1263 replies to this topic

[Sandpit]

Weztside, on 30 July 2014 - 09:29 PM, said:

You really don't want LL Stalkers to make a comeback. .

speak for yourself

[Kristov Kerensky]

You wanna do WHAT? And it's to fix a problem that exists where exactly?

I run a Dire with 2 gauss and 2 erppcs, along with other weapons, and it's not deadly because all 4 projectiles hit the same spot at the same time, because quite frankly they NEVER do that. It's deadly because my gauss rounds impact and the target JUST STANDS THERE until the erppcs impact. And usually still just stands there while I recharge everything and fire off another set of gauss and erppc rounds. It's not like the majority of the players TRY to avoid getting hit, they don't twist, they don't move around, they just stand there and point their guns in my direction and fire. Usually with weapons that have less than half the range I'm standing at, so they don't even hit me. I'm at 1k, they are firing medium lasers and SRMs at me, how terribly unbalanced THAT is right? So what's your next 'FIX' going to be, increase the ranges of those weapons or maybe kill the ranges of the gauss and erppcs? That would be right in line with these silly ideas you've presented, trying to fix a problem that isn't a problem you can fix, as it's a PLAYER ABILITY issue.

Seriously, you guys need to WATCH the majority of the players sometime, not look at the data but actually spectate the players as they play the game. I think you folks at PGI would start to seriously rethink some of the 'FIXES' you've put in if you actually watched the people playing and see what the REAL problem is, a lack of ability. I've watched people take a Mech with a gauss on it out and not use it because they hit the trigger and...nothing happened, hit it again, nothing happened, so they ignore it and figure it's a BUG! Great documentation on how gauss works btw. LRMs, do you guys have any idea how many people do NOT realize they can HIT things with LRMs if they have a lock? I've watched people fire thousands of rounds of LRMs without ever once hitting R, or worse, firing LRMs at target F while having target A as their target. People firing their Streaks at targets 800m out, same with SRMs, MGuns, ML, SL, you name it. MWO has a LOT of really inept/ignorant players(I'm being nice here) who simply don't have a clue what those silly numbers next to the weapon means or how the weapons work at all. They don't torso twist, they don't try to avoid incoming fire at all typically, and they just generally have no freaking idea what the hells is going on around them, they just know BIG STOMPY ROBOTS!

You've still got the blurbs up as adverts that this is a thinking man's shooter...you really should take that down because false advertising is illegal, and at the rate you guys are coming up with these 'FIXES', you soon won't be able to call this anything but CoD in an exoskeleton, not legally.

I'll be calling my CC company tomorrow about reversing the charges for my Diashi package, cause this sure as hells ain't the game I WAS willing to support with these knee jerk reaction 'FIXES' being tossed out.

[DaemonWulfe]

I still run a Misery with a pair of ERLL, 3 ML, and an AC/20. My 3F still rocks 4x LL and 2x ML. I still get murdered in them, and dish out healthy amounts of murder. LL Stalkers require heat discipline, and discipline in general is lacking in a large enough quantity that the devs have to keep tweaking the systems to stem the flow of tears from folks who don't want to take the time to better their skills, but are spending their cash anyway.

[Tomcat0815]

Sounds too complicated for me. I would love a more simple solution that is more obvious too new players.
Maybe you can try to solve this from an engineering point of view: the reactor supplies limited energy for different tasks. If you fire two PPC and one Gauss, the energy used will be missing in other systems. Your radar might go blind for some time, You may be moving slower for some time. The bigger your engine rating, the smaller the effect.
As an engineer, I think several game mechanic topics could be treated from an engineering pov and in the end the solutions found would seem more logical to players and thus would be easier to comprehend.
A little thermodynamics, a little physics, a litte electrical engineering - a mech is a machine in the end and should be described as one.

[DaemonWulfe]

Kristov Kerensky, on 30 July 2014 - 09:57 PM, said:

You wanna do WHAT? And it's to fix a problem that exists where exactly?

I run a Dire with 2 gauss and 2 erppcs, along with other weapons, and it's not deadly because all 4 projectiles hit the same spot at the same time, because quite frankly they NEVER do that. It's deadly because my gauss rounds impact and the target JUST STANDS THERE until the erppcs impact. And usually still just stands there while I recharge everything and fire off another set of gauss and erppc rounds. It's not like the majority of the players TRY to avoid getting hit, they don't twist, they don't move around, they just stand there and point their guns in my direction and fire. Usually with weapons that have less than half the range I'm standing at, so they don't even hit me. I'm at 1k, they are firing medium lasers and SRMs at me, how terribly unbalanced THAT is right? So what's your next 'FIX' going to be, increase the ranges of those weapons or maybe kill the ranges of the gauss and erppcs? That would be right in line with these silly ideas you've presented, trying to fix a problem that isn't a problem you can fix, as it's a PLAYER ABILITY issue.

