I would like to chime my opinion in, as well. I rather enjoyed the opportunity to take the shuttle out, and I think the scripting will add more “meat” to the missions as well as “flavor.”
By “meat,” I mean actualy parts of the mission that require the shuttle to make sense – transferring of supplies/ordinance from one ship to another, recovering cargo/lifepods/VIPs/Prisoners of War/etc.
“Flavor” comes in the RP – having an officer being in charge of the shuttle and docking bay – making sure pre-flight is done for the shuttle while helm is provisioning the main ship, depressurizing and opening docking bay doors, etc. On Lancer, we have extra “duties” that only really come out during roleplay. For example, Morlock is in charge of our Security force onboard and has them report to the docking hatch when transporting prisoners or other non-TSN-officer “guests.”
Lifepod recovery in the shuttle added more fun to the game for me, knowing that I was exposed in a relatively defenseless shuttle with combat not too far away. It was also a little more nerve-wracking (but still fun) when I realized that I had to wait for CIC to actually transfer the Lifepod aboard, not just run into it.
I also agree with Nhaima, in that I don’t expect a lot of fighter wing tactics given our current fleet configuration. However, I have served on non-TSN ships that have used fighters/shuttles quite effectively as drone screens and distractions for their mothership. Nhaima is probably the most experienced, bravest, bad-ass single-seat-ship pilot in the fleet right now. Her ability to tango an enemy fleet and lead them to a minefield or actually fly THROUGH a singularity is unparalleled. It’d be a shame if we let talent like that go to waste.