People have been griping about the damage output/drain of beams for a while now. Why i sit that we haven't heard from any Cryptic staff about this? We can discuss this among each other until rapture, but it won't make a difference. The devs' need to hear and be involved for a real solution. But alas, the sound of (dev) silence is so loud.
People have been griping about the damage output/drain of beams for a while now. Why i sit that we haven't heard from any Cryptic staff about this? We can discuss this among each other until rapture, but it won't make a difference. The devs' need to hear and be involved for a real solution. But alas, the sound of (dev) silence is so loud.
I believe that Capt******* has made his views very clear on beam arrays, to the effect that they are fine. I also remember him saying something about DHCs not getting nerfed. Since all signs point to him being in charge of "powers and systems", what do you think is going to happen?
People have been griping about the damage output/drain of beams for a while now. Why i sit that we haven't heard from any Cryptic staff about this? We can discuss this among each other until rapture, but it won't make a difference. The devs' need to hear and be involved for a real solution. But alas, the sound of (dev) silence is so loud.
You are misinformed. Al Rivera (CaptainGeko) made it abundantly clear that beams are working as intended.
You are misinformed. Al Rivera (CaptainGeko) made it abundantly clear that beams are working as intended.
His exact words were: "Beam arrays are WAD." Which goes to show he's probably a cannon jocky, or doesn't actually understand what those lines of color coming out of his ship do, or if he does, exactly how massive of an effect power levels have on them.
It is said the best weapon is one that is never fired. I disagree. The best weapon is one you only have to fire... once.
Or they really are working as intended, and no amount of complaining is going to help.
In which case it may well be time for cruiser and science pilots to take the hint and find a new game because Cryptic evidently doesn't care about them
His exact words were: "Beam arrays are WAD." Which goes to show he's probably a cannon jocky, or doesn't actually understand what those lines of color coming out of his ship do, or if he does, exactly how massive of an effect power levels have on them.
Considering he recommended we put points in Power Insulator skill I'm going to go with the he has no idea how the two systems are interacting. Beams and power drain that is.
He also feels cruisers need more survivability so yeah.
the day gecko gets a clue will be the day after the world has burned or so it seems....and i sure hope he meant electro plasma systems instead of insulators course they stripped that effect a few seasons back so again still sounds like a well i can't say it as branflakes would just edit it ;-)
but as he has no control of his own actions for being a PWE puppet (pwetty wittle elitest puppet)....
after what he said in that same time frame about science pilots not knowing what we want i can't honestly take him seriously on anything he says or believe he knows what he is talking about because the same thing comes up in EVERY science rework forum and that is tactical skills should not buff science and that our skills should be returned to pre-nerfbowl 2012 stats.
the day gecko gets a clue will be the day after the world has burned or so it seems....and i sure hope he meant electro plasma systems instead of insulators course they stripped that effect a few seasons back so again still sounds like a well i can't say it as branflakes would just edit it ;-)
but as he has no control of his own actions for being a PWE puppet (pwetty wittle elitest puppet)....
after what he said in that same time frame about science pilots not knowing what we want i can't honestly take him seriously on anything he says or believe he knows what he is talking about because the same thing comes up in EVERY science rework forum and that is tactical skills should not buff science and that our skills should be returned to pre-nerfbowl 2012 stats.
If this is the case, the game has a serious problem. I play all three classes and types of ships and I can appreciate what all are supposed to do. I can also understand that Gecko might have a bias towards escorts, but is he the only dev' in the game? Surely someone else has to have driven a cruiser and got the same feeling about the power drain issues and near whiffle-ball level damage that the beams are doing.
If this is the case, the game has a serious problem. I play all three classes and types of ships and I can appreciate what all are supposed to do. I can also understand that Gecko might have a bias towards escorts, but is he the only dev' in the game? Surely someone else has to have driven a cruiser and got the same feeling about the power drain issues and near whiffle-ball level damage that the beams are doing.
According to one of the devs, he handles "powers and systems", and that tells me two things:
- Gecko is the only who handles balancing.
- STO is short on staff.
If he thinks that "beam arrays are working as designed", or that the game is just about balanced, then I believe we may have a problem, and that said problem is both inside the game and outside of it.
According to one of the devs, he handles "powers and systems", and that tells me two things:
- Gecko is the only who handles balancing.
- STO is short on staff.
