So, This is exactly my issue with status quo. Eve used to be balanced in that sense that all the ship sizes had a specific purpose. In that purpose, they had counters to each-other, but it would always be a question of compromise on how you decided to set up your fleet and ships.
When you have been around as long as I have, you start to realize that the game is a shadow of what it used to be in a tactical sense.
Let me take you back to 2008-2012 era.
Frigates and dessies where patrolling low-sec and Null-sec.
Gate-camps weeded out the weak or stupid players.
When a frigate roam hit something It would be held or reported to a main fleet.
The min fleet roams at the same time, but changes route to get in on the prey the frigates have found.
No Blops, No caps… Just Cruisers, BC’s and BS’s. And rarely cyno’s.
New PVP corps would start up and venture out to Low-sec and start making a reputation for themselves.
They had diverse PVP content available.
They’d loose a lot of ships to more powerful entities, but running in to roams 3 or 4 times their own fleet size, it felt like valiant defeats.
Oh boy, when they then found a roam on their own size, that was when the fun began. Tactics, tactics, and tactics. That was the single most important factor in deciding who won an engagement. Do you sacrifice a little logi on ECCM? After all Jams could really ruin your day. Or do we just need massive amounts of Neuts?
What Ace are we willing to play?
Where do we engage?
What distance?
What kind skirmish would minimize losses?
Can we fool them by using a ship-layouts they don’t expect?
How quickly can we reconfigure to make sure we have the upper hand tactically?
Null sec was nullsec. Still there where big gangs roaming around, but that was where you went if you wanted to use capitals. Better system control, better intel, more capitals to fight. And those fight involving capitals fought over valuable assets in space. That being Sov or Structures.
And fast foreward to today:
Small roam gets dropped by cap fleet with fewer pilots.
Only viable tactic:
Counter drop more caps…
Wow…