Seriously, you guys need to WATCH the majority of the players sometime, not look at the data but actually spectate the players as they play the game. I think you folks at PGI would start to seriously rethink some of the 'FIXES' you've put in if you actually watched the people playing and see what the REAL problem is, a lack of ability. I've watched people take a Mech with a gauss on it out and not use it because they hit the trigger and...nothing happened, hit it again, nothing happened, so they ignore it and figure it's a BUG! Great documentation on how gauss works btw. LRMs, do you guys have any idea how many people do NOT realize they can HIT things with LRMs if they have a lock? I've watched people fire thousands of rounds of LRMs without ever once hitting R, or worse, firing LRMs at target F while having target A as their target. People firing their Streaks at targets 800m out, same with SRMs, MGuns, ML, SL, you name it. MWO has a LOT of really inept/ignorant players(I'm being nice here) who simply don't have a clue what those silly numbers next to the weapon means or how the weapons work at all. They don't torso twist, they don't try to avoid incoming fire at all typically, and they just generally have no freaking idea what the hells is going on around them, they just know BIG STOMPY ROBOTS!

You've still got the blurbs up as adverts that this is a thinking man's shooter...you really should take that down because false advertising is illegal, and at the rate you guys are coming up with these 'FIXES', you soon won't be able to call this anything but CoD in an exoskeleton, not legally.

I'll be calling my CC company tomorrow about reversing the charges for my Diashi package, cause this sure as hells ain't the game I WAS willing to support with these knee jerk reaction 'FIXES' being tossed out.

You forgot the part where those same players jump on the forums after rage quitting, to write an essay on how they feel the game should be changed, and how there will be a mass exodus away from the game if their idea isn't implemented.

[Zuesacoatl]

Sandpit, on 30 July 2014 - 09:24 PM, said:

they would hit right where you wanted. it would just take them a split second longer to all converge together in one spot. problem solved. adjust the convergence speed until it finds a good balance. most importantly?
NOT
COMPLICATED

That is fine when you speak of convergence in that way. Most posters do not understand what convergence is and wish to see a cone of fire while moving much like you would in CoD. But unlike CoD, we have servos and computers that are centuries ahead of our own today that can combat that and place shots down range, akin again to our modern day Abrams. But to converge all weapon systems into one solid shot can take time, especially since each location would have a different gear ratio per the size of the part and will not "converge" into the center all at the same time.

See, I knew in the end I would find a way to agree with you Sandpit, lol. I just assumed that you meant to create a cone of fire like so many recent posts have went on about. I apologize for the assumption.

[Zuesacoatl]

Weztside, on 30 July 2014 - 09:29 PM, said:

All this is going to do is either alienate the hardcore players and Comp teams or shift the Meta into an even worse place than it is now. You really don't want LL Stalkers to make a comeback. Especially since C-ERLL are insanely powerful. Next thing you know Clans will be even better since they can boat ERLL like nothing else can. I forgot to mention that everyone will simply shift to duel gauss builds as well. You are simply going to piss a lot people off without actually effecting the meta.

From what I have seen, the majority of those asking for changes to the current Gauss/PPC meta are the comp players/teams.

[JigglyMoobs]

Bilbo, on 30 July 2014 - 07:35 AM, said:

You think it's more difficult to close on a position guarded by a group of people using DOT weapons rather than PPFLD? In my experience, the opposite is true.

You haven't been facing the massed ER LLs Bilbo. They are very formidable in the right terrain.

They do not miss. They have perfect convergence at range (unlike PPC/Gauss which can have completely wrong convergence due to leading of a moving target), and torso twisting doesn't help you one bit if they are targeting your legs.

Also with massed ER-LLs, any time you have a stripped component.... it's gone from 900 m away.

Edited by JigglyMoobs, 30 July 2014 - 10:38 PM.

[L Y N X]

Once upon a time PPCs projectile speeds were lightning fast and the Gauss slugs were slug-like slow. Along came PGI and waved a patch and watched the PPC speed nerf to barely 1000m/s and the Gauss slug became hypersonic! then over a period of several months, PGI stealthily buffed PPC projectile speeds to within a couple hundred m/s of the Gauss slug's speed.

