Flak does too much damage to ESFs

I think flak is fine, but I think there are too many sources of it.

Wait, I don't get it. The thread you are saying got locked...I think it got locked not because of the "MLG Pros" you refer to so fondly, but because of this part:

I have another suggestion. Instead of solely having a resource requirement to spawn vehicles, you should also be allotted a daily time limit, say 2 hours. This would address the "MLG uber-elite" crowd that views flying an ESF in PS2 a game in its own right, who do nothing else but fly. I am not exaggerating there are actually players WHO DO NOTHING BUT FLY AN ESF IN PS2. Yes it is bizarre, and yes it SUCKS FOR THE REST OF US WHO WOULD LIKE TO FLY BUT GET INSTA-KILLED WITHIN 5 MINUTES BY THIS CROWD. It is also THE reason behind all of recent changes, including the damage buff against flak. I am 100% positive this is the case.

SOE's main priority should be removing THIS CROWD, or at least limiting their influence. A daily vehicle time limit of 2 hours would accomplish exactly this. They would have to find something else to do, some other game to occupy their interests, and hopefully they simply leave the game altogether. GOOD RIDDANCE.

From a practical purely fiscal perspective, this crowd isn't a major source of revenue for SOE, they aren't purchasing the items, the weapons, the camo anything. They are all BR 100, BEEN BR 100 for a while now, have fully certed planes, they don't have and don't need a premium membership as they only down an ESF once an hour or so on average, they don't need the cert boost, what for?

GET THEM OUT OF THE GAME. THEY DON'T BENEFIT THE COMMUNITY NOR HELP KEEP THE GAME FISCALLY VIABLE.

They are like addicts, whose neuro-chemical induced high comes in the form of hunting and downing less experienced ESF pilots ad-infinitum. As with any addiction, there is no limit, there is no sense of sanity, not one of them ever pauses to ponder "I do this for 12 hours a day, I don't do anything else in this game, no bio-lab fights, no equipping a Max suit, no being a medic and reviving allies, all I do is this". THEY HAVE A PROBLEM AND SOE YOU ARE BEHAVING AS A DRUG PUSHER EXCEPT INSTEAD OF PAYING YOU THEY ARE GETTING A FREE RIDE.

You just lashed out against a very large part of the community. BR 100's still spend money, and honestly they probably care about this game more than you do. So really all I can say is

Yes lets get rid of the dedicated players that worked to be good at their favorite aspect in the game. Seems everyday someone post something more ridiculous than the last.

... It's pretty obvious why that thread got locked. Let's not drag it into this thread, okay?

AA is ridiculous? More like barely enough. Walkers and Rangers need a buff, Skyguard needs a second weapon slot with AI, AV and AA choices for it. Ideally, lock-on AA MAX loadout should be added too.

Here's a thought: How's it supposed to deter you if it doesn't have the strength to kill you?

Lose the LOLpods and the Wile.E Coyote pods and I won't have to shoot you out of the sky immediately.

You're not allowed to be better than me!

He is kinda right. Maxes and skyguards are pain for esf, especially now. Yes they nerfed flak range bla bla, but they nerfed flak armor too, no one use it anymore people now prefer stealth, or autorepair (especially on libs). I have the most certs x minute when using AA max , more then when i play medic + rez grenades in biolabs, and this should have a reason.

You pull one AA max against two Liberators (or even one if you're not smart) and you're absolutely dead. You sit in one AA turret against two (or even one if the pilot is smart) liberator and you're dead before you know it.

If comparing with ground vehicles, the ESF is designed to be somewhere between a flash and harasser.

I still am confused as to the role of the ESF, last-night I earnestly tried to engage enemy Liberators, using the new "Anteres" I would unload magazine after magazine into it, literally ~300 rounds, switching to Coyotes in between reloads, and I am not exaggerating, after literally a minute of this on 3 separate Liberators all three simply flipped upside down and blasted me out of the sky with their Daltons. Death screen indicated maybe 30% health down.

So really, WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE ESF?

