Topic: Role Bonus
A lot of the complaints about the balance patch seem to revolve around the ability for a bot with more slots to 'out-gun' another bot in their 'Role' or intended use.
TL;DR Incorporate a non-level based 'bonus' that is the same regardless of players extension levels, and ensures the Role of the bot is sufficiently biased.
*Feel free to debate what 'sufficient' means with respect to balancing.
So a Seth can fit more Enwar modules, and more tunings, therefore increasing overall neuting capability beyond what 1 ictus could achieve, (with the same extension levels.)
Whether or not this good is debated. Should the Ictus be able to out-neut All bots, or just bots of its class and smaller?
Either way, this example and similar issues with the disruption of the overall bonus amount decrease has lessened the bonus system's ability to strongly-bias a bot's particular usage.
The goal of this patch was to reduce the total delta of level-based bonuses, therefore making the effective-gap between two different leveled players in the same bot. Also reducing overall effectiveness of what could be maximally achieved (bonus at lv10). This too, is debated as to whether this was intended or incidental.
My proposal is a Static Bonus, a Role Bonus, to boost the bot's specialties by increasing the performance of some modules, or whatever, but not have the bonus increase with any extension level.
This way, a base-level pilot will have the same intrinsic boost as a fully leveled pilot. Of course the other +3% per level in X skill will remain. This way the gap between these two pilots is the same (same delta) but both are piloting the most effective bot in that Role given their skills.
If you still don't know what I am talking about, look at Eve ship descriptions:
https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Talos
Scroll down about half way for the 2nd block of text where it shows the Skill-based vs Role bonus(es).
Implementation seems simple, though I see no current precedent for this in game.
It also seems like this could satisfy not only the goals of the Dev's with this recent balance, but also the issues it caused with how the game was previously being played.
Thoughts?