Terminology change? Yes! Flashing neon YES!
My main point is to use "terminology" for guiding comprehension. Thus, similar ships must have similar names (or common prefix). Thus, the notion of unit families.
I'll link my old ideas about this:
* Sentinels (http://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,18976.0.html)
* Devices (http://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,18977.0.html)
On the topic of the triangle ships, I agree "missile frigate" has to change. However I'm not very interested in the discussion around "battle cruiser", "capital ships", etc, as long as there is a common name/prefix/suffix for a family sharing mechanisms. Also, if the size is the only common denominator, Size (http://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,18913.0.html) must be the only common denominator (I mean: don't search a name to group spirecrafts, golems and dire guardians). And as said, as many ships will individually move, finding names for individual ships isn't something crucial right now.
On the "Core" matter, I can only agree with more coherency. The red "IV" and purple "V" are very apt at conveying levels of power. Also, MkV-only units might have no "mark V" in their name (and not "Core" neither!!!) but just the purple "V" under their icon.
I would also chime in a more diffuse issue: the useless words like "orbital" or "planetary" or "space" or stuff. Or else we could have "space advanced orbital factory" and "space standard fighter ship". Speaking of which, either make name them just "fighters" or give all triangle "standard": Std Fighter, Std Bomber, Std Frigate (and then we have the tachyon fighter, the electric bomber, the beam frigate, etc).
I also want to add the concern about racial naming. (Don't quote that sentence out of its context.) Instead of having AI XXX Guardian, Zenith XXX Golem/unit, Neinzul stuff, I would like to (1) see it everywhere (I want to know if the grenade launcher / MLRS / vorticular cutlas was invented by Humans or the AI, etc) and (2) see it separated from the name. Instead of "Neinzul Youngling Commando", it would be "Youngling Commando" with, somewhere in it's ID card, "Neinzul". Instead of "Zenith Electric Bomber", "Electric Bomber" is interesting enough for a name, and Zenith doesn't disappear.
That would also require some subtleties: the Neinzul Starship, for instance, is a Human design made with Neinzul technology. It doesn't produce younglings but drones. So the "racial" line in the ID card would display something like "Human (retrofit from Neinzul)" (or instead of retrofit, scavenged, adapted, etc).
Also, that would require some work for names like "[race] [category]". The Zenith Starship, for instance. Here is a small list of suggestions. (The origin race in parenthesis would be in the ID card.)
* Zenith Starship -> MLRS Starship (Human/Zenith)
* Spire Starship -> Photon Lance Starship (Human/Spire) -- The Beam Starship is already an AI design.
* Neinzul Enclave Starship -> Drone Starship (Human/Neinzul)
* Zenith Devastator -> Devastator Starship (Zenith) -- This one even lacks "starship" in its name.
* Spire Corvette -> Modular Starship (Spire) -- It's a starship, so it's not a corvette.
Last little nitpicking bits: often the name of a ship is "[weapon] [chassis]" or "[perk] [chassis]": missile frigate, beam frigate, teleport battlestation, stealth battleship, etc. However, some lack a [chassis] part (Teleporting leech what?, MLRS what?, Paralyzer what?). I suggest either embracing it and streamlining it (I wish to see more kinds of battlestations, planes, bots, etc) or removing entirely: if it's a starship, it ends with "starship"; if it's a guardian, it ends with "guardian"; if it's a fleetship, it doesn't end with a [chassis] name at all. Battlestations, bots, frigates, etc will cease to a thing. There will be a big need for patching everything, but with naming a ship after its eapon and perk, that sounds feasible (paralyzer, polarizer, mirror, etc). I feel I can do it. Even, I'll do it right now: I'll be back with a full list of renamed units with no [chassis] or [race] in the name. Only [weapon/perk/something] [family].
(Just a little random bit of stuff: what about "missile frigate" -> "lancer"? Fighter, Bomber, Lancer?)
EDIT: done. Tedious and marginally interesting, but just to prove it's doable.
Chassis names are not allowed (ship/frigate/bot/etc).
