Apparently Kixeye had a problem:
By process of elimination, that hull must be the Aegis (the only hull I used in the FAT that I don't have).
The OP of this post (gtlyons) expresses some fantastic views on the mistaken banning.
https://www.kixeye.com/forum/discussion/562978
It's worth reading the whole thing but here's what I consider the highlight:
One neat little twist - the first indication I had that I was banned was that I couldn't get into Kixeye's site at all - I just got a redirect to a black screen. I had to get in through Facebook to even see that I was banned. I messaged the other admins on the Battle Pirates Crib to let them know of my predicament, and an hour later one of them let me know about Kixeye's problem.
I've had my suspicions that the "Fair Play" wasn't 100% accurate when two of my alliance mates that I've played with a long time were banned. I'll admit I can't know for sure what they were or were not doing, but I trust them. I expressed similar doubt when Caius was banned, but he admitted hacking... so like I said, we can never know for sure. Do we really think this was the first time a player was banned unfairly? Do we think it will be the last?
The inconsistent treatment of banned players is starting to seem more like an admission that "Fair Play" is flawed... why do some players get a reset, some get a reset with 500 coins, and some just have to delete a few hulls? We don't know.
Well Kixeye, when I was able to file a ticket on my banning, and then I got a response after my account was restored, that response didn't even have an apology or an admission that they messed up... let alone compensation. I'm going to post it below because this is my platform, and the players should know:
Go ahead Kix... ban me again. Anyway, I didn't lose any time in reality... my tourney fleet had 5 minutes left to repair when I got back on. But Kixeye, you have damaged your reputation even more. We see it. We won't forget it.
So let's move on to Kixeye Support specifically.... you know there's another problem with the response above... my ticket is closed. So if I tried to respond to that ticket, I would get a response much like:
This ticket was actually about a different issue I had (Elite Tier Uranium not awarded), but they asked me to write back when I had space for Uranium. This was 5 days later... and I can't write back?
A ticket isn't closed until the customer needing support agrees it is closed. Yes tickets can "time out" but not if you are looking for a response.
Alright - enough rant. To torture me some more, Kixeye has significantly changed the stats on the Artemis.
The New and Improved Artemis
They have increased Armor and Max Weight, changed the lousy ballistic boost to a Missile (with retargeting) and Concussive boost, given it sonar and thermal, increased the slots to the 8/4/4 Interceptor configuration, and even upped the mine damage (significantly by changing the damage type to concussive).
Now this thing looks like an upgraded V2-H...
This new hull addresses the shortcomings of the previous version - with offensive bonuses and slot configuration very similar to the V2H, better Sonar and Thermal imaging, better concussive defense, and mines, this hull might just turn out to be very desirable. It will make a great sub-hunting fleet - subs won't be able to exploit its thermal range being shorter than a torpedo's like they can for a V2-H. Its high speed even matches the Valkyrie, so a mixed fleet of Valkyrie and Artemis would be very simple to put together and could be very powerful in the open water.
And that build time? No decent hull has been less than 4 days in a long time.
My previous thought on the Artemis was that you really only needed one, and that the best build would be an empty one. Now, a single Artemis could be a great sub-hunting escort for other fleets, or a fleet of them could really go on the prowl. In base defense, this hull can provide sub spotting as well as minelaying, so it doesn't even seem like a wasted ship slot anymore.
The tournament might just get a little more competitive. What sticks in my mind is that if Kixeye is willing to release the new and improved Artemis, how was the old one approved? Who thought players would like it? It shouldn't take "The BP Professor" to point this stuff out.
One more thought I'm having.... the wheel of weapon love hasn't landed on "missile" in quite a while. It might be worth holding off on a serious build of these until we know what's coming.
No comments:
Post a Comment