A long term rail tanker telling dropship pilots how easy it is not to get killed..... do you even know how to call a dropship?

First, let me start with the disclaimer, I hate dropships and dropship pilots, mainly because they are a continuous and nebulous threat just waiting to rush in and ruin my gunfight and they usually think they deserve to be unassailable.

Swarms only work in combination with numerous other AVers and they should be buffed, they need to be fast enough to hit dropships that hit afterburners and outrun every other volley. An AA swarm is needed.

Anyway, the idea of limiting rail elevation and range is unreasonable. You will always be able to use terrain contours to elevate a shot above the normal range of motion, so any additional limits would be pointless. As for limiting range, it would neutralize the role of AV sniper.

I realize you don't like being sniped, but you should be thankful you have enough EHP to avoid being one-shotted.

You're already basically immune to infantry AV, but that's not enough for you (typical DS pilot entitlement). I would grant you a higher flight ceiling, or cheaper dropships, but not immunity from snipers.

Good video Judge, very well put together, and very hard to argue against, imho.

though i expected some push-back by the soon to be impinged few.

Thanks! Nice to be back.

Korea was awesome, thanks. :) I had a blast and love it there! I'm hoping to go back for a long weekend some point soon.

First, let me start with the disclaimer, I hate dropships and dropship pilots, mainly because they are a continuous and nebulous threat just waiting to rush in and ruin my gunfight and they usually think they deserve to be unassailable. I'll look at the lineup before a pubmatch and offer my squad bounties on known dropship pilots. "First one of you to kill X (Judge) in his DS gets a million isk!"__ I usually go on to say I don't care how, rail installations are best, but ramming the DS with another DS is encouraged.
Swarms only work in combination with numerous other AVers and they should be buffed, they need to be fast enough to hit dropships that hit afterburners and outrun every other volley. An AA swarm is needed.
Anyway, the idea of limiting rail elevation and range is unreasonable. You will always be able to use terrain contours to elevate a shot above the normal range of motion, so any additional limits would be pointless. As for limiting range, it would neutralize the role of AV sniper. I realize you don't like being sniped, but you should be thankful you have enough EHP to avoid being one-shotted. You're already basically immune to infantry AV, but that's not enough for you (typical DS pilot entitlement). I would grant you a higher flight ceiling, or cheaper dropships, but not immunity from snipers.
As for redlines, they are only an issues with Skirmish 2.0 and Domination (lame game modes). I hope they fix the redline problem by reverting back to Skirmish 1.0 (a knockoff of BF rush). Attacking in circles (from A to B to C and back to A) feels a bit circular, and rolling objectives on longer narrow maps would make the busdriver role less lame.

Instead of writing this you could have just said:

Hi, my name is Luk Manag. I do not understand dropships and I do not know what to do when encountered by one. I would prefer it if dropships did not exist, because I am not willing nor able to incorporate dropships into my game strategy.

Judge: I asked this a few pages back. Are there changes to the aerial redline mechanics that could be made that would allow DS pilots the ability to take down glass cannon redline rails and get out without allowing them to spawn camp? What if the aerial redline timer functioned like stamina/cloaks. This would potentially allow enough time to enter the redline kill the tank and exit, but would have to wait a significant period of cooldown time as it slowly recharges? I'm thinking this would make spawn camping more difficult, but still allow for penetrating the enemy redline long enough to kill rail tankers and snipers. Seems like a more elegant solution than nerfing turret elevation.

Speaking of turret elevation, it would be interesting to see the radius overlayed on the center of the map of the "cone of safety" above a tank at 100m and 200m for both the existing 45 degree turret elevation and then the same circles with your proposed changes. I suspect this would make most of the middle of the map safe for dropships at 200m if the rail tanker is in the middle of the map (presumably where people want them to play). In a way your proposal would actually encourage rail tanks to remain on the periphery of the battlefield.

I think the better solution is to change redline mechanics for aerial vehicles such that DSs would be reasonable counters to redliners without being able to spawn camp effectively. Caveat: I'm neither a pilot or tanker, I just want fun balanced fights. Much respect, and thanks for your hard work and intelligent efforts.

