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[tryrar]

I can post anytime, though I might not be as coherent as I usually am due to being sick(should clear up in a few days)

[Sean Mirrsen]

@Nik: I think triple would be too much. The heavy FEL is over 50% more powerful than the Cutting Laser, at a rather small increase in cost. Double that is three cutting lasers firing at once, at the same spot. That should be enough to severely damage a battlesuit's plating. Switch to XRay, and you're bathing the pilot in radiation to boot, and possibly shorting out some of its systems. A weapon of this level should not be able to OHK a battlesuit on any hit. Even the Gauss Cannon doesn't do that, and the FEL isn't limited in ammo, and doesn't have kickback.

And against a horde of aliens you would be expected to switch to broad-angle microwaves, anyway.

[Radio Controlled]

@Sean
On FEL weapons finalised:
Pity you still decided for overcharge to be at twice the power despite taking thrice the time, turns-wise. Well, there are two approaches at making such 'special modes' for firing, where one of them is making highly useful, if situational, and the other is maybe highly situationally usefull. Personally, I would rather agree with Syvarris on this and adivise higher power, up to the point of 300% for two turns worth of actions (as, you know, things either kill outright or plink off the tougher stuff; there is no kill like overkill; and overcharge mode would not help you that much against a horde of aliens, which is not that unlikely to spawn mysteriously appear in our way). There might have been a sweet spot of golden mean between the philosophies, or a reasonable facsimile of could at least be achieved, by the way of simply scaling the damage output with time input, but I can't help it if both you and RC seem to prefer it just like this. Underpowered.
Pity.

This might be your (and Syv's) opinion, but that doesn't mean it's fact. Under- or overpowered isn't something you can prove in a setting like this, the only way to find out is to test it. So, if it turns out that the overcharge is underpowered, then we can still change it a bit later on and explain it as a technical improvement or whatever. That's the idea behind prototyping and testing, after all.

Also, in my opinion, 3 turns of charge and not firing immediately for twice the concentrated firepower (which is not equal in damage capability to firing regularly for two turns, unless perhaps on perfect 5's to keep aim perfectly steady) is a fair trade-off. But that is how i feel about it intuitively, I don't go stating it as fact.

[Nikitian]

@Sean
Maybe 250-270%, or at least just 220-230%?
That would compensate by being clearly superior to just two turns of firing, but would still feel 'fair compromise' against 300% nominal for three turns because of potentially skipping the cooling turn, balance considerations (which RC pointed at not making it 'default firing mode') and that small fluctuations-corrections are in the spirit of making good compromises (as opposed to big nerfs or dull 'mathematical' balance like simple scaling).
If taken to descriptive terms, it could be 'double the power and some more', leaving up to Piecewise to consider how to interpret it in each case, how much to go into detail.

@RC Well, now I am a little more reassured and relieved. There's reason your character rose to the position he holds
Anyway, I am just mentally comparing it to overcharge mode of the gauss rifle, taking it as a template. It is *not* the 'default firing mode' (which is your main concern here - correct me if I am wrong), but it is entirely so for in-game reasons; theoretically it allows for firing each turn (ehhh... I am not sure here, but in case of turn length relative *only* to its user, that stands correct, according to Battle of Hexbarax testing) and is several times more powerful than the ordinary shot (can't say for sure, but I recall it being charged for 5 or so seconds compared to 1,5 default, and it *can* overpower Civic Defenders longcoat and potentialy even damage a battlesuit plate, neither of which a single ordinary gauss round can do).
And finally, just as you, I feel that flat double the power for triple turn cost is (somewhat) underpowered and thus somewhat unfair. Double the power and a little bit on top may be not, however.

[Harry Baldman]

And finally, just as you, I feel that flat double the power for triple turn cost is (somewhat) underpowered and thus somewhat unfair. Double the power and a little bit on top may be not, however.

Isn't "a little bit on top" purely a matter of principle at this point, though? It's not like the "little bit on top" is going to matter in any way to piecewise, is it?

[Nikitian]

And finally, just as you, I feel that flat double the power for triple turn cost is (somewhat) underpowered and thus somewhat unfair. Double the power and a little bit on top may be not, however.

Isn't "a little bit on top" purely a matter of principle at this point, though? It's not like the "little bit on top" is going to matter in any way to piecewise, is it?

If taken to descriptive terms, it could be 'double the power and some more', leaving up to Piecewise to consider how to interpret it in each case, how much to go into detail.

As always, I believe the GM's judgement on case-to-case basis is the best approach. At times, difference between double and triple power might not matter. At other times, 'and some more'/'and a little bit on top' might make some difference. Just like the power settings (1 to 10) on the laser rifle.
Plus that seemingly little bit of difference in weapon description might be just what can encourage/discourage the potential buyer, so that much is important.

