Today CIG laid out their strategy to bring back hardcore PVP players in a somewhat lengthy discussion that confirms that they really have heard the message. To do it right turns out to be a rather large project so we expect to see the fruits of CIG’s latest strategy sometime post 3.11, a 3.12 perhaps?
For the 3.10 patch first steps include new tech to model atmospheric flight with changes to the thruster efficiency curves and drag modeling using individually simulated aerodynamic surfaces. Fixed weapons are seeing a buff in their “self gimbaling” capability (convergence) to improve aim. Jerk has been nerfed from infinite to something finite (still fun, we hope) so that thrusters will not respond immediately to changes in acceleration. Hopefully this will result in smoother handling with reduced jitter.
The concept of “capacitance” is expected to provide the next layer of complexity needed to enable the “knife fight” by capping use of critical resources. For example, a ship could circle strafe for a time, but the ability of a ship to continue to excessively strafe would slowly be nerfed, presumably by limiting the amount of power to the thrusters, e.g. the capacitor discharging/recharging.
When flying above SCM speeds weapon accuracy, gimbal assist speed, and missile lock speed will be negatively affected.
