DJ P0N-3
Table Flippendeavors
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Posted - 2012.03.08 15:23:00 -
[2] - Quote
Hi, Ytterbium! Your answers overall seem sound, but I'd like to address one thing.
CCP Ytterbium wrote:Q: With the skill changes, I will have to train for [racial cruiser V] and [racial battlecruiser V] to train for a Command Ship, how does that make it easier for me?
A: This is a misunderstanding, the changes don't work that way. While training for the next tech 1 ship class size will require that you train the racial skill to 4, training for the tech 2 version will only require the main racial skill at 5. That is the whole point with splitting destroyers and battlecruiser skills into four variants in the first place.
Example:
Before, training for a Harbinger required you to train for Amarr Frigate 4, Amarr Cruiser 3 and Battlecruisers at 2
Before, training for an Absolution required you to train for Amarr Frigate 4, Amarr Cruiser 5, Battlecruiser at 5 and Heavy Assault Ships at 4
Now, training for a Harbinger requires you to train for Amarr Frigate 4, Amarr Destroyer 4, Amarr Cruiser 4 and then Amarr Battlecruiser at 1.
Now, training for an Absolution requires you to train for Amarr Frigate 4, Amarr Destroyer 4, Amarr Cruiser 4 and Amarr Battlecruiser at 5. There is no more need for the Amarr Cruiser 5 and Heavy Assault Ship at 4.
Here's the thing that makes me a sad nublet who loves flying all four races: this method penalizes you the more you crosstrain if you are not all about command ships and nothing else. It is, I think, a difference in perception of how much time one devotes to training for a command ship. I will do my best to explain why I made a sad face, even though technically I should be dancing around the house because it technically takes less time to train for command ships. (I'll focus on command ships since there are more tragic things in the world than training a 2x to V to unlock a single ship, but as that does seem silly I hope you'll look into more T2 destroyers to make it really worthwhile. I'll also forgo the discussion of how one 6x currently makes a bucketful of T1 ships awesome and people loved that, since it seems that this is something that you found suboptimal and I'll let the Drake lovers fight that one out.)
If you just want command ships, all the command ships, to have and to hold and to have no other, then yes, this is a step up. Overall you will come out ahead, because you train a 6x four times. Currently you have to train a 6x once and a 5x four times and that's pretty sad for someone specializing in command ships, since they have a mess of other 5x skills to train if they're going for booster roles. You're also eliminating the other T2 ship requirements, which cuts down on the time some more. Hooray!
For those who are not specialized toons and want to fly more than one race of command ships, this feels like a step down. This is a perception issue, I will admit, but when many people think about training for command ships, the single 6x of BC V is the major training hurdle. There are so many other reasons to train a cruiser to V that that 5x doesn't matter to them. They probably already have the racial cruisers they want to V by the time they're looking at command ships or plan to pick up other races as they train the cruiser to V for super mega T2 ship crosstrain goodness. So, to these people, now it feels like that single 6x has become up to four 6x skills. Cue forumrage.
I understand that the goal may be to make it so that training a cruiser to V doesn't unlock as much T2 goodness. If that's what you're aiming for, okay, I see why you've done this. That's fair. But for people for whom training multiple cruisers to V is just something you do without thinking about it, the new system doesn't feel as good.
I see that this unlocks the potential for a lot of awesome new ships in the future. If you're thinking thinky thoughts about introducing more T2 battlecruisers/destroyers to make the separate racial training really worthwhile, I will be thrilled to bits (recon battlecruisers pls). Likewise, pirate battlecruisers have been on my wishlist. But right now, under the current circumstances, I'm not as thrilled because in my mind, training racial cruisers to 5x had nothing to do with command ships other than "these are the races I'll be able to fly when I finish a single 6x", and command ships are the big reason that I trained (well, am training -- here's to having that in my training plan before it was cool) that 6x.
Thanks for being so responsive; I hope you'll take the time to address this. |