OK, this subject has come up alot recently on these forums and I think it is time it got it's own thread in the general feedback as it affects all aspects of the game. Now we've all seen people complaining about this game being "Escorts online" which with the content being DPS based we can't really blame them, lets face it, would you rather sit around for 5 minutes tickling a target to death with excessive defence capability or powers that are horrendously weak and very situational or would you prefer to blow that same target to spacedust in 5 seconds rendering any defence beyond the bare minimum unnecessary?
I think we all know the answer to that question.
Now I've only been here since free to play so I don't know about season 1.2 balance but from what I read here it sounds like balance heaven compared to this... between F2P going live and season 6 going live I went through 3 Excelsior builds and I got to a point where I had a nice ship putting out enough DPS to get through stuff about 3/4 the speed of an escort and could spike at 2.5k per hit with 6 beam arrays, I was quite pleased with myself, then season 6 happened and the gap between myself and escorts grew majorly in the end thanks to flekh (That guy knows how to build ships

) I got a build that was better than mine pre-season 6 then season 7 happened and I felt far weaker (probably those stat boosts the NPCs got) and yet my escort noticed no difference in performance...
Of course the way power works (or doesn't) in the game probably doesn't help, we seen all the cruiser threads asking for buffs to cruisers. I have however noticed an increase on the PvP forums in the number requests for balance in ships, weapons and consoles and they're right. Cryptic please, your lockbox ships are making even C-Store ships look obsolete, there is something seriously wrong here...
I know you will go where the money is and that due to your game design means escorts so why not rearrange that and rather than go to the money, make the money come to you, redress the balance make it "Equal yet different" thus creating money in more than 1 playstyle and also making more customers happy, if they want to play an engineer in a cruiser as a healboat let 'em but if they want to DPS in their cruiser... equally, let 'em, don't let them do the damage as fast as the escort but equally it shouldn't take twice as long, I think we should at least go back to F2P balance which is likely easier than season 1.2 although if S 1.2 balance is sufficiently better that it is worth doing then by all means yes please, but some of the things that are in the game need a balance pass and the games 3rd birthday is the time to make this happen, doubtless you will have many players coming into the game both new and old, I think balance is a good way to get them to stay

Anyway, I'm done with that subject for now... I could go on for days but it would simply bore you all to death by which time a cruiser might have killed something (yes, I joke on that one), so... onto the second point of this thread...
The AI... needs a MAJOR overhaul, frankly it is pathetic, and it isn't helping the balance situation either, NPC ships should have the same capabilities as player ships at a similar level as player ships with better co-ordination than they do, eveb if you have to script all NPCs, just put them into different classes for stats and skills, I wont give examples you're supposed to know this stuff. Look, you took a step in the right direction with hive onslaught but sadly it was nerfed shortly after release (bad move in my opinion), none the less the NPCs we're harder to beat and it was interesting
which made it fun. I would like more content like that, I'd like for the other STFs to be improved to that standard and I know others will support me in that, I hate to say it and I say it every time the game's AI comes up as a subject, Final Fantasy 7 in 1998 had better enemies in it, the bosses seemed to have a sense of self preservation and they were scripted using IF statements for goodness sake, come on guys, we're talking about a game being made 15 years later, I'm sure you can do better than that.
And now I'm finally done, my wrist, arm and neck hurt

but I feel I have made my cases so it was worth it
This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Perfect World Entertainment Community Rules and Policies . ~Bluegeek
Comments
removing restrictions from z-store consoles and gimmick ships from lock boxes). Balance is important to all aspects of a successful game but with AI this bad it hardly seems like a priority. That's just unfortunate.
It's terrible but easy, and these Borg are way cooler than the mess STO and Voyager left us.
Out of curiosity, what was the violation?
Really a ship shouldn't be running more than say, two tactical consoles for their main damage type, which would encourage builds to have consoles for more than one type. e.g - a mostly energy weapon escort would have two consoles for that energy type, and maybe a console or two for whatever torpedoes/mines they like to use.
