I may leave Discovery...

[Juan_Arquero]

A few hours ago I had a really bad experience with 4.84, so I'm thinking of quitting the Discovery mod, at least until 4.85 if the balance issues are fixed then.

First, I'll tell you a little about myself, as it is relevant to why I'm seriously thinking of leaving the mod. I have a very stressful job as a taxi driver. I need an outlet to relieve my stress. Playing Freelancer for a little while gives me that outlet or it did until earlier tonight. As -{BD}-Kirikabu, I flew from Planet New Tokyo to Planet Honshu earlier tonight, but that took me TWO HOURS for the following reasons:

1. Blood Dragon NPCs disrupted the trade lanes three different times;
   
2. The first two dogfights against 3-5 Blood Dragon NPCs took about 45 minutes each;
   
3. The third dogfight only lasted 20 minutes, because I retreated after running out of missiles and finishing off one Blood Dragon with my guns.
   

What I absolutely HATE about 4.84:

1. Killing mid-level (level 5-10) NPCs now takes forever with a well-equipped X-Shuttle;
   
2. Missiles are useless (I killed one Blood Dragon NPC with my missiles, 90% of my missiles didn't hit their targets even at point blank range);
   
3. Killing a single mid-level NPC now takes 15-20 minutes with a mid-level ship (X-Shuttle);
   
4. At least one-third of the NPCs I fought escaped, because I couldn't kill them when they were weak;
   
5. I don't need this level of frustration (I get enough frustration from my job -- I don't need it from Freelancer).
   

Something else you need to know about me -- most of you have never faced me in PvP, because I usually avoid it like the plague. Why? From early 1993 to late 2005, I was disabled with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, one of the effects of which is that my manual dexterity is pathetic. I'm a lousy shot and I can't help it, because my hands often twitch when holding a mouse. I'm not complaining. That's not the point. I love Freelancer, but I'm experienced enough (I've played thousands of hours of FL since 2004) that vanilla FL bores me. I need the challenge of a good mod and Discovery mod fit that need until 4.84. I don't need to get carpal tunnel syndrome, because I have to spend 15-20 minutes to kill an NPC. That's ridiculous. I want a challenge, not incredible frustration. If future versions of Discovery mod return the NPCs to the AI that I experienced in 4.82 and 4.83, then I'll return. Unfortunately, Discovery 4.84 is unplayable with the reduced manual dexterity that I have. If anybody knows of another mod that might be playable for me, I would appreciate learning of it.