SomebodysDad

I don't expect many to agree with me, but FWIW... I play mostly cv. I think that from the get-go you have got the whole cv re-working wrong. Utterly wrong... Wrong direction entirely. There's a reason why dd's get so much attention. When used even reasonably well, they are the most dangerous opponent in the game. They don't need any more protection. On the other hand, although I can rack up 100k damage in a battle using a cv, I don't get anything like the number of kills that others get, because being primarily a support vessel, it's spread around the opposition more. Because unlike other vessels, I am responding to threats and situations all over the map, helping out my allies. Hit or miss, if I send in my torp bombers on a target and that target sees it happening, they take evasive action. That often means they're not firing on my allies whilst their weapons re-aim. My allies get time to get in another volley or two, repair, escape, whatever. But there isn't a reward for that for the cv commander. And I can't remember the last time I saw a cv get a "devastating strike", or many other of the achievements. Because the scoring system is weighted against cvs on the whole. I've said it before, but Cvs are capital ships. They're MEANT to be that dangerous. Stop limiting it ! Stop favouring the dd's. In reality, even in relatively modern times, ONE munitions hit on a destroyer or a frigate will generally remove them from the fight. Their power is in speed, manoueverability and stealth. When they get to within striking range against a large target, they're deadly. They don't need any help. They're already difficult to stop even when we know they are closing. I very much doubt my opinions will hold much weight, but there you go. If you're going to make them completely unlike what they actually are, scrap them.

I could be cool with that, so long as it's reflected in the scoring. I play cvs because I like the role of sitting back and looking for the pressure points where I can harry and disrupt the enemy... But that leaves me on the lower half of the scoreboard, even where I know I've had a serious impact on the battle.

Why so worried about plane losses? Fair question. For me, it's not about the plane losses, it's about time loss. Playing a cv under the current conditions is very much attritional... It's about grinding down the opposition, and it's slow. It might take me a minute or two to line up for an attack. If I lose all those planes, I have to launch more and get them into position to attack again. In that same time even a dd using only artillery can deal out much more damage than I could... Even if I had scored relatively modest damage (let's say 3k ) before my planes were destroyed... And I then have to go get more, line them up, dodge the fighters and AA in the hope of landing a hit. In the meantime a dd using only gunnery could easily have put 15-20k damage into a target. In many senses the game can be reduced to a question of damage points per minute. And that is why and how the latest changes have unbalanced the game. CV is now (ok, I'm guessing based on what I've done and what I've seen) the weakest vessel in those terms.

I've already given my opinion on the re-working. A thought to throw out there, though, that would have a bearing on SOME aspects of this.... Which has some credence from history. A major part of naval battles in WW2 was FINDING the enemy fleet in the first place. If you want to change people's styles of play... And I know nothing of game mechanics so it may be impossible... Make the maps MUCH bigger... Like 2 or 3 times the size. Ok , now tbh, I'm not expecting people to jump onboard and say what a good idea this is. Quite the reverse in fact. But I offer it as an example of how a game could be modified by a whole differing approach rather than messing about with the ships themselves. Just a thought for discussion. Think of how your playing style might change if you COULD get so far from your allies that you were several minutes of game play time away from support, or if the enemy spotted you before you had even a vague idea of where they were. I think you'd use your ships very differently, and pay much more attention to things like picket ships/escort duties/ grouping up.

"The same can be said about the interaction of aircraft carriers and destroyers – the search for opportunities to mitigate the unpleasant scenario in which the aircraft carrier can effectively shutdown a destroyer with exhaustive attacks are already underway. We're testing changes to the settings of the Attack Aircraft and other potential improvements. There are chances that radical solutions will not be required, since the problems with the scenario described above play a serious role in the confrontation of the "Destroyer – Aircraft Carrier"." This is just straight out WRONG. It's wrong a thousand times... To the extent that I almost can't believe what I'm reading. A carrier is a capital ship. A single destroyer SHOULD be no match for a cv, but when I'm using a carrier, destroyers are what I HAVE to look out for. They are my greatest threat, because I can't outrun them, can't outmanouever them, and I can't destroy them quickly enough to prevent them getting in close enough to launch a fatal salvo of tightly bunched torps. Dds are already hard targets. The game is already unbalanced in FAVOUR of the dd, and you need to shift the balance the other way. It is BECAUSE you have unbalanced the game that the cv player HAS to get at the dds as early as possible. YOU DID THIS. And your suggested fix is what? To make it worse? What are you thinking? Seriously !!

Now ok, so I'm not the most experienced or best player... But wtf I AM a player. So I have a view. Under the old system , before the first of the recent changes, I was averaging between about 40-60k damage per game. With the first round of changes that dropped to between 0 and 5k, but I practiced, got better, and it's now between 10 and 25k. Unless.... Unless a DD slips through the lines. Then I'm mostly screwed unless I have a good team , and even then, I'm STILL usually screwed. A skillfully used dd is a hard target, and once they're close enough to use torps, a cv is toast. Now I realise that absolute historical accuracy is NOT the be all and end all with this, but surely it counts for something? If so, then once cvs came into use, and particularly after the British attack on Taranto, they became the dominant warship... The one the enemy HAD to stop. It seems to me that with these changes, the dd is now the dominant force. I'll try it for a few days, but the changes seem stupid to me.

It's utterly useless. With this update he whole balance of the game is ripped apart. Not just for the cv's either. If you want to keep players, ditch it...Very quickly ! It's a complete fail.