Judge: I asked this a few pages back. Are there changes to the aerial redline mechanics that could be made that would allow DS pilots the ability to take down glass cannon redline rails and get out without allowing them to spawn camp?

First, let me start with the disclaimer, I hate dropships and dropship pilots, mainly because they are a continuous and nebulous threat just waiting to rush in and ruin my gunfight and they usually think they deserve to be unassailable. I'll look at the lineup before a pubmatch and offer my squad bounties on known dropship pilots. "First one of you to kill X (Judge) in his DS gets a million isk!"__ I usually go on to say I don't care how, rail installations are best, but ramming the DS with another DS is encouraged.
Swarms only work in combination with numerous other AVers and they should be buffed, they need to be fast enough to hit dropships that hit afterburners and outrun every other volley. An AA swarm is needed.
Anyway, the idea of limiting rail elevation and range is unreasonable. You will always be able to use terrain contours to elevate a shot above the normal range of motion, so any additional limits would be pointless. As for limiting range, it would neutralize the role of AV sniper. I realize you don't like being sniped, but you should be thankful you have enough EHP to avoid being one-shotted. You're already basically immune to infantry AV, but that's not enough for you (typical DS pilot entitlement). I would grant you a higher flight ceiling, or cheaper dropships, but not immunity from snipers.
As for redlines, they are only an issues with Skirmish 2.0 and Domination (lame game modes). I hope they fix the redline problem by reverting back to Skirmish 1.0 (a knockoff of BF rush). Attacking in circles (from A to B to C and back to A) feels a bit circular, and rolling objectives on longer narrow maps would make the busdriver role less lame.

I nominate this to the Post of the week!

I nominate this to the Post of the week!

why not half the sp from redline? it would discourage a lot of **** while still protecting peeps from proto stomp redline problems

jesus midas, I fly dropships and even i couldn't be bothered writing something that long, let alone reading it...

I have to say that was well put together Judge. I would even go as far as to say you have convinced me somewhat about the elevation and to a lesser degree - the range issue of railguns.

Either way you presented logic and a deep understanding of the game and its elements. You should be commended mate :)

I read it. It was epic.

Also just as a bit of trivia; the script I wrote for the video is 6000 words long. That's 10 pages printed out. And this is the edit. Those coloured bars are video segments. Each colour is a clip from a different video. Each video is recorded separately when I play the game. I used footage from 23 games. I have to record at least 60 games to get the 23 videos I needed and the right footage. I lost 32 million ISK in ships and tanks to get the footage of kills, maps and altitude etc for this single video. I have to be absoluty sure in what rails can do to a dropship and that means letting myself get killed with many different fits. People shot me down while I hovered to get the 100m and 200m footage i used in the side by side segment. That segment cost 3 million Isk alone.

The blue bars in the FX rows in that edit are the special effects like the pointy green hand and the side by side. They have to be key-framed and animated by frame keys, which takes about 10 minutes to get 5 seconds of footage completed.

Welcome to New Eden, where we coddle you and take care of your every need.

Feeling skittish? No problem, we'll give you a safe zone to shoot from where nobody can get to you!



That's quite a reputation you have there...

I'm sending you some now to cover at least a few your expenses. I am happy to help support the endeavors of dropship pilots.

Sending me that much ISK is really generous. I was so happy when I saw my wallet! I know how hard you have to work to earn ISK and to pass it to me is really awesome. So thank you. I hope you got my in-game mail.

Judge is doing a fantastic job of presenting well researched analysis regarding dropships......Like many of us he wants a balanced and fun game, not an "I win" button. .....As a group, pilots are extremely proud of their skills. They don't want the requirements dumbed down to where just anybody can jump in and perform at the same level as an experienced pilot. They want all their experience to mean something. They don't want the dropship to become just another piece of equipment like the scanner that is just as effective in a beginners hand as someone who's been using it for a year. Pilots are equally against the role becoming OP and the next FoTM. We want it to be challenging AND rewarding.