Sounds like a new variant. And an epic one at that.

Tactical rr?

One point of contention I wish to address. I am sure people will say that "this sounds like a tactical rail rifle!" and I wish to nip this thought in the bud. No, it is not functioning like a tactical weapon anymore than the bolt pistol is. Tactical weapons in this game are semi-auto, as in 1 shot per trigger pull. This weapon is automatic, firing off shots until the magazine is empty or the trigger is released. Thus it is still a breach type weapon, slow ROF and high per-shot damage. We are simply emphasizing these traits.

Pretty much, but semi auto.

Alena,

I whole heartedly disagree with your proposal, particualry advocating that it should be the base form of RR.

You are spot on in your assessment that the RR has been a continual source of friction. I also agree that the base concept of the weapon is flawed.

The weapon you are describing is not a general purpose combat weapon by any stretch. The RR is simply too niche of a weapon now and what you propose would further exacerbate that.

To be direct, it honestly just doesn't sound fun to play with on a day in and day out basis either from my individual perspective. Nor does it seam like it would be useful enough in the varied battlefield of Dust. Could I see some of this as a Tac RR...perhaps. As the base weapon for an entire racial line, absolutely not.

I do think the base Caldari weapons were not thought out well. From a lore perspective and Eve tie in it would have made more sense for the Cal weapon to be the "tactical" option and the Amarr to be the "breach" option but that's for a different discussion.

Perhaps we can find other potential solutions...SCR is an exceptional weapon and I think it's in a very solid spot right now. Perhaps there is a more simplistic option of using the charge function similar to the SCR but add less alpha damage and increase the range with a charge shot. To be clear, I'm not advocating this as THE definitive alternative but I do think from a simple game balance stand point simple solutions and not gimmicky mechanics work better.

That said, to me the simplest solution for the RR is making the charge mechanic like the rail turrets where you can't pre-charge the weapon or you suffer a major charge time penalty, then you can legitimately lower the charge to about .25, and you keep hip fire recoil as is and noticeably lower the ADS recoil. Keep it with best in class range but worse in class DPS.

I respect your work on the RR and ARR previously but have serious reservations about your proposal. I would be happy to squad up with you and discuss or invite you on the Biomassed podcast for a chat on the air.

I understand where you are coming from and I like the viewpoint but my disagreement with you is in the execution or implementation of it.

You are taking Caldari lore...really Space craft and weapons design...and extrapolating what is the basis of your concept from that. The style of combat you describe is accurate only up to a point and particulalry when you look at similar examples form EVE.

For example...many folks think that Caldari are all about slow rates of fire and long ranges and high accuracy weapons. They would be only partially correct. This is almost purely indicitive of the missle / rocket / torpedo / cruise missile line of weapons which has not much to do with Rail Rifles.

When you compare the hybrid weapons (rail and blaster) there is less clear difference in their design than the one you are describing. First, the RoF for like size rails and blasters is not that far off...in fact, they are pretty close. Some style of rails even have a better RoF than some Blasters. The range and DPS are the true deciding factors. Rails don't track as well in close fight but hit pretty consistently in close conditions with some higher skills and blasters have excellent tracking against highspeed targets in close but have serious downsides in falloff damage.

Another fun fact...any ship in EVE that has bonuses to "Hybrid" weapons apply equally to Rails and Blasters. Cal ships generally get more range bonuses and Gal ships more DPS bonus....might be cool to take a similar approach in Dust.



......OK, enough EVE specifics. The whole concept fo the charge mechanic as we have implemented in the game is simply an off-shoot of folks grasping about for ways to differentiate weapons and actual game play as an afterthought. Having a spool time between each shot on an automatic weapon is just not a good design choice from a practical point of view.

My honest opinion is that we should be bringing the weapons somewhat closer in line with each other while perserving their individual flavor.

You are 100% welcome on the show. If you are available this weekned you've got a spot. As I said, ping me in game and we can squad and discuss as well.