Thanks, just wanted some opinions.

I think some level of ship creep is good as I don't want to see everyone flying the same ship. For example light or entry level fighters we have the Aurora and Mustang, middle we have the 300i and Avenger, heavy upper end fighter Hornet and now Sabre. Just an example, and we also have the Cutlass, Xi'an Scout and Reliant. We have a lot of ships in this class that can be fighters or be multi purposed and I think that is good, it gives variation.

Kind of like in Eve, I think if I remember correctly starting out each faction had about 4-5 frigates, 2-3 cruisers, 2 battleships, and with a varying number of industrial (haulers) 1-4. So we had something like 16-20 frigates, 8-12 cruisers, 8 BS, and like 10 industrial. That is a pretty good start with a lot of variation as each faction had it's pros and cons with regards to weapons, armor, shields, speed, role, etc. With some ships being multi purposed better than others or fitting certain roles better than others but always with a tradeoff. Who remembers mining in a Caldari Bantam? Using a Vexor with mining drones? or Using my Amarr BS to pvp, rat in 0.0, then mine in it later.

I know as time goes on I'm sure CIG will have more ships that fill the same spot as other ships but I think it's a good thing as it gives people more choices. I don't want to see an Idris every time I see a frigate class ship, and I'm not sure if CIG has a set plan on how many or what type of ships they want from each faction/manufacturer. WE have a handful of Human manufacturers some more military based, others not so much, so I understand of course some manufacturers will pump out more combat oriented ships while others are more multi role utilitarian. I know the CIG model for ships doesn't fit as evenly as Eve's as their model is different how ships are allocated.

At one point in Eve I ended up being a collector and then I realized I never even flew the majority of my ships, and it seemed like a big waste to me. Less is more, and liquidated down to a small handful that I would fly for roles that I enjoyed, or could use for a few purposes. So I guess I said all that to say, just trying to keep the ship count down to what I think fits for me haha.

In regard to the current collectors in SC, the ones that are amassing huge piles of ships, I keep seeing them say things on the forum like, I will have my 2 wingmen fly this ship or that ship, I still have not seen CIG say 100% we will even have wingmen piloting our other ships. That was something said ages ago and all current references to npc by CIG these days have been for crew which still they don't say much about. At first I thought the wingmen idea was cool, but now, I don't like the idea as much. If it is something along the lines of hiring one, in a set ship, skill, for a certain duration that seems alright. Like hiring as an escort, or to help fill in for a big mission if you and your buddy would feel comfortable with just 1 more ship to help cover you.

Anyway, thanks guys, I might pick up a couple that fit what I'm looking for and then wait for it to settle a bit as you mentioned and see how things change.