@Malorn
Having faster dropping, less manoeuvrable drop pods will be an improvement - dropping infantry behind enemy lines should be the role of a Galaxy, not a beacon.
I don't think the Instant Action changes are going to help a whole lot, however. People are still frequently going to be dropped into terrible and awkward positions. What I'd like to see, and what would pretty much guarantee good drop positions, would be to change beacons from squad items into public items:
- Anyone can carry and place beacons, not just squad leaders.
- Anyone can spawn at a beacon that has been placed.
- Beacons only last a few minutes (or less), and have a resource cost to compensate for their new power.
- Instant Action is weighted towards heavily used beacons (the more a beacon is used, the better its position is likely to be).
Such a change would also put an end to the business of constantly swapping around squad leader to whoever is in a useful place to put down a beacon, or to avoid the beacon cooldown. Squad leader should be purely a communicational role, not a mechanical one.