this proposal roots out from a previous thread written in the Features and Ideas section:
Objectives of the Proposal:
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standarize the stat growth of all ships in the game to follow a proper curve.
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make some changes the capital modules in order to ensure clear weaknesses and limits
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open the way for ships to shine not only due to stat to size differences or tech lvls but also due to additional utility options on each size in general as complement to class utility.
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end the complaints about carriers and HAW titans among other balance issues by shaking the metagame completely.
The Premise:
the current balance issues are fundamentally a consequence of a much larger issue which is how ship stats increase over each class size. this causes a distinct imbalance between certain classes all around the line with things like Battleships having lost prominence, Carriers, FAXes and Titans gaining such prominence that subcapitals are obligued to resort into extreme comps in order to counter them or otherwise fail miserably either due to their large amount of tank or the extreme power obtained by certain modules.
thus the proposal goes around the adjust of ship stat to ensure a well spaced stat curve along all ship sizes.
The Analysis:
i made an experiment of checking the stat changes around a sample of ships ranging from Frigate to Titan. then made a graphic of the approximate stat growth of these ships as size increased on each class. its not a totally accurate representation of the actual stat growth due to CCP’s focus on punctual increments rather than multiplication so its mostly to provide insight on what is happening for this proposal.
as you can see, the overall stat growth of Subcaps is quite tame, but then things start to go out of control. this graphic uses a Leviathan and a Chimera as samples for Capital and Super but ther’es still some crazy changes if one tries to check on Dreadnoughts for example.
the best rounded stat of this sample is Shield Hitpoints and i used it as the base for the analysis but other stats around the classes threw similar multiplications. the pattern exist somehow and subcaps follow it but capitals are way over the graph and this may be problematic.
the most direct conclusion is that this imbalance is the result of gradual changes to the game over the years but not a direct look on the global scale of progression. CCP did its best in setting the rebalances around each class and provided changes to many hulls that were unused due to the old Tier system but this isnt enoug for the current state of the game.
the old idea of looking at Subcaps and Caps/Supers as two separate things has to end and a single progression curve has to be created as complement to the rebalance of ship bonuses, roles and Tech lvls.
The New Proposed Progression:
instead of the incremental changes over ship sizes. the game would have a more direct multiplicative progression. one thing to note is that this graph doesnt includes Corvettes but the plan should be to apply the graph to all ships. its just that Frigate is more or less the usual base for these cases.
each number in the ramp represents an stat multiplication related to Frigate size however, you can still do the calculations around each direct size difference. for example, the star growth in the new system between Capital and Battleship would be 2,5.
this change would mean an increase in the stats of ships from Destroyers and up, and a reduction of Capital and Super capital stats to bring them in line. some things to take in account:
-Agility and Scan Resolution would still be inverse, with them being calculated as multiples from Titans to Frigate.
-Warp Speeds may need a revision, i like to think of Frigates getting a base speed of 7 AU/s which reduces 1 AU per size increase up to Titans with 1 AU/s.
-certain stats like Capacitor, CPU, Sensor Strength and Powergrid may provide new space for ships to add modules that were originally limited due to the incremental style used by the developers. whether this is positive or negative would have to be tested.
-its possible that some of these stats will still require to be balanced by increments rather than multiplication/division, one possible solution is to change the multiples of certain stats to 1 → 2 → 4 → 6 → 8 → 10 → 12 rather than the ones used in the base graph.
Why change Capital and Supercapital stats?:
Caps and Supers are too common nowadays to be considered worthy of keeping their extreme stats. that could have worked in the past when the economy of the outer regions only allowed a few to be built at a time, being mostly stationed in POS towers and guarded to see their use in important fights. it took a player a long time to learn how to sit into one of these ships and the money required was usually a turnoff to many.
in the current state of EVE the economy has suffered a huge shift in material supply due to the changes given to mining ships, more importantly the introduction of the Rorqual as the ultimate mining platform. now capitals are produced and sold at prices as accesible as it is to obtain the PLEX for a month of Omega.
this, coupled to the more easily capacity for players to skill on thanks to Injectors means that obtaining and piloting a Cap or Super takes way less time than before and is quite less expensive. after all, if you can buy injectors and keep the account while also investing into a capital ship, then you’re not exactly poor.
proliferation of capital ships cannot be stopped as it happened with Pirate ships both because of the less difficult avaliability of obtaining the BPOs/BPCs and also because adding an increase of material requirements would only mean more Rorquals and players doing the harvesting of materials.
these ships are the only ones that break the system heavily (i would have to analyze Faction, T2 and T3 but they must be going around the line at least) and in order to fix this they have to get nerfed in stats, which i see as the only logical solution to offset their current proliferation.
