The Powerplay discussion thread.

[Hiten Bongz]

Powerplay weapons should be available for ALL sizes and styles.

I simply don't understand why so many of these PP weapons are only available in small/fixed and nothing else. The lasers, the "cannon"...only small and fixed. Really?

Then you have the Advanced Plasma, which is only available in Large (and fixed - but this one's fine). Frag-Cannon, Large.

Where is the medium hardpoint love? Where are the gimbals, and the turrets? What am I even supposed to equip on my Courier...lol. Nah, I don't really like rails or being forced into using them if I want some kind of different pew-pew than the miserable selection we've had since launch. I was really, really looking forward to 2x medium gimballed Pulse Disruptors and a medium Enforcer Cannon. And putting a couple gimballed Pulse Disruptors on my FdL. Well, way to flush my dreams straight down the toilet. Like the sad old goldfish, round and round...

FD, we are not all still flying Sidewinders and Eagles. Especially those of us who are minimally 4 weeks pledged and Rank 3 with our power. Did you just troll the majority of your playerbase for an entire month? That is some serious troll skills; I'm talking Jotnar-level trolling, bravo! I have to give a few props in that regard, at least.

Seriously though, can we get a serious balance/size pass on these modules please? From what I've read the Cyto and the Retribution need a serious buff, too. I think that most of the other weapons would simply benefit from being available in S/M/L and with the choice of fixed, gimballed, or turret versions. Though I can't be sure. I wonder why these weren't available for testing in beta (seriously). Omitting the fact that most of these modules were going to be small/fixed (and therefore almost always useless) is kind of a slap in the face to anyone who actually has an interest in using said module(s).

 

[Globusdiablo]

Yes. And some more characters.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Did you just troll the majority of your playerbase for an entire month? That is some serious troll skills; I'm talking Jotnar-level trolling, bravo! I have to give a few props in that regard, at least.

+rep for the laugh.

Good points though. These weapons don't need to be OP, but they do need to be on a par in some way.

 

[Aleksej]

The only issue that I see is that modules were not tested and their performance requires tweaking. As for the fact that all special weapons are fixed and their size is predetermined - it was known all the way long, and personally I think that it is exactly how it should be. Imperial hammer (special rail guns) are medium by the way.

 

[tomalus]

The only issue that I see is that modules were not tested and their performance requires tweaking. As for the fact that all special weapons are fixed and their size is predetermined - it was known all the way long, and personally I think that it is exactly how it should be. Imperial hammer (special rail guns) are medium by the way.

I expected mining lance being fixed, but I thought they would make a class 1 and class 2 module.

 

[tomalus]

Just as expected pp modules are weaksauce. They even managed to dissapoint me who had very low expectations by making the mining laser only class 1 size.I predict a massive drop in pp contribution, for some factions good for some bad.

 

[Raiste]

The only issue that I see is that modules were not tested and their performance requires tweaking. As for the fact that all special weapons are fixed and their size is predetermined - it was known all the way long, and personally I think that it is exactly how it should be. Imperial hammer (special rail guns) are medium by the way.

Except it was NOT stated that the would be only size 1, though it WAS stated for another. This led reasonable people to expect at LEAST size 2. Not even BEGINNING to look at how horrific they are in general. Its offensive.

 

[Hiten Bongz]

As for the fact that all special weapons are fixed and their size is predetermined - it was known all the way long, and personally I think that it is exactly how it should be.

No, you're wrong. The descriptions for the Mining Lance, Cyto, Enforcer Cannon, Hammer, and Advanced PA had NO indication of a size or type restriction, while the Disruptor Pulse was specifically described as a medium weapon and the Retribution as a small; the Pacifier was also listed specifically as Large.

This would lead one to logically conclude that the others would be available in all sizes, save perhaps maybe huge (which is still disappointing to see a complete lack of weapon selection for). And nothing listed on ANY of the weapon descriptions hinted at them being only available in fixed, with no turreted or gimballed versions - other than the common knowledge that rails/PA/mining laser are always fixed. So pretty much half of these weapons are pigeon-holed into only being usable on a Sidewinder, Eagle, Adder or other small agile starter ship. And even THEN they are not up to par with standard weapons (cyto/retribution at least).

As far as "that's how it should be," well - that is your opinion and your opinion only, which I don't believe the majority of people are going to share. I see absolutely no sense in the arbitrary restrictions put on so many of these weapons. There is no reason they should not be available in the sizes and types that the vanilla standard versions are.

