Intercosmic News: The Origin 100i - a Starter Ship Reject!
Swimming against the recent Hype Flow about Origin's newly praised Beauty Queen
Come to where Style meets Substance - or the lack thereof?
The Origin 100 series has been receiving most favorable reviews across the board since its debut last week. Being early when considering the timing at which the
line-up is being launched, this may seem somewhat surprising to some. It is, after all, for good reasons the large manufacturers prefer launching their novel craft, especially smaller frame ones,
alongside the far more prestigious fairs or imperial wide holidays. But as we all know, with the 2950 fair having been postponed, all is a bit different this year.
So, we can safely say that, with its early launch of the base 100i, the missile armed 125a and the 135c, Origin has most definitely landed the eagle. After all, aren't today's experts and critics unison remark surrounding these three newcomers as the fresh breeze the racing
powerhouse had been actively seeking for so long? A bridge from the uptown client over to the ambitious upstart with a sense for style?
But, if we look back in time just a little further, this grand display of public favor happens to be quite a recent development. In fact, the 100 series' 2948 reveal has often been considered a
rather chaotic, illogical and seemingly quickly assembled mess of stats and dimensions on the basis of Origin grabbing the last straw in getting out of the bad press in those days:.
Something along the lines of: "So, the 600i launch was a debacle. Something must be done. A Starter Ship is something: Let's build the 100 Line."
Less surprisingly all of that has apparently not played into any of the reviews published over the recent days. We fear however, that
collective amnesia is a substantially costly thing! And this remains a basic truth throughout the ages.
"Even the more hard core Origin Jumpworks aficionados are still to forgive the blunders of the past." - Ed Turner - #ships_2949_Expo
Disclaimer: Photo material adapted from various sources.
A Breadcrumb Trail
Following last year's lackluster echo by parts of the embedded press and well-heeled fair
goers at the 2949 Intergalactic Expo, Origin seems to have been struggling to find its way back to the legendary design grandeur of the decades passed. However, the acclaimed
'createu'r' and manufacturer of luxury ship designs such as the classic racing bolt M50 and the all time favourite touring series along the first iteration of its household 300 Series
line-up has been far from sticking one's hands in one's pocket. Whether that has been successfully so, remains to be another story. Can the contestant of the 100 line truly live up to all that
its larger brothers of the 300 series are loved for?
Back into the limelight
In the end, what remains are the ships themselves. So, how does the "aspiring 100 Series" perform? Is this shiny speeder worth a spaceman's hard earned
salary?
The answer is as intuitive as original. Namely and unsurprisingly it is a recurring pattern of our reviews: The old "Yes and No".
What both the up-armed variant and its cargo carrying sibling, the 125a and 135c, respectively bring to the table is in each case quite an
admirable added value. The former comes with more missiles; the latter triples its loadout capacity - at a considerably higher price point, of course.
And it is this price point that critics see as problematic, when one takes into account the far more economic - while not overly ergonomic - competition by parts of other, by ship salesmen
often so called "Tier One" starters ships. And let us not forget the stiff adversity by parts of the old time UEE fleet work horse, the Avenger Titan - which, let it be said here and
now, be it old competitors or novel aspirants, be it armament, cargo capacity or price point - still beats all and hands down so!
So far, our testers have only found one significant advantage in the 100 series compared to Tier One starters such as the mustang (apart from lacking onboard sleeping commodities) and Tier Two starters like the Avenger in its most basic outfit: The 100 Series' snub-fighteresque small frame make it an ideal ship for carrier capable capital ships... the Origin Jumpworks 890J "Jump" springs to mind.
Padding the Line-Up: The 100 "i" variant has become Origin's dirty, little cash cow
But what about the basic 100i you ask. All of this lengthy introduction for a ship on the lowest price point of the line-up? Is it not the usual thing to have
that least expensive also means less bells and whistles? Naturally so. But this time it is different. Where Origin's engineers were eager to boast about the 125 "A" variant's superbly used space
in form of its missile launcher as well as the 135 "C" variant's cargo surplus making use of the available space - they were very evasive when asked about what the 100 "I" variant carries
in its belly. To say the whole truth, they dodged giving an answer almost entirely, merely uttering how 100 "I" variants shall have better "maneuverability" over its otherwise significantly
superior siblings.
