EVE General Discussion

If CCP's 'barge buff' goal was to kill off Hulkageddon? Congrats, Mission Accomplished.

If CCP's goal was to balance the Exhumer/barge classes? Bigtime Miserable Failure.

Prior to August 8, we would find a fair number of both Macks and Hulks.
Today mining is turning into Mackinaw online.

Why? Simple.

Miners only care about three things: Cargo, Yield, EHP. And not equally.
After scanning thousands of Hulks/Macks over the years, i found:

-Cargo fits (about 60% of the time)
-Yield fits (about 30% of the time)
-Ehp fits (about 10% of the time)

Clearly, Cargo is the most 'desirable trait'.

So, enter the August 8 Mining Barge fail-patch:

Each 'trait' became the specialty of a different Exhumer.

Hulk = Yield Exhumer
Mack = Cargo Exhumer
Skiff = EHP Exhumer.

Heres the problem:
When you rank each exhumer by 'trait', the imbalance becomes clear. Imagine its the Olympics and gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded for each characteristic.

Cargo event, (most desired trait): mack #1, skiff #2, hulk #3
Yield event, (2nd most important): hulk #1, mack #2, skiff #3
Ehp event, (3rd most important): skiff #1, mack #2, hulk #3.

Mackinaw is #1, #2 and #2. (a gold and two silvers, with the gold in the most important category)
Hulk is #1, #3 and #3, (a gold and two bronzes, and distant 3rds at that.)
Skiff is #1, #2 and #3, (gold, silver, bronze - a nice balance if the mack wasn't 'just better')

Mackinaw clearly comes out well ahead of the other two.
Not only is it by a large margin, the best in the most important category, its a strong second in the others. Hulks and Skiffs fall by the wayside as the Mackinaw becomes the obvious choice.

This same mistake is repeated in the t1 Mining Barges as well.

(Note to resident isd: here's where i provide a helpful solution, hopefully placing this thread outside of your ever-flexible definition of a rant)

Easiest solution?
Swap the EHP of the Hulk and the Mackinaw.

Each Exhumer becomes: 1st in one category, 2nd in another, and 3rd in the last.
1-2-3 for each Exhumer, and the goal of tiericide is achieved - 3 exhumers without a 'obvious' best choice.

While the Mackinaw will still likely be the most popular (best in cargo) the imbalance would not be quite so obviously pronounced.

As a bonus, the abusive 'AFK' nature of the Mackinaw would be balanced by its lower EHP and vulnerability to solo ganks when failfit. pit the natural desire to lazy-AFK mine vs higher risk of getting ganked. Hulk miners earn their keep through cargo management, Mackinaw miners earn it by fitting tank and watching out for danger.

Its Balance 101 - Class dismissed. Study harder next time, devs.

Oh, and i'll do a pre-emptive strike: Am i mad? No.