VS NPCs

Yes it would be cool if a set or so was added that has a higher number for both. Takes up less space as well, but is of course useless in normal PvP. This means people could have an easier time on taking out non players while being just as bad in PvP.

That or some weapons/defenses get a bigger bonus vs NPCs (great for special Modules).

Drones:

Little robots that fly around the ship. Main idea here as it is an offensive and defensive module. A ship could have a limit of 8 max.

Though they could be spread out over all types either having there own type (and limit) or adding to the whole amount.

I like the idea of drones or fighters. The ships in many scifi shows have fighter escorts of some description, just look at Battlestar Galactica or Babylon 5. Even Star Trek had them in the Dominion war. And it makes sense that a 'real' ship would at the very least have a shuttle bay.

As you said redlaw, they could provide BOTH attack and defense; fighters would have their own weapons and defenses. Enemy weaponfire used to attack fighters is damage that doesn't hit your ship. The fighters could attempt to destroy incoming weaponsfire before it hits you as well, and they could attack enemy ships outright too.

Ships could have an extra 'shuttlebay' or 'fighter hangar' stat that you could spend rank points on. The more points you spend on it, the more room you have for storing your defense craft. Fighters could be resource-costing and have a chance of being destroyed in combat, so players would have to keep buying more.

You could even have a research branch dedicated to fighters, with techs alternating between weapons and defenses, or simply allowing the construction of newer, better designs. Better designs would last longer so you wouldnt need to replace them so frequently. But they would cost more to build or replace too. They could even have maintenance costs like all other ship modules.

Thoughts anyone?

great idea. And with my crew overhaul idea you can get the rank points to spend on a shuttlebay and the crew themselves (notably the tactical officers) can have the "pilot training" skill. Note that some of my further ideas are based on that overhaul.

Also, this alows for more player ship classes:
drone hive, fighter platform, shuttle convoy, probe hub, etc.

As for the fighters themselves:
stinger and barrier drones (do not result in crew xp loss when destroyed, but cost more resources)
spear and command fighters
transportation and exploration shuttles
seeker and cloaker probes

And for the more powerful players, there are the higher end models of each:
Tsunami Drone Swarm
Overlord Gunship
Eden Science Vessel
Nighthawk Spy Probe

And lastly, the research tree can include ship formations that dictate the allied NPC's programing. (like setting the drones to counter-attack those who hack you)

Yep! I love new toys in GL so I support those ideas! It's funny to see star destroyer with NO fighter squadrons in GL... Your idea will make star destroyer to FEEL like one!

I like the idea of drone fighter escorts with hanger and repair bay additions to a ship.

This sounds way to familiar(Dark Orbit) but I think it would definetely be a good add to some of the mid levels trying to figure what they want to facus on. It would also allow more options as far as graphics(though you would not have to put the image in while battleing. it would be too much for me.) and it allows for even more powerful ships. I would like to propose another idea to this. How about you can get one rank point for each drone for every npc and 2 points for every player disbled or reversed since the npcs are harder for me personally.

I really like this idea of small ships. I have some ideas for how to structure this, and I will describe how I think this should work.

A squadron tab is added. The tab is organized in a list like the planet tab. The collums are:
class- the name of the ship itself (can click to bring up the class's stats window)
type- organized into: drone, figher, shuttle, and probe
amount- the number of that ship class that you have
job- ordanized into: idle, ship formation (to protect the player), planet formation (to protect a planet), mineral transport, artifact transport, spy, mission (for when you use them as a mission requirement, you can't use them for anything else for a time), and lastly strike (to attack other players)

I will post the next few parts seperately because it is a big list.

type general stats:

drones-
con: low attack and cannot be used for anything except ship formation or planet formation (because it requires a center to coordinate them)
pro: large hull points and can redirect attacks to themselves (taking the damage that would otherwise hit the planet or the ship)

fighers-
con: low defense
pro: high attack

shuttle-
con: poor attack and defense
pro: can provide a cargo space (but you loose its cargo if it is destroyed) and can share artifacts with a reduction to the share timer.

Probe-
con: very fragile and week, can be detected and destroyed when used
pro: can be used to mimic the effects of spy probes (and why not make them into this system?) and counter-spy
probes will have cloaking and scanning that determine the chance of success and chance of being found and desroyed. (seperately)

class stats window:
organized like a ship stats window: pictue, name, and type are at top
stats, ship, and actions tabs

stats tab:

lists stats- attack and defense stat of that ship (and in parenthesies gives the module equivelent to it, like a figher lists X2 light ion cannons and a manuvering thruster- mark I) because these ships are suposed to be smaller, it is expected that the modules they list are significantly lower than what you can research. Also lists scanning and cloaking and equivelent module) for probes, and cargo for shuttles

speed- each ship class has times listed for different jobs. The number is the amount of minutes and seconds it takes that class ship to commit to the action. If more than one class of ship is sent on a job at the same time, they will all take the time of the largest amount.
all ships have a small ship formation time and a medium planet formation time. fighers have a medium strike time and a variable mission time. shuttles have a long transport and mission time. probes have a short spy and mission time.

Hull and shield- lists the total hull and total shield of that class ship, and the equivelent modules. small ships are treated as a low rank for the purposes of paying for hull repairs, but because they are so small, they are more likely to be destroyed.

class stats window:
organized like a ship stats window: picture, name, and type are at top
stats, ship, and actions tabs

the stats tab also says the size of the ship, as the hangar can only hold so much fighters.

ship tab:

required tech- the levels of different technologies a player will have to research to be able to build this class of small ship. (Better power systems are required for the faster small ships) listed in green if you have it and red if you don’t. (when hovering over the red tech levels, it tells you how many research points you have to spend in that research tree till it is unlocked)

Cost per ship- the minerals and credits required for the small ship. It adds up all the modules used on the ship and an amount for the ship itself. (gives a use for lower minerals in high levels)

Actions tab:

The usual “use an artifact” that may include new ones that disable them, boost a ship type, or give you some.

New tabs in other places:
for when you use a squadron. They are all on the actions tab of the window, and they have a drop-down list to choose which class you deploy.

For your own planet, you can send ships to it for planet formation.
For your own ship, you can send ships to it for ship formation.
For an enemy ship, you can send ships to it for a strike or spy.
For a legion member, you can send ships for a mineral transport or an artifact transport.

My idea for small craft is written up here. It's longer, and I didn't want to clutter this thread.