What is ship balance based on, is there a formula, which ship is the baseline, and what generalisation is used between classes to balance ships?asked by Pheebs

Ciao Pheebs, thanks for asking and for being curious about what we do!

Balancing a deeply complex system like spaceships in Star Citizen is not an easy task, as our flight model is one of the most gameplay-rich systems out there, but I'll try to walk you through our process a little bit and hopefully clear up some doubts!
(Spoiler: I wish it was just a single formula! But life is never that easy! :smile: )
As a starting point, we first identify the intended experience of the ship, whether it’s meant to be a big cargo hauler, a small and nimble fighter with low durability but high performance, or a heavy industrial vehicle.
Once we have that experience defined from the initial brief, we ask ourselves: "What performance frame best fits the ship’s role to deliver that experience directly into your hands? To do this, we use our Archetype system, which generally defines a high-level ship’s performance frame by considering factors like its size and intended role.
After that, we dive deeper into tuning to create a more bespoke experience, taking into account multiple additional factors such as the Manufacturer's design philosophy, special characteristics, lore consistency, and more.
Finally, when a ship goes live (or when its tuning needs adjusting because it's not fully delivering the intended experience), we reiterate on it, using a combination of player feedback, internal reports, and gameplay statistics gathered directly from your play sessions!

I hope this post sheds some light on the process and satisfied your curiosity!
Ultimately, our mighty Jared is planning a more in-depth presentation on this exact topic in a couple of months, so stay tuned!

Fly safe, and see you in the 'Verse!
Mattia