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	Archive through April 17, 2002	25		04/17 08:41am

Thanks Lessss....
Jon P. - Like I said: there really isn't a problem with the plasma rules per-se...its the constant evolution of the other rules and ships...
Remove the speed change rules (esp unplotted) first and see what happens...
Andrew- I agree..

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Wednesday, April 17, 2002 - 11:06 am: Edit

A.H.:

A ship is at R1 is running away at some high speed like 28.
At best it will get away to R8 before it is struck by the plasma, for exactly the same damage as at R1 ( bar any recycled phaser fire, asteroids and dust hexes or plasma F & D fire ).

I must agree, unless the other guy is going 30+, the plasma is a real threat if you get to launch it @ R1, few people in their right minds would bolt @ R1 and fewer @ R0.

By Robert Snook (Verdick) on Wednesday, April 17, 2002 - 01:06 pm: Edit

And add in the Sabot rules and the time before impact becomes much shorter, even if they are running at speed 30. Let's see how the Sabot affects things before we try to get another upgrade to the plasmas.

By Kenneth Jones (Kludge) on Wednesday, April 17, 2002 - 04:14 pm: Edit

IMO the New bolt rules are'nt really needed. I certainly would'nt use them instead of a seeking launch. They might be a benefit once in a very great while. But generally i dont see any need to turn a seeking weapon into a direct fire. Any more than the bolt already is.

By Jeff Williams (Jeff) on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 01:42 am: Edit

We've been using sabot as standard rule since it came out. Trust me, they are FAR more desirable than this.
And putting both of them together....just too much.

By Robert Eddy (Tar_Zhay) on Saturday, December 13, 2003 - 03:01 pm: Edit

Here is a crazy idea... I think its voided befor i typed it still.
how about a enveloping plasma that is fired at a hex and detonates like a mine when the target hex is reached. damage will be 1/10 of the current warhead strength.

I don't think we need a reloadable mine in the game but the gorns would find this most useful.

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 12:24 am: Edit

So would Romulans fighting Feds with their swarms of drones.

Or the ISC fighting any drone-chucking empire.

Badly unbalancing

By William J Gauthier (Emperorvortia) on Friday, November 02, 2007 - 08:53 pm: Edit

Here's my version. There definitely isn't any reason to bolt at range 0 or 1. The primary weakness of the Plasma races is their inability to handle a direct fire race sniping on a floating map. Therefore, I propose a Plasma version of DERFACS, a.k.a. PTERAID (Plasma Targeting Enhancement Rectacle Allowing Improved Direct-fire)

The benefit would be a chance to hit of 1-3 for range 11-15 instead of 1-2, and a change to a to-hit of 1-2 instead of 1 for range 21-23. In order to use these improved chance to hit, additional energy must be paid equal to if the shot was fired as a Plasma Sabot. Energy must be paid at energy allocation, it may not be reserve/battery energy.

Alternatively, you could seperate these in to two seperate systems, with the closer range one mimicking UIM with a chance of burn out.

By Dale McKee (Brigman) on Friday, November 02, 2007 - 10:06 pm: Edit

William: Not sure there's much point. Even having been (repeatedly) on the recieving end of massed Fed prox torps vs. my Romulans, I don't know that increased bolt *accuracy* alone would be worthwile. You might hit, but your damage will be piddling. I've considered bolting in the 11-15 bracket before - but only with certain ships in bad situations.

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Friday, November 02, 2007 - 10:35 pm: Edit

You bold at long range when a down shield presents itself but otherwise it is better to hold the torp as a deterent instead of a back scratcher.

By Andy Palmer (Andypalmer) on Saturday, November 03, 2007 - 08:04 am: Edit

William Gauthier. You bolt at range 0-1 because your opponent is under weasel protection; I've had it happen to me on numerous occasions.

By William J Gauthier (Emperorvortia) on Sunday, November 04, 2007 - 08:38 pm: Edit

Well, you could eliminate some of the penalties and make it more of a general refit a la Sabot. I'm sure no one except for a few rabid plasma race fanboys would like to see Plasma races turned into the ultimate long-range snipers, but bolting is a real waste at long range if you miss 67-83% of the time. It's pretty easy for a Disruptor or (worse) Photon race to sit at the very edge of their range and bleed you out when all you can do is try to close with them and fire off an occasional Phaser-1. At least if you increase the chances of hitting, even with the limited damage, it helps to make things not so one sided on a floating map.

I know that SSJ #2 ran an upgrade which made it so the damage from Plasma Bolts fired at a true range of more than eleven did not halve their damage, but I feel that on the one hand, this made larger Plasma launchers into very deadly direct fire weapons, and on the other hand, it had a very high likelyhood of simply wasting a torpedo. I would think that an increased chance of some damage would be far more likely than a very limited chance at impressive damage.