Swimming against the recent Hype Flow about Origin's newly praised Beauty Queen
Come to where Style meets Substance - or the lack thereof?
The Origin 100 series has been receiving most favorable reviews across the board since its debut last week. Being early when considering the timing at which the
line-up is being launched, this may seem somewhat surprising to some. It is, after all, for good reasons the large manufacturers prefer launching their novel craft, especially smaller frame ones,
alongside the far more prestigious fairs or imperial wide holidays. But as we all know, with the 2950 fair having been postponed, all is a bit different this year.
So, we can safely say that, with its early launch of the base 100i, the missile armed 125a and the 135c, Origin has most definitely landed the eagle. After all, aren't today's experts and critics unison remark surrounding these three newcomers as the fresh breeze the racing
powerhouse had been actively seeking for so long? A bridge from the uptown client over to the ambitious upstart with a sense for style?
But, if we look back in time just a little further, this grand display of public favor happens to be quite a recent development. In fact, the 100 series' 2948 reveal has often been considered a
rather chaotic, illogical and seemingly quickly assembled mess of stats and dimensions on the basis of Origin grabbing the last straw in getting out of the bad press in those days:.
Something along the lines of: "So, the 600i launch was a debacle. Something must be done. A Starter Ship is something: Let's build the 100 Line."
Less surprisingly all of that has apparently not played into any of the reviews published over the recent days. We fear however, that
collective amnesia is a substantially costly thing! And this remains a basic truth throughout the ages.
"Even the more hard core Origin Jumpworks aficionados are still to forgive the blunders of the past." - Ed Turner - #ships_2949_Expo
Disclaimer: Photo material adapted from various sources.
A Breadcrumb Trail
Following last year's lackluster echo by parts of the embedded press and well-heeled fair
goers at the 2949 Intergalactic Expo, Origin seems to have been struggling to find its way back to the legendary design grandeur of the decades passed. However, the acclaimed
'createu'r' and manufacturer of luxury ship designs such as the classic racing bolt M50 and the all time favourite touring series along the first iteration of its household 300 Series
line-up has been far from sticking one's hands in one's pocket. Whether that has been successfully so, remains to be another story. Can the contestant of the 100 line truly live up to all that
its larger brothers of the 300 series are loved for?
Back into the limelight
In the end, what remains are the ships themselves. So, how does the "aspiring 100 Series" perform? Is this shiny speeder worth a spaceman's hard earned
salary?
The answer is as intuitive as original. Namely and unsurprisingly it is a recurring pattern of our reviews: The old "Yes and No".
What both the up-armed variant and its cargo carrying sibling, the 125a and 135c, respectively bring to the table is in each case quite an
admirable added value. The former comes with more missiles; the latter triples its loadout capacity - at a considerably higher price point, of course.
And it is this price point that critics see as problematic, when one takes into account the far more economic - while not overly ergonomic - competition by parts of other, by ship salesmen
often so called "Tier One" starters ships. And let us not forget the stiff adversity by parts of the old time UEE fleet work horse, the Avenger Titan - which, let it be said here and
now, be it old competitors or novel aspirants, be it armament, cargo capacity or price point - still beats all and hands down so!
So far, our testers have only found one significant advantage in the 100 series compared to Tier One starters such as the mustang (apart from lacking onboard sleeping commodities) and Tier Two starters like the Avenger in its most basic outfit: The 100 Series' snub-fighteresque small frame make it an ideal ship for carrier capable capital ships... the Origin Jumpworks 890J "Jump" springs to mind.
Padding the Line-Up: The 100 "i" variant has become Origin's dirty, little cash cow
But what about the basic 100i you ask. All of this lengthy introduction for a ship on the lowest price point of the line-up? Is it not the usual thing to have
that least expensive also means less bells and whistles? Naturally so. But this time it is different. Where Origin's engineers were eager to boast about the 125 "A" variant's superbly used space
in form of its missile launcher as well as the 135 "C" variant's cargo surplus making use of the available space - they were very evasive when asked about what the 100 "I" variant carries
in its belly. To say the whole truth, they dodged giving an answer almost entirely, merely uttering how 100 "I" variants shall have better "maneuverability" over its otherwise significantly
superior siblings.
Does this lastly mean that Origin is artificially padding it's line-up? We at Watchdog believe it does! But don't take our word for it - make up your own minds and follow us deeper down into the
Tevarin cave.
Watchdog - we investigate so you can sleep safely in your bunk -
And even now in the year 2950, with all three representatives of the 100 line-up currently undergoing the thoroughest of trials by the expert pilots of the
space motor press just days prior to these ship's hands-on release to the general public, new questions are on the rise. Thus far not answered to our complete satisfaction.
Have engineers at Origin tampered with the entire series' maneuverability to fabricate a performance gap between the 100 and the higher priced 300 line of ships?
So, following said statements made and given as fact by parts of Origin employees in 2948, the 100 series base variant will be made more maneuverable. The reason
behind this being compensation for not carrying an internal missile or cargo module.Yet, we asked, how is this supposed to be achieved?
According to the then published records of the 100 series stats, the base variant has a maximum speed momentum of 210 m/s, which would place it in the middle
ground of all three variants. And this should similarly affect maneuverability specifications. Oddly enough, following flight trials, members of the press mocked even the higher value variants as
"handling like a brick".
Our final veridict: You should pass
In all honesty: We cannot substantiate any of this with hard evidence. But there remains a bad after taste.
What certainly underpins this report is the fact Origin has made the base "I" variant artificially worse than the other craft in this
product line.
Internal space already proven to actually being available within the "i" variant has been deliberately chosen to withhold any access for cargo allocation or put to good use to mount weapons
or components in its place. Instead Origin 100i customers are being sold their ship in a phony attempt, suggesting this "poached" entirely unused empty space without any purpose to it carries
value in that their ship would perform less badly than the other, higher priced variants.
So far, no proof for added value
Despite rigid testing and investigating third party reports, we have to conclude the 100 "i" variant's price tag to be the result of
Origin arbitrarily having decided to pad its line-up from 2 ships of actual value to inflating it to include a 3rd, an under-performing and overpriced ship, the latter being the 100
"i".
Not only is its mere existence proof for there being no added value to the 100 "i", but even worse: It proves that Origin have even snatched otherwise available ship's value away from their
customers. We can only hope there will be a modular solution in the future, allowing those customers who purchased a base variant to upgrade the ventral rear of their 100 "i" class with an
after-service cargo hold or missile system.
At a glance: Other the related links you may need
⧨ More info on the the 100i
In case anyone missed it, "The Origin 100 i"
⧨ Style meets Substance
- An Origin Story - follow the impressive reveal of "the entire 100 Series" line-up.
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