Are they going to change dropships to offer a single cannon underneath? Or just offer two different kinds of dropships?

Agreed. When the larger maps come in, dropships will become absolutely invaluable. The ability to quickly traverse terrain and, with proper tanking skills, deliver a full squad unharmed to an objective, can't be underestimated. Imagine a full squad (of six) consisting of a heavy, a logi, three assaults and a scout, being dropped on you from nowhere.

Dropships will have a major role to play, but the map sizes just aren't up to scratch yet.

I plan to spec into both. from the description the assault dropship will have a 5 man carrying capacity, you can still drop people off, it's just now the pilot can offer some support himself and not have to rely on gunners.

After playing around with tanks for a while I decided that I dont want to skill into them anymore, Assault Dropships sound much cooler.

Aslong as they get the HUD and FPS view right for the dropships I'll be skilling into them, I dont find the FPS view useful for Dropships, unless you're repping another vehicle's shields. We need something like Battlefield or PS2, where the cockpit is in view and we have a crosshair so we're not blindly firing.

I'll probably then branch out into jets because I imagine Assault Dropships being like attack helicopters.

Also: CCP, please add a 'Kick out of DS' button, all the usless players in my DS are slowing me down.

Agreed. When the larger maps come in, dropships will become absolutely invaluable. The ability to quickly traverse terrain and, with proper tanking skills, deliver a full squad unharmed to an objective, can't be underestimated. Imagine a full squad (of six) consisting of a heavy, a logi, three assaults and a scout, being dropped on you from nowhere.

Dropships will have a major role to play, but the map sizes just aren't up to scratch yet.

3 different kinds
standard
assault
logistics

We have no idea what the passenger capacity will be as the current description still claims five.

I'm not saying that the pilot turret won't be useful, but rather the assault squad will be most important.

If the pilot is manning their own turret, will they benefit from the passive skill as applied to the turret from calling in the vehicle, as well as acting as if a proper gunner gaining their bonus dmg as turret operator? Or will they essentially be half gimped forever as assault DS main turret controller?

no dude dropships are nothing like havs without ammo. havs have some ehp :)

I must have missed something important, because I was under the impression that the only new thing DS's were getting was a pilot operated turret. If I haven't missed anything, and that is the only change, then dropships will still be the same paper thin scapegoats to temporarily distract the enemy.

I'm sorry but my dropship crushing skills are easily outpacing my gunner's skills.

Drop ship that has 3200 shields and armour and can hang around for some forge hits and some missles. Sadly blue dots run away.

They don't care for the flying death trap. I don't wreck the thing either and the last time I lost one was because a RDV dropped on me. lol

Can't wait for cloaking and big maps

Thing is, dropships aren't what have to change. Maps have to change. Squad sizes have to change. Voice chat needs to be on by default.

Okay, certain features, such as a notification, clear notification, that the pilot wants to to exit the ship, and a way to actually acquire WP, would be nice. Flight instruments would be nice. Not exploding to small bumps against walls would be nice.

But without consideration of how to make the game work for dropships, no amount of tweaking the ship will change the fact that currently, maps favour ground vehicles so much more than dropships. Imagine a sprawling cityscape, crisscrossed by streets, low buildings and huge structures. Who would want to navigate that labyrinth? No one. Hence dropships.

Imagine dense jungles, the foliage keeping vision to a minimum and pools of acid and quicksand which don't kill, but can fatally distract you. Walk through that, or take a dropship?

Imagine a field pockmarked by blowholes which spewed hundreds of gallons of water every few minutes, a minefield. Would you drive your tank over that? No, but dropships can fly high enough that the blast of water will have lost all its force to gravity before it hits.

Imagine impassable ravines, mountain passes, fog, clouds, haze, ash from volcanoes, blindingly bright sunlight, murky dusk and twilight, multi-level complexes, maps separated by a range of mountains, with two valleys which allow access to the other half.

It has to be blatantly obvious that that dropship waiting at base spawn can get you someone faster than anything else before people understanding that it is meant to be paper thin, but when the map makes you the ghost of the trees, or the spectre of the fog, tank doesn't matter.

Drop ship that has 3200 shields and armour and can hang around for some forge hits and some missles. Sadly blue dots run away.