Mindy 2 Article Update

[CadetNewb]

Submission Type: Power Armor Article Update
Submission URL: Mindy 2 Article Update

Faction: Yamatai
FM Approved: Yes
Faction requires art: Yes

For Reviewers:
Contains Unapproved Sub-Articles: Yes, Nodal Support Drone Update
Contains New art: No
Previously Submitted: No

Notes:

Though FM approval to perform touch-ups to the article has been given, I recommend additional FM review to ensure article quality.

These 'touchups' are currently housed in a separate area rather than their actual article spaces - upon approval, they will be used to overwrite the appropriate area. Currently, the proposed Mindy 2 article updates expand on pre-existing areas of the current article, and preserve as much of the original text as possible where applicable. The sizing chart included is Nashoba's credit as well, and was inserted to better define the armor. At the same time, clutter has been relocated out of the statistical information and into the article paragraphs to streamline the article overall.

As for the Nodal Support Drone article, its Damage Rating has been brought into the conventional DR system, and its article expanded on where applicable. The statistical data has been streamlined, and excessive information was moved into the article paragraphs above. As with the proposed Mindy 2 touchups, it too will be used to overwrite the current article if approved, and will not remain in its current namespace.

 

[CadetNewb]

I didn't know that, and I'm not sure what to say - already, I have a sinking feeling though.

Still, your notes and suggestions sound good to me, so I have gone ahead and put them in. The forearm weapons will be able to fire immediately after the capacitor is depleted by the shields, but not if any other power intensive systems are active or charging. This should lead to some good amount of decision making as you noted, should a player choose to go with a power intensive setup.

I've yet to get onto the usage guide however, but have opened up a section at the bottom for it, which will soon be filled out. I hope it's all looking good to everyone here?

 

[CadetNewb]

Ok, as it is, the article's update is more or less ready. This is of course, pending feedback from people in regards to the changes made, as well as the addition of a short usage guide for the forearm projectors.

*****

I've been pacing about in a circle in regards to another matter entirely for a while now, and I'll be blunt - I'm worried that having both Forearm Shields and a Barrier Module at the same time, that it'd be OP. Simply put, it seems tougher than a Daisy, which may render the ground PA's use pointless. It's a concept which has been plaguing me since I've figured out how the thing works so I can update the article, even after Fred's explanations. It has superior all-around shields, as well as superior forearm shields that despite having to recharge, are effectively invulnerable during their activation. And firepower too.

I'd like honest feedback from anybody that's reading this - I've toyed with numerous ideas that may give it some balance, but I have no clue as to how people would feel about them. As much as they're appreciated, there's not exactly several people besides Fred and Wes here talking after all. The latest idea is that the Barrier Shield would go down while the Forearm Shields were active and vice versa.

Again, this has me spooked.

 

[Fred]

You're saying this as if the Mindy II has to be balanced.

That's where you make a mistake. It doesn't have to be. Wes has been wanting the Mindy to reign as SARP's most performing power armor. Just like the Plumeria has a faster speed just because it's the admin's favorite ship, the Mindy II is the most powerful power armor because it's SARP's chosen mascot suit.

But it doesn't make it invincible. Once it makes it into player hands, I see plenty of them get mauled, savaged and their poor pilots very abused. Not all of them have the barrier module. Not all of them succeed in blocking attacks with their forearm shields, and not all of them have the luxury of replacing their armor cover for heavier yamataiaum (especially if they want to teleport). A lot of the Mindy II's latent potential lies in the user's ability to exploit it and the circumstances presented to him.

The Daisy is a simpler piece of gear. Rather than aiming at being state of the art, it's rugged. Robust. It's namely significantly less expensive and much easier to upkeep and maintain logistically. It's also easier to use, and doesn't pale that much to the Mindy II. Basically, the Daisy is a more reliable, more stable weapon platform to field - especially for the Legions.

 

[Doshii Jun]

Daisy is the AK-47 to the Mindy's M4 or M14.

 

[Wes]

I still think the ideal solution is that the forearm barrier shields work when the armored soldier is on the ground and the bubble shield works (only) when the armored soldier is airborne.

 

[Fred]

That's kind of an artificial limit. There's no reason why it shouldn't work. Not to mention the Mindy II only defaults with the armshields - it doesn't usually have a barrier at all.

Nothing stops a pilot from raising the shields in prevision or to brace themselves against enemy attack, but most Mindy IIs have teleporters, not barriers. If they're caught unaware/flanked using beam weapons... there's nothing they can do and its just their durandium armor.

Depending on pilot skill could provide amazing results, but for the average neko soldier whom is only a couple of years old, that intuition and seasoning is just not there. With these people, the Daisy could easily seem like a stronger offering because they can use it to its potential and are less vulnerable across the board.

I rest my case: the Mindy II isn't broken and is fine as is. If the need require a different approach, push for a different power armor and phase this one out.

 

[CadetNewb]

You're saying this as if the Mindy II has to be balanced.

This honestly didn't occur to me, as I automatically try to balance out whatever I work on. After talking to Wes though, we decided that a modified mechanic can be done, or we can simply go with the Mindy II as is. The idea to change the Mindy is simple thankfully - the barrier deactivates when the forearm shields are up to prevent interference from having two CFS systems running at once. Whether or not this is done however, I'll defer to you.

After this is settled on, I'll go ahead and finish writing up the guide on the Mindy down at the bottom, and then she'll be ready to go I believe. Sorry if it's been a bigger hassle than it should have been.

 

[Fred]

Revisionism seems to happen to anything successful that I submit to the NTSE. The NH-29 has been tremendously successful, yet I had to suffer Wes ninja editing it to suit his whimsy and suddenly I was the one 'getting it wrong' even though I was the idiot that stuck to the initial demand. The Mindy II has been in common use and greatly successful for nearly as many years, now I'm seeing other people apply judgment on how it should be today and balance it to their liking.

Is this going to happen again to the stuff I do in the future? I'm really not finding the whole process to be very rewarding. I keep thinking that other people wouldn't want this to happen to their submissions - especially if they greatly benefited SARP.

So, look: I'm cranky, possessive of my stuff, I've had bad turns given to me in the past by things being forced past me. But I know it's not your fault, Cadetnewb. I made my arguments. But Wes is site admin, and he's the authority I answer to on top of him being the Yamatai FM. You obviously have his support.

Repeating myself to stress my points is just redundant by now, and it seems obvious the current is going against me despite my lack of consent to the revisionism I've tried to resist here. So, I'll just spare myself more trouble and just tell you, Cadet, to go and get this update over with however you like.

 

[CadetNewb]

XD Sorry for the grief Fred.

To be honest, it seems that Wes is in an advising role in this case - as stated earlier, this is born out of my attempts to wrap my head around the Mindy. The train of thought going into making it is much different than what I had in mind. Thanks for all the help everyone. Now that everything's cleared up and I have a much better understanding of what the Mindy is meant to be, I'll leave the girl as-is since it's how she was meant to be. Now that that's settled, I'll be able to finish up the usage guide - right now though, is the current text there acceptable so far?

I wish to know if I got anything wrong before going forward.

 

[Wes]

The article still says it has defensive CFS shielding but doesn't list a value. As removing the CFS bubble shield is essentially a nerf to a core infantry system of the Star Army, I am really not a fan of that. Also, I thought there would be a new drone article with art. I'm tried of arguing with Fred and because of that I'm strongly considering straight up rejecting this despite the fact I appreciate all the hard work Cadetnewb's done on it.

However what I'll do is approve it and then phase it out of service as quickly as possible. APPROVED