Reworked turrets for 3.0
C.R. admits that there is currently nearly no advantage of manning the conni with 5 people against 5 people with a Freelancer (bad example ;D. Would have said Hornets or Sabers), but this is of course planned to change. In the future ship systems get damaged and have to be repaired. In a fight that could mean, that you live longer. In the current alpha, the connie gets destroyed pretty quick even if there are only 2 enemies. This will change. In the future, big ships will take much more longer to blow up. But this means that you also need more people. For example: One controls the ship, the other the turret and another one extinguishes fire. This sort of gameplay is one of the biggest things, which we want in 3.0.
For players who want to play alone: We have NPC's. But you have to pay them so that not everyone is flying with a huge ship with npc's through the verse. NPC's play a big role already in Squadron 42. They develop them so that they can fill out a specific role on a ship. But they aren't included in 3.0. But maybe they get them in the game with another Patch for 3.0 (not sure if he means 3.0.1 or 3.1).
Gamestar asks when does C.R. personally want S42 to release. C.R.: "2017, but not early this year".
Gamestar asks what C.R. is looking forward to in 2017. Answer: S42 and 3.0. They both are huge milestones. And especially S42 will leave a deep impression. With this he means especially the characters wich you will meet. Players are allowed to spend time with characters and when the story is accelerating to the end, you should know who you like and who not. And if something sad happens with characters it has an emotional impact on you.
If the first Episode is ready, it will be much easier to produce more content and improve the graphics.
Small Spoiler In the first episode you will not be on/in one of the big Vanduul ships (of course you will battling them. Just no boarding etc.). But this will change in the 2 next Episodes. This is also the reason why they have to build the interior.
Other games after S42 are already planned. These Stories could be about other cool characters beside the military that may have already be seen in the lore. For example Kid Crimson.
Gamestar asks, how cities like Terra Prime will work in 3.0. C.R. answers: Some time ago when people extracted files from the game, Terra Prime should be only allowed to be flying at from a specific angle. Because of this, areas near the "road" where highly detailed and further away objects not. But this changed. Now you can fly to Terra Prime from every angle (over Terra Prime still with restricted paths). But this means that the city has to be fully detailed and fleshed out.
For cities, they are working on architecture-sets. With them, the artist can "paint" whole house blocks. They are working on tools that allow them to fill planets real quick. They are of course still developing these tools. With these tools in place, there will be many extra locations and adventures to experience. For example, you crash on a planet and have to survive a whole day on this planet and the ecosystem until someone receives your signal and rescues you. This is the reason why C.R. thinks that the fps, flying and planets will work perfectly together and will offer the players an experience like in no other game.
Gamestar is curious about the underwater world. C.R. says that this is an interesting idea and that this was already discussed internally but they want to release the game first before working on that. But you will definitely be able to swim. And there will be boats and some ships will be landable on the water.
With the new A.I. planned for 3.0 there may be nps'c at grimhex that will kill people who kill other people without a reason. That is needed because even as an outlaw you don't want to get shot instantly when you leave the station. (maybe similar to the security at olissar). There will be a combination out of green Zones where weapons are deactivated and areas where NPC's enforce rules. Unsocial behaviour will be more difficult. There will be a bounty on bad people with the new reputation system (correct translation? german: Rufsystem). To make ganking more unattractive there will be a combination out of economic factors and gameplay.
insurance will not always give you instantly a new ship after blowing up. Maybe after 2, 3 times you have to wait. And bigger ships will always take longer. You have to watch out for your ship and it should have consequences when blowing up, especially through stupid behaviour.
In the future you can mark yourself for pvp-action so that in some zones you can get attacked and attack other.
People will have an impact on the verse. As soon as the universe is functioning, there will be big ingame events that can form the universe. When players are doing something or orgs are battling, they see this and react. This goes so far, that they want gamemasters that can start events. They want news broadcasts about current events even with live-mocap. That is his ultimate dream for the game.
New ships will be introduced through ingame events like the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo. There will be official races and Sataball matches (Sataball after 3.0)
With 3.0 and the planets, the most part is done (underlying tech)