Calian
   |
Posted - 2005.08.20 22:41:00 -
[1]
There always seemed to be something nagging at me about there being a big problem with adding drones that can scramble, or repair, or webify, but I couldn't really put my finger on it for awhile. The main issue of course is that there are many ships with no drone bay at all which could never utilize these new drones that allow you to not only not use a slot on your ship, but also cost no power or cpu.
I think the main argument for them is that some ships don't have turret slots, some ships don't have missile slots, and therefore, it's logical that some ships don't have drone "slots" and so it's not unbalanced for ships with drones to get this extra advantage.
However, I finally figured out what I see as the major flaw in this reasoning. Yes, not all ships can fit missiles, not all ships can fit turrets, however, and here is the key point, ALL ships can fit scramblers, ALL ships can fit webifiers, ALL ships can fit repairers. So, to give drone ships the ability to have drones which can do what those modules can do and therefore allow them to not have to fit that extra module + fitting regs, is unacceptable to ships without drone bays because now you're not just talking about not being able to fit turrets or missiles or drones, you're talking about not letting certain ships be able to fit a new module which all ships should be able to normally fit.
To give another example, instead of drones, lets just say they came up with a new scrambler that didn't use any cpu, any power, and no slots, but they only let certain ships, and mostly ships of one race, be able to use this new module. Doesn't seem fair to me. Once you take drones from doing damage to actually replacing modules on a ship, you're turning them into the example I just gave.
Now some might say, "but drones can be destroyed, so you could lose your scrambler/webber/etc where as modules you can't lose" Well, that's true, but that has nothing to do with restricting their use from certain ships. Ships with drone bays have the option to weigh the risk vs reward of using a drone scrambler instead of the module, where as ships with no drone bay have no option for this even if they want to take the risk.
Of course, seeing as there is no information on if or how utility drones will be handled, this is of course very premature, however, it just kinda struck me that once you take drones from being another way to do damage, and change them into a module, you're shafting any ship without a drone bay. I mean, do you see missiles getting scramblers or webbiers? Do you see turrets getting scramblers or webbers? No, you don't, they just do damage, and I don't see why drones should suddenly be allowed to scramble or web when the other weapon platforms can't, and moreover, a bunch of ships in the game can't even use drones.
Feel free to give your own opinion on this, I'm open to any counter arguments.
-------------------------
I hate everyone, except you. |