This problem was resolved and resurrected by PGI. Why? We may never know for sure, but there it is, nonsense in the making, wasted development resources, ping-ponging over past dilemmas.

Make the PPC 1000-1200 m/s and be done with it this time, leave it alone.

Then focus on Associations and CW, this is where PGI could earn back players and spawn open wallets.

Edited by 7ynx, 30 July 2014 - 10:40 PM.

[JayKay17]

The gauss + ppc reload mechanic could work, but as stated by others, it is complicated and difficult especially for new players.

Reducing the speed of the ppc "projectile" could work either at medium and long ranges, but not on short range traveltime is to short on this distances to react. You would still get one shot legged in a light mech on maps like river city or canyon for peeking around a corner. And you would cripple many light and medium mech builds who depend on a ppc as their long range weapon, with the reduced projectile speed you can't hit a moving target and you cant answer a gauss shot with your ppc cause the enemy is right back behind cover before the ppc projectile has crawled there.

The conclusion to your solution proposal is that it has many drawbacks, it is right the problem of direct fire pinpoint high alphas has to be addressed, but I'm sure there are better solutions.

[Foster Bondroff]

Kristov Kerensky, on 30 July 2014 - 09:57 PM, said:

You wanna do WHAT? And it's to fix a problem that exists where exactly?

I run a Dire with 2 gauss and 2 erppcs, along with other weapons, and it's not deadly because all 4 projectiles hit the same spot at the same time, because quite frankly they NEVER do that. It's deadly because my gauss rounds impact and the target JUST STANDS THERE until the erppcs impact. And usually still just stands there while I recharge everything and fire off another set of gauss and erppc rounds. It's not like the majority of the players TRY to avoid getting hit, they don't twist, they don't move around, they just stand there and point their guns in my direction and fire. Usually with weapons that have less than half the range I'm standing at, so they don't even hit me. I'm at 1k, they are firing medium lasers and SRMs at me, how terribly unbalanced THAT is right? So what's your next 'FIX' going to be, increase the ranges of those weapons or maybe kill the ranges of the gauss and erppcs? That would be right in line with these silly ideas you've presented, trying to fix a problem that isn't a problem you can fix, as it's a PLAYER ABILITY issue.

Seriously, you guys need to WATCH the majority of the players sometime, not look at the data but actually spectate the players as they play the game. I think you folks at PGI would start to seriously rethink some of the 'FIXES' you've put in if you actually watched the people playing and see what the REAL problem is, a lack of ability. I've watched people take a Mech with a gauss on it out and not use it because they hit the trigger and...nothing happened, hit it again, nothing happened, so they ignore it and figure it's a BUG! Great documentation on how gauss works btw. LRMs, do you guys have any idea how many people do NOT realize they can HIT things with LRMs if they have a lock? I've watched people fire thousands of rounds of LRMs without ever once hitting R, or worse, firing LRMs at target F while having target A as their target. People firing their Streaks at targets 800m out, same with SRMs, MGuns, ML, SL, you name it. MWO has a LOT of really inept/ignorant players(I'm being nice here) who simply don't have a clue what those silly numbers next to the weapon means or how the weapons work at all. They don't torso twist, they don't try to avoid incoming fire at all typically, and they just generally have no freaking idea what the hells is going on around them, they just know BIG STOMPY ROBOTS!

You've still got the blurbs up as adverts that this is a thinking man's shooter...you really should take that down because false advertising is illegal, and at the rate you guys are coming up with these 'FIXES', you soon won't be able to call this anything but CoD in an exoskeleton, not legally.

I'll be calling my CC company tomorrow about reversing the charges for my Diashi package, cause this sure as hells ain't the game I WAS willing to support with these knee jerk reaction 'FIXES' being tossed out.

You might add, that this is not the players fault for the most part. Its PGIs and IGNs that got the learning curve so step that its to hard to climb sometimes.

MWO is so complicated with all those "Fixes" they added since closed beta that its hard to figure all those "balancing mechanics" out for a player on his own. But what do we miss since close beta? A real good tutorial and introduction how this game works.

