I'm sort of mixed between the two sides. I'm very annoyed when my iconus guardians and aeria drone hosts decide to break formation and move for no random reason causing ships to be destroyed or damaged for no reason. On the other hand, it is very boring to watch a fleet of disciples sit like red coats and shoot at some cobalt frigs. Having pointed out a few arguments of both sides, I am all for the visual appeal of some moving ships but not to the point where it affects the results of the battle. Citing HW2, no matter how much the fighteres/vettes manuvered, they always died in about the same amount of time when fired on. Despite the fact it was only cosmetic motion, it looked way more interesting watching them swoop in and out, especially when the fighters had their dogfights. Granted the frigs and carriers, didnt move as much, various features such as the engine glow on the back of the ship and blinking lights, voice comms, docking ports(does anyone think that the lack of these on caps and carriers seem a bit silly in addition to the fact that carriers are so tiny and can only hold a single squad of figheters? - could just be prenotions of what carriers should be like but eh), etc, brought the ships to life despite their lack of physical motion. Instead of perhaps, full sweeps and etc on the frigs in SoaSE, they could implement better atmospheric elements creating imersion and the illusion of dynamic combat.
And for all those realism debates and tactics debates, in the universe of SoaSE, these elements are completely different from what we currently have but that is not to say there aren't any similarities at all. There are some things that are central to both current warfare and that in SoaSe. Take for instance, Sun Zi: The Art of War(not Tzu for those of you who really know what you are talking about and have actually read the book), the elements presented in the book that are still studied and analyzed today are general tactical tips that can be easily overlooked during complexities of battle. For instance, the importance of intel, morale, etc. In today's world, one wouldn't study the chapters on certain factors like the chapters dealing with problems such as the use of fire; current day's technologies make these problems irrelevant (this isnt to say you cant find analogous implementations of ancient weaponry - fire can be interpretted as a weapon to flush out the enemy or rapidly destroy valuable resources etc). Now realistically speaking, assuming all the amazing things in SoaSe such as FTL travel, lack of any of any physical laws (or rather magical ways to counter them), ships would ideally be spheres with ports covering every angle for guns and thrusters, a minimally small and heavily armored hole for entering the ship, and sensors around the outer shell of the sphere (preferably heavily armored too). This way an individual ship can gather intel from every direction, move in every direction and fire in every direction; practical and probably very effective, but in terms of gameplay, absolutely boring. Sure, the ship designs and what not may be unrealistic, but in the end it looks nice and its fun to play, which is what matters the most.
Thus, the problem at hand should be addressed with regards to what is more fun/aesthetically pleasing (note that both the former and latter is subjective - something forum goers on the internet often forget), rather than what is more "realistic". The current model doesnt seem to be entirely pleasing in itself so perhaps it deserves a bit of reworking. After all if it was, this 12 page long thread wouldnt exist would it?
