The Tempest thread (confirmed 100% weaponry free)

According to an extranet report in ME2, the Alliance apparently built more Normandy-class ships, such as the SSV Ain Jalut.

Since the Normandy design worked so well and played such a key role in the battle of the Citadel, it might have served as the template for new ship designs built afterwards. Sort of similar to how in real life, the original HMS Dreadnought was such a good design and became so iconic, it rendered the previous generation of ships obsolete, as well as make "Dreadnought" the term used to describe the entire generation of battleships it inspired.

What I'm especially interested in is the propulsion systems... I mean, all the AI ships are FTL capable, that's a given, but how will they get around inside the cluster, in between systems, without mass relays? Are all the systems just so close together?

Yay, I was hoping for a viewscreen, too! I now expect to be able to communicate with other ships/outposts with it!

Just being able to sit/stand and look out into the stars (normally or FTL) would be pretty cool for me, since I like just looking at the sky sometimes. In conversation, it would be a nice backdrop, but I'd be really pleased if it was the topic of conversation

They should have had a bartender, and they should have been voiced by one of the Inquisitors, since Mark Meer voiced DA:I's bartender And there should be one of the other Inquisitors as one of the people who hangs out in the galley Ahh, it's too bad they never had Krem talk to Cabot. Huge missed opportunity for meta-jokes, which I know Bioware loves.

Wow, props for going through the effort of making that tree! I know, because I did it once. Had to keep editing to get the lines to line up properly since the preview was different. Also, not quite the right conversation, but:

Nice Cassandra reference, too. Took me a minute to remember!

Anyway, you have a point. I understand ElementZero when he says he's not sure how you all sustain your hype so long! So when I catch up on this thread and see Kirky jump in with that never-ending enthusiasm, caps, emoticons, and TNG gifs, I can't help but grin The avatar helps get that across, too. Always good to see people excited for something, and I have to admit it can be contagious.

Hey, you never know! I met my girlfriend here after all  Or, not here, but you know. BSN.

Yeah I have a thing for the whole VTOL action, watching the landing gear compress under the weight. I also like the now visible thrusters of the ship as it touches down. I don't know if I'm alone here, but one thing I hope BioWare does right this time is the proportions of the ship being proper on the inside to reflect its exterior dimensions. The Normandy bugged me a bit with how far out the forward airlock stuck out when you looked at how it lined up (or rather didn't line up) with the exterior surface if you look from the canopy of the bridge. And don't get me started on how the cargo bay seems to be about as long as the walkway between the CIC and the bridge. I know this is super nitpicky, but it was just something that nagged at me a little. 

At least the Alliance Kodiak was on the right size.

source:masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/UT-47_Kodiak_Drop_Shuttle

I hope our Salarian pilot wears a Tempest cap, and makes jokes about human pilots.

Honestly, I can't help but feel that the bit about the number of people it can hold was made just to make that ridiculous clown car shuttle scene legit. 

The numbers are real and it did said it was cramped.

The only weird thing is how it was never said to where everyone was going. They could at least name dropped some other colony being attacked by the collectors that they were going to investigate.

The problem with this option is that a normal mission only has Shepard and 2 other squad members while the rest are left behind on the ship, but the Collectors can't take them or it destroys the whole suicide mission. Really, I don't think there was any truly good way to set the whole rescue/suicide mission up without doing a little back bending to drive the plot forward.