[Sandpit]

DaemonWulfe, on 30 July 2014 - 10:01 PM, said:

I still run a Misery with a pair of ERLL, 3 ML, and an AC/20. My 3F still rocks 4x LL and 2x ML. I still get murdered in them, and dish out healthy amounts of murder. LL Stalkers require heat discipline, and discipline in general is lacking in a large enough quantity that the devs have to keep tweaking the systems to stem the flow of tears from folks who don't want to take the time to better their skills, but are spending their cash anyway.

Us stalker pilots know yo, #ghostheatain'tgotnothingonme
lol

Zuesacoatl, on 30 July 2014 - 10:12 PM, said:

That is fine when you speak of convergence in that way. Most posters do not understand what convergence is and wish to see a cone of fire while moving much like you would in CoD. But unlike CoD, we have servos and computers that are centuries ahead of our own today that can combat that and place shots down range, akin again to our modern day Abrams. But to converge all weapon systems into one solid shot can take time, especially since each location would have a different gear ratio per the size of the part and will not "converge" into the center all at the same time.

See, I knew in the end I would find a way to agree with you Sandpit, lol. I just assumed that you meant to create a cone of fire like so many recent posts have went on about. I apologize for the assumption.

Nah, and I can't take full credit for that. I think that originally got kicked around between he and I arguing over the whole pinpoint thing. It stops instant convergence but a good sniper mech would still be able to be patient and pull off some nice long range alpha shots sometimes, the truly masterful would still poptart, the others would grumble about PGI "ruining the game" by not allowing them to have the biggest advantage I've always stated when defending lasers against AC folks.

Instant convergence. See how that puts energy weapons on a whole new level against ACs and PPCs and closes that gap between the two and gets a good balance? and know what's even better?
NOT
COMPLICATED

by "he and I' I mean me and Joe

[Zuesacoatl]

Sandpit, on 30 July 2014 - 11:37 PM, said:

Us stalker pilots know yo, #ghostheatain'tgotnothingonme
lol


Nah, and I can't take full credit for that. I think that originally got kicked around between he and I arguing over the whole pinpoint thing. It stops instant convergence but a good sniper mech would still be able to be patient and pull off some nice long range alpha shots sometimes, the truly masterful would still poptart, the others would grumble about PGI "ruining the game" by not allowing them to have the biggest advantage I've always stated when defending lasers against AC folks.

Instant convergence. See how that puts energy weapons on a whole new level against ACs and PPCs and closes that gap between the two and gets a good balance? and know what's even better?
NOT
COMPLICATED

by "he and I' I mean me and Joe

Correct, and it would not have to be more than just a few fractions of a second to make a big difference in the game. With jj shake, PT's will need to clear a higher jump to allow for those precious moments to converge before firing, or take a shot and spread the dmg more than they may have wished. This is the conversation that should be happening. Not CoFs or RNGs, but another layer to the skill of minor patience lol.

[Fire for Effect]

Congratulations Paul ;

after only I think 18 months you have successfully realized that combined instant damage to one section is detrimental for the game... For someone who is not playing this game (!) a rather fast realization...

I think the community has expressed massive concerns about these PPC Gauss or AC combination builds for at least one and a half years!

So good idea just make it impossible to fire 2 PPCs at the same time.
I also recommend change the IS PPC to 8 pinpoint damage plus 2 (or3) splash. Alternatively simply half the damage and heat of the PPC and double the firing rate, this is also guaranteed to lessen the damage to one singular section.

Also get rid of the stupid frontloading of Gauss, its a method thats simply hilarious and it does obviously not work to "disengage" PPC and Gauss.
Also you can give the heavy and assault mechs some of their mobility back. The jump sniper jump jet nerf and torso twist nerf for the highlander for example is then no longer necessary anymore.


Changing the speed of PPC will not work at any rate; if you remember you did this several times and it never worked to solve the innate problems of hitting a singular section with high damage. also tinkering with heat will not help since these mechs then will simply wait 2 seconds longer before firing the next salvo. also remember the time PPC were so slow you could actually evade these by stepping aside... that was also pretty bad...


