Banning Warp Core Stabilizers

Mr Mittens Wallpaper

I find it works well if you think about WCS like you think about Legacy Code. They've been around since the beginning, nothing much has ever been done with them, they sorta kinda work, but the more you think about it the more you realize they don't actually work the way they should. In fact, they may be actually stoopid. I mean you wouldn't ask an Elvis Impersonator to design a Space Station now would you? It would be asking too much.

And this is how I feel about the WCS. It feels like an old module that no one has dealt with in ten years, that should probably be split up into about three new modules designed to achieve three different goals. Instead of asking one old tired module to do all this work by himself.

The reason is simple. As it exists right now, anything you do to it will harm someone and help someone else. I don't want to Ban WCS to make my job easier, as some people have claimed over the years. Trust me, my job is hard enough already. I do however strongly believe that 4 WCS on a Vexor in low sec is bad gameplay, and I don't mean a "travel fit" Vexor either. Any ship planted in a combat zone should have an expectation of combat.

ONE: So let's start there. A new module for FW Wussies to put on their ships to avoid having to contest plexes and just sit there and make iskies all day. Why they have this expectation is a huge part of the problem in my opinion. This seems easy to me. Right now, in a normal PvP situation, once a ship has you scrammed there is little you can do about it. Other than having to fit your ship with some special modules or using ECM drones for example. (And yes, I am having a very hard time arguing the other side on this!) So the new FWW Module is a chance based module that can break scram based on the skill of the pilot fitting it, the higher the skill the higher the chance to break scram. Only one per ship. This allows the other slots to be used the way they are intended, so if scram is not broken they have a fighting chance. It should have a balanced penalty to optimal range or something, but nothing harsh. On my side, overheating my scram gives me a counter bonus to the modules chance based on my own skills. The balance in that approach is in me managing my heat, and the fact that I can't do that for long before the scram burns out and the target gets away anyway. It has no effect on Disruptors or Webs, and faction scrams come with built in bonuses as always.

TWO: The travelers companion. Works exactly like WCS do today except it removes the offensive capabilities of the ship it is fitted on. You want to move "safely" thru space? Then you need to give something up in return. If you don't want to travel without guns or missiles then fit Inertia Stabs and Nanos, or jump your ship over. Or, learn how to use bookmarks and scouts for goodness sake.

THREE: Industrials and Freighters. Pretty much the same WCS Module we have today. This is where the darn things belong, so why change it.

Right now if you try to scram a ship with WCS fitted it just warps off, there is no way (other than fitting more scrams) that you can counter the fit. At least the FWW module gives you a fighting chance to engage and then it comes down to the skill of the two players involved. This is called gameplay and I support better gameplay.

Whatever the final solution there can be no doubt that we need something that isn't the current state of affairs. The WCS module is old, clunky and anti-gameplay. There are literally dozens of ideas floating around about how to fix it, this is only one. The solution needs to add to gameplay and not take away from it - for both sides of the coin.

I want WCS Banned because they are broken. Not because I am anti gameplay.