Does this lastly mean that Origin is artificially padding it's line-up? We at Watchdog believe it does! But don't take our word for it - make up your own minds and follow us deeper down into the
Tevarin cave.
Watchdog - we investigate so you can sleep safely in your bunk -
And even now in the year 2950, with all three representatives of the 100 line-up currently undergoing the thoroughest of trials by the expert pilots of the
space motor press just days prior to these ship's hands-on release to the general public, new questions are on the rise. Thus far not answered to our complete satisfaction.
Have engineers at Origin tampered with the entire series' maneuverability to fabricate a performance gap between the 100 and the higher priced 300 line of ships?
So, following said statements made and given as fact by parts of Origin employees in 2948, the 100 series base variant will be made more maneuverable. The reason
behind this being compensation for not carrying an internal missile or cargo module.Yet, we asked, how is this supposed to be achieved?
According to the then published records of the 100 series stats, the base variant has a maximum speed momentum of 210 m/s, which would place it in the middle
ground of all three variants. And this should similarly affect maneuverability specifications. Oddly enough, following flight trials, members of the press mocked even the higher value variants as
"handling like a brick".
Our final veridict: You should pass
In all honesty: We cannot substantiate any of this with hard evidence. But there remains a bad after taste.
What certainly underpins this report is the fact Origin has made the base "I" variant artificially worse than the other craft in this
product line.
Internal space already proven to actually being available within the "i" variant has been deliberately chosen to withhold any access for cargo allocation or put to good use to mount weapons
or components in its place. Instead Origin 100i customers are being sold their ship in a phony attempt, suggesting this "poached" entirely unused empty space without any purpose to it carries
value in that their ship would perform less badly than the other, higher priced variants.
So far, no proof for added value
Despite rigid testing and investigating third party reports, we have to conclude the 100 "i" variant's price tag to be the result of
Origin arbitrarily having decided to pad its line-up from 2 ships of actual value to inflating it to include a 3rd, an under-performing and overpriced ship, the latter being the 100
"i".
Not only is its mere existence proof for there being no added value to the 100 "i", but even worse: It proves that Origin have even snatched otherwise available ship's value away from their
customers. We can only hope there will be a modular solution in the future, allowing those customers who purchased a base variant to upgrade the ventral rear of their 100 "i" class with an
after-service cargo hold or missile system.
At a glance: Other the related links you may need
⧨ More info on the the 100i
In case anyone missed it, "The Origin 100 i"
⧨ Style meets Substance
- An Origin Story - follow the impressive reveal of "the entire 100 Series" line-up.
Intercosmic News: Cyclone warning!... or is it just a breeze?
We are at war! and the protagonists are Major Hype versus the King of Warbond
Tumbril: Broke...
Tumbril, I bet we all still remember this name from our contemporary galactic history holovids and graphs . A company that rose to notoriety in the UPE and to
greatness under the Messer regime. An multi-system spanning weapons and communal vehicles manufacturer. And to no small avail, a prestige object in the arsenal of the Empire until it literally
fell from grace and - as a consequence - into having to file for bankruptcy.
... and back again
In the end it remains debateable if both rise and fall of this once grand power house were illdeserved or brought upon itself. What matters today is that Tumbril is back from the dead. And the Necromancer is none other than the imperial economy's enfant terrible, "Mr .Warbond" himself: DevCo Group's CEO Terrence Naban.
Right here, we will unveil the crude realities behind DevCo's uber aggressive take over of similarly troubled Titus Tools and of the long dormant Tumbril brand along with it's unscrupulous marketing campaign, trying to get into your pockets. Or - to call it by a better name: Your wallets and credit reserves.
Undersized, Undergunned, Underperforming, Overprized !
The Cyclone has undergone an indiscriminate testing frenzy since having been publicly revealed and set on a quick Warbond pre-sale, this past weekend. Tumbril
itself pre-tested it, of course. The folks at Whitley's gave it a spin and even 'Inforunners' have given it a test ride. Some more hands-on treatment was given to the
little whirlwind by reknown gazetters across the UEE by big name reviewers such as 'STL' Engines' and
even the 'Noobifier' Tuning Ltd' showed up at the party. They were joined by up and coming sales quide empresario 'Law (of the) West'.
