An offensive multiplayer ship has been talked about on the forums recently. Here's my proposal:

We don't need an entirely new ship design. Ingame, there is currently a fairly massive ship that at the same time is relatively quick. It's the centaur mk3 and/or the Aggresso variant.
Base the maneuvering around the Aggresso, but up the turbo speed a bit. Place 2 turrets on the top and 2 on the bottom, and it's like a miniature high-acceleration trident.

Centaur Aggresso mk2 (or whatever. Doesn;t have to be a tunguska ship.)

18000 armor
15 cargo
1 small, 2 large (or maybe just 2 large)
4 Small turrets (2 top 2 bottom)
18000kg (Well, the turrets add alot)
550 N thrust (to match aggresso mobility)
18m length
Max Speed: 65m/s
16nm spin torque
210/55 energy (revised 200/55 or 190/50)
Commends, feedback.. ect

Honestly I like this idea better than my gunboat moth, though it may be a little too fast to be correctly balanced... I'd suggest either 200 max turbo speed at 55 drain, or 180-190 with 50 drain. It is, after all a big honking gunboat. Combined with my proposed method for better turret control this would be a great ship for group support roles.

I think 2 turrets is a better fit, with 7 total turrets you will run out of grid before everyone has a gun.

Turrets consume no grid power atm, or do they?

Hmm.. not sure about grid stuff. Maybe the devs will make a special 'sub-capitol' battery for ships like this if grid consumption is an issue.

I don't think that the turrents would look all that good on the centaur. It's quite small and doesn't have any flat surfaces. :P

Ok.. they could be scaled down, but it'd still look pretty silly.

While I like the idea of combat ships with turrets, the problem I have with the idea is that the fighter craft are single person ships with out much room. So, while I agree with the loss of cargo space to add turrets I disagree with the Centaur... (though it does have adequate cargo capability)... I would propose a combat oriented turret version of the Maud. With a bit more armor and a little tweaking the Maud could make a nice combat ship and the cargo cubes make for perfect turret mounts.

I like this design. Increase the thrust and spin torque to match the mass increase.

Good point ryan. I suggested a similar thing earlier (turret modules for the maud), too.

No, no, no, just let us buy Tridents.

I want my Trident!

Offensive MP ship ? Ok, fine , for one horrible moment I thought you were inviting the House of Commons into VO ...

Just imagine a1kon pelts on expenses.........

I'd be totally fine with my own Trident, too. But if gunboats are what we get first, it's gunboats I will fly (or not, considering how little time I spend in-game. Curse you, RL v2.7!).