I did the math and Grom did a combined 840,790 merits in the form of merit bombs right before cycle tick. The day before tick he had almost zero merits on the board. At 10 merits a kill in CZs that is slightly over 84,000 ship kills.
Opposition did a combined 525,320 merits. At 30 merits a kill that is just over 17,000 ship kills. I find it hard to believe that 1 faction alone can out merit The Alliance, 4 Imperial Factions and 2 Federal factions and various Independents who may or may not have helped oppose also.
These are screens from right before last cycle (247) ending so it may have been even more than this. Let me break down these expansions further.
Bulkuylkana impacted ALD for 42CC and Torval for 38CC in respects to their Command Captial. You can assume that only ALD and Torval Cmdrs would have opposed it and possibly other Imperials who were working together. Grom did 424,250 merits here, which is 42,425 ship kills. Roughly half of his efforts were put here. Opposition did 146,340 merits, which is about 4878 ship kills. The triggers are heavily in the Opposition's favor but it doesn't matter with such brute force numbers like this.
LFT 926 impacted Mahon for 24CC and Winters for 26CC in respects to their Command Captial. You can see it was hardly pushed at all, but still heavily opposed. You can assume that only Cmdrs from the Alliance and Federation would have opposed this one. Grom put in a measly 1,230 merits, which is 123 ship kills. Opposition did a massive 328,350 merits, which is about 10,945 ship kills. The triggers were relatively even, but despite this it was not pushed hardly at all.
Tatamo only impacted Mahon but for 11CC in respects to his Command Capital. You can see it was opposed some but due to the triggers it was not opposed very heavy. You can also assume that only Alliance Cmdrs would have opposed it. Grom put in 246,300 merits here, which is 24,630 ship kills. Opposition put in 12,280 merits which is 409 ship kills.
Gliese 900.1 impacted Patreus for 76CC and Torval for 11CC in respects to their Command Captial. You can assume that only Patreus and Torval Cmdrs would have opposed it and possibly other Imperials as well. Grom put in 169,010 merits here, or 16,901 ship kills. Opposition put in 38,350 merits, or about 1,278 ship kills.
Bulkuylkana was aimed at hurting ALD and Torval, and the fact that half of Grom's merits came from here shows it. LFT 926 would have hurt both Mahon and Winters but was not pushed hardly at all. Tatamo would have only hurt Mahon but was heavily pushed. Gliese 900.1 would have only hurt Patreus and Torval, and was also heavily pushed too. Looking at the data here you can safely assume that whoever is pushing these expansions favors the Federation.
I personally think that this is being done with Turret boat Cutters in CZs, using a wing of 4 with all turrets and 1 heal beam to keep their shields up indefinitely. Doing this you can basically AFK farm all week, and all you gotta do is aim at a wing mate and put a rubber band on your fire key to keep your heal beam firing all cycle. The sheer amount of merits suggests this, and if you do the math it equates to 1 wing in each of the three expansions all cycle doing 1200 merits an hour nonstop all week.
I've thought about possible fixes to this problem, and the simplest one that came to mind was simply either reducing the healing effectiveness of heal beams or making them function similar to Concordant lasers. Such that the healing effect only works while you are not actively taking damage. I think that removing heal beams may not be a good fix as they do have their uses but I feel that in their current form that they are being used and abused to great effect.
Opposition did a combined 525,320 merits. At 30 merits a kill that is just over 17,000 ship kills. I find it hard to believe that 1 faction alone can out merit The Alliance, 4 Imperial Factions and 2 Federal factions and various Independents who may or may not have helped oppose also.
These are screens from right before last cycle (247) ending so it may have been even more than this. Let me break down these expansions further.
Bulkuylkana impacted ALD for 42CC and Torval for 38CC in respects to their Command Captial. You can assume that only ALD and Torval Cmdrs would have opposed it and possibly other Imperials who were working together. Grom did 424,250 merits here, which is 42,425 ship kills. Roughly half of his efforts were put here. Opposition did 146,340 merits, which is about 4878 ship kills. The triggers are heavily in the Opposition's favor but it doesn't matter with such brute force numbers like this.
LFT 926 impacted Mahon for 24CC and Winters for 26CC in respects to their Command Captial. You can see it was hardly pushed at all, but still heavily opposed. You can assume that only Cmdrs from the Alliance and Federation would have opposed this one. Grom put in a measly 1,230 merits, which is 123 ship kills. Opposition did a massive 328,350 merits, which is about 10,945 ship kills. The triggers were relatively even, but despite this it was not pushed hardly at all.
Tatamo only impacted Mahon but for 11CC in respects to his Command Capital. You can see it was opposed some but due to the triggers it was not opposed very heavy. You can also assume that only Alliance Cmdrs would have opposed it. Grom put in 246,300 merits here, which is 24,630 ship kills. Opposition put in 12,280 merits which is 409 ship kills.
Gliese 900.1 impacted Patreus for 76CC and Torval for 11CC in respects to their Command Captial. You can assume that only Patreus and Torval Cmdrs would have opposed it and possibly other Imperials as well. Grom put in 169,010 merits here, or 16,901 ship kills. Opposition put in 38,350 merits, or about 1,278 ship kills.
Bulkuylkana was aimed at hurting ALD and Torval, and the fact that half of Grom's merits came from here shows it. LFT 926 would have hurt both Mahon and Winters but was not pushed hardly at all. Tatamo would have only hurt Mahon but was heavily pushed. Gliese 900.1 would have only hurt Patreus and Torval, and was also heavily pushed too. Looking at the data here you can safely assume that whoever is pushing these expansions favors the Federation.
I personally think that this is being done with Turret boat Cutters in CZs, using a wing of 4 with all turrets and 1 heal beam to keep their shields up indefinitely. Doing this you can basically AFK farm all week, and all you gotta do is aim at a wing mate and put a rubber band on your fire key to keep your heal beam firing all cycle. The sheer amount of merits suggests this, and if you do the math it equates to 1 wing in each of the three expansions all cycle doing 1200 merits an hour nonstop all week.
I've thought about possible fixes to this problem, and the simplest one that came to mind was simply either reducing the healing effectiveness of heal beams or making them function similar to Concordant lasers. Such that the healing effect only works while you are not actively taking damage. I think that removing heal beams may not be a good fix as they do have their uses but I feel that in their current form that they are being used and abused to great effect.
