Goric Rumis
Dead Six Initiative
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Posted - 2013.11.13 23:08:00 -
[1] - Quote
Zero Harpuia wrote:There is not supposed to be a jack of all trades in New Eden. Due to the heavily specialized nature of the other guns, the AR is more of a Queen or King of all Stats, depending on who you ask.
I disagree in principle. There should absolutely be a jack-of-all-trades weapon.
If you know the saying, a "jack of all trades" is also "master of none," meaning that an item trades dominance for versatility. That means that, in every situation, there should be at least one weapon class that beats the rifle* hands-down. However, outside of a niche weapon's prime circumstances, the rifle beats it fairly easily. The more a weapon dominates a niche, the more easily it's beaten outside of it. (Nova Knives are an extreme example: if you're within striking range it should dominate everything, because outside of striking range it is dominated by everything.) The reason rifles should be the weapons of choice is because they don't have to play in a specific niche.
However, current rifles are dominating in nearly every circumstance. They have better TTK than HMGs in real combat situations, range that nearly rivals LRs without the CQC weakness (to say nothing of drawing a straight line to where you're standing), and generally make killing easier than any other weapon in pretty much every circumstance. Their versatility comes at no expense, and that's a problem.
I think IWS gets close to this issue in his TTK post, although it doesn't specifically address weapon versus weapon balance as such.
* I use "rifle" to include assault/blaster, scrambler, combat, and rail rifles, but not sniper or laser rifles. I group them together because the different models are really only going to increase diversity within a very specific subset of weaponry. They all share the same general role on the battlefield, as an all-purpose weapon. Meaning they should all have roughly the same strengths and weaknesses against other weapon types (with some weaknesses mitigated and others enhanced slightly for each), and the variation is a matter of personal preference: "feel," preferred range of engagement, racism, etc. As a category, there shouldn't be substantial variation in how they balance against other weapon types. |