EVE General Discussion

ECM as it currently works is a horrible game play mechanic as if you get jammed, you can't do anything about it, and as others have pointed out, your gameplay suddenly stops.

With the other EW, damps are powerful but are defeated by closing the distance (fwiw, damps are FAR to powerful as a gameplay mechanic considering they murder your lock times as well, they'd be just a useful if they only lowered lock range).

TD's are situational as missile users aren't currently affected and you have a valid gameplay mechanic to counter with as you can do some manual piloting to negate the effects of the lowered tracking if you're using guns.

Both of those have gameplay options to use to counter, ECM does not.


That all said, there was a really good suggestion in F&I the other day (I know I know), whereby ECM should be changed so that it simply jams you from targetting OTHER ships, but leaves you free to target the ship doing the jamming. That could be a very very interesting mechanic.

You forgot "moves like a brick, paper thin, BB" I hate flying those things. Props to anyone who sticks it out.

True that. And I guess I stick it out for the slight tears it extracts (barely a reason), because it keeps me engaged (bouncing in and out of the fight to stay alive is a little more engaging that popping primaries or chasing kiters) but mostly because it really is a good counter to enemy logistics, and somebody's gotta do it :P

My heart is in flying logistics ships though, whenever possible. So I'm using seeing the ECM from the wrong side more often than not. Waaaaaiiiiit a minute . . . . NERF ECM!

It's balanced as is (possibly a bit overnerfed with the recent nerfs that it received). Most situations where people complain about ECM are situations where another ship would alter the result of the engagement in the same way. Some situations it alters the result more than other ships would, and some it alters the result less than other ships would (A Rapier would be better for preventing someone from crashing a gate than a Falcon, for example).

As for whether it's a fun game mechanic, I don't get bothered much by it when I'm on the receiving side, I just set myself up for the next time I'm able to lock things again, and I happen to enjoy flying ECM boats when the occasion warrants. But other people seem to be really angry about it (though some people get mad about anything they feel was "unfair" or that "made them lose" without considering whether or not it made them lose any more or less than another mechanic would have), so I can't answer whether it's fun for everybody.
I do find it interesting that the people complaining the loudest about ECM and the "fact" of its "omnipresence" angrily refuse do anything to counter it, like fitting ECCM, indicating that it is not the widespread "problem" they make it out to be.

Incidentally, I can see no situation where your mechanic would be a more "fun" one than the current one. Either the target is going to be perma-jammed or the Falcon will do the math and won't uncloak. Either way, one player isn't participating in the fight at all. Currently, the Falcon is going to uncloak, and the target may well still get to attack despite the incoming jam attempts. 1 + some positive % of 1 > 1, so the current mechanic results in more people participating in a fight than yours would.

You know what ship explosions prevent the person whose ship blew up from playing, that's not fun, it removes one person from the game. All weapons should be replaced with snowball launchers and harsh language.

Seriously, I'm simultaniously gratified and horrified that after 7 years in and out of EVE people are _still_ whining about ECM.