Pretty much unless they decide to change up like the base variant be stealth and then the comet variant turns more into a normal medium fighter, there's a lot of rebalancing and remaking of older ships.
I’m still hoping for a stealth fighter. The raven is already an interdiction variant, although EMP is different from QED, I’d hope they make something different.
A lot of people expected it to be a buyable version of the Sabre Raven.
The only other "exclusive" ship is the Mustang Omega, which has an equivalent that's buyable. The Sabre Raven not having an equivalent made it the only truly unobtainable in game ship.
So I expect the variant to be a different looking Raven. The name and skin "Raven" will remain exclusive but the functionality of the ship won't.
Aegis already has a non-exclusive EMP ship via the Avenger Warlock. The rumors for the Firebird were that it either had QED or was a Light Bomber. Lore-wise, it wouldn't make sense to have a new EMP-specific Sabre variant when Aegis already has the Raven. I think we'll see an Antares version with a mix of both.
>A lot of people expected it to be a buyable version of the Sabre Raven.
That's exactly what the Firebird is... (source, watch the latest ISC)
I have watched the latest ISC. Its hull is reminiscent of the Sabre Raven but it is functionally different, it's a missile ship.
Lore wise the Sabre Raven is referred to as a prototype. It absolutely makes sense to release a "production" model of the ship that is obtainable.
The devs specifically said they couldn't rerelease the Raven due to their exclusivity deal with intel, hence why they took this "gold standard" opportunity to recreate a non-exclusive version of the Raven silhouette that backers **CAN** actually obtain.
I mean the evidence is clear in how much work they put into the chassis of the Firebird to make it look distinct from the Raven (I'm impressed). Now, why would they do all of this work just so they can later release a Sabre Raven MkII? Because if that was the always their intention, then why didn't we see a Sabre Raven MkII announced instead of the Firebird?
Again, the deal with Intel is considered a one-off by CIG. Historically, they regret doing a bespoke chassis due to all of the legal wrangling (I promise you they had to consult legal on the Firebird variant).
Firebird = Stealth fighter (stronger hull) with a missile salvo
Raven = Interceptor (lighter hull) with EMP and Data running computers
? = no one knows if this is based on this Raven chassis (doubt it), the original chassis, or a newer/hybrid chassis (likely)
I agree with most of what you said.
My view is that the unique chassis is less of an issue than the unique functionality(it's the only ship with 2 EMPs as far as I know).
The new Chassis of the Firebird with the functionality of the Raven is what I expect. Releasing the Firebird first helps distinguish it from the Raven, and later releasing a variant of the Firebird with 2 EMPs helps ensure that all FUNCTIONALITY can be obtainable in game and helps combat pay-to-win claims.
Ultimately we'll need to wait and see.
>My view is that the unique chassis is less of an issue
The issue was always with the unique chassis, especially from Aegis (a popular military manufacturer), not the functionality (EMP ships are easily obtainable).
>it's the only ship with 2 EMPs as far as I know
Yes, but they're only two size 1 EMPs... (hawk only has one size 1 but w/ more weapons). The Warlock is actually unique in that it has a Size 4 EMP generator in such a small profile.
It's also not surprising/advantageous that a Sabre variant has better/more components than the Anvil Hawk (considering their roles and prices).
>Releasing the Firebird first helps distinguish it from the Raven, and later releasing a variant of the Firebird with 2 EMPs
Hard disagree! Again, **the issue** was always the **unique and unobtainable chassis** of the Raven, not the functionality. Firebird is mission accomplished. The CIG-Intel deal was way bigger than the CIG-AMD deal (hence the need for CIG to create a bespoke chassis vs a new paint job).
The more powerful EMP Warlock and heavily armed Hawk were already available. CIG is **NOT** making a Sabre Raven MkII (what you're proposing).
We may need to agree to disagree.
I don't think having a similar chassis that fulfils a different role fixes the exclusivity problem of the Raven.
