With respect Cross, when I made my earlier posts I was working off the assumption that the sole purpose of this change was to reduce Equipment Spam by not allowing Logi to drop more than one suitGÇÖs worth of equipment, and to prevent Logi from switching to other classes while maintaining a full Logi load out of deployed equipment.

What was not made clear in the original post is that this change is intended to deal with multiple issues:
1)Decrease Equipment Spam
2)Discourage Role Switching. Increase the commitment to the role you spawn into.
3)Nerf Scouts who act as fast Logi.
4)Nerf Sentinels who try to get around their lack of an equipment slot.
5)Buff Caldari/Amarr Logi, provided they stick to their role.

It was not clear initially in RattatiGÇÖs post that discouraging Role Switching was an intended consequence of the introduction of Bandwidth. In a way this will help new players who only have the skill points to specialize in one role, as it will be easier for them to compete against Vets who have mastered multiple roles if the game discourages role switching during matches. It will be an adjustment, but I can accept the Sentinel not having any Bandwidth.


What I still have a concern with:

I am concerned about the Bandwidth nerf to Scouts. First, I think that Scouts are out of Balance because they can be made to be too robust without major drawbacks, and because the Assault suit, which is supposed to act as the Counter to Scouts, does not have the tools to counter Scouts. Second, I fell these Bandwidth changes are trying to nerf some of the ScoutGÇÖs Core Role, which is operating and insertion behind enemy lines, and CQC AV work. Placing Drop Uplinks behind enemy lines is part of the ScoutGÇÖs Core Role! Placing Remote Explosives on tanks is one of the ScoutGÇÖs Core Roles. (Before sticky Remotes, the Remotes were placed on the road and the Scout hid and activated the Remotes when the tank rolled past, to begin their ambush.)

Scouts also have to operate independently. While an Assault suit can rely on equipment provided by other members of their squad, a Scout operates independently much of the time. Having two slots gives a Scout more resources to work with, having the Bandwidth of a suit with only one equipment slot would give a Scout the equipment abilities of one half of two Assault suits. (2/1=1) I think that is reasonable.

Having the Band width of a suit with only one equipment slot would also define the difference between the Scout and the Logi. A logi can deploy all their equipment at the same time, while a Scout would have to choose between one type at full deployment capacity, or two different types of equipment at half deployment capacity.

Nerfing the Scout to have less than a single equipment slot suit is unwarranted. It is not an appropriate way to nerf Scouts. The difference between Scouts and Logi, besides Logi being able to deploy more equipment, is that Scouts are supposed to be more fragile than Logi and not appropriate for use on the front line in head to head combat situations. The fact is that Scouts are not as Fragile as they are supposed to be. Or more accurately, Armour Plate stacking Scouts have more survivability than Logi, and have therefore supplanted Logi in the Logi role on the front lines. Having Armour Plate reduce strafe speed is the type of nerf we need to balance Scouts, not limiting their Bandwidth!

And to be clear, I donGÇÖt play Scout. (I would like to, but I suck at it for many reasons.) So I am looking at this from a wider game perspective.