Skill Discussions

Why do you want skill reimbursement?
The skill is still useful, it will still exist (with the same multiplier), it will still have benefit in that it boosts your scanning ability, increasing strength, reducing time and deviation.

Train Reading comprehension to at least level IV.

They are not changing the training time modifier the only thing they are changing is a brand new character will have Astrometrics already trained to level I.

So the training time modifier will still be 3x not 1x.

Actualy, OP does raise a point although he doesn't grasp the changes fully.

People who have trained all their Astrometrics support skills will see their effectiveness reduced. Currently Astrometrics will give you 1 more active probe. I know lots who haven't trained that to level V but did train Astrometrics support skills to level V. You don't need Astrometrics to lvl V, scanning with 5 probes works fine.

If I read the DEV blog correctly these Astrometrics support skills will be less effective (in most cases things like Astrometric Rangefinding and such the skill bonus will go from 10% per skill level to 5% per skill level).

To get to the current level of effectiveness they now need to train Astrometrics as well. Not exactly what the OP is implying but still something to look into.

True, with the new summer patch there will be additional items for mid slots (not sure about the low slots) that will enhance scanning. People who have trained all there Astrometric support skills to level V will basicly be "overskilled" after the patch.

Those that have, better start sceaming FIRE now or CCP will not reimburse you anything

The scaning skills are still useful in game. For example it means with all my skills trained up to level 4-5. I can be very effective in a standard ship rather always needing to switch out to my pimped up covert opsfor scanning. Also it's still pretty hard to scan down other ships and your scan skills are critical to combat scanning.

PS- The people who have the right to be outraged are the people with a lot of isk in sister core probes, and scanning rigs, but that's eve for you.

While I agree (and have posted several times in the test feedback thread suggesting this) that sigs should be weakened or otherwise made harder (in terms of the game math) to scan down, characterizing this as a significant departure from the current situation on TQ is disingenuous. It requires a trivial amount of SPs and fitting compromises to scan down all but the hardest sigs now, and it still will after the patch.

You're also implicitly suggesting that the ability to do it at all is equivalent to the ability to do it quickly and efficiently, rendering any skill or bonus beyond the bare necessity to 100% a sig moot. This is intellectually dishonest. Being able to scan a sig down faster/in fewer attempts still provides additional value beyond simply being able to pinpoint it at all.

I agree with the general notion that sigs - PvE sigs in particular - are too easy to pinpoint now. I agree that this should be addressed in some way. I don't agree with this hyperbolic nonsense that it renders the support skills worthless, however, and no, nobody deserves a refund for this, just as they do not deserve a refund for any other gameplay change that alters the value of a skill.

Datacore farmers did not get a refund when they nerfed that. Titan pilots didn't get a refund when they changed DDs. SB pilots didn't get their cruise missile skills refunded when they changed to torps. Armageddon pilots aren't going to get their large energy SPs refunded.

Things change. You get a refund when they remove skills from the game wholesale (and, god, I bet they regret ever breaking the seal on refunds at all, by now), not for every gameplay change that inflicts a little butthurt.

It does not matter that you FEEL the skill is no longer of use. The fact is that it still does something in the game and can still be of benefit to you. Get over it.

How does that pertain to a stealth bomber change from, what, 4? years ago, exactly?

And even if the cruise missile buff of 2013 had any relationship, at all, to the SB torpedo change of 2009, how would a "really huge buff" to cruise missiles compensate stealth bomber pilots who can no longer use cruise missiles on their stealth bombers?

I'm just going to assume that you're too new to actually know what was being referenced.

No, it was pretty much off the rails to begin with and, as the OP, that's mostly your fault.

They are not changing the rank of the astrometrics skill.

It's still going to be a rank 3 skill. Level is not rank. Level is how many points you have in the skill. Rank is the skill's training time multiplier.

New characters will start with Astrometrics, the rank 3 skill, at level 1, which you interpreted as a reduction of rank.

Indeed. Just checked, Astrometric Rangefinding is a rank 8 skill and Astrometric Pinpointing and Acquisition are both rank 5 skills. Seeing their effectiveness will be halved and that having Astrometrics at level V is actualy enough it seems these skills are more or less obsolete.

The probing skills look to be getting hit HARD with the nerf bat. Astrometric Rangefinding's (you know, the rank 8 skill) effective bonus is being HALVED! 27+ days of training to get it to level 5, and it is being bent over and raped by the nerf bat. Sucks for people that trained it.