Imperial hammer (special rail guns) are medium by the way.

I guess you stopped reading before the part where I said I don't use or want to use rails. So, thanks for that bit...about as useful as a Cytoscrambler.

issue that I see is that modules were not tested and their performance requires tweaking.

This we can certainly agree on, but I did have to remove the "only" part in order to come to terms.

 

[Aleksej]

No, you're wrong. The descriptions for the Mining Lance, Cyto, Enforcer Cannon, Hammer, and Advanced PA had NO indication of a size or type restriction, while the Disruptor Pulse was specifically described as a medium weapon and the Retribution as a small; the Pacifier was also listed specifically as Large.

This would lead one to logically conclude that the others would be available in all sizes, save perhaps huge. And nothing listed on ANY of the weapon descriptions hinted at them being only available in fixed, with no turreted or gimballed versions. So pretty much half of these weapons are pigeon-holed into only being usable on a Sidewinder, Eagle, Adder or other starter ship. And even THEN they are not even up to par with standard weapons (cyto/retribution at least).

As far as "that's how it should be," well that is your opinion and your opinion only, which I don't believe the majority of people are going to share (IMO).



I guess you stopped reading before the part where I listed I don't use or want to use rails. So, thanks for the useless tip...

Well, I have analysed the folder names that were added in Beta to get the idea of what to expect from the special modules:

These are the folders added in Beta and 1.3, except for the prismatic shield generators that were added to existing folder. Medium burst lasers were missing in 1.2 and added in 1.3. The rest is related to the special modules added in the PP. And probably the ammunition tweak stated in Beta 3 relates to the special rail guns and these multi-cannons.

And yes, I stated my personal opinion, and you can find that the word "personally" was used in my post.

You said that there is no love for medium hard points in general. So my reply was related exactly for this part. There are medium special weapons - rail guns and medium pulse disruptor, which probably is the laser that causes module malfunctions.

 

[Bazorlag]

I was quite disappointed that Plasma cannon comes only in Large format since it makes it pretty useless for FDL pilots like me. Originally I was also looking at Antal´s cannon, but that one is a fixed small multicannon. Should have gone with the bounty queen with rails as bonus instead right from the start. OP:s request is entirely reasonable. It already takes 4 weeks to get access to this stuff and I suspect we have a bunch of people who found out that their modules were either not that good or even just plain unsuitable for their favorite ships.

 

[Lazerus Artificial]

I was quite disappointed that Plasma cannon comes only in Large format since it makes it pretty useless for FDL pilots like me. Originally I was also looking at Antal´s cannon, but that one is a fixed small multicannon. Should have gone with the bounty queen with rails as bonus instead right from the start. OP:s request is entirely reasonable. It already takes 4 weeks to get access to this stuff and I suspect we have a bunch of people who found out that their modules were either not that good or even just plain unsuitable for their favorite ships.

or simply unusable in general like the Lance.
No aiming dots and beam can visually pass through ships,
while the weapon itself is weaker than the size 1 beam, slower than the size 1 miner, but consumes almost as much power as the size 2 miner and has a giher thermal load than all of them.
but hey...atleast its a fancy blue laser

so for now i want to get that pack-hound missile, and when i have it i might switch back to torval again

 

[Hiten Bongz]

Well, I have analysed the folder names that were added in Beta to get the idea of what to expect from the special modules:

As for the fact that all special weapons are fixed and their size is predetermined - it was known all the way long

I really don't see how you analyzing folder names from the beta to which only a small percentage of players even had access to, qualifies as "known all along." That's ridiculous.

And yes, I stated my personal opinion, and you can find that the word "personally" was used in my post.

Yes...and the reason why I stated that it was your opinion and your opinion only, was in order to highlight the fact that the majority of players would probably not agree with your opinion. But hey, that's just my opinion.

You said that there is no love for medium hard points in general. So my reply was related exactly for this part. There are medium special weapons - rail guns and medium pulse disruptor, which probably is the laser that causes module malfunctions.

Where is the medium hardpoint love? Where are the gimbals, and the turrets? What am I even supposed to equip on my Courier...lol. Nah, I don't really like rails or being forced into using them if I want some kind of different pew-pew than the miserable selection we've had since launch. I was really, really looking forward to 2x medium gimballed Pulse Disruptors and a medium Enforcer Cannon.

Notice how I immediately refer to gimballed and turreted variants after I mention medium hardpoints. I clearly acknowledge the existence of the Pulse Disruptor and my dislike of Railguns in the OP; it's not like I don't know these special versions exist. You're still missing the point, obviously.