By the way if you would have implemented battle value system instead of this absurd 3-3-3-3 system that has been constructed very unsuccessfully these problems would be very easy to solve. PPC Gauss or AC combinations would simply get an additional penalty beyond the basic firepower of the weapons so that will result in the other side getting more powerful mechs / loadouts. And yes this systems works for 20 years and yes it also incorperates the player skill.
Recommended reading: "mercenary handbook" pretty much any edition:
short version battle value determines combat potential of a mech and this potential is then multiplied with the skill of the pilot; a green beginner would be 0,5 for example.


tl, dr:
good idea:
make it impossible to fire 2 PPC at the same time; making it impossible to shoot 1 gauss and 1(or more PPC) at the same time IS finally a solution that might actually work; instead of trying to solve the issue by nerfing mechs that might carry such a combination...

bad idea:
PPC speed change: will not work

[I Peed My Pants]

Alternatively, get rid of ghost heat, and add an energy bar, as others have suggested. Firing 2ppc and 2 gauss (or any other high apha group) would drain most/all that energy pool, and restrict your movement speed/stop you entirely for a short period, perhaps also affect arm and torso movement speeds, and even reload speeds/ecm/ams effectiveness... since it all requires energy.
same goes for 3-4+ppc's, 6LL alphas etc - high alpha builds can thereby be used... but leave you very vulnerable as a sitting duck, particularly since lrm/ssrm boats can still target you while you sit there (and you can still fire back... and extend the penalties/slow the mechs recovery). This would also help make high dps/low alpha builds more viable, since their peak energy draw would be more manageable.

I personally dont find the gauss/ppc combos have that much effect. Sure i die to them from time to time, but doesn't feel like its significant, or that common compared to everything else.

I'd also second something like this...

http://www.qqmercs.com/?p=3987

Jetfire, on 29 July 2014 - 03:53 PM, said:

Something like what HB has offered is a system that could be easily "grok"-able by players. You could add an energy gauge to easily display this rather than the current mystery ghost heat and adding more mystery. I agree with the reasons for limiting the PPC/gauss combo but it should be clear to the player what is going on in their mech. Too much hidden "go read the command post from a year ago" in the gameplay is going to kill new player interest.

In all honesty I think high alpha builds should be usable... just with dangers/penalties for doing so that doesn't involve overheating into oblivion.

Penalties/greater risks for specialisation, not nerfing/preventing specialisation altogether.

PS
PLEASE no nerfs to ppc speed... it might make some sense for these meta builds, but every single other build out there that doesn't have a gauss+ppc combo will be nerfed too... and a single/dual ppc mech is not op by any means.

Edited by I Peed My Pants, 31 July 2014 - 12:23 AM.

[cranect]

I do not like the idea of slowing the PPC down. I agree that the mechs such as the awesome (which is almost begging to be run with at least 3 PPCs) would suffer immensly. I personally have found that a good counter to the 2 gauss 2 ERPPC is to either have enough speed to get to cover quickly or to have a side that you can think of as your shield side. Even a centurion can take two solid hits and not have to worry about it. The awesomes can not deliver enough damage to make it a risky proposition and come out alive. I personally haven't seen an issue with it but then again I have only been killed by it maybe 10 times. Or at least 10 times where a few mediums lasers wouldn't have done the same thing. I know that most people go ok there is a direwolf there I shouldn't charge that. If you just charge or try and counter snipe these mechs you will probably die or take massive damage. As it is now you can dish out enough damage so that some jenner can run in and kill the direwolf or timberwolf anyway. I don't think this is an issue that needs to be solved because there is no issue. If this were to occur both weapons will just be ignored with good reason. Then people will demand a nerf to the next newest thing and so on. Their are plenty of counters to this build, but sadly they require some thought and teamwork. The best way to kill these beasts is either to get close and because of their terrible turn speed they cant even shoot you or you focus it down with multiple mechs. Sure one might take a lot of damage but the other 4 will kill it. Now if a direwolf coulld take this buid and single handedly charge the whole enemy team then it would be an issue, but as of now it isn't an issue. I haven't even used this build, but the first option just doesn't make sense to me and the second would ruin more than just this combo. Spiking the heat for the ppc or reducing its damage have the same issue. The problem is not one that needs solved so please do not try and fix a nonexistant problem.

[Noodlesoup]

you may as well just eliminate weapon groups with all of the changes that keep being made to reduce "burst" damage or force everyone to fire each weapon singularly (i.e. chain mode all the time). i'm only being slightly sarcastic. a mech has to sacrifice a lot to mount 2 ppcs and 1 or 2 gauss rifles. doing this will simply make ERLLs the new flavor of the month as the firing mechanic for those is much much simpler.


in all seriousness though, i think it would make more sense to simply make the PPCs more "splashy" so they do less pinpoint damage and you achieve the same effect without making the firing mechanic extremely difficult to grasp/unintuitive. if your goal is to give mechs more opportunity to close to brawling range against long range weapons by spreading out the damage, then tweak the radius of impact so the ppc works more like a shotgun (farther away the target is, the larger the hit radius and damage spread). you can even work the convergence into this by adding convergence "jitter" to long range shots so that two simultaneously fired ppcs don't always strike the same pinpoint location at 1000m.

