Thanks kindly, and thanks also to the folks who PM'd with info.

Curious what servers have a large and active GSF community, and any guild recommendations Imp or Pub. (Though I like Imp ships look more hehe)

Not insane. It just depends on a ton of factors. Gunna try not to let my disgruntled imp pilot mentality creep in... It seems to boil down to: 1. How willing they are to take/follow direction. 2. How tunnel visioned they are (middle of fighting, may not pay attention to the chat window in the corner) 3. Their capacity to execute instruction IF they decide to follow it. 4. Time interval between trying to execute and the other teams response making the suggested behavior irrelevant. Some PUGs pull together and make it happen. Many, many, many do not. I wish to god I could find a regular squad to fly with, because damn if the imps don't get their asses handed to them repeatedly PST evenings on Harbinger. There are times I just wonder why the hell I bothered to spawn at all. Occasionally though, you get some good pilots, and some newbs who are willing to work together and magic happens. It's damned rare though.

I fly them when I need them. Ships are like tools, they have specific functions they fulfill. Choose the right tool for the right job, that's how I see it. Scout 1 and Scout 2 each have different roles. Is there some overlap? Yeah. Not enough that I'd say one is inferior to the other though. That'd be apples to oranges. They've got different gear selection because they DO different things. It's the interaction of diverse ship roles that make GSF a team game. I wish people would stop trying to shoehorn everything onto one chassis.

Scout 1 & Strike 2. Those are the "Minesweepers". I've yet to see the EMP blast NOT demolish mines in it's 3km range. "Oh, but they don't insta-kill drones", nor should they. Why? Mine deployment is fairly rapid, blow up a bombers mines, fine. He'll have some more candy ready soon, which means the mine carrier is still a functionally useful part of the team. Drone deployment is SLOW, and it should be, these things are dangerous. Destroy ALL of a droneships ordnance with ONE missile? Nuh uh. Now yer gimping another ships function for your convenience. It'll be a while before they can redeploy anything of serious value to the team, you wanna be able to insta-irrelevant an entire ship class with no skill other than locking a stationary object involved? No way. Close in, shoot the scary, menacing, terrifying, immobile and disabled drones down. Or, fire another missile. We don't need a new ship for this. Use the tools we have.

Yep, and that's all the time you'll be alive. lol! I've been putting practice into flying an anti-mine quell lately, and the EMP missile is far from fool-proof. Enemy gunships on point overwatch, enemy rail drones, and bombers/fighter/scouts defending the point have become VERY wary of Quells and will priority target you into tiny pieces very quickly. I generally live JUST long enough to get the EMP off. That's it. Unless the enemy team is full of asleep-at-the-stick newbs, or (after two or three runs) I've managed to clear most of their mines and they're occupied with my teammates, then I got a decent chance of living. The easy to ID profile certainly doesn't help it. The Pike at least resembles the star guard if you just give it a quick glance in the target window. Flying the EMP Quell is a kamikazi run about 75% of the time. But hey, how else ya gunna try and clear a point of mines for the rest of the team? What a Quell EMP run feels like:

Meh. I'm giving the devs too much credit for really basic (and missing) stuff again apparently.

Would some sort of team auto-balancing do that if the mission is same-faction deathmatch?

Thought it was BS till today. In a deathmatch against the other faction, there were two pub strike fighters that were odd. One would fly at the edge of the map, well away from battle and then hide next to an asteroid. The other went and just parked inside a mass of girders in a structure of some kind. Both responded when ya took their shields out, but seemed oblivious otherwise. They weren't even targeting anyone. First time I've seen that. Thanks for the points, I guess. lol

On my characters that have ONLY Kuat at their tactical FP option, I get the daily ONE time, and it's never reset since then. Anyone else having this? It this being addressed?

+10 Psychodynamic method points and a Cigar.

I've stuck with and mastered rapids on my Strike 1 as backups to my heavy lasers. I only use the things when i'm in some turn fight that I just can't bring my heavies to bear. So, if I'm shooting rapids, it's near the edge of the fire arc which is dicey as hell. The only thing I can say is this: If I didn't have them, I couldn't hit bastards in those unbreakable turn fight situations. That's all I can say. They're not reliable, they seldom kill, but sometimes I can land enough hits to force the other pilot to break out, then I bring the heavies to bear and finish the fight. I REALLY wish I had a better fire arc laser for close range. That said, there's satisfaction in forcing some scout to bug out on a turn fight with a piss poor excuse for a gun >

Simple, three key press team message binds worked wonderfully back in the day BEFORE we used voice com. In the original Tribes, there was an extensive communication menu accessed by pressing V. Then there were topic categories, and finally the message you wanted to send within the category. VFS = Our Flag is Secure. Quick, easy, very effective. We could benefit from a simplified version, and it wouldn't be too hard to build into the game. Here's a link to the more extensive version used in the current Tribes game, should give you an idea. http://www.tribesascendwiki.com/Voice_Game_System

This is actually the FUNCTION of the strike. It's called "Pressure DPS". Pressure DPS: damage that is applied continuously to one or more targets over time, forcing the target to constantly choose between risking more damage to engage higher priority targets, or neutralizing the pressure source. Strikes are not one-man-kill-machines. That's the heavy scout. The Strike is a Team Support unit, that should back up other fighters, shooting into their furballs and providing pressure dps on as many targets of opportunity as they can. That is the function of the Strike, and, with practice and a lot of mental letting go of bad habits/unsuitable tactics and urges, it does it very well. Do not fly a strike expecting a massive kill count. Done right, fly it and expect a monstrous Assist count. Please, stop trying to turn the strike into a Superiority fighter, we have one already; and stop trying to turn the Superiority fighter into some lesser Strike, we already have Strikes. Please adjust your perception of the role, and choose a fighter that fits the role you want. I think most of you would be happier playing a heavy scout first and THEN making the leap to support in a SF. I still have to remind myself every time I select my strike "Support... support... no furballs, disengage, support". When I remember, it's a wonderful ship. Cheers!

Naming is important. I think folks may have expectations that don't fit the role here. A Strike Fighter is a multirole combat vehicle, designed to engage emplacements and targets of opportunity (strike), and be moderately survivable against other aircraft (fighter). It's primary role is striking. Modifying my playstyle with that in mind has improved my SF effectiveness and enjoyment tenfold. Ideally, staying on the perimeter of the furball and supporting team mates with longer range cannons and missiles is the way to go. Will you get forced into the thick of things? Absolutely. But it's your choice what to do there. You can waste time chasing tails with scouts, or you can change targets and go after what's most opportune. Target fixation, and the idea that you must be dog-fighting are the enemies of the SF, and they're both in your mind. If you want to play more of a superiority role, the heavy scout is admirable at that. The SF is admirable at providing close combat support. It's an A-10 Warthog... just... ya know, with shields and laser cannons.