Suggestion on Squadron Counts

[Laira Darkhold]

Could Squadron Counts for the Starfighters Template get a rating like Capital Ships have for Hangar Counts?

They practically already do, just that having smaller or larger squadrons has vague trade-offs involving the size of the ship which changes depending on the judge, or is overlooked depending on the submission. Sometimes simply having a 6 meter long Starfighter results in a larger squadron for no other reason than its smaller (At least that's how the Template is worded) This edit to the Starfighter Template would streamline the template and match it better with the one used for Capital Ships.

Additionally this could be done for vehicles.

Current Template

• Squadron Count: (Optional. Please provide the amount of fighters this submission would have in a squadron. If it is unique, remove this portion from the template. The average squadron for any starfighter is 12, at lengths averaging 12.5 meters. The bigger the fighter, the smaller your Squadron Count should be. The smaller the fighter, the bigger your Squadron count can be.)

Suggested Edit

• Squadron Count: (Please provide the amount of fighters this submission would have in a squadron. If it is unique, remove this portion from the template. The average squadron for a starfighter is 12, the higher your Squadron Count, the lower your other ratings should be. [Very Low: 4 | Average: 12 | Very High: 20])

IE on the numbers
Extreme 30
Very High 24
High 20
Moderate 16
Average 12 Starfighters
Low 8
Very Low 4
None 1

Just as an example regarding the number of Fighters in a Squadron. This will provide a clear cut trade off for having larger or smaller squadrons associated with a ship, forces tradeoffs for larger squadrons, allows for more benefits for smaller squadrons, etc.

Just a thought I had.

As a note, this would have nothing to do with changing Capital Ships and I'm not suggesting multiplying 12 by whatever the rating is.

@Factory People

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

[member="Laira Vereen"]

While good idea i don't see this working due to squadron sizes are erratic.

For example
porg starfighters have a squad count of 12 at high that would be 240 starfighters
while
chewacker Starfighter (same size and equal) has a squad count of 3 meaning they only get 60 star fighters

the counts are a little to erratic to judge just on that alone.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Where are you getting your numbers?

[member="Sanya Val Swift"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Actually wait, I figured it out. You don't understand what I've suggested at all.

A squadron Count of High would be 20 Fighters. Just 20. Not 12 times 20. I have no clue where you got that.

If you'll look at the template, you'll see Squadron counts are currently explained as:

• Squadron Count: (Optional. Please provide the amount of fighters this submission would have in a squadron. If it is unique, remove this portion from the template. The average squadron for any starfighter is 12, at lengths averaging 12.5 meters. The bigger the fighter, the smaller your Squadron Count should be. The smaller the fighter, the bigger your Squadron count can be.)

However Bigger has no real bearing on the ratings. Thus a ship with all low ratings that is 20 meters long (A hypothetical) would have to have fewer fighters in each squadron. My suggestion is making the Squadron Count reliant on ratings rather than arbitrary size where smaller equals better for no other reason than cuz.

[member="Sanya Val Swift"]

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

[member="Laira Vereen"]

My math was squadron counts to amount of individual ships in said hanger/s

but i understand where you are coming from now. you meant ships individually right?

if so that would be cool with a bit of refining and hammering out the details.

 

[Darth Athora]

I don't see what's wrong with just putting the number..

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

Squadron size used to factor into judging, I sort of assumed it still did. (Not trying to imply it doesn't, I'm just not sure).

Formalizing it seems like a solid idea to me. But I would personally use somewhat smaller gradients.

Also there's some balancing to consider regarding how production relates to squadron size. Common sense should prevail.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

[member="Laira Vereen"] Thank you for the suggestion. This will be added to the list of items to be reviewed by the factory staff.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

As a further expansion on this, I'm going to link a few things and explain why its current basis is meaningless in regards to balance but is the current standard judges are expected to abide by.

The X-Wing has all Average Ratings and has 12 fighters. Based on sizes, the TIE fighter with all Average Ratings would have 20. This isn't balance, this only encourages smaller starfighters in order to maximize the amount of ships you get per squadron.

The LAAT/I is 17.4 Meters has 30 troops, the U-Wing is 24.98 with 8 (lets say they have the same ratings otherwise). LAAT/I would have 10ish gunships, U-Wing would have 6ish. LAAT/I carries 300 per squadron, U-Wing 48. This is the current understanding of Balance under the template. 300 is equal to 48 under the current template. One LAAT/I is equal to One U-Wing, but has 4 extra LAAT/I per squadron for good measure because its creator was smart and just made it smaller so they could have more of them per squadron.

This is not balance. This is min-maxing for effect. You get more for smaller ships, regardless of other ratings or capabilities.

This Submission is is 9.25 Meters in size and was afforded 3 Positive Shifts in exchange for a lower squadron count of 6, this Submission is 38 Meters in size and was given 2 Positive shifts for a Squadron Count of 4. (I'm sure i could dig and find more, these were just the first two similar ratings ships that's main variation was the size they were).

So it makes sense that you can maximize more based on size as a submitter. That isn't balance either.

I am aware the Factory is looking into this, I'm just expanding on why it makes more sense to assign squadron count a Rating that is easily judged and balanced rather than sized base. Give Squadron Count a rating that has to move up and down like everything else or get rid of it entirely.