Where the heck did the past week go? Sorry for the lack of posts this past week – so much to talk about – DMG does DMG, the new fleet holding and Fleet Armada structure, a fully functional communicator from Think Geek, Monkey Borg (’cause what could possibly go wrong?), and San Diego Comic Con is in full swing. The usual sources have dumped a tonne of new leaks on ships and episodes (ships we’ll talk about tomorrow, episodes I’ll leave the spoilers to others). An add to that excitement, the pre-patching has started on 10.5.
Truly a tough time to be a web geek working long hours 
Thankfully my bonus will pay for the many new ships *not officially coming yet*. Thank God for the internet and VPN.
DMG is as DMG does
What started as a balancing pass to all weapon modifiers more than 10 months ago has finally seen a change to the much-maligned DMG modifier. From this weeks Tribble patch notes:
The benefit gained from [Dmg] weapon mods has been improved. This bonus damage gained from a [Dmg] mod is now calculated after all other passive and temporary bonuses are applied, meaning it will amplify those bonuses as well. In addition to this formula change, the value applied by each [Dmg] mod has increased from 2.5% to 3%. Weapons that do not possess at least one [Dmg] mod will see no difference in their overall performance. This will affect both Space and Ground weapons.
So what does this really mean? It is a slight improvement, but it’s not game-changer. While the conversations in the DPS leagues about it show potential (tests ongoing), nothing about the change is making us want to switch [proc] choices anytime soon. Mastajdog’s Guide: The hard (and soft) numbers on weapon mods and procs still stands as the best overall description. For the vast majority of players the difference will not be noticeable.
The Armada is Coming
Last week we got a mega-bundle of goodness with the announcements of the first new fleet holding since the launch of Season 8: The Sphere in 2013, a expanded set of fleet management options, and a new organizational structure called ‘Armada’ where like minded fleets can work together for the betterment of all.
I will try to do a more formal breakdown of the new fleet holding later this week. Thanks to @primar13 and everyone else sending me updates.
The Armada system will allow fleets of the same faction to work together, from Daniel “FlyingTarg” Razza’s post:
Fleets will soon be able join together to form vast Armadas to share resources and speed up the construction of Fleet Holdings. Armadas are composed of a top level Fleet, called the Alpha Fleet, which can invite up to three other Fleets to become subordinate Beta Fleets. These Beta Fleets can additionally each invite up to three other Fleets to become their subordinate Gamma Fleets, allowing for a maximum Armada size of thirteen Fleets.
All Fleets in an Armada share a new Armada chat channel, and can contribute resources to the Fleet Projects of any other Fleet in the Armada. Fleets will be able to control which projects other Fleets are allowed to donate to, and will be able to control both what resources their Fleet members can donate to other Fleets and what resources other Fleets can donate to them
It includes a new chat channel or the Armada (nice), a management structure so that you have control on what gets built first for your fleet, and an effective mechanism to manage fleet armadas that want to break away.
The added management features for fleet admins would have been nicer 2 years ago, but better late than never. I’m not sold however on the Armada system, but I’ll reserve judgement until I see how it works for smaller fleets. As it stands I am a fully-built and provisioned fleet of 3 active players that is going to have difficulty in building the new fleet holding. We’re dedicated, but not that dedicated.
Maybe the Armada system can help us too…