Strangely and despite the early hype at last Friday's sale event which Intercosmic also attended, test results presented by parts of independent reviewers have turned far less favourable than those by the official sources. You probably guessed that Tumbril would hardly say anything negative about it's very own product at launch. Surprisingly enough neither did Whitley's when they cheered about the "best come back" of the last two centuries !"
In turn, STL representatives were in full support
with Noobifier reviewers in that what Tumbril had to offer was alright, but is too
far from being the promissed game-changer that was foretold. Both review teams stated their disappointment at the unexpectedly small size and capacity of the so called Cyclone and added that the
variants shown at the event fall short of the roles they would be expected to perform. Apart from the base CYC variant, a small two-seater with a mere spartan flatbed cargo hold and perhaps the
racer version - as also indicated by Law of the West - all other variants are
suggested to give them a pass And a hefty one too given a the increamental price tags would buy citizens nothing short of at least a fully equipped Aegis Avenger Titan shuttle up to an Origin
325A star fighter.
Inforunners went as far as ripping the Cyclone apart and scattering into the four winds, mocking the CYC's lack in size. And with underperformance having already been addressed, the able reviewer think tank representatives agreed on the lack luster functionalities and rickety customizeability of the designs itself, when out comparing it to far more thought through purchasing options (measuring up the Cyclone against true star ship variant lines).
"(...) the Cyclone has missed its niche," - Haze of Inforunners
Both introductions of the armed infantry support and the novel anti aircraft editions of Tumbril's newest brainchild felt significantly chicken breasted during the first performance comparisons. The latter even coming close to a robbery given it's exhorbitantly high price tag of 70.000 UEC at 2 AA missiles carried.
The Cyclone - A Jack of all trades or more of a 'sitting inbetween all chairs' ?
(click onthe brochure above to get linked to the Cyclone page and brochure content)
Speed ?
Manouverability ?
All-Terrain excellence ?
All of those are great strengths when it comes to selling points but at a second glance it is right here thatTumbril fails at giving their Cyclone a cutting
edge. In fact, we don't even have to take a closer look to verify, the Nox is faster, more manouverable and talking about terrain worthiness - well -
its a hover speeder bike. with twice the firepower. What more is there to add?
Noone on the ground or in the skies will feel the sting of the Cyclone. A regular RSI Ursa Rover has twice the firepower. For racing and scouting there already is the Aopoa Nox - and even if potentially slower, the Drake Dragonfly. For transport the Ursa wins again and hands down too. In short: There is nothing that we would need the Cyclone for (at it's price).
Having mentioned the Nox, we should add that this speeder bike only released last month, was sold with the same slogans as the Cyclone this week:
So, our advice - not really surprisingly - is to skip the call for becoming an early adopter and wait until you can purchase a used Tumbril Cyclone of choice next
season. They will be widely available at an acceptable price tag then. And that, we at Intercosmic can guarantee! Keep in mind that you cannot even use the Cyclone as an LTI token; CCUs to
anything other than ground vehicles are not possible as is being heavily critizised by all reviewers !!! Would we not know it better, it would certainly seem that Mr. Naban has the Empire's
largest insurance companies deep down in his bottomless pockets.
Our final veridict: You should pass
To be totally honest, our test results pretty much high-five those of Inforunners ("the worst bang for your buck!"), STL(Younglood) and (The)Noobifier ("wait and buy it ingame" and "if sitting on the fence, buy the base version") in that the Cyclone has most definitely missed its niche,
So, save your Credits; wait for more favourable UEC prices when the little Dust Devil will be in greater supply at lower prices. We are sure this vehicle is going to be fun.
But as things are right now it truely is the worst bang for your buck and only being at the mere entry level of a full array of upcoming offroad and other ground vehicles to come, including hover, wheeled and tracked solutions. If sitting on a fence, better consider a rover or a speeder for the time being..