[Seth Stin Exoría]

It shocks me that there are so few skilled players in this game, all that is left are people who cry for a fix to supplement there own inadequateness,

Learn to play the game. I think in life people like this want things changed for them as they do not have the effort to change anything for themselves. Because of people, like most of those I this thread, MechWarrior Online will die and the true fans will be the ones left for another decade without a MechWarrior title. I can say I hate this culture its so pathetic and this kind of weakness disgust me.

YOU CAN ALL USE PPC & GAUSS THEY ARE AVAILLBE TO ALL AND YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE THEY ARE EXCLUSIVE, THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS SKILL NOT THE F****** WEAPON, LEAVE IT ALONE FOR THE FIRST TIME THE BALLANCE IS OK...............................................

THE BEST CHANGES NOW SHOULD BE TO RESTORE THE IS UAC5 & RESTORE THE IS ER PPC TO A NORMAL HEAT AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD RESTORE THE IS AC2 RETFIRE.................................

The changes I have mentioned above would help IS against the clans, big time.

The IS UAC5 Is useless as its single biggest advantage over the AC5 was its single reload shot time, not anymore. funny as the clan version still fires 1 shot at the speed the IS used to (pattern maybe! again vey skilled weapon to time each shot and not jam, to make the most of the rate of fire).

The IS AC2 same heat, low rate of fire so DPS cut in half (it was never an issue,took great skill to use three well) again the clan version does not suffer this issue.

The IS ERPPC how often do you see it? 15 heat I call bull on that. (They might as well remove it)

People like me pay for this game stop listening to those who do not.

Edited by Seth Davion, 31 July 2014 - 01:45 AM.

[Naduk]

kinda torn
slowing the ppc will make the gauss a stronger choice for range engagements

the lock idea is also good (you know its good because of all the QQing going on from all the whales)
but as has been said it is kind of limited in its focus as a fix and i think it needs to worked into a complete energy management system for it to be truly accepted

i dont often find my self in anything bigger than 50tons and either of these solutions will bring my survival rates way up in the current climate, but its only a matter of time before someone discovers the next big combo

somebody suggested a rework to convergence
i think this would just about solve everything, before HSR was added it was alot harder to hit single sections of a mech with multiple weapons and needs to be seriously looked at making a return

with any change i think most people will accept it just fine as long as it is explained in mechlab and the hud with out needing a degree in math

[Honiara]

Option 1: Please do not do this, over complicated junk that will simple move the issues to AC5/PPC or another combination of PPC + Ballistic. It is not friendly to new players and when you have players that have to hunt forums, 2 years worth of patch notes, twitter, Redditt or some other medium other than the in game client to find the proper information is really bad for the game, you already have almost every player using Smurfy for 'Mech config as it is far superior to the in game 'Mech lab you don't want to force people away from the game client even more.

Option 2: When was the last time you heard of a 2xPPC 'Mech being over powered? or when PPC/6ML was over powered? I can tell you NEVER. You will just break the PPC weapon for when it is not used with a ballistic.

And If you reduce the projectile speed of the PPC all you ill do is synergise the PPC with lower calibre auto cannons and this does not fix your issue is moves it to something else, and then what? another Band-Aid or overly complex mechanic to resolve the next issue? this will cause a rod for you own back and constant work to try and balance the next 'meta'.

Suggestion: The PPC is the only pin point energy weapon and as such will always be favoured because it is different and should stay different. if you have the IS PPC splash more like 1/8/1 and the CERPPC 3/9/3 would reduce some of the PP FLD.

The suggestion of the energy / capacitance that is being suggested could resolve this issue PERMANTLY. Use the heat to keep DPS in check and Capacitance to keep ALPHAs in check by having a energy bar that has something like a CAP of 30 and every weapon drain energy and the energy refill at like 10/sec, have the AC20 draw 20 power the PPC and Gauss drain 15 the ML drain 5, it is SIMPLE and VISABLE to players, and remove GHOST HEAT it would not be needed (again increases the usability and understanding for new players)

Adding a new weapon like RAC2/5 or Light Gauss or Heavy Gauss set the energy value, ALPHA FIXED, with out breaking the weapons on their own.