It feels ineffective against anything but other ESF. This truly cannot be the purpose of the ESF, to exist as some sort of curious mini-game. In real combat fighters exist to deny the enemy the use of ground targets, AND air.

I stand behind what I said 100%, the reason the ESF has been nerfed into uselessness is SOLELY because of the BR 100 "MLG Elite" players who have attained such a high skill level. This is the argument I am presenting here. If the elite crowd can be fairly addressed in some way, the mult-role usefulness of the ESF can be re-introduced into the game, i.e. the damage taken by flak can be reduced, the damage output against large aircraft can be increased, the damage output against armor can be increased etc. Right now it DOES exist as some sort of curious mini-game. These changes cannot happen because of the existing statistical outliers, meaning all of the BR 100's with 5+ KDR who SOLELY fly, those who are also responding here with outrage. THIS IS THE CROWD THAT THE NERFS ARE IN PLACE FOR. Think about this for a minute, 5+ KDR AND THESE PLAYERS VIRTUALLY ONLY FLY. Think about that. That means because of the nature of the KDR these "elite" ESF pilots are taking out on average 6-7 public players before finally succumbing to a group of them or a group of ground-based anti-air. I see these pilots on Connery, they make you not wan't to fly, PERIOD. Soon as you spawn an ESF to assist your platoon they come out of the wood-work. They may think that they possess some inherent, superior ability, that's what their ego would like to think, IT IS SOLELY BECAUSE ALL THEY DO IS FLY FOR 12 HOURS A DAY THAT THEY HAVE ACHIEVED AND MAINTAINED SUCH A HIGH SKILL LEVEL. The argument that this is antithetical to some sense of "freedom" is asinine. All of these "MLG elite" players are like big-kids on a playground, they wan't to keep the smaller kids socially and physically stunted so that they may perpetuate some perverse sense of false-identity. "LOOK AT ME WITH MY 5+ KDR!" "HELL NO, YOU SHAN'T MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE GAME TO USURP MY "SUPREMACY".

This consciousness, this elitism isn't only what is wrong with this game. IT IS THE PRIMARY FACTOR DRIVING THIS CULTURE INTO COLLAPSE, THE PLANET INTO EXTINCTION.

Look at Wall Street, where this consciousness is on full display. The "elite" rig the system so that they may engorge themselves on the collective wealth of the nation all awhile 50 MILLION CHILDREN IN AMERICA ARE HOMELESS AND DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH FOOD TO EAT. LET ME REPEAT THAT, IN AMERICA. Real unemployment is around 25% while this self-same elite, those running the Federal Reserve from Wall Street give themselves bonuses and bail-outs while off-shoring jobs and upping the very serious rhetoric of how Social Security, which every citizen PAYS INTO WITH THEIR TAXED LABOR, is an entitlement and is the real "threat to the sytem".

Sick of it, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM, YOU HAVE A MENTAL ILLNESS. TIME TO SHARE THE GAME WITH OTHER PEOPLE. GET OFF YOUR ******* PEDESTAL.

See above Mr. "Elite". Time to see a psychiatrist.

Ditto.

Oh please. If a skyguard is locking you out of an area then just get a tank to blow it up. Skyguards to crap to ground armor, and usually have their eyes to the sky.
It's perfectly fair that they are ridiculously powerful against air when they can't do diddly against ground.

ESF's are suppose to "deter tanks/infantry, not butcher them."

I run composite 2 on just about every esf I fly, it still feels like tinfoil armor.

Indeed, I like to think of A2G esf's as harassers that can fly.
Although I think it should be made easier to finish off heavily damaged vehicles that are retreating to repair.

I think it's fine. You just need to learn how to dodge

No, it shouldn't be rewarded. At least no from outside the render range. As I said before, it's not that hard to hit liberators/galaxies from extreme ranges. When it happens, pilot sometimes don't get hit indicators, can't see flak tracers or see/guess what direction/position he is getting shot from. So no, skyguards hitting aircraft from 2 hexes away is not normal.

Well, that escalated quickly!