems too definite to me, because the length missions can take can vary greatly on the type of mission it is (ex. kill all ships vs. kill certain person) and how long it just happens to play out.

Also, you have to be in certain obvious locations (can't say cause it would be a spoiler) that are highpaying to make that sort of cash, and getting there takes time too... I'm pretty sure if I started off in an Anubis I could not earn a million credits in the first hour of playing (although I haven't tested this).

Live Long and Prosper.

i would want to start out as an escape pod

USLF

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i like your defender idea

i ate a booger so you ate a turd.

I've tested this..and starting with the basic ship I can be ready to purchase a dromedary (and have enough cash left over to line my pockets) in about an hour and forty minutes or so...
Once I have the dromedary I can make 275k/hour in a pretty safe side by side trade spot...very handy if you want to spend the time just going back and forth.. I have one character I'm doing that with..and the other I'm just flying around shooting stuff
you can make more money if you can get your rep up with the rogues and junkers.. I think..haven't tested this part.. haven't got my rep up yet... accidentally killed 3 rogues who jupmed in me intransit..and I've blasted 35 xeno's..and they haven't forgiven me yet

@ MrSpock: yes, there is only one location where you can make that much money in an Anubis; there are two other bases where you can get close if you're lucky (but there you have to take jobs from a faction that is universally disliked by criminals and freelancers ). And yes, it can take a while to prepare for the job - getting proper equipment, fixing reputation, going to the location. Even getting the equipment can require some rep adjustment but that is mostly fun - like getting paid for watching Rogues burn themselves up in a sun corona.

The 1$ million per hour includes income from class 7/8 weapon loot (besides the usual commodities/ammo/nanos/batts) and you have to have a certain minimum net worth before that kind of stuff starts to drop reliably; however, these jobs are the best way to get that minimum net worth quickly. Also, this is an average figure that includes taking the odd job from another faction to keep the rep sheet from going completely out of whack - if you don't care about your rep and with a bit of luck you can go higher. Like earning $90k for driving 12 km through space, torping one bogie out of a wing during initial approach and driving back to the base (no loot but very quick).

Incidentally, ships other than the Anubis will earn less in that location. The class 5/6/7/8s have less cargo space (loot!) and the class 8/9/10s will have significantly higher expenses for repairing radiation damage.

Starting a player with a lesser ship than the Anubis will probably add one or two hours to the 'startup' phase and so people are more likely to trade their way to riches instead. I have mentioned the whole thing only because it comes close to the income of a trader and does not require a high-level ship.