If he thinks that "beam arrays are working as designed", or that the game is just about balanced, then I believe we may have a problem, and that said problem is both inside the game and outside of it.
I will say this much, I am glad that I have been busy this semester, I havent had time to PvP that much, heck I havent had time time to STF much for that matter. I'd imagine I'd be much more disgruntled if I had been able to play more. I've been hearing whispers from my box'o 'Battletech to get dusted off and go to the local gaming store because of some of the "messedupinees" as of late.
get yourself the Romulan experimental beam array. this stops energy drain on your beams.
then equip a tac and engineering console that gives you a bonus on your beam weapons
and energy weapons damage respectively.
His exact words were: "Beam arrays are WAD." Which goes to show he's probably a cannon jocky, or doesn't actually understand what those lines of color coming out of his ship do, or if he does, exactly how massive of an effect power levels have on them.
I think he has a general idea but his knowledge seems to have gaps?
Actually, his answer made the solution for all cruiser and sci vessel pilots. Instead of trying to force a change of mind why not take this approach?
"Capt. Geko, the recent passives coupled with the greater availability of high end shields and some previous NPC buffs has made beams feel a little behind, can you guys look at upping their damage?"
He already said that they were WAD, so instead of trying to prove something is broken because it seems that way to some is not going to work. instead you should be asking for a DPS boos which is what you really want anyway. Of course, buffing beams would negate the passives and gear people have spent cash or ground like crazy to get...this is a painted into a corner situation indeed.
I would like to see the magical metrics that imply beams are working as intended. If they don't exist, then we can be sure of the actual intention.
I think too many people simply don't want to accept that beams are suppossed to do less dps by design. Its a design decision. It simply astonishes me how the community would cling to power drain as "the one thing holding beams back". No, they are held back by design. It would be far more productive to instead ask for a straight out beam DPS buff. Its not like Cryptic isn't inclined to help, why do you think they released a Beam Array that cost no power to use and a 360 weapon that procs extra weapon power?
The question that was asked in the interview was as follows:
"Many people flying ships armed with beam arrays feel that these weapons are somewhat lackluster, due to the way that beam arrays seem to drain a lot more power than cannons or turrets. These leads to beam heavy ships not coming anywhere close to their rated damage output because of the power drain issues. Is this something we can have looked at or are beam arrays performing at expected levels?"
The basic question was "the power drain on beams seems too excessive. Is this intended, and if not, can someone look into it?"
The question I was asked was basically "my beams are not as good as cannons, can you make them better".
His interpretation of the question showed me that one or more of the following is true:
1. He is biased towards cannons.
2. He didn't really listen to the question that was asked.
3. He read too much into the question.
"I'm not big on telepaths myself. I'm not big on guns either. But if everyone else has them, I want to make sure I can get my hands on the biggest one I can."
His interpretation of the question showed me that one or more of the following is true:
1. He is biased towards cannons.
2. He didn't really listen to the question that was asked.
3. He read too much into the question.
Or maybe he's read the forums and has correctly interpreted what a very loud subset of people are asking for? Sometimes it seems like the very vocal minority want beams to be as powerful as DHCs. They will list a huge number of "lore" and "common sense" reasons why this should be so.
Or maybe he's read the forums and has correctly interpreted what a very loud subset of people are asking for? Sometimes it seems like the very vocal minority want beams to be as powerful as DHCs. They will list a huge number of "lore" and "common sense" reasons why this should be so.
While I can agree that he's read the forums and seen the posts from people whining about beams not being as good as DHCs, but that would reinforce that he had read too much into the question.
There are just as many people who believe that beams shouldn't be doing the same damage as an cannons, as there are those that believe that they should. However, the people that belong to the first group are often lumped into the second group.
I do believe that there is problem with the power drain for beams. I believe this as I have seen my Weapon Power drop to the low 60s, when it should it should be going down to the low 80s. And that is with my Engie overcapping his Weapon Power (to 153) to compensate for the drain and no special beam attacks.
It wouldn't hurt to look at it and see if there is a problem with it.
And for the record, I belong to the group that thinks that beams should do less damage than cannons. My Engie flies a cruiser and does quite well with beams; when I want to use cannons, I have my Tac in an escort.
"I'm not big on telepaths myself. I'm not big on guns either. But if everyone else has them, I want to make sure I can get my hands on the biggest one I can."
