Frosteye
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Posted - 2011.09.07 04:02:00 -
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Originally by: Stan Durden Something I have been thinking about that also relates to ship balancing is about the accuracy of a ships navigation computer.
*** snip *** this is rambling skip if you like *** I have not seen all the changes to the game. But I have seen bombers brought closer to the fights (torps vs cruise). I have heard a lot about the nano nerf, and some about a sniping nerf. It seems many of these changes are tending towards making the difference of range and speed more marginal. I am a big fan of the marginal all throughout the game. I believe it is one of the best things of Eve, that even the most awesome ship is only marginally better than its less expensive counterparts. It is enough to win with but not enough to fix stupid. If good gear is used by people who lack piloting skill then they still lose, because the piloting skill counts for a lot more than ship bonuses, or sp, or whatever. Also one awesome ship can do awesome things but it is always well within reason, unlike other games where a few upgrades makes an opponent completely unstoppable. ***snip***
What I notice is that many ship encounters can be won or lost by the control of a few KM. Those few KM where you are out of the enemy guns (or heavy neuts), but still keeping point for example. The few KM that separate a kite from being tackled and killed. But many times in my own piloting it seems more luck than anything, often depending on lag, that determines if I will be able to keep the distance I wish. Is my MWD cycle timer telling the truth or will it overheat halfway into next cycle when I need it now? If I double click in space, how long until my ship registers my command? Will I still be in point range? Will I slip up and cross into scram/web range?
So perhaps if we are going to be drawn into fights that are so close together with a few KM separating sniper from long range, long range bc from short range bs, Brutix from Hurricane, Stiletto keeping long point while outside range of the heavy neuts on a Tempest, then if we have better control of our ships the marginal distance differences can remain as they are, but still be enough for an intelligent pilot to exploit. I am not sure how much of the inaccuracy of ships navigation computer is intentional. But a simple test of turning on an interceptor MWD and orbiting a stationary object will yield obvious results. Isn't it strange I am flying a piece of refined space age weaponry but before I go use it I need to recalibrate my orbit settings manually? And ya it would be nice if I were pro enough to keep within a 3km window while moving at 4km/s with just double clicking, but the previously mentioned lag will hinder that effort even if I were quick enough to pull it off.
If I hit approach I don't want my ship to go to where the enemy ship is now, I want it to plot an intercept with the ship so that I can reach it in the least amount of time. If I hit keep at range, I don't want the ship modifying its course only after I've gone 5km past my range setting. It seems like a ships computer could plot the target ships speed and direction and recognize when it should plot a new course to hold the desired range. Same goes for orbit. Of course the target ship's computer will be attempting the best it can to match its own instructions. But I think the distance game should be won based on who gave good range commands, not based on who's double clicks got acknowledged first. In a lag rich environment with a marginally functional navigation computer it is not a test of piloting knowledge and skill, it can often simply go down to who has the largest workable margins for error.
If you give more control to pilots then skirmish and harassment flying becomes a lot more manageable, rather than having to give yourself a 10-20km buffer for lag, you could get right on into your range sweet spot and depend that so long as you piloted well you could stay there.
THIS - Fix accuracy!
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