04-10-2014, 04:55 AM
We have shipcompat. That's a thing now. Most people aren't thrilled with it, but I liked it.
At first.
See, I had been told that the implementation of shipcompat to control instances of overpowered loadouts (such as Magma shotgun Sabres) would mean that the tech chart could lighten up on the nerfs a bit.
Well clearly that never happened, and here we are.
So here's my proposal. Clearly technerf's not going anywhere, shipcompat's not going anywhere - but we can make them easier to use and less limiting.
All 90% cells get bumped up to 100% automatically. The most common response to complaints about a 90% cell is "oh, you won't even notice it." Then clearly the nerf isn't actually accomplishing anything and should be removed for simplicity's sake.
All 75% cells should be evaluated. If it's something the faction would realistically have at least some access to (as it is in most cases), it also becomes 100%.
Yes, I said it, 100%. We're dropping almost every non-blue/red cell.
IMG Small Ships and Guns: They sell their small craft to everyone. They don't even ask you to register it. Seriously, I'm not putting words in their mouths. You can fly up to South Shields, leave with a Nanda Devi, and they won't care who you are. There is no reason for any faction that can land on their bases to be unable to leave with a ship at full operational capacity. And as it turns out, that's almost every lawful faction and a couple unlawful too.
(that includes VR, of course, before anyone brings up my own biases, but also about a hundred other groups)
Liberty Rogue and Molly Ships: Here, I see a special case. They're very protective of their Barghests, as I understand it, and perhaps those should be in a special cell. I do think the other snubs should probably be open to other potential buyers; they already have limits in what they can equip anyway, but I'll let the factions in question chime in. I do think it worth noting though that they are currently a yellow cell.
GMG: Much like the IMG, they're pretty open about letting people use their stuff. Not quite as much, they prefer if you do some cleanup work for them first, but they're still pretty generous.
The Kusari Matter: Kusari ships have always had severe nerfs outside of 'home' because they've historically been balanced only against each other. Well now that they have a properly-sized shipline, we can work on fixing that and letting them out of their cage some.
No seriously why? Between shipcompat and the numerous redcells re: Gauls in Sirian ships and Sirians in Gallic ships, it's already covered. Remove engines from either techchart or shipcompat; having them on both invites accidental omissions when setting the numbers.
I'm not saying we need to remove the rules about offended factions being able to attack someone that has their equipment without permission. In fact I actually like that rule.
What I'm saying this for is twofold:
1. To make things simpler. It's a simple Yes or No, for most matters. Shipcompat will be called on for balance concerns, and lore concerns as appropriate (Gallic/Sirian tech incompatibility, scanners), but beyond that you don't need to fight with figuring out which cell a ship is in to figure out how much it's nerfed for you. I don't know about you, but when I see the Ahoudori, I don't expect it to be listed as dsy_dragon_gb.
2. To make more options that should be viable, viable. Freelancers should be able to use IMG gear without a problem - but 75% is a huge nerf for a combat ship. Usable? Sure, technically. But it's a nerf that's neither needed nor logical. And I doubt that Liberty would replace a Defiant's power core with a weaker one before sending it to Bretonia to help on the Gallic front, that'd be really kinda stupid of them.
Does this mean freelancers won't all stick with civilian ships? Yeah, almost certainly. Is that a bad thing? Well... no, not really. I was onboard iwth the Trader ID nerf of 4.85, because letting someone go everywhere in a 5k demonstrably had a negative impact on corporate factions. But freelancers in Lhotses aren't doing anything they can't do in Raven's Talons, they're just using a ship they may prefer for either aesthetics or RP reasons. The same is true of an Ageira Percheron, or a Hacker Hyena.
(yeah like anyone actually uses the hyena)
At first.
See, I had been told that the implementation of shipcompat to control instances of overpowered loadouts (such as Magma shotgun Sabres) would mean that the tech chart could lighten up on the nerfs a bit.
Well clearly that never happened, and here we are.
So here's my proposal. Clearly technerf's not going anywhere, shipcompat's not going anywhere - but we can make them easier to use and less limiting.
Outline
All 90% cells get bumped up to 100% automatically. The most common response to complaints about a 90% cell is "oh, you won't even notice it." Then clearly the nerf isn't actually accomplishing anything and should be removed for simplicity's sake.
All 75% cells should be evaluated. If it's something the faction would realistically have at least some access to (as it is in most cases), it also becomes 100%.
Yes, I said it, 100%. We're dropping almost every non-blue/red cell.
Specific Examples
IMG Small Ships and Guns: They sell their small craft to everyone. They don't even ask you to register it. Seriously, I'm not putting words in their mouths. You can fly up to South Shields, leave with a Nanda Devi, and they won't care who you are. There is no reason for any faction that can land on their bases to be unable to leave with a ship at full operational capacity. And as it turns out, that's almost every lawful faction and a couple unlawful too.
(that includes VR, of course, before anyone brings up my own biases, but also about a hundred other groups)
Liberty Rogue and Molly Ships: Here, I see a special case. They're very protective of their Barghests, as I understand it, and perhaps those should be in a special cell. I do think the other snubs should probably be open to other potential buyers; they already have limits in what they can equip anyway, but I'll let the factions in question chime in. I do think it worth noting though that they are currently a yellow cell.
GMG: Much like the IMG, they're pretty open about letting people use their stuff. Not quite as much, they prefer if you do some cleanup work for them first, but they're still pretty generous.
The Kusari Matter: Kusari ships have always had severe nerfs outside of 'home' because they've historically been balanced only against each other. Well now that they have a properly-sized shipline, we can work on fixing that and letting them out of their cage some.
Why Are Engines Even On The Techchart
No seriously why? Between shipcompat and the numerous redcells re: Gauls in Sirian ships and Sirians in Gallic ships, it's already covered. Remove engines from either techchart or shipcompat; having them on both invites accidental omissions when setting the numbers.
Closing
I'm not saying we need to remove the rules about offended factions being able to attack someone that has their equipment without permission. In fact I actually like that rule.
What I'm saying this for is twofold:
1. To make things simpler. It's a simple Yes or No, for most matters. Shipcompat will be called on for balance concerns, and lore concerns as appropriate (Gallic/Sirian tech incompatibility, scanners), but beyond that you don't need to fight with figuring out which cell a ship is in to figure out how much it's nerfed for you. I don't know about you, but when I see the Ahoudori, I don't expect it to be listed as dsy_dragon_gb.
2. To make more options that should be viable, viable. Freelancers should be able to use IMG gear without a problem - but 75% is a huge nerf for a combat ship. Usable? Sure, technically. But it's a nerf that's neither needed nor logical. And I doubt that Liberty would replace a Defiant's power core with a weaker one before sending it to Bretonia to help on the Gallic front, that'd be really kinda stupid of them.
Does this mean freelancers won't all stick with civilian ships? Yeah, almost certainly. Is that a bad thing? Well... no, not really. I was onboard iwth the Trader ID nerf of 4.85, because letting someone go everywhere in a 5k demonstrably had a negative impact on corporate factions. But freelancers in Lhotses aren't doing anything they can't do in Raven's Talons, they're just using a ship they may prefer for either aesthetics or RP reasons. The same is true of an Ageira Percheron, or a Hacker Hyena.
(yeah like anyone actually uses the hyena)