Since the invention of the Nighthawk the Serco have always strived to stay ahead of the Itani in Aerospace technology, that is until now, Serco engineers are apparently baffled as to what an "interceptor" does or how it works, leaving the Serco Dominion, the largest military society in history completely incapable of creating anything that is remotely capable of catching and destroying a valkryie.

I propose we change this, now, rather than later, and this is why:



That is what the active players graph looked like before free-week, and that is what it will return to after free week if something serco-specific doesn't change.

The serco veterans are sick and tired of this absurdity. I bid you fix it and we will return in force.

This is not a suggestions post.

If you want to suggest a new Serco interceptor, try actually doing that.

As I've repeatedly stated, leave out all the opinionated and political BS. That is a requirement of posting on my forums, especially here.

Unhelpful dramatic BS includes: "The serco veterans are sick and tired of this absurdity. I bid you fix it and we will return in force."

Stick to the topic. I want specific, gameplay-only suggestions that are based on specific, gameplay-only ideas.

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/27237

^ That's the actual suggestion.

I have definitely tried it before, feel free to move the discussion to that post and close this one. I refuted ARF's blatant political BS on that thread all day long with gameplay discussion.

Also I love dramatic BS, its who I am!

Then give us an Itani style prom while you're at it. It's all about balance, and I'm all for this if it happens.

The equivalent itani heavy hitter would be an itani manufactured revenant.

Okay, maybe I'll get a chance to write these statlines and i'll post a new suggestion.

Speaking of political BS, all serco are always whiney.

I suggest deleting the Serco, finally securing the valiant Itani victory that we always hold.

(can't prove me wrong if you don't log in)

But if you give the Itani's a tank and the Serco a heavy hitter, it sort of removes the difference between the two nations. I mean, the Itani's have better engines and the Serco have stronger armor designs. That's the way it works.
However, what would be nice is adding a gun designed for chasing and giving it to the Serco. They were ahead of us in terms of weapons, no? So a gun with low drain and low mass but low damage could be given to the Serco.
If that is implemented, though, the Itani's should get an anti-tank gun to use against proms.

Thats dumb Snk, thats like saying Russia isn't going to develop a nuclear warhead because then there'd be no difference between them and America.

I'm not saying that, I'm saying the Serco can't devolve an interceptor as good as the Valkyrie because they aren't as good with engines as the Itani are.

So what you're saying is, the itani are a better faction and people are right to join them instead of the Serco.

Okay, guess no serco are going to play, better go with 1+ CrazySpence then

My two cents. Take the dominant characteristics of the two factions' ships, and apply them to the roles instead of just cookie-cutter-ing the two current fighters.

The Serco get an interceptor that's fast in a straight line, but is a little on the heavy side, making it not quite as acrobatic (but it's still an interceptor, so it still needs to be pretty nimble, at least enough to be able to catch a valk). But it has a metric crap-ton of armor and is armed to the teeth. It's better at soloing a group of enemies than the Valk.

The Itani get an assault fighter that's relatively fast, nimble, and light on its feet, but has tin-foil armor compared to its Serco counterpart and is relatively lightly armed. It's better for group-based tactics, and generally needs a wingman or two to tap into its full potential, as opposed to the Prometheus.

EDIT:

extra clarification for the section on the interceptor

EDIT 2:

more clarification and minor grammar fix

+1 to Terran

+10 to Terran

Terran has the right idea, but the real problem is that VO as presently (and foreseeably) designed cannot ever have real interceptors.

Even before the stupidy implemented haircut speed cap was imposed (which threw an as-yet unfixed wrench into the balance of numerous ships), there wasn't much room for distinction between slow, medium, fast, and "interceptor" class ships. Now there's almost none at all. All non-capital ships operate within a fairly narrow speed band, between 160 and 225 m/s, and all relevant action takes place within a small space of being able to jump within < 3000m or so of where a given ship is.

Inc has repeatedly said that latency issues or somesuch thing prevent making interceptors faster than 225m/s, but aside from tridents ships have to be reasonably fast. People just won't accept a moth that only does 100 m/s at turbo or takes 5 full minutes to reach its current 160 m/s. For actual combat interception, it's even harder because we're not talking about intercepting slow ships with uber fast ones, but reasonably fast ships with even faster ones.

As far as I can see, there is no way to fix this given the game design limits we currently have. We cannot make a few ships extremely fast, and even if we could reduce speeds across the board to make a few 225 m/s ships blindingly fast interceptors (and nobody would want that after being able to scoot around most of space very quickly at current speeds) doing so would be far more Dev time than they will ever have to spare.

As per usual, half meaures will have to suffice.

Geez lecter, it's not that bad. You're not going to achieve interception in the way that a jet fighter in real life might intercept a plane, but you can adjust stats of existing ships like the aforementioned SVG drain buff to allow it to provide enough of an incentive to make a ship fight for a possible victory rather than flee to a certain escape.

That's all that is necessary on the combat ship front. You can scare a valkryie from fleeing from combat with an SVG, but it's merely that, a trick, often the valkryie pilot stays because they don't add 2+2 and realise that after 15 seconds the SVG no longer has the energy required to defeat even a 40% valk even if every shot hits. It should also have 225m/s instead of the 220 to be a proper interceptor.

The two sides need to engage with each other. They still can't because of the valks absurd statline. It's just not a mystery why people don't pick Serco.

Newbies are extremely aware of subtle stat differences in high-end ships and tactics, and base their choice in faction on those factors, even before they enter the game.

Aye, they definitely are and do Rin.

Actually I recall a bunch of newbs just picking their favorite color or what ever was listed first.

And Rin, I would just love to see you back up that bullshit about extremely aware newbs.

I'm fairly certain Rin was being sarcastic, Ryan.

Here are some quick stats for you.


So basically, the IDF stat wise is the best interceptor based on the listed stats. Though the X-1 is close, and usually preferred due to the profile. The SVG still isn't too far off.

The SVG is very close in comparison to the X-1.
A Valkyrie X-1 at 5,000kg (UC+ a flare + 2 Neut3's) brings the Weight/Thrust Ratio to 22.22 kg/N.
A SVG at 4,700kg (UC + 2 N3's) brings the Weight/Thrust Ratio to 20kg/N.

Because seriously, who flies an empty ship into combat?
And turbo thrust?? The SVG is even better than the above stats.
The only thing the valk has on the SVG is the armor.

Now, the SkyProm and the equivalent for the Itani. Oh wait, there *isn't* one.
The closest I can find is the TungTaur.
So, a SkyProm at 14,100kg (2 Flare + AGT + UC) brings the W/T ratio to 26.86kg/N.
The TungTaur at 19,300kg (Flare+Jack+AGT+UC) brings the W/T ratio to 38.60kg/N.

So basically, in any combat situation, your SkyProm is better than any other heavy ship no matter what.
And the SVG in combat is better than the X-1.

So why can't you guys beat them? It's the player, not the ship.