Yet Another Battlegroup related Topic.

Just as a test, to see what happens…I propose battlegroup be removed entirely for one era. It probably won’t end well, sure, but it would be interesting to have a recent comparison of cons vs pro’s with battlegroup vs no battlegroup. And there are definitely plenty of benefits to go with the negatives of doing so.

I’ve been playing SWR based muds for almost 20 years (even LotJ for a while before Ghost left, and pre-battlegroup.)

I love the battlegroup command. It was a bit of a learning curve, but I believe I’m fairly competent at it. On the other hand, I absolutly love single ship to ship combat, and this test of Ocerion’s is a good idea in my opinon.

Yes, it’s been stated that there will be issues. One of the prime issues will be the navy with the most pilots will dominate. The Empire has 2 full time pilots and the RA has 4, the RA is outnumbering the Empire’s navy. Then again, I know a lot of you guys are sneaky bastards and if battlegroup’s were taken away, I think you all can compensate.

Not entirely sure how I feel about this…and I’m not even a regular pilot.

I’m not a regular pilot either but running a test like this could be useful for the aforementioned reasons. Also be nice to change up to the atmosphere and reduce the space domination and possible rijarinesque problems from arising.

I think trying this out for one era would be a great idea. It would be somewhat similar to how Era 1 this TL started without any forcers and honestly I thought that was pretty awesome. Having a scenario where ground forces could have at it without the fear of one dude with a lightsaber showing up to drop the Acme anvil of death on one side of the scales was a wonderful thing. I do think forcers, like battlegroup, are an integral part of the game, but it was nice having an era without them just to see what it would be like. Definitely good for comparison data as well. I’m curious to see how clan space battles would go without battlegroup, because frankly I don’t remember a time without battlegroup and I’ve been playing this game over a decade. Which is probably because I only started really getting my feet wet in fleet combat Era 1 of last TL. Until then space battle was something I let other people deal with while I focused on what I’m good at, ground combat.

IMO, if we ever do the ‘colonization’ part of Old Republic era in era 1, we could do this too.

I agree, trying it out for awhile would certainly be fun. Especially with only small clans being around (can only field 3 cappies).

I agree in theory that it could be fun to have an era without battlegroup. From a practical standpoint, we don’t have the number of players necessary to field two navies if each ship needs to have a dedicated pilot. The reason I like piloting is that it’s one of the few things in LOTJ that requires genuine player skill instead of the right equipment or levels. Battlegroup, likewise, requires genuine player skill. You need to be able to handle four ships, a few dozen starfighters, and still be able to out-think the enemy. So instead of taking that out, why not take the time to train new people how to use the system properly? I’ve tried multiple times this era and, were it not for some rather unfortunate incidents involving faces and lightsabers, I’d have trained two new people to rock out some battlegroup.

Not to be mean about this, but I hear veteran players complain all the time that they’re expected to do all the heavy lifting (looking at you, Ocerion). But LOTJ is a game and, with the invention of Argile, has become a multi-generational one. So instead of lowering the skill requirement for pilots, let’s pass on our vet skillz to the next crop of players and let them have a turn at the wheel. 🙂

– Nield

I’d rather enjoy it if someone actually took the time to show me more of the piloting system, rather than change it.