For the billionth time, lasers are NOT blasters!

[CommanderKeeva]

Please, dear developers, stop confusing the two terms. They indicate two completely different types of weapons.

You've been confusing lasers with blasters since launch, but this is the most prominent example so far.

 

A LASER is a short-range, directed energy beam weapon that is made up of a very dense concentration of photons. What this means is that a laser moves at the speed of light and therefore lasers cannot be dodged! Maybe, by going to hyperspace, but there's no way that a ship a few kilometers away could move faster than the speed of light. Therefore lasers should always be aimed DIRECTLY ON THE TARGET and not ahead of it (especially not kilometers ahead of it), because lasers move at the speed of light!

 

In contrast, a BLASTER is a plasma weapon that fires an intense concentration of supercharged, ionized gas. (Tibanna gas in Star Wars lore.) A cloud of plasma moves much slower than a beam of light, especially at longer ranges, so blasters should be aimed AHEAD OF THE TARGET, to compensate for movement.

 

Because all the energy weapons in the hangar have to be aimed ahead of the target (if you're not flying directly behind it), I would hazard a guess that none of the laser cannons are actually laser cannons. The rapid-fire LASER cannon is, in fact, a rapid-fire BLASTER cannon. The heavy LASER cannon is, in fact, a heavy BLASTER cannon etc. They're all mislabeled, because none of them are actually laser cannons -.-

[Mike_Bluesky]

I think it's a smart move from companies selling blasters. LAZORS sound so much cooler so they named their products like this. Just another PR move.

[Wainamoinen]

I think it's a smart move from companies selling blasters. LAZORS sound so much cooler so they named their products like this. Just another PR move.

 

Similar to when cosmetic companies advertise hair-nourishing shampoo ("now with added science!"), or you're told that certain trainers will make you a better athlete. It's being a fat, lazy slob that's making you a fat, lazy slob, not your inexpensive trainers

 

Pretty much the kind of commercial claptrap I'd expect from Corellia's Republic-capitalist blaster manufacturers, but I'm disappointed that the Imperial Science Corps lazily followed their convention.

[Tallwyn]

I thaught that this was a common thing in the SW universe. They say Turbo laser cannons when they really mean plasma cannons, to win the ST vs SW debates when a trekkie sais that ST shields are all but impervious to laser weapons...

 

It does not really matter to me in any case, i just play for fun, not for lore correct terminology or scientifically correct representation of space combat.