Alpha clones are long overdue for a balance pass. Alphas should no longer have access to:
• Any ships larger than cruisers
• Any Pirate hulls (specifically, Gilas)
• Any large weapon
Any skill points for battlecruisers, battleships or large weapons should be refunded, the corresponding skills removed and the skill pool adjusted downwards. Ideally (and preferably), Alphas should be rolled back to the 5-million skill point/racial skillset cap.
So how exactly do you propose stopping them using Gilas again?
Also why are current alphas so horrible given CCP have said they are meant to be a viable way to play the game. Why is them having battleships so bad for the game.
Yea man tbh as an alpha myself I think they gave out WAY too much with the last update to clone states. That being said I just don’t see them reverting it.
If you think they have no way of blocking individual ships I’m guessing you haven’t been playing long to remember the original barriers that existed to trial accounts. That or you are simply ignorant to the near infinite possibilities open to them. Adding a simple check on hulls to check sub status would literally solve this - the exact same check that already exists on the skills themselves. Hell they could make all alphas fire rainbows or their guns fire fireworks no matter what’s loaded if they wanted.
So please, stop making excuses. Especially bad ones like saying it’s impossible to implement such a restriction.
For the record, the things he’s suggesting should be removed were already hulls people were taking issue with before they ever released that patch. A patch that after it was released had even more people flood in complaining who don’t pay attention to patch notes until it goes live.
Alphas shouldn’t have access to anything they can run L4 or L5 missions or any serious ratting with. This includes Ganknados or any Pirate hulls. How would this be limited? Back to the racial skillset and 5-million skill point cap. As has been pointed out, it’s entirely possible to limit certain ships and weapons to Omega clones.
I kinda have to agree here. Alphas have far too much access to the game for free. Not to mention all the abuse by botters using a ton of free accts.
As for “how could you possibly prevent someone from using a ship”… Uh, you toggle the “UsableByAlpha” from true to false. Done.
You can go ahead and try to convince yourself that Alpha is a viable way to play the game. But it’s not, it’s really not. It’s an appetizer platter. You’re supposed to see what the game is like. And then you’re supposed to see all the cool toys that you aren’t allowed to have. And then you’re supposed to buckle down and give them money so you can have those toys too. That’s how they stay in business, and that’s how you get to have more than just a racial Cruiser.
One post your saying alphas get too much for free and then you say alphas are not viable at all.
My personal opinion is that if I am enjoying the game as an alpha and don’t really see anything in the omega line up I’m willing to pay for then alpha is viable, for me anyway.
Alpha versus Omega has nothing to do with the community or the players. It’s entirely a decision made by CCP. Alphas and Omegas are all players and we shouldn’t differentiate between the two. What CCP reckons to be available free of payment and what is not is entirely for them to say. All we should be doing is to enjoy the plenty new players it brings.
Now one can discuss issues or abuse, but how CCP makes their money is entirely their business. Therefore going around and telling stories on what Alphas should and shouldn’t be allowed to do is also none of our business. In a perfect world would we all have access to everything and for free, but that’s just not how the reality works. Until then do those with little money don’t get access to all the toys and we should respect them for still wanting to play with us, and not complain about what they shouldn’t have and what only we Omegas should posses.
As someone who returned for 10 days after Abyss and had some fun alphaing my old runner battleships, I think that your proposal would do more harm than good.
A veteran char can alpha somewhat decently, but it ain’t a bed of roses. You really miss the omega skills and certainly I would had gone omega if I wanted to keep playing.
And with no less than 600,000 players in my situation, that’s something worth taping in…
I like how the OP carefully put forward his arguments and considered the pros and cons of his proposal. Usually these posts are just idiots doing a sperg.
Alphas have been continually calling for greater access to mining and industrial ships, drones and cloaking - so it’s only fair we reviewed the state of Alphas. Alphas shouldn’t be in a position to rival Omega clones for PvE income - which is currently the case in high-sec (L4/Burner income, battleships) and null-sec (ratting, Rattlesnake and Gila). Both the Gila and Rattlesnake need to be hit with the nerf bat - but this is only part of the problem with respect to Alphas. Alphas should also not be able to run Ganknados.
Alphas were supposed to be an extension of the 30-day trial, and if we’re honestly not seeing a lof of conversions to Omega then we should be hitting the available skill pool with a huge nerf bat. I just don’t see Alphas embracing the while microtransaction aspect in terms of skill injectors, SKINs and apparel.
And yet this is exactly one of the things CCP promotes. The perception of class segregation exposed to what boils down to opiate economics is one of the strongest factors in getting Alpha’s to become Omega’s or to partake in the Plex based economy of shiny.
For the record, I agree. There is an element of risk to it. But it is also a driver of behaviour - in game and commercial.
You’d be surprised how popular Alpha injectors are, and how much they spend on skins
