Cross Atu
Conspiratus Immortalis
Covert Intervention
1338
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Posted - 2013.07.29 23:25:00 -
[1] - Quote
I like the general idea, and the pairing of an offensive and defensive option is great  but do I have some concerns.
First OBs are one of the few currently active links to EVE and adding more features which do not interact with EVE but do compete with OBs for use further bottlenecks game interaction, doing so seems like a bit of a step backwards.
Now on to specific responses 
I-Shayz-I wrote:
Clone Pack (2500 wp)
-An extra 10-25 clones (depends on gamemode? still debatable. Don't want it to overpower OBs) are supplied and instantly added to your clone counts to prevent your team from running out.
-Defensive counter to Orbital Strike
Clones are purchasable assets with a defined ISK value, granting them free isn't a great way to build the economy in Dust (something CCP has stated is a goal). They might be acceptable for use from an econ standpoint if restricted to Ambush/OMS but the nature of those game modes makes their impact dubious. This also lacks an targeting mechanic so it's much more "fire and forget" than an OB which has to be aimed and timed properly. Personally I'd pass on this one altogether.
Quote:Installation Deployment (2000 wp)
-Calls down a Supply Depot or CRU to a location of your choosing for placing a strategic waypoint on the battlefield (whether or not these are hackable is still debatable)
-Defensive counter to Rapid Deployment
I really like this one, even if deployment were limited to certain defined "sockets" I think it would still be a nice addition. It's also something CCP had talked about doing SOONtm (whether for WP or not wasn't discussed AFAIK). Make them hackable and call it good.
Quote:Rapid Deployment (2000 wp)
-Deploying on the battlefield for your team is instantaneous for the next X minutes to help push an objective without the current 10 second delay separating your team.
-Offensive counter to Installation Deployment
Minutes is way to long for a team wide bonus, it would be pretty easy to chain several together in a fairly game breaking manner with something like this. Further including this ability devalues uplinks thus reducing the tactical mertis (and WP earnings) of Mercs who are actively engaged in support roles. This also lacks an targeting mechanic so it's much more "fire and forget" than an OB which has to be aimed and timed properly. Personally I'd pass on this one altogether.
Quote:Rapid Fire Objectives (4000 wp)
-Null cannons you control fire twice as fast for the next X minutes to help the losing team get that extra oomph when they turned the game around and now have 4 of the 5 null cannons
-Offensive counter to MCC shield boost
MCC Shield Boost (4000 wp)
-The MCC on your team gets 25% of it's total shield regenerated (if it was at 10% shield, it's now at 35%) to buy your team some extra time.
-Defensive counter to Rapid Fire Objectives
If this were locked out unless your team is behind and if the "minutes" in question were 2 or fewer it might be a workable idea. Giving it much more power than that would simply truncate games and likely become imbalancing (or greatly prolong them in the case of shield boost.
Granted the 4000 WP cost does mitigate that to an extent but having it locked out for the winning side still seems important.
This one also suffers from the "fire and forget" problem as well thus devaluing OBs because it's a 'safer' option.
Quote:(NEW) Orbital Scanning (1500 wp)
-Reveals enemy positions for x seconds (kinda sounds too much like CoD but whatever) to know where the enemies are (might be too deadly in combination with an orbital strike)
-Offensive counter to Orbital Jammer
(NEW) Orbital Jammer (1500 wp)
-Your team no longer shows up on the enemy's map or radar for x seconds. If an enemy player sees you you will still have a red tag above your head, but it will not translate to other members of that team.
-Defensive counter to Orbital Scanner
Both of these would devalue current gear in game and that's generally not the best option. However if these were also call downs from EVE this could promote more game interaction and Dust related EVE fits which aren't directly combat oriented.
Requiring EVE support to use them, and requiring those EVE ships to have the proper fits, could have real promise for more diverse game play on the ground and in the sky. I really like this idea and think it has a lot of promise despite its drawbacks, provided that use of either scan related option requires an EVE pilot on grid. Having these abilities be NPC based (and in pubs) would remove the game link value and be an even greater burden on the value of fittings and skills within Dust thus making use of these via NPC a net loss.
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Cross |