[syvarris]

I kind've agree with Harry there- In most cases, the overcharge's percentage probably won't even matter much.  Piecewise will probably just remember it as "Much more powerful shot".  A difference of thirty percent or something would mean basically nothing, except for that 'tricking people into buying the gun', and do you really want to do that?

Anyways, that said, we can still argue over it... I actually originally wrote up a pair of paragraphs explaining why the current system is bad, but then it occurred to me: Overcharge is extremely useful as long as you have cover.  Hide while charging and cooling, but pop up with a very powerful laser every third turn.  Sure, you lose some overall damage, but gain a lot of safety.  It's useless for the intended function of ambushing, but that's a decent tradeoff- cover is more common than the element of surprise.

Also, your gun will never one shot a battlesuit.  Mining lasers are much stronger than cutting lasers, or Gilgamesh is significantly weaker than normal Battlesuits.  I tested Cutlas effectiveness vs battlesuits, and PW said that within reasonable time frames you're only going to get a small amount of cutting, if that.  Triple power just means that you might be able to compromise two or three layers if you get lucky.  Maybe X-rays would do better, but I doubt that the UWM would have left such a glaring hole in their armor.

Lastly: I think allowing people to continue firing during the mandatory cooldown period is a poor idea.  I can easily see people forgetting over the weekend that they overcharged last turn, and hot firing when it's dangerous and unnecessary, or simply rolling CON:6+2 and murdering themselves.  The former is avoidable, and just makes the person feel stupid, the latter... well, that's the type of thing that would make people boycott your gun.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Well, that last bit is what the field testing is for. If it does end up being that way, we can easily say the weapon got overhauled for mass production and change the rules. It could be an optional safety setting, but I feel like it'll lose some of its hilarity potential, especially since the half-chance of failure only means a quarter- or 1/6th chance of actually hurting yourself.

And yeah, I know it won't OHK a battlesuit anytime soon. But it's still a much bigger threat, and unlike a cutting laser you really can just peekaboo with it every once in a while, less a death of a thousand cuts and more a death of a couple molten gashes. It's not like you have to watch your battery level or anything.

Of course, you can just as well have someone distract the pilot and start microwaving a point through the cockpit without overcharge, but that's more a tactics thing.

[Parisbre56]

Hey, anybody got any opinion on whether or not I should buy a Neural Connector Psychokinetic Amplifier or keep saving money for a 20 Token conventional decompensator?

On the one hand, the amp I can use on the current mission, I can use it to complement Toaster's amp and more easily gain info from enemies and with Gilgamesh's armour, it means that standing still and getting fired at while getting a dynamic bonus is safer for me. And I do have some points in speech and charisma that would help me influence people with it. And it is something I can just buy and use right now.

On the other hand, since my primary weapons are Conventional, it might be better to just get a decompensator so that I don't accidentally kill or endanger myself or teammates. Accidental murderstorms are the worse. But that means I just have 10 tokens doing nothing, since I can't buy one right now Unless someone is willing to lend me another 10 tokens. Or unless someone wants to borrow some of my tokens for something.

...

Anybody wants to borrow some tokens?

[Beirus]

Anybody wants to borrow some tokens?

Can I borrow 5 for big green Nyars box? I have 3.

[Parisbre56]

Anybody wants to borrow some tokens?

Can I borrow 5 for big green Nyars box? I have 3.

If you get chosen for a mission or offer me some other way to return them by the end of next mission, then sure.

[Harry Baldman]

If you get chosen for a mission or offer me some other way to return them by the end of next mission, then sure.

But surely there's some way he could compensate you...

Then again, it would probably require he goes fully robotic first.

[Parisbre56]

If you get chosen for a mission or offer me some other way to return them by the end of next mission, then sure.

But surely there's some way he could compensate you...

Then again, it would probably require he goes fully robotic first.

Looking at phone. Laughing. People looking at me like I'm crazy.

If I wasn't such a good person, I would make a joke about discovering a secret shackle mode that would help in compensating me.

[Beirus]

If you get chosen for a mission or offer me some other way to return them by the end of next mission, then sure.

But surely there's some way he could compensate you...

Then again, it would probably require he goes fully robotic first.

Looking at phone. Laughing. People looking at me like I'm crazy.

If I wasn't such a good person, I would make a joke about discovering a secret shackle mode that would help in compensating me.

I've got a Shackle mode for you. I call it the Debt Eraser. Big boom, then no debt.

But anyways, pretty sure I'm going on M18 since that was the other one I volunteered for. Whether I can pay you back immediately after the mission really depends on how much I get paid, since Jim is ahead of you and I owe him 3.

[TCM]

Availability check: tryrar, TCM, Aoshima, how are your posting capabilities? I need to see if everyone I'm picking for the mission will be able to keep a steady posting rate.

@R_C: You can take Daineal. I'll try to give a shot at the current group.

I'll be on for a few hours each day. If something crazy comes up, I may have to miss a day or so, but I doubt it.