Indeed.
While the following is ‘kindly’ suggested,
Players aiming to optimize their damage using alpha clone characters may reach slightly better results using turrets or missile instead of drones after these changes.
it’s not really feasible if you are already on the 5M mark, is it.
You really don’t need to nerf the VNI anymore, your Drifters and the end of Local has pretty much destroyed any legitimate players NS ratting. As a player who only plays a single toon at any given time this was enough to kill my PVE gaming. I enjoying PVP too but who wants to eat the same food everday three times a day! Think I’ll give up gaming all together too many companies out there start a great game and change all the rules after you invest so much time and effort in them. Think I’ll find a more productive hobby, maybe one that makes money, yeah that would be nice.
If only CCP would give out free SP so those that invested in the drone skills could pick up something else. Maybe make it part of a week long log in reward mechanics. Could use some kinda trendy name for the week to get the word out.
full drone rework into a balanced weapon system when
What a utter ■■■■■■■■
Ensure that the VNI’s new focus represents an exciting and desirable option for players
Ensure that the VNI’s new attributes and bonuses reflect the wider theme present in Gallente Federation ships and Navy Faction ships
Who comes up with this crap?
Great changes, VNI looks like a nice PvP boat now.
Not to shabby,
Now instead of a slap on a wrist Gila recieved I hope you (CCP) can muster enough ballz and properly nerf that abomination.
Fair point, well made.
I question the need to invoke the “botting” bugbear when discussing these nerfs. What does nerfing any particular ship have to do with curtailing botting? It feels like empty pandering to a particularly vocal, and very minor subset of the player base, rather than anything else.
The nerf is fine, and your other reasons are as sound as anything I could come up with. Stick with that in the future, I’d think.
I see it as a buff for the VNI, lots of new options now for PVP. Makes it a decent ship with several new possible configurations.
As PVE Player you could just move on to the Myrm, which basically shares the same skills except Gallente Battlecruiser.
Personally I don’t really care about the changes either way. I don’t use VNIs but if I did it looks like they will be roughly as effective for me as before, since I would actively use drones+turrets anyway. I generally prefer medium drones to heavies so that’s not an issue for me either. It will probably be a more interesting ship to fly as a result.
I can certainly see some Alphas - or people who move between Alpha/Omega as they choose - feeling justifiably shafted by having put the time/SP in to training up IV/V skills and then have those skills deactivated. Even moreso when you consider the effect on SP training limits/injectors.
Once again though, CCP is making its’ traditional, short-sighted mistake of “Identify a player behaviour we don’t approve of, then attack that behaviour with nerfs/changes to eliminate it”. As other posters have mentioned, this is just an excuse to pretend the changes are ‘necessary’.
If you want to attack botting, then attack botting. If you want to change anomaly farming, then change the way anomaly farming works. If you want less farmers in Null, then make Null not the safest, highest-paying place to farm. (Although at least they are making steps in this last option.)
Attack the core activity, not the surface expression of it. And while you’re at it, maybe make it so EVE is an interesting game with interesting activities to actively play, instead of coasting on an old design and old mechanics for 15 years and then wondering where all your players went.
I couldn’t agree more, however a reminder that an alpha is not only capable of reaching 5M SP they can go above that. The introduction of alpha injectors made breaking that 5M SP limit more accessible for players.
Botters will switch their alphas into Dominixes and nothing will change I’m affraid.
Nerf is needed to drones - not damage but automation process - maybe they should behave like fighters - they require player order to attack.
Currently its funny that drone is smarter than man-piloted fighter (staying duck and waiting to get killed if not ordered to orbit something after target dies).
You do know that bots can automate pressing the “drones, attack this nerd” button, right? Removing auto aggression won’t impact a botter in the slightest.
These changes are going to make the VNI wunheluva ship to fly in FW
Why is that funny? It’s the future, of course AIs are smarter than silly meatbags.
Right, I forgot botters started to use Nyxes recently 
But killing drone automation would reduce semi-afk anomaly farming.
Fighter meatbags should have some elementary tactical maneuvers lessons in academy 
Typical NullBear, totally ignores the fact that players in HS, LS and WH also use the VNI and dislike these changes for their own reasons.
How to fight with bots? Nerf whole Alpha community. You can do better.