Main Changes to Capitals in that Context:
Carriers, FAXes and Dreads:
these ships will still go on the same roles they have right now. but, each one will have its own version of the siege module. the NSA, Triage and Siege modules would all be variations of the same theme and used by each capital for different things with similar stats between them, save for a few key differences. NSA would provide FAXes with sensor bonuses to make them resist against disruptors, Triage would provide Carriers with more survivability but would no longer give logistic bonuses, Dreads would have extra scan resolution thanks to reworked Siege Module.
Titans and Supercarriers:
compared to the ships above these classes dont really have something breaking them internally. they are still keeping their role of Anti-Capital and Anti-Structure. however, the weapons they use may require a revision to ensure they cannot apply to anything smaller than a Battleship even with application modules (save for the Doomsdays because it would make them useless then).
the main forte of Titans and Supercarriers would be the utility they provide to the whole fleet along with the tools to face against ships of the same size as them and at least down to Battlecruisers.
Changes to Capital Modules:
compared to ship stats i dont think modules are up to follow the same format. in fact, i think they already do but i would have to do the research on it. however, one thing is certain, Capital Modules would require a rework in stats to fit with the new Capital Ship stats or they would be unusable.
this opens a new oportunity. if Capital Modules are watered down to fit with the new stats, then it will mean certain of them could fit on Battleships with proper fitting constrictions on the ship for other things. but this isnt the main goal. there’s something else.
if the stats of HAW Weapons and Fighters get reworked by this change, it would mean a proper limitation for capital ships to engage all but the larger targets. the proper adjustment to it should be such that Capitals can only hit up to Cruisers if using application mods, whereas Supercap would only get down to Battlecruisers.
an optional addition to this would be to make Titans unable to fit HAWs. and make them only to fit anti-capital guns. but this may be unfair compared to Supercarriers.
Possible Side Effects:
the most punctual would be that the whole metagame would shift massively. it may negative to some but once the numbers are properly adjusted, many classes would find new strengths and weaknesses to exploit and people would adapt properly, much so compared to what the current system does by revising each class one by one.
Structures would probably need a look too taking in account what will happen to capital ships. but yeah with every ship getting stat changes this would mean certain siege comps got buffed. still, a revision of Structure damage and tank would be beneficial to cope with ships.
The Future of the Progression:
standarizing the stats could open field for a new look on ship balance which is looking at each size utility. i’ve already made a look on it with Capitals by making the Siege Module a standard of all 3 classes.
ships in the subcap line do have something similar already with MJD being the most basic example but this system could be expanded around all down from Titans to Frigates. each ship size having an added functionality apart of its stats and the role it can do, the only issue i find with this is that CCP has tried to tie these modules towards T2 instead of providing bonuses for these modules inside the T2 line.
im not advocating for all frigates to use ADCs, Destroyers being able to Boosh or Battleships being able to activate Bastion because in most cases those modules are too specific and powerfull for general use by non specialized ships. rather, each of these sizes could have a general module that provides utility to the ship class or the fleet in general and whose T2 versions can only be used with greater proficiency by specialized ships.
Final thoughts:
this change will be massive, and i expect people will not probably like it but all the other options regarding the current issues try to catter to old comments like “nerf X” or “revert Y” and stuff like that. there has to be a cleanup of stats for all ships in the game in order to properly balance everything.
we cannot keep going with this system or otherwise the game will get more polarized into only a few compositions. rounding up and adjusting stats will lead to changes into a lot of hulls and will open new oportunities to exploit, perhaps will bring new compositions but at least the overall power will be decided not by the stats but how the bonuses and the synergies with the modules go.
there’s a lot that can be taken from the graph like Destroyers will get slightly tankier and will probably be able to fit some cruiser modules, or that Battlecruisers will be the middile ground of the progression, or that Battleships will probably be way more tankier than how they are atm. it all roots down to how will the stat changes play out.