Only time I've ever seen this is if I've been hit with some kind of power drain attack. Do you see this consistently?
It doesn't happen all the time, but enough for it to be expected, I would have to say 2 to 3 times a minute.
I have actually been thinking of moving up from EPtW1 to EPtW3 (bringing the overcap to 168) to compensate. With EPtW3, my Weapon Power drops to the low 80s.
"I'm not big on telepaths myself. I'm not big on guns either. But if everyone else has them, I want to make sure I can get my hands on the biggest one I can."
If what you really want to do is be a damage dealer then go ahead and change to escorts.
Better yet, get some alts. That way you won't feel tied to any one ship type if you have alts that fly different ship types.
I think too many people simply don't want to accept that beams are suppossed to do less dps by design. Its a design decision. It simply astonishes me how the community would cling to power drain as "the one thing holding beams back". No, they are held back by design. It would be far more productive to instead ask for a straight out beam DPS buff. Its not like Cryptic isn't inclined to help, why do you think they released a Beam Array that cost no power to use and a 360 weapon that procs extra weapon power?
They can accept that beams are doing less damage. But they are not willing to accept that beams are doing SO LESS damage. Did you ever try to get an escort or an other ship with beams under pressure? That is a waste of time an energy, because you cant do enough damage to get any usefull result. Ships with beam weapons are only henchmen in this game. But no one realy wants to play only a henchmen.
btw.: i have 18 toons on my account. i tried many things in this game, but after the final conclusion i have to say that escorts are the most valuable ships in that game. This needs to be changed! if you wont buff beam weapons to increase the value of cruisers and sci-ships, so decrease the escort survivability as payment for their damage.
The UI cheats to put it simply. It refreshes it's display at a set time, not in reaction to things going on. That means the listed 'weapon power' you see is what the power was at for that mere portion of a second that your UI refreshed and is pretty much meaningless considering how many things are going on that effect it constantly along with latency.
TLDR: Just because it listed you have 90 power, does not mean that your beam fired with the 90 power damage bonus.
Comments
People have been griping about the damage output/drain of beams for a while now. Why i sit that we haven't heard from any Cryptic staff about this? We can discuss this among each other until rapture, but it won't make a difference. The devs' need to hear and be involved for a real solution. But alas, the sound of (dev) silence is so loud.
I believe that Capt******* has made his views very clear on beam arrays, to the effect that they are fine. I also remember him saying something about DHCs not getting nerfed. Since all signs point to him being in charge of "powers and systems", what do you think is going to happen?
You are misinformed. Al Rivera (CaptainGeko) made it abundantly clear that beams are working as intended.
His exact words were: "Beam arrays are WAD." Which goes to show he's probably a cannon jocky, or doesn't actually understand what those lines of color coming out of his ship do, or if he does, exactly how massive of an effect power levels have on them.
In which case it may well be time for cruiser and science pilots to take the hint and find a new game because Cryptic evidently doesn't care about them
Considering he recommended we put points in Power Insulator skill I'm going to go with the he has no idea how the two systems are interacting. Beams and power drain that is.
He also feels cruisers need more survivability so yeah.
but as he has no control of his own actions for being a PWE puppet (pwetty wittle elitest puppet)....
after what he said in that same time frame about science pilots not knowing what we want i can't honestly take him seriously on anything he says or believe he knows what he is talking about because the same thing comes up in EVERY science rework forum and that is tactical skills should not buff science and that our skills should be returned to pre-nerfbowl 2012 stats.
If this is the case, the game has a serious problem. I play all three classes and types of ships and I can appreciate what all are supposed to do. I can also understand that Gecko might have a bias towards escorts, but is he the only dev' in the game? Surely someone else has to have driven a cruiser and got the same feeling about the power drain issues and near whiffle-ball level damage that the beams are doing.
According to one of the devs, he handles "powers and systems", and that tells me two things:
- Gecko is the only who handles balancing.
- STO is short on staff.
If he thinks that "beam arrays are working as designed", or that the game is just about balanced, then I believe we may have a problem, and that said problem is both inside the game and outside of it.
I will say this much, I am glad that I have been busy this semester, I havent had time to PvP that much, heck I havent had time time to STF much for that matter. I'd imagine I'd be much more disgruntled if I had been able to play more. I've been hearing whispers from my box'o 'Battletech to get dusted off and go to the local gaming store because of some of the "messedupinees" as of late.
then equip a tac and engineering console that gives you a bonus on your beam weapons
and energy weapons damage respectively.
