It is more of illustration of why the fighter does have a role, and why you want it changed.
Nobody said that Fighter doesn't have a role. It's just not nearly as good at good at its role as, for example, the Bomber is at its role.
On paper the triangle is balanced (Keith came to these unit stats using a formula during the 4.0 - 5.0 shift). If you consider cost things get murky because of how players value cost. But if really want to buff a unit more then 5 - 10% you need a tradeoff of some sort.
Well balancing things on paper only goes so far. How things play out on paper, and how things play out in-game, can be (and often are) completely different. Also, a lot of things have changed since 5.0 was released, including the economic state of the game.
If a unit is underpowered for its cost effectiveness, you don't need a tradeoff. I think that with the current state of the game, the Fighter is underpowered for its cost effectiveness, because cost doesn't just come in the form of resources. Upgrading a unit means there is a cost in knowledge as well, as well as a cost in the things you COULD have spent knowledge on otherwise.
To this end, the Fighter is not worth their cost in Knowledge. They are worth their cost in resources only as a cheap meatshield, light DPS unit. However, you could replace the Fighter with almost anything and have a similar effect. Extra DPS + Cap Health is extra DPS + Cap Health, that doesn't make a unit good.
So for fighters, if you want to increase their power across the board, with the evidence players still use them as-is,
Well god, they use them because they're free. You could replace the Fighters with MLRS ships, Tachyon MicroFighters, Autocannon Minipods, or pretty much any other bonus ship and people would still build them. It's an extra source of damage and health for your army, that doesn't mean they're good.
You say people are using them, but they're only using them to the extent that they're free. Some people don't even upgrade their Fighters past MKI, and most people don't upgrade them past MKII. If they are in a good place, then why aren't they worth upgrading all the way?
**With any net buff to the fighter, you would have to buff any fighter like craft as well. If you puruse the idea of buff the frigate too, then you have to balance those like craft. And before one says "fighters are weak but frigates are fine" I can counter "fighters are fine but frigates are weak". Who would be more right?
Well I don't think anyone thinks the Tachyon Microfighters, Laser Gatlings, or Raiders are particularly overpowered at this moment. I don't see a problem with that.
Also, Frigates are fine because they perform their role extremely well, and are sometimes worth upgrading to MKIV in certain situations. They net the most kills of any of the Triangle ships every game by far, and kill things from such a long distance that they are immune to counter-fire and useful on defense in a great many scenarios.
Anyway, I'm finished discussing this with you because I get the impression you just want to argue about it. You're free to make your opinion noted in the poll I'm making soon.
Thank you for the discussion.