If tactical consoles fell off at say? 50% the rate that defensive consoles do then it should still keep damage important, but allow a cruiser with tanking abilities to compete a lot more easily, and actually be properly hard to crack.
On the issue of the AI? it seems NPC ships just have huge loads of hit points in favour of giving them some basic defensive skill behaviour. I can understand that the AI needs to be fairly light to keep it responsive and avoid needing really powerful servers to run the game, but it shouldn't be too hard for there to be overall "faction" AI that assigns roles to ships so that they will heal their fellows while staying at range, while others rush in to deal damage or try to draw fire. The basic combat behaviour is simple enough as enemies do usually move to keep strong shields in your line of fire, rebalance shields as required and so-on, it just needs some more unique behaviours that allow for ranged fighting and supporting roles, with a means of assigning these roles dynamically as ships are destroyed or arrive as reinforcements.
Game Balance - Ship Size and Wingmates
The problem with this (even with the heal changes you mentioned in your post) is that PvE and with the exception of the odd SNB PvP is all DPS based and anything other than a Tac or Sci/scort is sub-par, a tac/scort can overcome buffs with sheer firepower while Sci/scorts will simply strip the buffs and then rip through you in roughly the same timeframe yet you put an eng in the same ship and it's worthless. If you take a team and say "The only energy weapons you can use are beam based" they will take forever to complete any STF, you take the same team and say "You can use DHCs" and the STF will be over in no time provided at least one team member flies an escort.
With regard to healing I believe it should be percentage based which would give cruisers and science ships a healing advantage over escorts and you can tie that into an equal but different system such that escorts make up for it by dodging and making the most of their spike damage while cruisers are able to sit there and keep up a decent level of broadside damage (as in 3/4 of escort damage possibly 4/5) giving escorts an edge in damage to make up for the lower uptime and the cruiser still has the tanking edge to make up for the lower damage output and science with their science stuff and better maneuverability get the best of both which would allow people to more use their play style rather than that of the ship which in turn leads to more build variety and more fun for the players. Yes what I just said will have people crying "Science ships online" but at the end of the day its far more balanced than the game is now.
TL;DR for adam's post:
MAKE CRUISERS STRONGER NAO!! Give damage to a ship-class that isn't a damage dealer. Take away damage from the primary damage dealing class. Make NPC smarter! Make NPC hull weaker!
Seriously dude? They implemented some AI changes on Donatra and the Tac Cubes right before S6 ended. And the raging on the forums. Holy TRIBBLE. They made the NPCs more intelligent with when they used abilities, and how they used abilities. And the raging on the forums. Holy TRIBBLE. So they removed the upgrades, and now the raging subsided. Mostly.
And as for your quest to make cruisers stronger? Stop it already. They are a support ship. Get that through your head already. They were never intended to be damage dealers. Instead of begging for more damage on a ship that was never intended to do it, why don't you try to optimize their strengths? Instead of asking for additional oomph, why not give them an ability or something that takes advantage of their tankiness? You already saw my suggestion in Bareel's thread. And summarily ignored it I might add, instead commenting that cruisers need more damage.
I will admit, BAs should get that 20% nerf lifted already, it's unnecessary and just stupid to keep it there, but anymore than that? No.
If I may turn your attention to the reasons why it got here: Reason 1, Reason 2 and Reason 3
Please don't misquote me... I'm not asking for cruisers to be made the damage dealing class, I'm asking for beam arrays to be brought up to standard after the power creep that was the result of seasons 6 and 7, I have gone through several ideas in past threads to bridge this gap, all were dismissed as unbalanced, in the end I choose to go for beam arrays and you tell me I can't do that and yet finish your post saying that beam arrays are the answer...
And there are those of us who want a challenge, not death because we looked at a borg cube or to be sub-par because our ship of choice is not a tac/scort so yes I do ask for our NPCs to be brought upto (though preferably beyond) the standards of 1998, is that really too much to ask?
