Factorio Forums

TL;DR

Add stack or bulk long-handed inserters using the purple color formerly used by filter inserters to 2.0/SA

What ?

The removal of filter and filter-stack inserters in 2.0 has opened up 2 inserter colors, one of which has been reused to add the new stack(ing) inserter. There is an opportunity to add another new inserter type, and a larger-capacity long-handed inserter seems appropriate, useful, and in keeping with Factorio's existing themes and challenge. Depending on desired balance, this could be either of the bulk or stack type, could be the same rotation speed as standard, long-handed, or bulk inserters, and could have the same or reduced bonus capacity as compared to standard-length bulk/stack inserters. The use of purple here for a new long-handed inserter would also be nice visually, as purple is near the red of long-handed inserters on the color wheel and is an underused shade in the currently revealed graphics

Why ?

The multiplicative additional processing speeds available in the expansion require much faster item handling, and announced solutions so far leave a niche that is hard to fill with current inserter capabilities at max speeds, especially when interacting directly with trains and their necessary 2x2 offsets. The soon-to-be unused purple inserter color presents an opportunity for increased inserter throughput and potential new solutions without trivializing item movement challenges.

I don't feel as though this is needed, and may just trivialize everything. I like the fact that there isn't an LH version of everything as it actually challenges you to think and plan out a design a bit. This suggestion, to me, ranks in the same territory as other suggestions like having 1x1 90 degree undergrounds, lane splitters, or any of the other suggestions that are meant to remove a piece of the puzzle.

Oh, and apparently this was requested and rejected before: viewtopic.php?f=71&t=98875

With filter splitters it's not even hard to play without long-handed inserters at all.