Originally by: Baudolino

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CCP

I`ve read the dev blog, i`ve thought about your proposals and i believe i understand the frame of mind in which these ideas were thought out.

I have played this game since the very beginning, i have seen all expansions and just about all the patches. I`ve played the game since there was no stacking and frigates fielded cruise missiles and battleships fitted 5x MWDs. I was there before "orbit" and indeed suggested it to CCP myself.

I believe that EVE today is caught in a limbo somewhere between tech II and tech III. Caught in a move in which "heat" and "combat boosters" are to be the next great thing in combat. As features central to tech III have been unleashed before the tech branch itself, we have a situation in wich non-stacking bonuses create the speeds you state to be insane- and a change is required or when tech III is introduced things will really get "insane".

I do however believe that you are in your changes also contemplating a sad mistake based on dangerous misconceptions.

I am of course talking about "nano".
(I have previously written about nano tactics which can be viewed following this Link)
I will in the following, where necessary use terms presented in that post.

"Nano" constitutes a space that is ill-defined and poorly understood. As a consequence any intervention can never be based on anything but lack of understanding, which in it`s furthest consequence can be detrimental.
There is no clear definition of what constitutes a "nano" ship- frequently people believe a ship is "nano" as long as it has some speed increasing modules on it and just as frequently turn to ships flying 15km/s to depict a ruinous fault in the game.

As i have previously stated, the game has 3 speeds: "max", "orbit" and "heated". The latter includes combat boosters and refers to temporary effects. In addition there are the gang bonuses which I`ll get back to.

The 15km/s ship relying on temporary effects will have a "max" speed somewhere around 9-10km/s and it`s "orbit" speed will be around 5-6km/s. The going mantra is that you need a ship flying 10km/s or faster to engage a 10km/s ship- nothing could be further from the truth- as i stated in the link above. This belief is thuroughly based on a lack of understanding of game mechanics and "nano" tactics.

I have previously defined "nano" as constituting ships flying at "max" speeds above 4.5km/s and this definition precludes 90% of the current so-called "nano" population. I use this speed because it is the speed required to effectively escape drones and missiles when entering "orbit" which speeds are significantly lower then "max", but "max" will and should always be the speed to which all others are compared. However it becomes dangerous when "max" speed is used to portray a reality in other situations in which it is not valid. It also becomes extremely dangerous when "heat/booster" speeds are referenced in a manner such as to cause confusion about what is "max" and what is a temporary effect.

I believe you are doing the same mistake you did when announcing a nerf to carriers, only this mistake is much greater. I see both mistakes as a possible indication of GMs and developers having less intimate knowledge of game mechanics then they had only 2 years ago. I see CCP relying in both cases on players with even less understanding of the mechanics they are discussing.

I believe EVE has evolved. I believe speed and the advanced gamestyle in it`s wake has been refreshing to eve and while some adaptations towards tech III are required and while extreme effects such as a Machariel doing 18km/s should be curtailed, the function and purpose of "nano" is valid and should not be removed.

-concluded in the next part-

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