I think he has a general idea but his knowledge seems to have gaps?
Actually, his answer made the solution for all cruiser and sci vessel pilots. Instead of trying to force a change of mind why not take this approach?
"Capt. Geko, the recent passives coupled with the greater availability of high end shields and some previous NPC buffs has made beams feel a little behind, can you guys look at upping their damage?"
He already said that they were WAD, so instead of trying to prove something is broken because it seems that way to some is not going to work. instead you should be asking for a DPS boos which is what you really want anyway. Of course, buffing beams would negate the passives and gear people have spent cash or ground like crazy to get...this is a painted into a corner situation indeed.
best solution I believe is to boost powercore on larger ships, so that they can make the weak beams perform better
That said as a tac captain mainly using DHCs but no beam array.
This is so telling...
If what you really want to do is be a damage dealer then go ahead and change to escorts.
Better yet, get some alts. That way you won't feel tied to any one ship type if you have alts that fly different ship types.
I think too many people simply don't want to accept that beams are suppossed to do less dps by design. Its a design decision. It simply astonishes me how the community would cling to power drain as "the one thing holding beams back". No, they are held back by design. It would be far more productive to instead ask for a straight out beam DPS buff. Its not like Cryptic isn't inclined to help, why do you think they released a Beam Array that cost no power to use and a 360 weapon that procs extra weapon power?
"Many people flying ships armed with beam arrays feel that these weapons are somewhat lackluster, due to the way that beam arrays seem to drain a lot more power than cannons or turrets. These leads to beam heavy ships not coming anywhere close to their rated damage output because of the power drain issues. Is this something we can have looked at or are beam arrays performing at expected levels?"
The basic question was "the power drain on beams seems too excessive. Is this intended, and if not, can someone look into it?"
What he thought the question was:
His interpretation of the question showed me that one or more of the following is true:
1. He is biased towards cannons.
2. He didn't really listen to the question that was asked.
3. He read too much into the question.
Or maybe he's read the forums and has correctly interpreted what a very loud subset of people are asking for? Sometimes it seems like the very vocal minority want beams to be as powerful as DHCs. They will list a huge number of "lore" and "common sense" reasons why this should be so.
While I can agree that he's read the forums and seen the posts from people whining about beams not being as good as DHCs, but that would reinforce that he had read too much into the question.
There are just as many people who believe that beams shouldn't be doing the same damage as an cannons, as there are those that believe that they should. However, the people that belong to the first group are often lumped into the second group.
I do believe that there is problem with the power drain for beams. I believe this as I have seen my Weapon Power drop to the low 60s, when it should it should be going down to the low 80s. And that is with my Engie overcapping his Weapon Power (to 153) to compensate for the drain and no special beam attacks.
It wouldn't hurt to look at it and see if there is a problem with it.
And for the record, I belong to the group that thinks that beams should do less damage than cannons. My Engie flies a cruiser and does quite well with beams; when I want to use cannons, I have my Tac in an escort.
It doesn't happen all the time, but enough for it to be expected, I would have to say 2 to 3 times a minute.
I have actually been thinking of moving up from EPtW1 to EPtW3 (bringing the overcap to 168) to compensate. With EPtW3, my Weapon Power drops to the low 80s.
They can accept that beams are doing less damage. But they are not willing to accept that beams are doing SO LESS damage. Did you ever try to get an escort or an other ship with beams under pressure? That is a waste of time an energy, because you cant do enough damage to get any usefull result. Ships with beam weapons are only henchmen in this game. But no one realy wants to play only a henchmen.
btw.: i have 18 toons on my account. i tried many things in this game, but after the final conclusion i have to say that escorts are the most valuable ships in that game. This needs to be changed! if you wont buff beam weapons to increase the value of cruisers and sci-ships, so decrease the escort survivability as payment for their damage.
The UI cheats to put it simply. It refreshes it's display at a set time, not in reaction to things going on. That means the listed 'weapon power' you see is what the power was at for that mere portion of a second that your UI refreshed and is pretty much meaningless considering how many things are going on that effect it constantly along with latency.
TLDR: Just because it listed you have 90 power, does not mean that your beam fired with the 90 power damage bonus.