Regardless of the disappoint fact that Mr. Nobody is technically right (Yeah, people already are doing this Alex... ), I'd be all for adding a bit more variety to the D-mod collection. While I consider this whole list a bit overwhelming - and some of the concepts way too damning to ever be ignored, like removing a ship's system (Eww. Bad. No. Ship systems are a key way to make a ship unique.) - I do appreciate some of them, and could definitely see them working in-game.
For the sake of discussion, the ones that popped out to me first as "good ideas" are generally the ones that relate to weapon mods, especially the ones affecting turret turn rate and weapon/engine repair speed, as well as the reduced manoeuvreability one.. Those sound like they could sidle in alongside stock D-mods easily, on any old ship, without being either completely insignificant or overwhelmingly crushing.
i'll just quote this whole post, because i agree with literally everything in it. ^^
the only thing i'd like to add is that, even if adding a larger number of d-mods in general is undesired, the one d-mod i think is really missing is a shield-specific one. yes, Faulty Power Grid already indirectly affects the shield, but we also have 3 different hullmods that affect armor & hull durability, to a very large degree in combination. i feel, for well-shielded high-tech ships in particular, those 3 d-mods are often not a big deal, while for low-tech ships they can be devastating, and Faulty Power Grid alone isn't enough to even it out.
and unlike many of the suggestions in the OP, i'd say shield efficiency & upkeep (combined into the same d-mod) would count as "fairly broad ship stats that are as universally useful as possible".
it would also fit in nicely alongside Phase Coil Instability, even if the numbers aren't tuned to be quite as punishing (since PCI is introduced primarily to make pirate phase ships less crazy, iirc).
Reduced cargo/fuel is interesting, though. Unfortunately, since it has no effect on combat, it would be a "good" D-mod to have on pure combat ships. It really only affects transports/tankers negatively.
yep.. it could just be added as side effect of all d-mods though. a single one wouldn't be a big deal then, just as a single d-mod is (usually) not a huge deal for a combat ship, but having a few of them might make make a transport much less attractive.
could be explained with something along the lines of "makeshift replacement hardware for critical ship systems taking up cargo/fuel/crew space" or "parts of the ship becoming entirely unusable due to partially unrepaired damage in non-critical compartments" -- which would also fit thematically with the reduced upkeep costs, imo.
i imagine it would be unwise to store fuel in areas in danger of uninsulated flux surges, food in areas with strong radiation leaks, luxury goods in areas with missing extreme heat shielding, or crew in areas that
may occasionally undergo sudden, unscheduled depressurizing... unless it's a Pather ship, naturally.