The ESF update

[blashyrk]

I cannot find details on this "update" anywhere. In one of his videos, MattiAce commented on how SOE basically wanted to give lousy pilots means to defeat very good pilots. Now, although I love Matti's videos, I still have to hold my horses and not start raging and cursing at SOE before I see the evidence to such claims.

So, can anyone who knows a bit of something about the upcoming ESF update please elaborate on this as well as other stuff that may come with the said update?

Thanks.

DISCLAIMER: I don't claim to be an ace pilot myself, but ESFs are the most enjoyable part of the game for me as I strive to improve and become a better pilot every time I play. If what Matti said is true, they are basically removing all skill cap from the game step by step.

[MrMak]

The only thing we know so far is the are supose to try and flesh out ESFs specialising n A2A or A2G.

Basicaly right now tou equip rocket pods and a rotary and oyu are the jack of all trades perfectly capable of doing both tasks. They are suposedly working on making so it is more beneficial to specialise.

[Fenrys]

I think they are going to change how A2A missiles work so they are less effective against ESF and more effective against Gals and Libs.

Wing mounted machine guns will be added as an optional 2ndary weapon, and they'll be tuned to excel at killing ESF.

External fuel tanks will be adjusted to increase cruising speed in addition to the current buff to afterburner duration. The speed boost will either stack or multiply with a Racer frame.

Rocket pods and A2A missiles will become a liability. ESF using external fuel tanks or wing mounted guns will have a clear advantage in a dogfight.

[blashyrk]

Thanks for the insight, Fenrys!

Ah, applying rock paper scissors method to yet another aspect of PS2. I really dislike that idea on paper, but we'll see how it pans out.

[Lonehunter]

Wing mounted machine guns will be added as an optional 2ndary weapon, and they'll be tuned to excel at killing ESF.

I remember everything in your post being said except that part. Was it on the stream last night? If not, where?

[Fenrys]

Redditside:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/1e9cgx/from_higby_were_going_to_be_buffing_the_fuel_pods/


The weapon changes are a component of what we're doing, not all of it. Most feature designs are a lot longer than 140 characters we get to use on twitter.
The general idea is to give ESFs more clearly defined roles, smooth out their skill curve a bit, and less ability to be one-size-fits-all. Right now a great pilot can be a complete terrorist to ground troops, but new or not-so-great pilots have an insanely frustrating time due to the power of ground-to-air to totally zone out whole areas from air. This skill spread sucks for almost everyone, because the really high skill pilots can avoid it, the newer and bad pilots can't be pilots because the skill floor is so high, and the ground troops have to dedicate a ton of guys to anti-air which is ineffective at taking out the most skilled pilots anyways!
With some dedicated air-to-air weapons, as well as buffs to fuel pods, changes to the A2A missiles, we'll create some diversity in the ESF specs we see today, which are extremely homogenous - Rotaries and Rocketpods is the defacto ESF build because it has no weakness. By having more players playing dedicated air-to-air roles, fewer will be playing dedicated air-to-ground, and those fewer air-to-ground players will have a lot of new threats from the air to worry about. If we see a reduction in the number or effectiveness of air-to-ground specced ESFs, along with other changes we're making to help separate ground troops engaged in facility fights, it should allow ground troops to spend less time locked into dedicated ground-to-air defense roles. Ideally, this means that aircraft spend more time being part of fights, instead of zoned out of combat areas entirely, but they're doing so in a more balanced way than currently where it's 80% air-to-ground farming.
There will be more to this than just the weapon changes/additions, of course. Galaxies and Liberators will need some updates to contend with the new air-to-air threats.
edit: wanted to emphasize, these are things we are thinking about and planning out at this time, not something being actively worked on. We've got a lot of questions to answer ourselves about what to do about _____. This isn't something you should expect to see for at least 3-4 game updates.
...
We'll probably be making them easier to dodge / avoid for ESFs and more useful against Gals and Libs, with the new wing-mounted dogfight oriented weapons being the better choice for vs. ESF combat.
There will be a clear delineation between the high-speed, fast-firing dogfighter weapon and the slower firing, slower speed lock-on missiles which you can think of as more of an "anti-heavy-aircraft" weapon.
The current air-to-air lock-on will still work on ESFs, but good pilots will be able to avoid them. Hovering rocket-podders will still be very vulnerable to them, though.
...
We have improved joystick support on the wishlist for the update, as a joystick user myself (Not in PS2, obviously) I definitely want to try to get it in.
...
We won't be changing anything specifically with those weapons, except for maybe adjusting COF on rotaries to make it a bit harder to snipe infantry at longish range with it. The major difference is you'll be at a disadvantage vs an aircraft with a new dedicated air-to-air spec if you have a hybrid spec like rotaries+pods.

[BlaxicanX]

Tbh, I foresee most pilots just dumping the air-to-air specs, going all in for anti-ground and resuming business as usual.

Even if you make it so that you have to choose, it's still far too profitable to farm ground instead of air for there to be a huge difference post-update.

Still, I give SoE credit for trying. It's a step in the right direction.

[Lonehunter]

Thanks for the source

I fly dedicated to Air to Air combat 90% of the time, so I love the wing guns and missile changes

[MrMak]

Tbh, I foresee most pilots just dumping the air-to-air specs, going all in for anti-ground and resuming business as usual.

Even if you make it so that you have to choose, it's still far too profitable to farm ground instead of air for there to be a huge difference post-update.

Still, I give SoE credit for trying. It's a step in the right direction.

Hey, if that hapenes, Ill be happy to get an A2A spec and farm them.

[maradine]

Hey, if that hapenes, Ill be happy to get an A2A spec and farm them.

Indeed. Nature abhors a vacuum.

[loadoutoptional]

Tbh, I foresee most pilots just dumping the air-to-air specs, going all in for anti-ground and resuming business as usual.

Even if you make it so that you have to choose, it's still far too profitable to farm ground instead of air for there to be a huge difference post-update.

Still, I give SoE credit for trying. It's a step in the right direction.

This as really always been the problem, why go AA when AG is worth more experience? Not to mention there are more ground targets in general.

[Lonehunter]

Tbh, I foresee most pilots just dumping the air-to-air specs, going all in for anti-ground and resuming business as usual.

Even if you make it so that you have to choose, it's still far too profitable to farm ground instead of air for there to be a huge difference post-update.

Still, I give SoE credit for trying. It's a step in the right direction.


This as really always been the problem, why go AA when AG is worth more experience? Not to mention there are more ground targets in general.

No the problem is they haven't made an aspect of gameplay fun enough to make you forget about farming as much xp as possible. This isn't an RPG with a race to max level. It's an FPS with unparalleled scale and unrivaled potential.

People should be coordinating, having fun, playing what they want and not whats "the best" at xp farming

[PredatorFour]

People should be coordinating, having fun, playing what they want and not whats "the best" at xp farming

Unfortunately that's pretty much what this game is right now in its current state, well to me anyway. A massive farming simulator.

We need 10 conts ...then it'll be more interesting:D

[Hamma]

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