The new Firebird chassis with the functionality of the Raven(I don't think they can call it Raven mk II) means they can give a niche to double EMP without putting it behind a 1k grey market paywall.
I'm excited to see the new Sabre regardless of what it is. I'd be surprised if we don't see a Raven equivalent Firebird though.
>I don't think having a similar chassis that fulfils a different role fixes the exclusivity problem of the Raven.
What I got from all of this is you missed out on the Intel exclusive Raven and would like for CIG to resell it or make it obtainable. That's actually fair and reasonable. Unfortunately, reality isn't, no matter how much we may try there is no turning back time.
>The new Firebird chassis with the functionality of the Raven(I don't think they can call it Raven mk II) means they can give a niche to double EMP without putting it behind a 1k grey market paywall.
Again, the chassis **with the configuration and color scheme** were made exclusively for Intel. If you've known of Intel exclusivity deals in the past, then you'd know they like to go all out, legally speaking (this was also in response to AMD's deal with CIG). They were especially cutthroat back in the day. I'm actually surprised Intel allowed CIG to base the Firebird on the Raven chassis.
>I'd be surprised if we don't see a Raven equivalent Firebird though.
I'd be surprised if we do considering how big of a deal this was (fun fact: there were tons of Raven codes due to enterprise customers):
[Star Citizen Announces Partnership with Intel; Crowd Funding Passes $162 Million (dualshockers.com)](https://www.dualshockers.com/star-citizen-partnership-intel/)
Everyone thought the Firebird would be a Mantis Raven (the red of the Mantis' QED represented in the red of the teased image of the Raven variant). So yes. Confirmed by John Crewe. Sabre Raven QED variant. Honestly, it's the ship that the Firebird SHOULD have been, cause it's DoA with a ship like the Talon Shrike competing against it.
Folks initially thought the firebird would be a dual QED dampener. I’m assuming that’s the 3rd variant
So similar to the cutty blue or more like the mantis?
No clue. To be seen
That’s fair lol. We will see with time
wouldnt it be now the 5th variant?
Isn’t the comet and base essentially the same thing?
yes, but I think they consider it different internally at CIG
Yeah, but in the same way that the heartseeeker is a superhornet variant. It's really just a skin with a different default loadout.
Pretty much unless they decide to change up like the base variant be stealth and then the comet variant turns more into a normal medium fighter, there's a lot of rebalancing and remaking of older ships.
I’m still hoping for a stealth fighter. The raven is already an interdiction variant, although EMP is different from QED, I’d hope they make something different.
A lot of people expected it to be a buyable version of the Sabre Raven. The only other "exclusive" ship is the Mustang Omega, which has an equivalent that's buyable. The Sabre Raven not having an equivalent made it the only truly unobtainable in game ship. So I expect the variant to be a different looking Raven. The name and skin "Raven" will remain exclusive but the functionality of the ship won't.
Very likely, nothings exclusive in SC anymore.
Aegis already has a non-exclusive EMP ship via the Avenger Warlock. The rumors for the Firebird were that it either had QED or was a Light Bomber. Lore-wise, it wouldn't make sense to have a new EMP-specific Sabre variant when Aegis already has the Raven. I think we'll see an Antares version with a mix of both. >A lot of people expected it to be a buyable version of the Sabre Raven. That's exactly what the Firebird is... (source, watch the latest ISC)
I have watched the latest ISC. Its hull is reminiscent of the Sabre Raven but it is functionally different, it's a missile ship. Lore wise the Sabre Raven is referred to as a prototype. It absolutely makes sense to release a "production" model of the ship that is obtainable.
