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It's not about definitions, but rather just about the fact how CCP can easily make gang-boosters hardly available for small-scale PvPers while keeping them easily accessible and usable for larger groups, which is what surely happens if they leave current link mechanics (a ship boosts N others for the same effect as just one) as is and just nerf link range.

That is the point, not how you treat those who prefer to multibox.

If you're gonna multi box and still want to maintain bonuses after this proposed (i hope it happens) change, have both of your characters in command ships or T3. Or hell... put both pilots in drakes/canes/whatever and have one do a little bit of boosting. Add that DPS to the fight!

Hopefully not, the barrier to entry in EVE is big enough without forcing newer players to train more skills.

doubt it especially as it already takes training a racial skill to lv5

That hasn't been asked or even hinted at to my knowledge. Even back in march when they first told us about the proposed change for destroyers/bc skills, they never said anything about that.
I think it's a safe bet that the T2 skills won't change. And if they do, it'll be a very long time.

EDIT: I think this is the most answered question I've seen in the tread. Good Job Void!

No, actually, it is called "long term planning". :)

If CCP is considering such a change, even just as a possibility, then it might be a good idea to spend some SP time next year leveling up the T2 ship skills to 5. They are all rank 4-10, and require 2-4 weeks each to get to level 5.

Also, they are Wil/Per skills, not Per/Wil or Int/Mem, so a remapping will also need to be scheduled, for optimal training.

Prophecy: expected to be changed to a drone boat. This is a role revamp that will radically modify its slot and fitting layout. It will most likely have less bandwidth but more drone bay than the Myrmidon.

On top of being sacrilegious, this seems a daft idea; 1) armor drone boats cannot take advantage of new mods for lows along with their tank, 2) there is already and armor drone boat (myrmidon), 3) Amarr do not need drones, we shoot things with lasers. I understand the need for balance...but this is not balance to me. I would recommend making a Caldari variant ship for drones (as their drone bays are already poor on virtually all of their ships). For Amarr, we have the Arbitrator and the Armageddon (with a decent drone bay). Caldari have nothing for drones...and even from a storyline perspective, it would make sense for them to copy some tech. Even if the bonus was not to damage but to the effects of combat utility drones, that would be useful; the new web drones are limited at present...imagine where Caldari drone boats would web down a target for missile users and blasters to hit. This makes sense to me. If you want to make the Prophecy have a place so people fly them...then give them some flexibility for shield tanking (more mid distributions with less tank)...or have some kind of webbing bonus with conventional mods...or some kind of ewar ship for tracking disruption to counter Minmatar... All of those present viable ideas that would fit in with the Amarr-Minmatar combat and make the ship suck less, with a reason to fly it over the Harbinger.

I am so glad i am skilling Command Ships 5.

Just think. Vulture with Siege Mindlink, Sensor Integrity link, Shield Resist link, running with a bunch of Thundercat Tengus. You'll have a sensor strength on the Tengus of around 60, and even more insane EHP.

As for the "ow ow my OGB alt!" crowd talking about their ability to "small gang/solo PVP being nutpunched" because OGBs in massively over-linked Tengus sitting at POSs allow them to "even the odds:...no. Sorry, no excuses.

This doesn't allow you to even the odds, level the playing field or other aphorism. It allows you, via deus ex machina, to gain the abilities of a Godlike being for your ship, with absolutely no risk. This then allows you to use your piloting skills (such as they are or are not) to spearate gangs with speed which is OTT for the ship you are fielding, tank gangs which you shouldn't be able to tank except for your OTT boosting, etc.

OGB alts sitting in POSs, particularly in FW, are stupid. Why? it's not just about one guy "soloing" with two T3 OGB alts in a POS (I'm looking at you RTSAvalanche) but if the fleet is adverted and set up with several booster alts and free move, you can set one up in several systems and as you go from system to system "soloing" you gain bonuses in every system you have an alt circling a POS in. This allows innumerable toons to move under the umbrella of a OGB alt the moment they hit system.

Does this "level the field" or allow you to be extra-skillful and hold the torch for solo or small gang roaming PVP? No. If you were skillful or wealthy enough, you should be skillful enough to fly a CS active on your seond screen vs just minimise it and leave it at a POS (taking no skill), and wealthy enough to be able to cop a 350M lossmail.

Under these changes, you can have your OGB Tengu, it will just suck fat nadgers. Gargle them, in fact. And the number of times I've been inconvenienced by ridiculously fast, un-ECMable ubertanky ships makes me chortle with glee thinking about how much ISK you'll have wasted. Bring it on.

What about SP bloat?

E.g. If I only used to fly Sleipnirs and thus have BC and CS V, but have Amarr Cruiser at IV to fly an Abaddon, will I receive Amarr BC and CS V (as well as all the other races in two of my charcters) as well although I never intended to fly them?

So to put it simple: Will my clones be bloated with SP and cost 20 mill more per pop for no benefit, will the BC (and CS) total Sp requirement be divided by 4, will we be given the chance of opting out of skills we don't want and redistribute them or will you finally get around to lower the weird scaling of clone costs?

read the thread.

since you won't, I'll just give an ambiguous hint (i'm not very nice).

No.