Most of us are acutely aware of the limitations of frags and many of us still remember combat before Engineering. The arguments about potential counters and tactics to use in a post-drag-buff game are neither here nor there.
Every player who anticipates their CMDR ever standing their ground against another can just ask themselves one question: Will my CMDR(s) not having drag munitions of their own put them at a disadvantage?
I wonder how was the pvp before engineers?
Not as boost dependent (though boost certainly mattered), perhaps more pip dependent, with more active non-boost maneuvering, and much shorter average engagement range (due to both lower speeds and no LR/focused weapons).
I significantly prefered the old dynamics (especially the 1.4 and earlier combat), to be frank, and I understand how some people could misinterpret the drag changes as a step back in this direction.
However, there is an enormous caveat. Everyone will need to run drag munitions, because if you can't boost, but your opponents can, you are at a major disadvantage...one that is potentially unassailable in a wing fight, or against an individual that is already approaching parity in skill otherwise.
Yes, there will be disadvantages to having to mount a drag frag and/or seeker. It will require changes to otherwise extremely effective loadouts. However, it's perfectly possible for most ships to effectively cram the majority of their DPS into their few largest hardpoints and reserve the rest for useful effects. Drag, if it becomes a five-second boost kill with no cooldown, will almost certainly be vaulted to the top of the 'must have' effects lists for most CMDRs who ever expect to fight another. Many people already ran it, because it was already useful and I strongly suspect it will become virtually omnipresent soon after the patch.
That's the real test of wether a tool/effect is overpowered or not...how many people are and are not using it.
You know, one thing that troubles me is that so many people seem to have lost the capacity for creativity.
Complaints about this have nothing to do with lack of creativity. Everyone will learn effective ways to fight under whatever new system that develops in very short order.
The problem will be one effect becoming essentially
mandatory.
If I don't put drag frags and/or seekers on all of my ships, I'll be at a significant disadvantage fighting those that have. I'm fairly confident I have the experience and skill set to adjust to a near-boostless combat dynamic more easily than most, but I'm still going to be annoyed at having everything built around drag.
Comparisons with the early thermal shock effects aren't far off. Contrary to conventional wisdom, there were counters, and ships could survive and continue to fight even when being blasted with a score of thermal shock retributors (provided you didn't mistime those heatsinks)...I know, I flew one. It was still silly because you had to build a ship around thermal shock to be competitive. It was omnidimensional and this is bad.
Ultimately, setting any one ship, weapon, or effect so far above others will hamper variety an creativity, not encourage it.
i think a lot of you are just overreacting. that drag munitions change makes so much sense. why could you use boost when the engine has limited performance?
Yeah, it makes almost as much sense as a singular piece of glitter impacting your shields being able to interfere with thrusters in the first place.
Drag never killed engines and already had a modest effect on boost's rotational advantages.
you got shot by drag munitions? shoot them back with drag munitions .. now no one can boost ¯\(ツ)/¯
Everyone having to take drag munitions is exactly the problem here.