Yes, because like Bareel I don't like this so called "Holy trinity", the system of PuG queuing does not allow for such a system anyway, so why shouldn't we make all ships equal yet different so that you can pick a ship because you like it or it suits your playstyle rather than being forced to play a certain way because you like a particular ship? I feel the latter is silly if not outright wrong.
And here you go and contradict your entire post and everything you have said in disagreement with me (With the exception of the AI, which even you asked for an improvement for not too long ago) by agreeing with me, I'm sorry but I have to ask, what DO you want here? Do you want a balance pass to make all ships more fitting to the IP or do you want a holy trinity?
It's a matter of build but also a choice: escort = dps, cruiser = resilience, make your choice and don't complain about it. Most people crying about their ship's dps have no idea how to fit it or don't want to understand the fact that they sacrified dps for tanking. It's a choice. No one will ever force you to play an eng on a cruiser. Most people choose a cruiser because it's a resilient ship but will try to make it do dps. It's not supposed to work like that.
I found a solution to this issue: I have 3 chars i play, a sci, a tac and an eng. The sci is on a science ship, the tac on an escort, and the eng on a galor. When i'm in the mood for dps i take the tac, in the mood to control stuff and/or make others mad in pvp i take the sci and so on.
God, lvl 60 CW. 17k.
I can hop in my Steamrunner and out DPS many tactical captains... and that is without Alpha Strike.
There really is no balance issue. Eng/Cruis are much more tanky, so yes it takes longer to kill a target but you can survive it. A Tac/Escort must kill things quickly because once they use up their one or two tricks they are going down.
If a Eng/Sci/Cruis were able to kill things as fast as a Tac/Escort THAT would be a giant balance issue and the LAST thing we need is a return to Cruiser Trek Online. Although I did enjoy that time, I'm now able to enjoy alts because every class has it's purpose.
I have always enjoyed your posts as they are thoughtful and articulate. I too have VA sci/sci, tac/scort, and eng/cruis, and agree it makes for a more enjoyable experience to have the option of different play styles depending on mood and a group's need. However, I respectfully must point out a difference of opinion on your main argument.
My eng/cruiser is built for pve tanking, and have been told that I do a fairly good job of this. However, even with +Th consoles and a build tailored for this job, there are times when 'scorts end up grabbing and maintaining aggro throughout an entire STF due to the copious amount of damage they put out. So I've done everything reasonably possible to play my eng/cruiser as the game is designed but it still falls short at times. That is frustrating! So please don't say that cruisers aren't in need of some love when even following the 'rules' results in cruiser neglect.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating cruisers equal or exceed scorts in dps. I know my role, but something is not working as intended when it comes to aggro management. The mere existence of the newly created +/-Th consoles is the game's acknowledgement of an imbalance, yet the funny thing is they still don't get the job done. How very Cryptic like. And please, ppl should go a little easier on eng/cruiser captains when the voice some pain. There really are some valid reasons for a few of the QQs.
What nerf is this and when and why did it occur?
Not entirely sure, but at some point in S3 or S4, near when BFAW first came out, it started becoming cruisers only in PvP and most other content. That is where the disco ball of death came from, and as such, due to 5 man cruiser teams with BFAW wrecking EVERYTHING, BFAW was altered and BAs had a damage redution. A rather significant one. And after things were altered to make everything a little stronger, beams were not returned to their original strength.
Ok. So you brought up 3 threads, two about balance and one about cruisers. Your point?
A lot of your ideas involved weakening too many things while at the same time bolstering too many others. And as for the Heavy Beam Array idea? I have looked at it, and used to be a staunch supporter of the idea, but then I actually took a step back, got my head out of it's fervor induced haze, and actually looked more closely at roles. And then I looked at what I'd been asking, and started to laugh, because with how the game is currently, there was no reason for a lot of the changes.
