OGB Nerf - Crymageddon

CCP has finally - after at least 2 years of calls - begin winding up to swing the nerf bat on the off-grid boosters. About time, I say.

I have been a critic of the whole mechanic almost from the start - and certainly after they began to really proliferate in 2011. Prior to this they were unusual but not unknown; it took a fairly long while for the benefits to sink in and the alt toons to really get trained up. Which, ironically enough, was a defence of the whole practise because apparently "it takes a lot of effort to train an alt up to fly a cloaky Loki booster".

Yeah, load it into EVE-Mon and pay the sub. Terribly skillful and hard.

It is also terribly hard to win fights "against larger gangs" when you have, for example, a 34km point range in a double-damp Hookbill orbiting a poor shlub in a Punisher or a Merlin who cannot even target you or run you down because you go 50% faster than him.

There is no equalising in the fights I've seen. Against larger gangs, or gangs against fleets, Loki links have allowed people to stay at range and pick enemies off with virtual impunity, all with no risk.

The changes as they stand now are a good step. Firstly, no total invulnerability inside a POS shield. The tears about this are hilarious in their entitled whininess. Given the abuse of OGB's is in the main a highsec or lowsec thing, due to the difficulty of ninjaing up a POS in sov space and roaming with a cloaky nullified T3 booster (uh, not much), this complaint is precious.

Just sit at a safe spot, aligned. Or at a station on undock, hugging it like a pansy. Dock if anything locks you. Deal with it.

If you can stick up a POS, make sure it has defences. A couple of ECM's, a dissy, and 4 small beams or arties will be enough to deter casual gankers.

It's going to be lowsec, because who aside from some of the prol337 highsec wardeccing corps would bother humping standings to get a POS in highsec? You may fear being alpha'd by a Tornado gang but, really, if you are too dumb and inattentive to notice local spike with 4 or 5 extras and they happen to be in Tornadoes and they happen to land on your grid with the booster, who is more than 500m outside the shield and can't scoot in before you lose the Loki...just buy a fucking Claymore. Also, pay more attention.

If you ARE in highsec, you can deal with it, too. There's some whine from incursion bears that the loss of bulk benefits and the reductions in resists already sloughed in will make their lives harder. Given they shouldn't be worried about the nerf to Tengu links, since this is highsec and who's going to gank Tengu boosters, I wonder if they are taking into account the greater combat ability and tankiness of the command ships? Probably haven't realised the Vulture will have actual DPS as will the Damnation, allowing them to come into an Incursion cash-machine and punch the time clock for stupid ISK. You win some, you lose some.

What interests me is the nerf to Info Warfare subs and benefits. I hadn't considered that a 35% target painter effectiveness buff was over the top. Perhaps it was - I mean, it might make a Ceptor actually able to be hit by something. it might make blap dreads in C5's with TPing Rapier/Huginns able to alpha the Sleepers. But I doubt it.

Of more concern is the buff to sensor resolution which comes with the info mindlink now; this is a buff to instalock gatecamps. Yes, it will also help relocking a Falcon after you get teabagged but that's not open to abuse. We will just have to hope Fozzie has done his maths properly on remote sensor boosted Gnosis with info mindlinks.