I think it should definately move in on the Centaur's Role
Why do you hate Cenraurs? What role will be left for them if Atlas will be better? Besides, taurs already share the field with mauds

Atlas is good as is. Well, maybe they should change the 3d model to look prettier >_>

Atlas is a cargo/blockade runner. Fast, good thrust and infiniturbo.
Its not a slow cargo ship with a big hold and there is no reason to change that.
It fits its role perfectly.

Ninny!

Its *Teh Ninny* you nincompoop!!!

@aleksey-
I don't hate Centaurs. How do you hate a ship anyway?

@Mynt-
I don't see them anywhere anymore.
P.S. I'm starting to repeat myself...

You haven't, Jim? It's not hard, all you have to do is go find a blockade somewhere. I mean come on. You can't go a single sector these days without seeing a committed blockade, because resources in this game are so limited, and have strategic importance enough that people would actually spend time waiting at a worm hole with their buddies just for the chance to make you wish you had piloted a faster cargo runner.

Patience, young padawan. The Dynamic Economy will solve all your woes.

there aren't any incentive to fly the atlas or any other variants because through various "balance" spree, most ships were rendered utterly useless as they mostly have too much of a flatline usability curve.

before those balance ops, most ships had something that made them special and there was a lot more variety of ships being used.

the valk was damn fast back then but wimpy. still, people used it because it was fast and the rune variant actually was useful (with 8 cu). the aggresso was a real pirate machine (tramshed's taur of death still scares me today).

all ships had their strong points.

but now, only a few are still being used: the valk because while it's no faster than other ships, it's the fastest 2-port one, the prom because it's a fricking tank on steroids (& crack cocaine), the cent because it's got a tiny signature. thhe vulture, if used properly, can still be lethal despite it's whide surface, but it's got a flat front mesh so that's also an advantage.

any other ships being used is mostly for nostalgia or sheer bulk reasons (moth).

and now i ninny this thread because this discussion, wich we've had time and over again, only leads to more balancing work.

Nah. You're reasoning goes that only ships that were strongest in a special category have any value. In truth, though, all ships are strong in what they do. The centaur is the best 2 large port and 1 small port variant. The Ragnarok is the best 2 large port and 3 small port variant. etc. You don't need to have a ship that's only freakishly good in one area. Balance can be nice too.

The thing is, there's no incentive to fly the Atlas, because the only trade missions/routes worth running are bulk. When the economy is redone, trading will be redone, and there will be times when a station just needs 30 CU's of goods, and not 180 CU's. Until then, the Atlas X-1 is still a beast.

And this thread returns almost 1 whole year later. I'm a whole year older...

And still you must wait.

In hopeless-ness

I agree with what everyone else has said Jim, the Atlas fits the role it was intended to do. If you like the way a ship looks, use it, but that doesn't mean it's the best ship for the job. I love looking at Ferrari's, doesn't mean I'm going to use one to move from my apartment to another one, I'll use my pickup.

The Atlas is a beautiful ship, that does it's job very well. It doesn't need to be changed, or have variants added just to gain some illusion of speed and power.