Gazz wrote:
I see some ways to make them desirable in other areas but that would be way off topic.
Based on the original statement, it's not off-topic. A larger ship, i.e. one with more jump range, would be better
in terms of jump travel. That's why it makes for an easier start, for those who want to jump around right away.
However, it may well NOT be better in other areas, such as sub-FTL speed and manoeuverabilty. If they both have the same engine, then the smaller ship will be a better performer at sub-FTL assuming Newton's 2nd Law. I'm already presuming that the pseudo-physics is ignoring Newton's 1st Law like most space games i.e. we can fly around like aircraft in space. Apart from the excellent
Orbiter simulator, I don't know of anything that is fully Newtonian.
So in general, larger ships will be more sluggish (sub-FTL) than smaller ones if they use the same technology. I suggested a larger, more jump-capable one, purely to allow an easier start for those who may want it. I think that's a perfectly legitimate thing to do, and doesn't imply any general rule that larger ships are
always better than smaller ones. If you want to argue that a large start ship should also have better technology engines so it's just as manoeuvrable, making it even easier, by all means do so!
Edit===
So really, this is a specific quantitative (range) argument, not a general qualitative (better/worse) one.