Kallas Hallytyr
Skullbreakers
1039
   |
Posted - 2014.12.03 15:09:00 -
[2] - Quote
@Forlorn Destrier:
Transporting infantry....
- As much as this is a good point, it's also a bad point. Most maps are so small (and some of the bigger ones were made smaller in 1.9...why?!?) that using a dropship for transport is often a one-time deal up to a high point. The time taken to get overhead, come down for pick up, get everyone then get to the next point; well all of those infantry could have just run 60% of the way or further.
The dropship can deploy reasonably well in a coordinated squad, but LAVs and simply personal locomotion are generally better for our current crop of tiny maps.
Clearing the tops of areas otherwise unreachable...
- This is somewhat reasonable, though in some cases it's actually impossible to do when there are glitches uplinks/floors that require direct hits or are entirely unkillable. But in general, this is one of the few things dropships can actually do.
Getting to the tops of areas otherwsie unreachable for yourself...
- Well, yes, I guess. But a one time hop is not a role.
Provide intel to the boots on the ground...
- Sort of. Dropships can do this when low but unless you're dealing with vehicles then the rendering comes into play hard, making infantry Intel difficult to acquire in the first place, let alone disseminate.
Provide a safe spawn point for your team...
- Again sort of. Others have said it elsewhere but uplinks just generally provide a far superior spawn point unless you're in a coordinated squad: at which point you've sacrificed a high slot for an mCRU which significantly reduces your ability to assist in combat situations. And then there's the mCRU bug which stops non-terminated clones from spawning, meaning that without communication the blues will likely just spawn elsewhere because they are actually able to, will most likely be closer and don't need to rely on some random (from their perspective) taking them someone entirely different.
Harass infantry as a distraction...
- Define harass, because dropships aren't allowed to kill people according to AV (and Rattati's tacit agreement with the nerf) so what exactly do we do to harass? Also, and while it is a slightly selfish question it should be asked nonetheless, what reward do I get from it? End of Match rewards are based on in-battle performance; why should I bother doing a role that gets next to no WP? Logistics can focus on supporting their team and a good Logi will both keep their team fighting at peak efficiency while also earning a buttload of WP, netting them a hefty ISK/SP reward; why bother 'harassing' when I could Logi and just call in a LAV for transport? Or one of the possible future HAV-transport APCs mentioned in this thread by Rattati.
Harass infantry as the main thrust of the attack...
- Again harassment. As the main part? Again I ask, please define 'harass' as that does not seem conducive to a successful main attack. "Ah we're under fire - oh wait, it's just a dropship, let's ignore it and go kill the dudes it's trying to cover ineffectually!"
Rapid transit between distant objectives....
- This is, unfortunately, a laughably useless role in the current state of the game. Half of the maps we have were already small to make dropship transportation unnecessary, then we have the 1.9 reduction to some of the map sizes. We have maybe two maps that could actually utilise long-range dropship transportation and even they don't really need it. We need bigger maps and bigger teams, otherwise dropship transportation is restricted to short term hops and early game opening moves.
[Puts thread back on rails]
What? 
Alt of Halla Murr. Sentinel.
|
Kallas Hallytyr
Skullbreakers
1046
|
Posted - 2014.12.03 23:18:00 -
[3] - Quote
True Adamance wrote:I love Rattati for his intent to look into vehicles and I sincerely hope he engages with PILOTS in regards to balancing and role defining discussion.
Oh god so much this. Last time we didn't scream our opinions loud enough and were told that we hadn't engaged at all. Well, now we've had a ton of threads about pretty much every aspect of vehicles: maybe we'll actually see some of that feedback involved rather than more buffs to AV with "balancing nerfs" (looking at you, entirely inconsequential swarm turn 'nerf.')
Alt of Halla Murr. Sentinel.
|