Maybe applying the handling charateristics of a space ship to running around on foot isn't the best approach?

People in this game handle like spaceships. 10/10

CCP did release some new proto armor mods that have no speed penalty

CCP did release some new proto armor mods that have no speed penalty

Crossposting this from the thread in Tech Support/Bug Reports:

I believe the reason it only slows the acceleration of your ships, but not the top speed is because on a ship, it only adds mass, not weight. Conveniently, the foumula for acceleration is "force/mass=acceleration". A merc, however, is affected by both the additional mass, and the weight that comes with it, since he's affected by the planet's gravity. Imagine trying to run your top speed with a 50lb weight vest on.

Although, that gives me an idea. Perhaps there could be a variety of plates could increase the rate your stamina drops while sprinting, rather than a flat speed decrease.

I realize this, but you also have to consider that gameplay > reality.

Both armor and shield mods have to have downsides to balance the two, but the penalties for armor can be made more reasonable, and we can add a reasonable penalty for shield mods to finally bring the two into balance.

Hard to believe how only a few months ago we had threads about how Armor trumped shield every time and Amarr suits being able to stack as many armor plates as they could was OP.

Basically, it's clear that CCP wants there to be a penalty to armor, but enforcing an overall speed reduction in an FPS of this type basically makes such equipment suicidal. What I'm proposing is a penalty that let's armor modules keep their HP advantage, while making the player decide if they want to tank the damage, or dodge it, thus making shield and armor a choice rather than only one option being picked.

One thing about armor plating has been bugging me since I first started playing this game last April:

Why do the plates reduce your movement speed?

I mean, as an example, I can fit 3 sets of 1600mm armor plating to an Amarr Battleship in EVE, and it won't make me go any slower than I would without them.

What does change is my acceleration, such that it takes me a lot longer to reach that same top speed.

So why don't Armor Plates work the same way in Dust? Instead of having speed penalties leveled against the suit, why not reduce the percentages, and then apply them against the acceleration values that have been in place since the "strafe nerf" last year?

If you combine that with my earlier thread proposing that Shield Extenders increase your Scan Profile and make you easier to detect, you end up with the plating giving you a slight reduction to how quickly you can reach your top speed in any direction, in exchange for giving no penalty to how easy you are to see on radar or pick up with an Active Scanner.

https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=92121&find=unread
My earlier thread.

Because it is a lot harder for devs to code this mechanic.

Having them affect your turn speed is a bigger issue for me. It's like adjusting my controller sensitivity with every fit. The movement penalty can be reduced by stacking the ferro plates with the standard ones.

Suspect the Ferroscale plate thing is a glitch, anyway.

As for a possible acceleration penalty-- In addition to what I said in my previous post, even if it were possible and easy to code in, I think an acceleration penalty of less than a 25-33% decrease per plate would be too small of one, anyway. If you're standing still in a firefight, you've likely got cover within one or two steps, so how fast you accelerate doesn't really matter, because you're not moving much. If you're running and gunning, you've already accelerated, so how long it takes to get there... doesn't really matter. Any acceleration penalty would have to be massive to actually be a penalty.

You're not factoring in CQC, man.

What happens when someone comes after you at close range with a shotgun or something? If they're in a shield-tanked Scout suit, they can move fast enough that there's no way you're going to get away, and they don't even have to work that hard at aiming to kill you.

I suspect a larger part of why people are claiming the Mass Driver is suddenly OP is that they just aren't used to seeing them, so aren't used to having to deal with them. Personally, I've had more trouble with hitting the person using them through all the smoke they kick up and my screen shaking than with the damage they do. Flaylocks, however, are another story, and neither are really here nor there.

Thats the crux of the problem right there. In a fps, SPEED IS KING.

If the penalty on armor plates is switched to acceleration, thats just a different kind of speed penalty. All it does is make you slow in CQC but still able to reach full speed on longer runs. In the situation above, your dead with either penalty.

As long as armor's penalty is to speed its going to be a nightmare to balance.

You're not factoring in CQC, man.

What happens when someone comes after you at close range with a shotgun or something? If they're in a shield-tanked Scout suit, they can move fast enough that there's no way you're going to get away, and they don't even have to work that hard at aiming to kill you.