I feel like that title is exceptionally long, but it really sums up how I feel about things. Progressively this game seems to have managed to get more annoying to actually play.
I've actually been trying to make it less annoying. The first two things you mention (counter posts, plasma siege) are not new. But SF posts, you may have noticed, are now much less annoying than they were in 7.0 or earlier. And carriers no longer just cheat through your forcefields, etc.
Just to start with - Dumb counterwave posts. I know there is discussion of getting rid of them, but its just another thing that gets in the way. As far as I can see, my main goal should be to explore as much as possible and blow up every single counterwave post at 10aip.. And the champion aids with the fleet to do that.
I agree that these are annoying, and that's why I want to make them optional and add that Warp Relay idea to the core game in their place.
But I'm mainly trying to clean things up right now, rather than make them messier, so that's not happening immediately unless I get an unexpected chunk of time in which to do it.
So in the meantime I do suggest just using the cheat to remove these if they're making the game unenjoyable for you. I understand it feels off to do so, but it's the best interim solution I can think of for you.
God damn plasma siege. I know I have another post on this already, but they just annoy me. I see no reason for a wave to explode my science ships. Really absolutely no reason.
7.028 will give science ships, hackers, hacking devices, space docks, mercenary space docks, and starship constructors immunity to plasma-siege-splash and aoe in general. Most of them because they're easily replaceable and leave no remains. The hacking ones to avoid some extremely-hard-to-keep-them-alive situations under planetary AI coverage.
I hope to get 7.028 out later today, though probably not in the morning as I'd originally planned due to some other stuff I need to go do.
Also, protector starships dont seem to have counter-sniper of any sort?
Do they really need one?
They're so OP in some ways (just a few can shut down a fort, etc) it seems odd to add to it.
I dunno, I'm just trying to play this game without feeling like the game itself is fighting with me (not the AI, mind, I want the AI to fight me..), but the game mechanics just seem to get in my way at any chance they can get.
Some of it is specific mechanics, sure, but it's also possible you're experiencing a combination of having the played the game so much in the past year or so that the annoying bits stick out to you far more than the fun bits. It depends on your personality and how much you're inclined to enjoy a game despite its faults vs dislike a game despite its good points.
I'm happy to try to address anything that makes the game less fun, but I've run into many cases over the years where the main source of dissatisfaction was psychological in nature and already into a bit of a feedback-loop stage where my ability to do anything about it was fairly limited. Which doesn't reflect poorly on those people at all, we're just all different in things like that.