You will be more satisfied in the long run and think back to this day with a smile on your face, some extra credits in your pocket
and having a superior oversight in hindsight, knowing which ground vehicle to go for and which to avoid being a target in.
At a glance: All the important Cyclone related links you may need
⧨ Concept Sale
At a current sale price point of 40 - 70 US Dollars (Warbond included) Cyclones earn hype
but a growing number of shaking heads
⧨ Early Lore and Q&A
In case anyone missed it, "Behold the Tumbril" is the earliest lore entry introducing the Cyclone.
The Q&A will traditionally not be out before Wednesday 26th of July. A link will be provided accordingly.
⧨ No LTI CCU Token!
Please note that by latest (post pre-sale, actually) ruling by CIG, ground vehicles such as the Cyclone, Ursa and upcoming Lynx, cannot be used to CCU to hover speeders or star ships !!! Ground vehicles will only CCU between ground vehicles.
Intercosmic News: Stormy days - is the Hurricane for you?
Can a fighter described by its engineers as a pure "glass cannon" live up to the hype ?
Blast from the past...
Anvil's revival of the late Second Tevarin War era Hurricane (by Casse Aerospace) has surely hit Star Citizens across the Empire like a
whirlwind.
The A4A Hurricane, packs a deadly punch of 6 KBAR 11-Series Broadsword cannons (two gimbaled on the Size 4 nose hardpoints and four on the
Size 3 turret slots) and four FSKI Ignite missiles for the Size 3 missile bay hardpoints into its slim fuselage.
This powerful armament, as stated by its engineers, allegedly compensates for the many shortcommings of the seemingly onesided warbird design of days
past.
Capable of blasting its way through nearly anything, the Hurricane lacks armor- if it is even to be called such - and is sold as a purist's bare bone space
craft of choice for the advanced combat pilot.
Gargantuan firepower at the expense of speed, armor, shields
During a recent visit at Anvil Aerospace's Nova Kiew production plant on Terra, Intercosmic Incorporated delegation members were able to attend test flights with the new model of the A4A, as well as taking part in a tour of the assembly line.
Along the presentation it became apparent that the Hurricane still seems to be stuck up to its knees within the Tevarin War, the craft being issued to customers without a big enough powerplant (AMRS OverDrive, non-upgradeable) or a respectively sufficient shield size to fend off modern Vandu'ul energy weapons.
Anvil Management further confirmed prolonged high speed propulsion similarly suffering under this apparent underpowered setup. Thus, during engagements, Hurricane pilots will be most busy avoiding enemy fire and always having to look out for keeping enemy interceptors off their tail but lacking the speed , armor and energy supply to getting to exposed or staying within the fight the longer it takes.
The greatest compromise bringing the aged Tevarin War design back to the drawing board and making it a low cost base for a high prized gunslinger, however, was made along the choice of armament. The Hurricane's aggressively focused balistic armament is not a coincidence. Truth is, that it will not be able to feed energy weapons through a dogfight.
Intercosmic withdraws support for rush-manufactured heavy attack gunship
Having taken over Casse Aerospace's portfolio, Anvil Aerospace seems eager to advertize it's newest addition to the assembly line as a heavy fighter - even
"dogfighter", as portruted by some sources close to the Anvil board of management.
The craft that journalists and organizations in the field of shipping we were able to inspect, however, was rather an attack gunship without real dogfighting
capabilities and lacking the needed speed to keep itself clear of a fight gone south.
Observation has it that once a Hurricane pilot has decided to enter a battle, the the odds are to win quickly - or, since it cannot run - if it doesn't manage to take out its oponent first hand - to likely perish.
As such, the craft is suitable as a surprise attacker but hardly as a defender or true dogfighter. Its use is undisputed, however as a private craft for our
members. For most company missions, apart from fast response attack runs, it might be just too overspecialized for incorporating Anvil's Hurricane into our standing fleet
roster.
At a glance: All the important Hurricane related links you may need
⧨ Concept Sale
At a current sale price point of 175 US Dollars the Hurricane raises heads - and
questions
⧨ Q&A Part 1
Take a look at the first part of Anvil's engineering department replying to "UEE Defence Monthly"
⧨ Q&A Part 2
A second batch of replies following our delegation's visit at Anvil's Nova Kiew assembly plant, Terra, Terranova System
Intercosmic News: The reworked Cutlass - game changer?
