I'm in total agreement that you've planned your activity well keep your PVP stats high, but do you really think that Dan intentionally planned for high ranked PVP obsolescence as the game progressed when he made the damage cap decision way back when? And you're right that this situation is the inevitable conclusion of that decision. But shouldn't there be some type of long term plan to keep this game worthwhile as you rank. Particularly as practically all new players get sent the SSB route and, unless they're artificially supported, most of them seem to lose interest and quit before they get too far so the low end player base appears to be shrinking. Few of them have your brand of patience -- especially now as all their opponents are following the same path. Now with what we see as a trend towards losing more higher ranked players to boredom as well, the high end player pool is also continuing to shrink, more legions are collapsing and/or merging, and more glassy bases are appearing regularly -- it's even creeping into the level 8 bases now. It's the impact of this overall trend of increasing time requirements on the future of the game that's my primary concern. Even the top ranked legions are having trouble keeping their rolls filled continually. As things become more taxing, folks generally do NOT become more engaged in the game, they either get bored and leave or settle into roles of just collecting resources and occasionally NPCing or basing and that's just not a formula for the long term health of the game.

Sheesh, I really don't want to get into this discussion, but surely it can't come as a surprise that PVP gets harder as everyone (the attacker included) gets stronger.
To me that is right and proper, not a failing. The game is not just designed to make it easier for one specific person as they get higher - other players owe us nothing and certainly not easier badges.

With absolutely no offense intended to anyone, I also can't help but think it is a tiny bit weird for anyone towards the top of the killboard to be complaining about how much time they have to spend to get kills.
It is simply the price that has to be paid for the "glory" of having your name up there.
No-one has a gun to anyone's head forcing them to climb the boards, it is a choice.

I also see absolutely no evidence of hordes of SSBs "destroying" PvP and making reds impossible in my BT range, so I honestly don't know why that is such a big issue for some people.
Worth mentioning perhaps that higher rank SSBs usually means easier hack targets, which is, of course, also PvP.

Don't want to spend the time and energy on a red and yellow?
Then grab a blue instead and continue on your merry way to someone you are hitting for 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8- ,9- or even (shockingly) 10,000+ damage per hit.
They are out there, they are ludicrously easy to rip apart with basically unlimited energy reserves and, in my experience, they are there in much greater numbers than the mythical SSBs that supposedly make PvP not as much fun for the attacker.

As always, there are swings and roundabouts and choices for the player to make or to re-think.
No big deal, imo, to me that's what a game should do.

Diego always has my vote for balanced opinion and well explained thoughts. I would like to add though that pvp, as all aspects are based on stats you have acquired to execute them. I have 161k un buffed attack..not huge, but not small. So on some ships this = 6k damage on others 200 damage. I also agree that there are lots of targets out there which take 1-2k energy to kill but you can do so with regularity. however, i also believe, and from my own bt experience think that gradually what purf says is true as well. Not on a huge scale as yet, but growing.

Not sure if the shrinking player base is due to being unable to compete with who's out there already, ovrerwhelmingness of starting out, you name it. Hard to put a pulse on the x factors. I do believe that to take 7-8 years to hit level 2k sure makes the game different. I have playedl little over 5 and will hit 2k here in couple of months.

That works out to close to a rank a day. I have all allies maxed. ALl mission chains done and all badge upgrades completed. I am on all boards except total level and have completed virtually all medals. I don't think pvp has to change in some dramatic way, anymore. But lack of players is becoming more apparent.

Dan has done, imho, an excellent job in seasonals, allies, abilites and many expedited things in game to improve quality. However the recruiting/pull people in factor is what is lacking. I semi don't mind drifting toward obsolescence at high rank. I do hate to picture it in a scoured universe of sad disappointed players who have no will left to play.

The game should be fun, and ultimately THAT is what keeps/losses people. To that end the discussion should sway as to what would be best changed/altered/updated..etc.

I can no longer imagine that pvp will drsatically change. I can imagine some manner of influx of people. I hope for the later before lack of flux in the former leads to more diminishing ranks.

As long as the rate was very, very low (maybe 1/2 that of Geminis at the most), it'd be a nice time-saver. I also like the idea of them taking up a crap ton of decks: good reward, but you need to increase your damage cap/be OK with lots of swapping if you want to use them.

The one downside to this I can think of is that a 5% bonus to taking down hull would make shields even more useless than they already are. You think people overuse Kri Torpedoes now... yeeesh!

I've long advocated for this. Genius!

5 minutes is too long, IMO, and personally I would like to see Nanos repair you over time, with only 1 active nano allowed.

Currently, staying alive while online, even while being attacked by several ships, is far too easy too soon (assuming you have any AP to speak of and didn't add 9k decks for no reason). This would definitely help with that. Given that most people under concerted attack by multiple enemies are also debuffed down to zero defense, this would make all but SSBs and the strongest, oldest ships vulnerable while online. I like this. Could have a positive effect on Exotica, where people can't be bothered to attack when they see known strong and high-activity ships guarding it.

I think the timed nanos would help with this more, but OK. What is it currently, 1 hour? I think doubling that is more reasonable, but I'm not against this idea.

If it can't be caged, it is OP. Especially if it is common/easily found. Maybe 1 minute at most?

Muwahahahah. Like it!

I do not like this one.