To the "it's fine, just use sentries" people:

It is NOT fine, for a number of reasons.

1. Sentries only really become usable at elite cruiser level at the earliest. This is not fine for a new player who would be doing L1-L3 missions against many elite frigs and cruisers (who target drones of all sizes). Sentries are not an option for these players yet. As such, the situation is most certainly not fine.

The only reason we don't see a lot of complaints is because A) EVE doesn't really have (m)any new players coming in, most new characters are just alts of new players. And B) those new players that do run into this issue either train something else or quietly quit the game if they're unwilling to play in a way different from which they prefer.

Which brings up an interesting point. Drones are the "pet class" or "minion master" equivalent of EVE. If it is not fun or viable for new players, that turns them off from the game. Can they train something else? Sure. But why would they want to, if they want to play a minion master class, but end up at a huge disadvantage PLUS having to do tons of extra micromanagement with absolutely zero additional payoff for the hassle?

2. Sentries aren't really drones. They're stationary deployable, destructible space turrets. They function completely differently from all other entities in "Drones" window. They require drone skills, yes, and go into a drone bay, but for all intents and purposes they are extra turrets.

Don't get me wrong. As an old-ish player myself (had T2 sentries for a long time now), yes, the change is fine. But as a new player, I would absolutely loathe these changes.