Ground Support - Merit ability

[Majik]

On the main board we had an idea that I thought might merit some discussion by the PSU regulars.

As a merit ability for the dedicated Ground Support people, the ability to set up a jamming field for their AMS that prevents it being targeted by an OS.

Discuss :groovy:

[DeltaForceAlpha]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

[Lartnev]

I think it's a great idea :thumbsup:

The only problem with it is that you target the grid location as opposed to the actual AMS so a jamming field wouldn't be particularly useful.

[Cauldron Borne]

Maybe the AMS could send out a Pulse for 2-5 minutes (depending on balance issues) that would keep any OS's being dropped within 100m of it...


Maybe make it a skill only people who have had Ground Support for 3 days can use, and only use every 2 hours or so.

Maybe the driver would have to stay in the vehicle to use it. Once he left, the pulse would stop, and he'd have to wait another 2 hours or so to use it again.

Oh, and it couldn't stop an incoming OS. As in: If he activates it to stop an incoming os, the os still happens, but any os's after it can't happen.

And maybe make is so that NO os's (friend or foe) can be used within the radius.

[Indecisive]

Would be hard to implement. You open up your cud, just for shits and try to put a beam down, but it wont let you. Guess what, you now know exactly where it is.


Maybe something like, you go up to the "press again to verify" thing, you click it, and THEN it says you cant use it. If you are going to be *That* dareing, you deserve to know where it is.


Well, accually nm, almost everyone has an os.

[BlackHawk]

How about the OS comes down but fizzles instead of exploding?

[Cauldron Borne]

You mean like goes through the motions, but sort of sputters out at the end? that could work...

[ChewyLSB]

And then, for kicks, make it so that the OS sizzles maybe 20% of the time automatically, so that the person doesn't know if there was an AMS there or if it was a bad OS.

[Cauldron Borne]

heh, that would liven up the cr5 chat....


"OMFG! WHAT THE %&@# HAPPENED TO MY OS?!?!?!"
"THAT'S IT I QUIT"

c-ya later whinner :evil:

[Phaden]

The fizzleing out sounds kinda cool, and it would have to be some sort of activated ability. Maybe like they said about sitting in it. Thatd keep all but the most dedicated person from using it most times, they would only use it when it was strategically important.

[Lartnev]

The problem is you still don't have any reason for the OS fizzling, ie no fictional reason. It wouldn't make sense for it to just fizzle.

Hehe 20% chance of failure, heh didn't we have that before? :D

(read: OS power not working throughout the column bug)

[ChewyLSB]

Perhaps something along the lines of this:

"Orbital Strikes are great power beams from orbital stations. They are targetted by CR4's, and, more powerfully, by CR5's. However, sometimes, when the great beam is called, a power malfunction causes the OS to sizzle out. This doesn't happen alot (1/10 times), but when it does, no damage is done. Unfortunately, skilled AMS drivers, annoyed by OS's destroying their AMS's, have found a way to counter OS's. By installing a jammer beacon on their AMS, whenever an OS is targetting (that big charge up period), a signal is sent up to the OS generator, causing an overflow of power to the OS Generator, and causing the OS to sizzle out"

So basically, this way, an OS will sizzle out 10% of the time automatically, but if a CR4/5 attempts to target a meritt'ed AMS, it will automatically sizzle out. However, the CR4/5 doesn't know whether it was just a 10% chance or if it was a bad OS.

[Phaden]

Or if you wanted:

As the OS's massive particle field fires from the platform, A destabilizing field suddenly is projected from the AMS's jammer beacon. The massive distortion in the energy field causes the beam to instantly destabilize and fluctuate, rapidly deteriorating into harmless light and energy that is soaked into everything around its target.


Im sure you could write many different variations on how, or why it works, just takes some thought.

[ChewyLSB]

Well I just needed a reason for the 10% thing.

[Phaden]

sry didnt see it was only 10 percent.

But if someone is gonna work troawrds this relly hard and get this far, shouldnt it work for sure?

[EarlyDawn]

Compromise.

Make it a Elite Ability for AMS drivers, attach it to one of their highest medals. When the OS begins, the carrier beam (central beam w/ energy helix) forms on the AMS. However, the destructive pulse carries up the beam rather then down.

The tradeoff? Your AMS is still alive, but every enemy who's not blind in a huge area knows there's an AMS somewhere in the would-be blast radius of the OS.

[Lartnev]

The tradeoff? Your AMS is still alive, but every enemy who's not blind in a huge area knows there's an AMS somewhere in the would-be blast radius of the OS.

They'll know that anyway if they were OSing it :)

[Cauldron Borne]

I think the one in ten malfunction is a good idea. It would keep the OS-spamming down a bit. Maybe the OS could ALL be the same size as the cr4 os, but cr4s have a 10% chance to miss, and CR5's have a 5% chance to miss. (1 in 20).


There isn't REALLY a good reason to have a bigger OS for the CR5's, except to give them a kill spam weapon.

[Lartnev]

I dunno, higher rank, higher OS privaleges. Makes sense to me :)

[Doppler]

NO No NO fucking no.

Ok i'm a ground support driver, have been for a long time now, and i like the idea of being able to block OS from hitting the ams, but i dont believe that orb strikes should randomly fizzle just to provide justification for the protective field. Lets face it if your OSing somethign you already know what it is, no "fizzling" effect is going to fool you. Lets not take another arrow out of defenders quivers.

[Phaden]

agreed, no fizzling.