SkyRaider#3584 posted (#post-220138) said:
Regarding the UI, they said in their latest podcast it is being completely redesigned.
Jumping into Veteran can be tough due to the disparity between T3 and T4 ships. My Gravis keeps getting owned by T4 destroyers. You likely got stomped by a squad and they're working on improving matchmaking, but a smaller player base is making it difficult.
I pushed my way through T3s, it was a grind but I was able to effectively take out T4 ships, it was the unfair matches that bothered me. It's tough as a T3 in Vet, but I think it's meant to be. Maybe when there is a large enough player base they will break things up so that each teir has their own matches. Even today however, I still fly my T3s, just for a challenge. A fully fit T3, flown properly using good tactics can be a monster. I see great T3 pilots on a regular basis. Problem is they get tired of loosing most matches, and leave before they get T4 or soon after.
If the team creation was fair, logically, it seems there should be equal T3 pilots on either side, which would seemingly make the problem mute as T3's could engage other T3's and avoid T4s if they want to. Hitting the tab key, and making note who is piloting a T3 or T4 is as easy as hitting the tab button anytime during the game. A good tactic is to target ships you know you are able to kill, as a T3 you actually have many targets who are T3 and even T4. I watched a T3 pilot recently that was very adept and killing T4 tac ships. It can be done. I think another problem is that people are not exposed to good tactics, and don't utilize whatever tactical advantages they might gain with officer briefings or mods. Incorractly fitting your ship compared to your play style is a huge problem. Understanding the mods is tough as a T3 going to T4. It's a steep learning curve that it seems many just don't want to grind out.
Hope all these issues get fixed. For now, know that if you are a T3 pilot, it's not impossible. You can be very effective if you pay attention and are careful, use good tactics and make sure your ship is fitted to your best play style. If you pay attention when your match ends, you will see many times T3 pilots scoring in one of the top three slots.
I'm not tooting my own horn, but I did the grind for each T3 ship, unlocking all of them and then did the same and opened all the T4s, and then played all the T4s that had officer briefings, then went back and completed the rest of the T4s. They are not all fully trained, but I can fly any one of them as they all have T4 mods. I found opening all of the officer briefings allowed for me to play far more dynamically. But it is a horrible, awful grind. If I had to do it over a 2cd time, I wouldn't do it. I can just imagine others grinding their way through all those ships and how they might feel. But it does get better.
I only play veteran matches, I never play legacy. By the time you unlock T5 ships, there are far more people playing in squads, so you find matches that are far more skewed compared to Vet matches. This is the reason you often see people from certain squads, begging for people to que for legacy. They even go as far as to make claims on how much more XP you will make.
Problem is, if you are a single random player in legacy matches that you will almost every single match be on the team that is playing against a squad. If you play as a T4, there is even a larger desparity between T4 and T5 ships than T3 and T4 matches. If I were forced to play legacy, I would quit. Because the games are so skewed in favor of op squads of lvl 50 players against a team with T4's and maybe a T5, you are going to lose. And when you lose in Legacy, it's by a giant margin meaning your team might score 1/4 of what the team with the huge advantage scores. That means the opposing team will make 4 times XP as the players on the losing team. This also means that T4 pilots must grind 4 times as long, to get a T5 as those in a squad.
Until the team creation problem is fixed, I will continue to play vet, and apply the XP I make to my T5 ships. It bites hard, because I honestly would love to play fair matches as a T5, but I am not willing to join a squad for these reasons. I don't want to play in a squad, I find it far more fun to play with randoms. It's more challenging, as you have no idea who you are teaming with or how they play. I don't like the drama involved in being in the same group all the time. I don't appreciate static tactics which squads employ. I absolutely despise healing bubbles of 3 op tac ships, and you almost never see a match where the opposing team does NOT use this tactic. In those matches, you have a mish mash of T4 ships with maybe 1-2 T5's, and since people are learning and trying to train up their T4 so they get T5 they are not willing to fly a tac ship. In any case, a T4 tac ship cannot absorb the damage a T5 ship can deliver, so the desparity is even greater.
It is a great game, but it can be a really good game if these problems are addressed. But until that time, it seems we must suffer through and find our own way. I stopped playing unfair matches, which as resolved a lot of the issues I have with the game mechanics. I just simply avoid playing unfair matches. When the match is fair, and I lose, I still feel good. Like I fought hard but the other team was simply different in some way that I and my team didn't catch onto before it was too late. I learn from those matches. But I learn nothing when the opposing team is stacked with lvl 50 players.
