Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I like these changes...I think its gonna bring the Drake in line nicely. I'm pleased those pesky T2 Ammo effects are going too.

Dominx is damn near as fast if you can't just snipe triggers and hit the next gate

Hell, I was lvl 4 missioning in a tech I cruise missile phoon with only 4 tech I launchers until I trained tech II and it got it's 5 launcher buff. It's not like you have to train tech II to start doing level 4 missions. Just start them and enjoy noticing the improvement when you have trained the tech II launchers. Noone needs to sit in a station for 6 months.

I don't care I'll just hop in my Myrm and knock some heads.

Pfft, I'm less than thrilled with the current Myrm. My alt tries to make it work for gang fights. It still mostly sucks. Travel time on drones will always be a pita (worse than missile users have to wait). Also, the active armor bonus goes to waste most of the time.

I suspect none of the BCs will look entirely the same when they get to them, which is a good thing. Myrm for instance could use another 25 bandwidth and 50 bay but lose a couple turret slots and maybe even another high slot altogether. And the repair bonus is only really worth it for pve.

This would be interesting if the ships were forced to remain motionless in this position. This, however, is not the case. That Drake, at the edge of long point range, cannot kill that Hurricane unless the cane pilot decides that this is the perfect time to go afk. I will assume you know the reason why and move on.

A ship's "power" is relative, and certainly not confined to the narrow parameters of dps and tank. Combat in eve is only rarely a one on one proposition where two space knights throw down their guantlets and meet at the sun for glorious honorable combat. Instead it's a chaotic mess of ship swapping and warping and gathering up more people to swarm your enemies. And in this chaos one weapon stands out above all others:

Speed.

Minmatar ships do not dominate PvP because they have the best tanks. Nor do they dominate because they do the best DPS. They dominate because they are able to better dictate the terms of the engagement, and often whether or not any engagement will take place at all. Add to this the noteworthy Minmatar versatility and you have a selection of ships any pilot would be well off choosing. It is for this reason that Canes outnumber Drakes by two or three to one in every low sec fleet. Speed is life.

For the Caldari however, none of this is the case. Their ships are slow, they typically have lower DPS weapons, fewer drones, few (if any) utility high slots, and restrictive fitting slot selections that dictate and restrict how a ship can be assembled. Further, as of today they only have a single T1 or T2 missile hull worth fitting -- the Drake. Every other ship in their lineup is broken. Actually, not to put to fine a point on it, with the exception of frigates every of CLASS of Caldari ship is broken. If you want to fly a BS you have to fly another race. If you want to fly an HAC you have to fly another race. If you want to fly a cruiser, you have to fly another race. If you want to fly a desxtroyer, the same applies. If you fly Caldari you have one ship.

And with this winter expansion this will not really change. The Caldari still will not have a missile cruiser worth flying, and it remains to be seen if CCP will adjustr the Moa to be comparable and competetive. They still will not have an HAC, they will not have a BS, they will not have a navy cruiser or faction cruiser. They will have their newly nerfed Drake, and after this expansion, a new missile destroyer. Every other missile ship in the game, the most broken selection of ships in the game, will become even worse -- not only because CCP has decided to curb stomp Caldari pilots yet again, but because they are buffing everyone else at the same time.

THIS is CCP's idea of balance. Take the worse race, ships, and weapons in the game -- the ones almost no one wastes their time using today -- and break them further. And at the same time BUFF the best ships and races in the game so that they hold an even greater advantage.

So much wrong with your analysis, but I'm just gonna quote this last bit for another chuckle.

Look if you are so unhappy with Caldari traits just crosstrain to what do you call it, oh yeah, Winmatar. Then you can omgwtfpwn everything in your 425ac dual medium neut speedracer . . .er . . . oh fudge.

edit- No character in this game should only train one race and one weapon system. It's been like that forever really. That so many of you could get away with it for so long was a mistake. Welcome to the game most people have known.

I don't fly Caldari Lili.

I am one of the folks CCP apparenlty feels needs their help against the scary Drake bullies. But unlike you, apparently, I have never had any problems with Drake pilots picking on me. The Drake is a fine ship, and it is situationally the best BC, but I have found that the speed and versatility of the Hurricane is a better fit for me and more often useful. Looking at your killboard I can see you spend a great deal of time flying with some mega blobs. Perhaps you should broaden your horizons a bit, leave your blob corp and try something else. You will probably discover that when the choice of ship is yours rather than dictated by some mega-fleet doctrine, and the consequences matter because no one is handing out free ships, that suddenly the Drake doesn't look all that special or overpowered after all.

Pretty much every pirate in the game can fly any BC he wants. Why aren't they choosing the overpowered Drake?

Perhaps, before you blather on about nerfs, you should discover the answer for yourself.

Again, +1. Drakes are just OP in one thing: nullsec blobs, because they are 1) cheap (tech 1), 2) quite easy to train (naturally) and 3) fast enough to deal with BS. And they have indeed a good range on their HML.

Everywhere else most people prefer other ships over a Drake. But hell, CCP seems to be set about establishing even more reign of Winmatar. And this game will be more boring than before :)

That is different how?

I was never an afker