Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Core Idea:

- Implement a signature radius modifier ("bloom") to the activation effects of warfare links.

Peripheral Ideas:

- This effect amount should stack with the number of active links.

- This effect may be diminished or eliminated by a role bonus for Command Ships.

Notes:

- Only the signature radius of the ship providing boosts will be affected.

- The effect of the Evasive Maneuvers link should be kept in mind when balancing. Lokis should not be unfairly punished for this idea.

- This idea acknowledges and appreciates the presence of links in general and does not want to diminish their effectiveness, merely to increase their vulnerability.

- This idea acknowledges and appreciates the presence of links that are active from within a Force Field and does not wish to diminish the value for the investment.

Hugging stations and stargates are methods of evasion that should also remain available to booster pilots and ships. That session change is the imbalance of a much, much, cheaper ship to neutralize a much more expensive one.

I think that a ship which only has one purpose should do it the best in its field. Command Ships are, by and large, still useful while on grid while anything breathing on a boosting T3 will kill it. I do not mind the booster configuration and the disadvantages it has.

But perhaps I'm going off-topic. I believe that this iteration is still worthwhile, bringing booster pilots into the fold of "things I wouldn't mind my main doing" and balancing the risk and reward.

Yes, the 6-link is what I'm referring to.

Nothing else in that post is worth replying to.

Let me sum up your idea so far:

Off grid boosting should remain mostly unchanged.... You want to increase their sig radius when they activate their links:

Let's examine this in detail:

Why boost sig radius? Well, there are two major effects this will have:
1.) The ships takes more damage if it actually is in a fight. If on grid, they become easier to lock and easier to hit with BS sized weapons (or larger). The few people that do fly a boosting T3 On GRID will now do so at increased peril, because they can't sig tank very well if they are boosting. You mention not "penalizing" the loki, but fail to elaborate on what you mean. How do possibly "boost the signature" of boosting ships without first and foremost hurting the few brave people that actually take boosting ships onto the field of battle?

2.) It will make them much easier to scan down, specifically so "safe spotted" boosters are in real danger of being scanned down. This by itself isn't a bad idea, but you then go on to state how activating links inside a POS shield is completely acceptable. Now, what does this mean in practice? It means that a roaming gang that wishes to bring a booster is at severe risk of losing that booster to enemy probers. While anyone that "lives" in the system and has a POS setup is completely free to experience boost at it's full potency, completely in a protected manner. Furthermore, there are other techniques to make scannable boosting ships safe without a POS. For example, you put the ship inside a gated plex, and power off into space. Anyone that probes and warps to them, lands on the gate, making your boosting alt pretty damn safe. So tell, what exactly are you remedying with this change?

Finally, I want you to realize that the net effect of the changes is to drive boosting T3's into POS safety areas rather than encourage them to play on the field of battle. Is this really the result you want, or think is a compromise?

The result I personally want, is to get boosting ships on the field of battle. Barring that, I suggested allowing "off grid boosting" in a diminished capacity while requiring a synergy between the boosting and boosted to get the full effect of the booster. That would go a long way to balance "off grid boosting".

Now, you might say, "OGB is moreless fine as it is, and 5% per level is peachy given the 3-4 months of training you spent maxing out your link skills", however I'm tell you it is NOT. To summarize the 200 threads that elaborate on how OGB'ers are imbalanced (if you bother to do a forum search), you'd realize that a safed up ship that orbits inside a POS shield and requires no further input from you after you log it in and turn on its mods, yet gives every person in your fleet amazing, game imbalancing boosts. Think about it, a 3 link tengu provides 15% more Shields, 35% more Shield Resists and 70% more shield repping. That's like giving every ship in Fleet a CDFE Rig, an Anit-EM, Anti-Therm, Anti-Exp, Anti-Kin Resist Rig, 2x CD Operational Solidifier Rigs, and 3x CD Capacitor Safeguard Rigs.

Do you really think "increasing the signature radius" of boosting ships will do ANYTHING to balance them????? Especially when they can still safely provide boost from within a POS force field?

This is NOT a compromise, it's a joke at best!!!

What about classing them as weapons? This does not allow them to work inside a POS, also locks them out from jumping or docking for 1 minute. Would make activating links much more of a choice rather than "always on."

off-grid boost has to go. Clear and simple.
Worst mechanic ever.

I wholeheartedly agree with one caveat: Mining. For off-grid boosting to be removed something needs to be done to make mining boosting feasible. I know some people don't care about mining but considering the change of removing OGB from the game as a whole requires considering miners, whether you like them or not. Mind you, that's a discussion for other threads.

I do think off grid boosting is crazy though. If someone is positively affecting the fleet they are negatively affecting the opposing fleet and therefore should be able to be shot at. In my mind it is as simple as that.

I have to admit, that made me laugh quite a lot.

Like any sort of booster, off grid or otherwise, would help your gang of 20 to 30 against a gang of 500+

Seriously, pull the other one, it's got bells on it.

If she was really being ironic, I hope she accepts my apology. (it was the "oh ffs" bit that made me think it was serious)

If not.... bells.

though I'm confused, I like thought of it, or rather the direction. However, for FW solofrigs, they need the 8% HG in that slot. :p