But of course, massively nerfing Inty speeds not only sucks some of the fun out of the class, it also makes them much, much weaker. For pilots like me who can’t dance through 4+ target locks, endgame interceptors are all but useless in a straight up fight. To cripple them all in that fashion, capping their speed to something the majority of pilots can cope with, would also strip them of their value in serious, competitive play. That would all but guarantee a return of the frigballs, rather than promoting varied, balanced play.
As I said, not an easy fix any way you cut it.
Some good points Jasan.
I don’t see the problem with damage dealing, and I also started to cope with the speeds - but I can imagine, for some people this will be always too “hectic”. Was watching some youngsters play the game and entering T3, players who usually adapt way faster to games than me in my age, and they said, it was intense for them, very fast, very confusing. They liked it, but they could not play more than a few. It was exhausting for them - to my complete surprise. It needs time to get used to, and there are times, where I just can’t fly a Ceptor, because I just don’t want full adrenaline rush evasion games.
Don’t we all forget, this is a flying game. Complete 3d mechanics are usually not the first game you play and are good in (I say usually, so don’t feel you have to reply if it is, I know for some this game is actually their first). Usually, other games come before it. Think BF2, where flying was really a hard and dedicated job, especially since flying fixed wing aircrafts needs some training. But everyone can run around pretty fast on the ground or drive tanks; and games like that usually make it really hard for a plane to survive longer. Both gamestyles in the end have their own mastery; but in SC, flying (in the sense of reflexes) is usually only really part of fighters, or ceptors; while fighters and frigates share a lot more “positioning” aswell, which can be as hard to learn as constaorbiting targets. It’s not about fast aiming, like many other shooters, but fast or smart map movement, using all three axis. We all had to learn that at one point, and I can imagine, not everyone was doing good back then.
So players usually also start with two classes more heavily: frigates and ceptors. Many take the fighter as “the standard ship”, which is usually like a multirole. I myself did not understand fighters for a long time. I flew them, but I never got out how to be good in them, and focused Ceptors as quickly as possible, and only learnt frigates in a time where i wanted to play a bit layed back and supportive. I think many have similar experiences, but of course, we are all different people. Point is, I hardly hear about somebody who immediately “gets” the fighter, and keeps getting better only with that class. There are some people like that, but most either go to heavy ships, or light ships first.
So while I agree with your assessement of the problems, I would only remark: you did see fighter spam in games. It was called “Tournament Finals” almost every time. And of course, fighters are also so completely different from each other in later tiers, that ceptors can be often seen as one and the same type of ship, with just different modules; but gunships and commands become rather tanky, one supporting the other dpsing, the tackler becomes something different. And also Fighters rely on a team; they can be held up with tank, or outmanouvered with speed, etc., and many new players try them with cruise fits, because they want the speed - but they learn the counters pretty early.
This makes the fighter a ship class which everyone was at least playing a bit, but still most only master in the end, when they become part of teams, and start playing the game more and more tactically.
So the reason for not crying out “fighter ball!” is maybe also because the class actually is in the middle. It can do objectives, while it also can be part of mid- to long-range fights. It’s not because there weren’t any fighter spams; squads with 3 gunships + engi were pretty common, and empire gunships were a long long time unbeaten in their efficiency.
It’s just too obvious for us all maybe, what to do if the enemy goes full fighters + engi. But it can also be the indication of a quickly lost game, if the fighter pilots are vets, you gotta admit that.
I can agree on most of the things you wrote. Actually, that is why I say, Ceptors are not the main problem atm. because nerfing them will only highlight all the other problems, and we are back to Frigate Conflict, and Ceptors are the main fun class in this game for many; most games don’t get small ships like ceptors right, you usually feel it’s uncompetitive trash or complete trolling, but why play such small ships, if you got a Cruiser. I think this element is too important in this game to ignore.
For the ceptor escapes, I always thought the idea of nerfing adaptive hull resistances by 50% would make a lot of things disappear. I just don’t say it too often, because indirectly it could hit ceptors too harshly. But it would also make other special fits like adaptive guards or adaptive octopusses a bit less tanky. So you can counter them even if you don’t have the tools for it.
A really good post.
Anyway, nuf of me, I said what I gotta say, for the moment I just want to play.
Good ideea is good, a 20% nerf on maneuverability should do the trick, considering how crazy high it is with 2-3 verniers. They would still have their speed/size, so the class would not become not fun.