 

[Bokugo]

I would like to know what would happen when a power dies? Do the modules die with them? Will they change hands? Can powers even die?

Also having only fixed is very presumptuous. Not everyone is a great shot, or even owns a joystick to enable them to be a good shot. Not everyone likes using the mouse. Having only fixed excludes a good portion of players.

 

[Parmo]

I see absolutely no sense in the arbitrary restrictions ....

I too see no sense in a lot things in the design and gameplay of ED, but I would not assume them to be arrived at in an arbitrary fashion.
You have come to an arbitrary conclusion. That last sentence is also an arbitrary conclusion.

 

[Aleksej]

I really don't see how you analyzing folder names from the beta to which only a small percentage of players even had access to, qualifies as "known all along." That's ridiculous.

Yes...and the reason why I stated that it was your opinion and your opinion only, was in order to highlight the fact that the majority of players would probably not agree with your opinion. But hey, that's just my opinion.


Notice how I immediately refer to gimballed and turreted variants after I mention medium hardpoints. I acknowledge the existence of the Pulse Disruptor and Hammer in the OP; it's not like I don't know they exist or am intentionally ignoring their existence. You're still missing the point, obviously.

These folders were downloaded with the release of PP (i.e. 4 weeks ago).

Special modules were not made available during Beta so I have used all the information that could have been extracted to choose the power I need to join in order to get the module that is more suitable for me.

 

[Nicodemus]

Well, I have analysed the folder names that were added in Beta to get the idea of what to expect from the special modules:
http://i.imgur.com/OR4VPhY.jpg

These are the folders added in Beta and 1.3, except for the prismatic shield generators that were added to existing folder. Medium burst lasers were missing in 1.2 and added in 1.3. The rest is related to the special modules added in the PP. And probably the ammunition tweak stated in Beta 3 relates to the special rail guns and these multi-cannons.

And yes, I stated my personal opinion, and you can find that the word "personally" was used in my post.

You said that there is no love for medium hard points in general. So my reply was related exactly for this part. There are medium special weapons - rail guns and medium pulse disruptor, which probably is the laser that causes module malfunctions.

To be honest though, you may have well gone digging for the info through the folder names but a LOT of people would not have gone that far. I personally didn't think to check folder names for information that SHOULD have been readily available in the game.

 

[Djinn144]

I have to agree with OP in that im also disappointed in the lack of size descriptions. and although you could have done as Aleksej did looking at file folders but you shouldn't have to do this just for info, the point is this info was not available on forums or in the game apart from a few descriptions stating actual size, at least for me i feel i have waisted 4 weeks of effort wanting to get an "Enforcer Cannon" to replace the size 2 cannons i currently run but that turned out to not be a cannon at all but a multi-cannon and only size small instead.

All in this has left me thinking to hell with PP in general, maybe swap Powers every 4 weeks to get any Modules that you deem decent but as a whole PP for me has become a lot less inviting.

 

[Aleksej]

I have to agree with OP in that im also disappointed in the lack of size descriptions. and although you could have done as Aleksej did looking at file folders but you shouldn't have to do this just for info, the point is this info was not available on forums or in the game apart from a few descriptions stating actual size, at least for me i feel i have waisted 4 weeks of effort wanting to get an "Enforcer Cannon" to replace the size 2 cannons i currently run but that turned out to not be a cannon at all but a multi-cannon and only size small instead.

All in this has left me thinking to hell with PP in general, maybe swap Powers every 4 weeks to get any Modules that you deem decent but as a whole PP for me has become a lot less inviting.

Well, I agree that information provided for the modules in the game is insufficient and should have been available without folder analysis.

 

[Hiten Bongz]

These folders were downloaded with the release of PP (i.e. 4 weeks ago).

Special modules were not made available during Beta so I have used all the information that could have been extracted to choose the power I need to join in order to get the module that is more suitable for me.

That's fine and I'm happy for you. 99.8% of players aren't going to go rummaging through the ED folder looking for new data, especially when they don't have a basis to compare to, or even know what to look for.

Please also tell me how that is relevant to this topic, because I'm not following.

 

[fergal]

The devs were very clear that the new modules would not be upgrades, just a slightly different weapon.
Nothing that any player needs to play the game, and if any were overpowered they would be changed.

Personally I'd prefer they gave everyone a decal for being with their power for 4 weeks

I'm surprised the Prismatic Shields come in all sizes, I though they would just be one size like the weapons.