Player Features and Ideas Discussion

So, this is a Module concept that I thought of today while mowing the lawn. It was sparked by the realization that for all the EWAR in the game, there is none geared specifically towards Drones. ECM, Dampeners, TraDis, Neuts, etc are all meant to disrupt a ship's ability to apply damage and/or tank. These are all great for anything with turrets or missile launchers, yet nothing is used to disrupt the DPS applied by Drones, Fighters, and Fighter-Bombers. These are kind of a "guaranteed" type of DPS, if you have them set to aggressive and focus fire, even if you are jammed, they will continue attacking targets.

So here was my thought: a module, or modules, designed to disrupt the connection between a ship and it's drones/Fighters/FBs. The main one that I thought of is very similar to current ECM, where it has a chance to completely disrupt the link between a ship and it's drones, effectively disconnecting them from the mothership, leaving them idle, defenseless, and completely unable to apply DPS. The effectiveness of this module would be based on the level of the skill needed to use this module, again, much like current ECM. We'll call this concept the "Drone Link Disruptor."

The other concept that I thought of was a module that limited the bandwidth of the target ship. Higher skills would mean more bandwidth could be inhibited, culminating in nearly, if not all bandwidth being nullified. Somewhat like a Sensor Dampener or TraDis, in which it inhibits a ship's ability to apply DPS. We'll call this one the "Drone Bandwidth Inhibitor."

"Uh, dude, why don't you just shoot the drones, they aren't very tough...or you could use Smartbombs, duh!"

It's true, you can simply kill drones by shooting them, with frigs or whatever, or smarbombing them to pieces. My issue with shooting them is that it takes time and effort away from killing the guys that are trying to kill you. Fast Frigates are almost always used as Tackle, so using them to pop drones or fighters takes away from them holding down carriers or Dreads. And Smartbombing them is, for lack of a better word, inaccurate. Unless you know what you're doing, you could just as easily damage your own fleet members. These modules are more for precision and efficiency. Shooting drones takes time, ammo, and cap, and Smartbombing takes time, high slots, and cap. Both are effective in their own right, but instead of picking apart wings of drones or fighters one by one, you can nullify an ENTIRE wing, eliminating all incoming DPS, simply by severing their link to the mother ship.

So why not have EWAR specifically geared towards drones?

"Uh, because EWAR is meant to prevent ships from applying damage, reps, and other EWAR..."

Well, the argument can be made that Drones (especially) are miniature ships; they apply dps, can ECM, Sensor Dampen, TraDis, Target Paint, Web, and rep. Basically anything a ship can do, drones can do. So again, why not?

Of course every counter measure must have a Counter Counter Measuer. So just like ECM, there would be a skill and/or module designed to increase your resistance to any disruption; something like a "Drone Link Fortifier" module or "Drone Link Hardening" skill. Or whatever.

These modules are certainly geared towards gang and fleet combat, where longevity matters and the slightest hiccup in an operation can lead to a massacre. Also, I feel that modules like these could be a great equalizer when fighting against Corps or Alliances with vast Cap and Super Cap superiority. Many Ratting ships today are AFK Drone Boats, so imagine applying this to PvE, it'd add an entirely new level of difficulty to ratting and mission running. I also think adding modules like this would be a better alternative to nerfing ships into oblivion.

At the end of the day, this is a rough concept, and the are a lot of finer points that I haven't figured out. Like how long would the disruption last? How easy would it be for the target ship to simply reconnect to it's drones or fighters? Could there be an AOE type like a Remote ECM Burst? Etc.

Sorry for being so long winded, had a lot of points to cover. I've had mixed responses to this so far on other forums, so let me know what you think. Please, be respectful and polite, and don't be condescending. I know more about Drone Boats than I do Carriers, so forgive me for an inaccuracies or mechanics that I missed.

NO
Or more precisely when I as a drones pilot have a module that allows me to shut down every other weapons system in the game then you can have this.

But drones can be set to aggressive mode and will shoot without a target lock by mother ship.
Yes they can and that needs to be removed as a balance factor since there are very few other weapons in the game that can apply damage without a target lock.

Drones can be assigned to aid other ships in the area.
Yes they can and like the aggressive mode this ability needs to be removed.

I recommend going back to mow the lawn some more. This idea needs a lot more refinement.

You are trying to solve a problem that does not exist.

Second to that, drone nerf incoming in Aegis, look at the pinned threads, kthxbye.

Wondering why you consider it daft?

Many of the current arguments for further drones nerfs center around the ability to assign them to assist other ships and their ability to in a somewhat limited way select and fire on targets independently of the controlling ship thereby making them virtually immune to EWAR of all types.

With the aggressive mode removed from the game drones will not engage anything they are not specifically ordered to engage so the limited AI becomes irrelevant.

With the aggressive mode removed drones cannot attack anything they are not specifically ordered to attack which means that someone has to have target lock subjecting them to damps since those damps affect the controlling ships ability to lock targets.

With the assist mode removed you prevent the drones pilot from passing control of his weapons to another ship in the area if he is damped or out of targeting range. With no aggressive mode to keep them fighting and no valid target to be ordered to attack the drones simply stop shooting and return to and orbit the ship they were launched from.