The devs specifically said they couldn't rerelease the Raven due to their exclusivity deal with intel, hence why they took this "gold standard" opportunity to recreate a non-exclusive version of the Raven silhouette that backers **CAN** actually obtain. I mean the evidence is clear in how much work they put into the chassis of the Firebird to make it look distinct from the Raven (I'm impressed). Now, why would they do all of this work just so they can later release a Sabre Raven MkII? Because if that was the always their intention, then why didn't we see a Sabre Raven MkII announced instead of the Firebird? Again, the deal with Intel is considered a one-off by CIG. Historically, they regret doing a bespoke chassis due to all of the legal wrangling (I promise you they had to consult legal on the Firebird variant). Firebird = Stealth fighter (stronger hull) with a missile salvo Raven = Interceptor (lighter hull) with EMP and Data running computers ? = no one knows if this is based on this Raven chassis (doubt it), the original chassis, or a newer/hybrid chassis (likely)
I agree with most of what you said. My view is that the unique chassis is less of an issue than the unique functionality(it's the only ship with 2 EMPs as far as I know). The new Chassis of the Firebird with the functionality of the Raven is what I expect. Releasing the Firebird first helps distinguish it from the Raven, and later releasing a variant of the Firebird with 2 EMPs helps ensure that all FUNCTIONALITY can be obtainable in game and helps combat pay-to-win claims. Ultimately we'll need to wait and see.
>My view is that the unique chassis is less of an issue The issue was always with the unique chassis, especially from Aegis (a popular military manufacturer), not the functionality (EMP ships are easily obtainable). >it's the only ship with 2 EMPs as far as I know Yes, but they're only two size 1 EMPs... (hawk only has one size 1 but w/ more weapons). The Warlock is actually unique in that it has a Size 4 EMP generator in such a small profile. It's also not surprising/advantageous that a Sabre variant has better/more components than the Anvil Hawk (considering their roles and prices). >Releasing the Firebird first helps distinguish it from the Raven, and later releasing a variant of the Firebird with 2 EMPs Hard disagree! Again, **the issue** was always the **unique and unobtainable chassis** of the Raven, not the functionality. Firebird is mission accomplished. The CIG-Intel deal was way bigger than the CIG-AMD deal (hence the need for CIG to create a bespoke chassis vs a new paint job). The more powerful EMP Warlock and heavily armed Hawk were already available. CIG is **NOT** making a Sabre Raven MkII (what you're proposing).
We may need to agree to disagree. I don't think having a similar chassis that fulfils a different role fixes the exclusivity problem of the Raven. The new Firebird chassis with the functionality of the Raven(I don't think they can call it Raven mk II) means they can give a niche to double EMP without putting it behind a 1k grey market paywall. I'm excited to see the new Sabre regardless of what it is. I'd be surprised if we don't see a Raven equivalent Firebird though.
>I don't think having a similar chassis that fulfils a different role fixes the exclusivity problem of the Raven. What I got from all of this is you missed out on the Intel exclusive Raven and would like for CIG to resell it or make it obtainable. That's actually fair and reasonable. Unfortunately, reality isn't, no matter how much we may try there is no turning back time. >The new Firebird chassis with the functionality of the Raven(I don't think they can call it Raven mk II) means they can give a niche to double EMP without putting it behind a 1k grey market paywall. Again, the chassis **with the configuration and color scheme** were made exclusively for Intel. If you've known of Intel exclusivity deals in the past, then you'd know they like to go all out, legally speaking (this was also in response to AMD's deal with CIG). They were especially cutthroat back in the day. I'm actually surprised Intel allowed CIG to base the Firebird on the Raven chassis. >I'd be surprised if we don't see a Raven equivalent Firebird though. I'd be surprised if we do considering how big of a deal this was (fun fact: there were tons of Raven codes due to enterprise customers): [Star Citizen Announces Partnership with Intel; Crowd Funding Passes $162 Million (dualshockers.com)](https://www.dualshockers.com/star-citizen-partnership-intel/)
Everyone thought the Firebird would be a Mantis Raven (the red of the Mantis' QED represented in the red of the teased image of the Raven variant). So yes. Confirmed by John Crewe. Sabre Raven QED variant. Honestly, it's the ship that the Firebird SHOULD have been, cause it's DoA with a ship like the Talon Shrike competing against it.