You want a damage dealer? Fly an escort. You want a tank? Fly a cruiser. You want a CC and healer? Fly a science ship.
There is no reason to give all those roles to every ship, because there is a ship that does that to begin with.
And as for my "beam arrays are the answer" post, it's because they were unnecessarily left as nerfed. Restoring what was taken away, AND NOTHING MORE, is fair.
I still don't get what your issue is. I have looked at cubes every which way and every which wrong way, and I have as of yet to be slapped out of existence for it. I have had my shields removed, and a large chunk of my hull, but I just laugh, heal it back, and go back to looking. And if you really believe your ship to be sub-par because it's not a tacscort, then the issue is not with the ships but with you. Tacs in escorts can do a lot, but they can't do it all, and they can't survive nearly as well as they can with a healer. And believe me, you don't want AI to be brought up. You wouldn't be able to handle it. I personally LOVED the AI changes. It was nice having enemies that could finally act properly. If you look back at those threads, you will see me sitting there laughing and calling all those fools wimps for not being able to handle borg that were closer to what they should be.
Now before you defend yourself and say you want a good AI, imagine this. You are cycling tac team like you always should. But the AI will do the same. However unlike you, the AI has perfect reaction time, and perfect timing. The AI will hit it's APA, FOMM, APO3, and everything under the sun, at the precise second your TT drops. And in that 5 second window will destroy you. The AI also has perfect positioning knowledge, it always knows exactly where its ship is in relation to yours, where your ship is in relation to it's weapons, and where it's exact firing arc is, where your firing arc is (face it, it will instantly figure out your weapon loadout), and so on and so forth. You want a good AI? I have played games where the AI is almost as good as a human in adaptation, and even better when it comes to tactics, and it's faster than you could ever hope to be in adjusting it's speed, turning, and activating abilities. You want an advanced AI? You better be ready for most of the players in this game to quit when suddenly they find themselves dying to even frigates (which hilariously enough I see happen anyways).
You don't like the "holy trinity"? Perhaps I could recommend you change to different games instead of RPGs. That "holy trinity" is one of the things that make an RPG and RPG. Everyone who joins in will expect there to be a healer/CC class, a tank class, and a damage dealer class. And all the ships already are "equal but different". Or at least a hell of a lot closer than you and your buddy Bareel would have us believe. There is NO ship that can come close to escorts in damage dealing. There is no ship that can come close to cruisers in sheer damage resilience. There is no ship that can come close to science ships in HoTs and CC. They are equal in their capabilities, but different in the application of said capabilities. Hence, equal but different.
I did not contradict my post, I was simply stating that this would be a good solution simply because it never should have happened to begin with.
Now what do I want? Do you remember my first actual long post, back when I was using green text? The one about flagships and how they are horribly underpowered considering their role? Believe it or not, I still feel that way. But I also am now looking at everything this game has to offer, all the ships instead of the cruisers.
And you know what I see? I see a team balance. In PvP, a full team of escorts will ALWAYS lose to a team that is composed of a mix group (provided that mix is a good mix of escorts, cruisers, and sci). 5 man tacscort teams will always lose to a group composed of multiple ship and career classes. In PvE content, yes, your tacscorts will always dominate. But you know what? That's not the fault of any particular ship. It's simply because this game is a DPS race as end-game content goes. You have massive HP enemies that need to be destroyed as quickly as possible. So you naturally will need your damage dealing ships. But those ships will still need support. The most ideal setup for an STF team actually isn't 5 tacscorts. It's the fastest, but highest risk. It's better to have a tank with lots of threat control, at least one CC sci ship, and then 3 escorts.
That is the problem. The PvE portion of this game (which actually makes up about 90% of the actual game) is almost exclusively DPS based. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, it's as it is. That is the problem. Not the ships, not the careers, but the game. You change that necessity for DPS to be the only viable option for getting end-game gear and being the end-game content, and all of a sudden, you will see that your wonderful cruisers aren't so gimped as you thought.