Richter: What happen?
Serrin: Somebody set up us the bomb.
Ciaran: We get signal.
Richter: What !
Ciaran: Main screen turn on.
Richter: It's You !!
Narsrim: How are you gentlemen !!
Narsrim: All your base are belong to us.
Narsrim: You are on the way to destruction.
Richter: What you say !!
Narsrim: You have no chance to survive make your time.

You obviously haven't been out into the aetherwaves. You already have an innate sense of nearby locations. This would just allow you to temporarily expand it.

This was my vision of the specialties:

Commander: Able to perform defensive maneuvers (such as rolling the ship or spinning the ship), trail other ships, and in charge of distributing extra power to the different modules. Commander would also be able to block exits and maybe even docking ports. For the trans skill, was thinking of ability to make long jumps, perhaps by homing buoys set up by empaths.

Combateer: Mostly involved in ship-vs-ship combat. My thought for combat was for different types of attacks that are similar to PVP afflictions, only that affect the ship. For example, an aeon-type attack that would effect input into the ship modules.

Empath: Most important ability is to heal/repair the ship, not only from raw damage but from the afflictions that enemy combateers could throw at it. Ability to far scan for other ships or aetherbubbles, etc. as well as opening communications channels for across great distances. For the trans skill, was thinking of a conglutinate-type skill with a special (steep) energy cost.

Note that many things will cost the ship's personal power (the ship has 10 personal power which works like a player's personal power). Keep in mind, however, that all modules share the ship's personal power, which reinforces the ideal of the crew knowing how to work together (as the empath may need to do that 10 power healing more than the combateer needs to use the 10 power attack).

That's so hot. I can't wait.

But isn't that kinda what happens now?

How about a skill that lets us autosteer o places we have already been?

lazy!

I was thinking that the empath may realize the ship is about to go, so performs the special ability that drains the ship's power at a steep rate and lasts for (let's say) one minute. If the ship's hull goes to 0 during this time, the ship would not implode but instead immediately reform back in its home port (with the crew intact).

It isn't that it is lazy. It is just that right now if you need to get offline suddenly and you are in aetherspace you have to leave your ship out there, and pretty much die when you log back in. Also.. If you have taken crew with you, you have pretty much stranded them too.

Psh. That's realism for you.

I kind of like being lost in (aether)space.

Hmm... How about rather than a way to instantly autopilot back, just a way to put the whole ship in stasis untill you get back? That way it'll still be intact, and noone'll die. Kinda suck for the members of the crew... But while its in stasis you could make it so its just like a manse anchored in the Aether with a field around it preventing monsters from harming it. (Edit: anchored away from any portal back to prime or elsewhere, just to clarify) Make it so it has a constant power drain of like... 5 power a day. That way the captail would be sure to get back as quick as possible to keep it from running out of power.

Note we were thinking that the Empath would be able to lay out an 'aether buoy' (or aether beacon?) that would allow a Commander with a high enough skill to make a 'jump' to them.

EDIT: The aether buoy/beacon would decay eventually so you would pretty much have to re-create them each voyage out.

1) Yes please on involving the trades (for upgrades, not for basic requirements.) The inforced ram thing would probably be more of an artisan thing, but I can quite well imagine us blacksmiths tampering with the turrets and things like that. Making a trade more useful in different areas just adds so infinitely more flavour to the whole realm.

2) A big NO on implementing any significant insta-travel things, though I think the jump-to-buoy thing would be acceptable, provided the empath can't have too many of them at a time. (That'd actually make having more than one empath available interesting, kind of like how a traditional ship would hire a guide who knows a particular region very well) The reason why I am against other forms of insta-travel, most of all teleport-ish things, is that I absolutely adore how the aetherways add a sense of real distance to Lusternia. We had that at the beginning on the main lands, it was reduced a bit, but this is the real thing. "Faraway lands" gets a whole new meaning there, and I like it.

3) I'd love to be able to have my own stationary or semi-stationary place in the aetherways, maybe even run my own dock and a small private bubble. Kind of like a manse, only it'd only be accessible via aetherships, not connected to any prime plane place. Mostly because of (1) I am all with whoever mentioned the "people living on the outer rim" thing, that'd give so much opportunity for whole new roleplay scenarios.

4) The whole thing is just so awesome. Cudos to Roark and all who helped to getting it to work. In other words: Lusternia Rocks! (But we already knew that didn't we? )

I will love aetherbuoy so much it should probably cost a decent ammount of power though, or be a delayed move like teleport. It will really help when you have to go fast without leaving your ship in the middle no where.

So it is possible to be a trader. Therefore, we must have pirates.

Just implement anchors, have them put up protective barriers that drive off attacks while there's no one at the helm. Make the necessary adjustments so it can't be abused. Voila.

For great justice !!

Good idea... keep it simple! (And add the anchors as something blacksmiths can make)

you nerds

I don't think that would nessecarily be an iron or steel anchor... I mean, they'd be in aetherspace, it would have to be magical.