Race names are moved into the ID card and are not allowed in the name.
Perks are allowed.
Weapons are allowed (unless they are too banal).
Classes are allowed and mandatory; starships, guardians, etc. Fleetships have no "fleetship" in their name and thus have no class in their name.
Roles are allowed (raider, bomber, booster) but discouraged.
The "<10 rule" is a proposal to move all ships with a cap < 10 in the starship family.
Triangle ships are:
Standatd Fighter -> Fighter
Bomber
Missile Frigate -> Lancer
Acid Sprayer
Anti-Armor Ship -> Anti-Armor
Armor Booster
Armor Ship -> Beetle
Attractor Drone -> Attractor
Autocannon Minipod -> Acid Swarmer (Didn't add "stealth" but could have.)
Bomber
Bulletproof Fighter
Decoy Drone -> Decoy
Electric Shuttle -> Tesla Coil
EtherJet Tractor (Actually, this one fits.)
Eye Bot -> Eye Infiltrator
Grenade Launcher
Impulse Reaction Emitter
Infiltrator
Laser Gatling
Lightning Torpedo Frigate -> Lightning Torpedo Launcher (or Starship if <10 rule)
MLRS
Micro Parasite
Missile Frigate -> Lancer
Munitions Booster
Neinzul Railpod -> Railpod
Neinzul Scapegoat -> Scapegoat
Neinzul Youngling Commando -> Youngling Commando
Neinzul Youngling Fireflie -> Youngling Fireflie
Neinzul Youngling Nanoswarm -> Youngling Nanoswarm
Neinzul Youngling Shrike -> Youngling Shrike
Neinzul Youngling Tiger -> Youngling Tiger
Neinzul Youngling Vulture -> Youngling Vulture
Neinzul Youngling Weasel -> Youngling Weasel
Parasite
Powerslaver
Raider
Raptor
Saboteur
Sentinel Frigate -> Vigilant
Shield Bearer
Sniper
Space Plane -> Radar Scrambler (??)
Space Tank -> Tank
Speed Booster
Spider Bot -> Spider
Spire Armor Rotter -> Armor Rotter
Spire Blade Spawner -> Blade Spawner
Spire Gravity Drain -> Gravity Drain
Spire Gravity Ripper -> Gravity Ripper
Spire Maw -> Maw
Spire Mini Ram -> Mini Ram
Spire Railcluster -> Railcluster
Spire Stealth Battleship -> Stealth Flamer (or Starship if <10 rule)
Spire Teleporting Leech -> Teleporting Leech
Spire Tractor Platform -> Tractor Interceptor (or Starship if <10 rule)
Standard Fighter -> Fighter
Tachyon MicroFighter
Tackle Drone Launcher
Teleport Battle Station -> Teleporter
Teleport Raider
Translocator
Vampire Claw
Vorticular Cutlasse
Zenith AutoBomb -> AutoBomb
Zenith Beam Frigate -> Beamer
Zenith Bombard -> Bombard
Zenith Chameleon -> Chameleon
Zenith Electric Bomber -> Electric Bomber
Zenith Hydra -> Hydra
Zenith Medic Frigate -> Medic
Zenith Mirror -> Mirror
Zenith Paralyzer -> Paralyzer
Zenith Polarizer -> Polarizer
Zenith Reprocessor -> Reprocessor
Zenith Siege Engine -> Siege Engine
Zenith Viral Shredder -> Viral Shredder
Starships:
Flagship -> Flag Starship
Heavy Bomber Starship -> Bomber Starship
Leech Starship
Plasma Siege Starship -> Plasma Starship
Raid Starship
Riot Control Starship
Spire Starship -> Photon Lance Starship
Zenith Starship -> MLRS Starship
Cloaker Starship
Neinzul Enclave Starship -> Drone Starship
Scout Starship
Lightning Starship
Neinzul Combat Carrier -> Combat Carrier
Protector Starship
Spire Corvet -> Modular Starship
Translocator Starship
Zenith Devastator -> Devastator Starship
Beam Starship
Warbird Starship
Core Starship