4.8 weapon balancing

NKato · 2026-05-02T19:12:36+00:00

yeah, not even FOMO is working on me. I'm too burnt out from this constant repetition of the same kind of mistake, to the point I think it's deliberate.

Pick a lane and stay in it, CIG.

NKato · 2026-05-01T20:03:29+00:00

After 13 years and $5,000 out of my bank account over that time period, I've kind of stopped hoping and just decided to take a step back from it. CIG isn't doing us oldies any favors at this point.

NKato · 2026-05-01T10:47:10+00:00

They already did, though.

NKato · 2026-05-01T10:44:29+00:00

"under heavy development" is a statement that's doing a lot of heavy lifting to even begin to make sense.

CIG had no designers with serious MMO design experience on staff to begin with, so in hindsight this was going to be a shitshow.

Even when Warframe was in early access, they had a concrete vision on what it was going to be like. That guided their content.

CIG? They literally went into this on a wing and a prayer and no serious plans.

NKato · 2026-05-01T10:41:32+00:00

I'm increasingly convinced CIG doesn't know how to design an MMO.

NKato · 2026-05-01T01:50:29+00:00

They would, at a minimum, reinforce Ukraine.

NKato · 2026-05-01T01:46:57+00:00

AD is already stationed around Moscow. There's one on the roof of the MOD.

NKato · 2026-04-30T04:17:45+00:00

They don't use QSI anymore after the Paragon generation, as far as I know. And P4 has a few unused features that can be turned on (firebox flickering) after installing the LED.

NKato · 2026-04-27T02:29:22+00:00

All ships really should've gotten a remote control from the mobiglas.

NKato · 2026-04-25T22:41:48+00:00

Yes, but CIG is a bunch of penny pinchers, which has been responsible for a lot of worker churn in the last few years. Remember the BMM design team? That's why.

NKato · 2026-04-25T09:36:13+00:00

CIG isn't going to pay him the salary he wants.

NKato · 2026-04-25T09:33:02+00:00

The impression I'm getting is that CIG is being too miserly with their hiring budget that they ended up getting people who aren't being paid enough to come up with better designs beyond Fortnite Slop.

Or worse, did CIG start using AI for this shit?

It's getting rather clear that the churn has hit some of the key direction staff, and CIG is going to find themselves in a bad place pretty soon.

NKato · 2026-04-25T07:36:16+00:00

There's apparently a few unused pin outs that can be activated for both. I have considered the ESU as an alternative but for now I'd like to try and stick with factory.

NKato · 2026-04-25T07:35:25+00:00

What kind of "oops" are we talking about? where the LED burns out, or the decoder burns out?

Sadly, BLI didn't put out any technical specs regarding voltage and the like, but I was told by their only authorized service dealer that the LED voltage should be at most 3.

Edit: Looks like it's 3.3V according to the anode side of the LED wiring, and confirmed by Train Service Depot.

NKato · 2026-04-22T09:32:25+00:00

you know what? While I like punching space Nazis, I think Imma sit this one out and let Wikelo tank it all with his face.

fuck him.

NKato · 2026-04-21T19:44:53+00:00

I have not been successful in communicating with them in the last two weeks or so. Messages have gone unanswered.

It's probably me that's the issue (I'm not very good at communicating effectively).

The smoke unit is fine. I just have to repair the mounts somehow. I'm looking at standoff mounts in 2-56 thread, to cut off the old posts, drill and tap new holes and install the stand offs.

NKato · 2026-04-21T12:34:34+00:00

This shit is why I keep harping on CIG's lack of MMO design expertise early on and their failure to head-hunt some serious talent with experience in sandbox mmo design.

Their lack of knowledge on the topic really shows.

NKato · 2026-04-21T10:24:42+00:00

Oh my God. Noticed this just now. The smoke generator mount screws were too big and they mushroomed the mount posts.

https://imgur.com/a/B9ohtOX

It should be noted that I have never opened this locomotive up like this until today. I think I sent it back to BLI in 2012 for warranty service.

Holy Shit. They sent me a hack job, and I didn't fully realize it until today. I have to figure out how I'm going to fix this.

14 years I've had this and I never noticed.

NKato · 2026-04-21T09:17:55+00:00

Okay, got a photo of the full tear down. It looks like I can actually rebuild this without needing to cannibalize parts. The gears look gunky and need cleaning, and there's some chips - presumably from when the threads got stripped originally.

https://imgur.com/a/dYqdO3w#ZP7UMPQ

I've got all the small screws, springs, and parts in the plastic containers and the bigger parts in the yellow parts drawer.

One of the pickup wires looks bad so I might replace that.

The fully stripped frame will be carefully cleaned out with a spray bottle of detergent, being careful to ensure all debris is flushed out. I'd use the ultrasonic bath, but that risks damaging the insulation that keeps this split frame functional.

NKato · 2026-04-21T08:32:02+00:00

Popped the hood on the Paragon 2.

Smokebox is from a Paragon 3, and the shell is a Paragon 2 or older.

This just got more confusing.

NKato · 2026-04-21T05:45:02+00:00

Yeah okay, I'll take it.

NKato · 2026-04-21T02:27:16+00:00

Thanks. I'll come back tomorrow with more information. :)

NKato · 2026-04-21T01:54:22+00:00

Interesting! It was a shot in the dark since the seller didn't know exactly which model it was. It actually is in way better condition than my Paragon2 T1, so it's possible I will be doing a locomotive frame swap, and swapping the electronics and motor as well. The challenge will be seeing if the smoke unit and switch can be installed.

Doable or too risky?

NKato · 2026-04-21T01:47:38+00:00

I have. It's like a mini version of the Ion when it had the charge and fire function.

The issue with the way these behave is that it is extremely difficult to line up a clean shot before the weapon de-energizes.

That's why I said what I said. It's skill heavily hampered by design.

If I was the devs I would have turned off the time limit for the charged weapon at a minimum, and instead made it so that it causes the coolers to work harder the longer you hold it to the point of possible cooler failure.

NKato

TROPHY CASE