The reworked Cutlass may be 'the' long awaited Mercenary-Escort Fighter of choice!
The early days: From nimble, would-be Pirate to Sitting Duck
The evolution of the Cutlass Series has been one accompanied by controversy, to say the least. Initially envisioned as Drake's counterpart to the armed line of freighters of the Constellation class by RSI, it soon became apparent it would be more of an evil twin of the Freelancer.
However nimble for its size, lots of pilots were angered by the overall lacking and rubberbanding performance and flight design shortcommings of this by then still officially advertised as "fighter with a cargo hold". This was mainly due to the fact the ship was handling more akin to a "freighter with some guns attached" to it.
So, basically, the would-be pirate looting craft had become a sitting duck and hardly anywhere near a match to a similarly to-be reworked MISC Freelancer.
Also, had the true identity and role of the Cutlass type of ship been blurred by its variants going very different ways; "Red" as salvage and coast guard craft, "Blue" as heavily armed police variant and "Black" as the piracy edition. At the same time the old design seemed unfit for any of these roles.
Overcoming early design flaws: Meet the new Cutlass
The course of action taken by ship developers to overcome these issues, has been to unify the models of the Red, Black and Blue variants. Both the exterior and interior have by now been entirely redone and consolidated between the variants to allow the now Drake-specific excellent degree of modularity. Weapon slots have similarly been adjusted and buffed.
The ventral docking ring was removed in favour of side cargo doors, to serve for whichever purpose, depending only on the role you will chose for your Cutlass variant. I.e. for loading and unloading loot, cargo, prisoners... or start out on a tour with your space bike.
But most importantly, the entire propulsion system has been adjustment, to the extent this ship series promises to become an agile and fast attack craft with a buffed armor and dedicated, heavier forward armament , now aiding the dorsal turret.
Most interesting for Intercosmic: While the old, glass canon pirate raider was too far from falling under what we would require to perform our activities as Cargo and Security organization - the reworked craft looks the part of what we may well fly to escort our convoys and counter attacking any pirate incusrions - most likely carried out with Cutlasses of their own.
Great - but what does it all mean? After all, Intercosmic is not into Piracy...
Well, this could all mean that the Cutlass may become the defaultTier 3 mercenary craft everyone and their granny will be flying - and enjoying. Lets wait and see. The nimble, glass canon, plunder ship is gone and Intercosmic is looking forward to ...
... exactly...
... the heavier and buffed new Cutlass!
Underneath: Prior development of Cutlass Series & early Buccaneer Spin-off proposal
⧨ Cutlass Red
The Salvaging, Rescue and "Coast Guard" variant.
⧨ Cutlass Black
The Pirate, Mercenary and "Militia" variant.
⧨ Cutlass Blue
The rocket armed Bounty Hunter and Police variant.
Intercosmic News: The Reliant Tana is at your reach
For Reliant Kore Owners: A FREE UPGRADE to Reliant Tana and beyond
Also Available:
Free CCUs to and between the 315p and Mustang Delta
Also always consider a backup (reverse) CCU in case you aren't happy with your swap away from a Kore later on!
From Kore to so much more
Following the 2996 'Kore cargo capacity scadal' , MISC has returned with an apology to all its Reliant owners.
If you own a so called Mini Hauler (that interestingly came out of production with near to no cargo space for actual hauling) you can now get a free CCU (click) to a brand new Reliant Tana variant.
Intercosmic encourages the Reliant owners amongst its members to get various CCU tokens while this offer persists (December 1st of this year will be the last opportunity to do so).
⧨ The Skirmisher-CCU
R. Kore => R. Tana
CCU from Reliant Kore to a
Tana = Free !!!
⧨ The Explorer-CCU
R. Kore => Origin 315p
CCU from Reliant Kore to a
315p = Free !!!
⧨ The Dogfighter-CCU
R. Kore => Mustang Delta
CCU from Reliant Kore to a
Delta = Free
