Btw literally no one plays 80km on LOUD fyi
@Azraeel FTX's point about LOUD and FAF having different sized maps is an important one, even if the size difference is not that of 20x20 vs 80x80, but 20x20 vs 40v40.
Allowing SMDs to be able to shoot down sats (like LOUD with a second weapon) would keep it relevant as a means of keeping players from expanding since it would cost so much to cover such a large area with anti nuke, as well as LOUD players tending to rush mobile SMDs which would not be able to shoot down sats. But in FAF a whole 20x20 would be covered with antinukes by the time a player reasonably has time to make a sat. The result is that adding the LOUD sat nerf to FAF would have a very different result. This even goes beyond map size differences, apparently LOUD balances Novax in an entirely different way (no weapon, many sats) which results in the balance of the two not being remotely comparable.
So with the reasoning not to not copy LOUD evident (its a whole different game.), the discussion goes back to whether this would be good for FAF. If Novax spam was an issue i would agree that it needs to be nerfed in some way, but even if that was the case this would not be by allowing SMD's to shoot them. A better nerf (imo), would be to reduce the shooting time or damage. Allowing SMD's to shoot sats would make them totally useless and would make it unnecessary to react them, whereas a stat nerf would still require shielding of exposed units but give the opponent more time to react to the threat.
Furthermore, from the perspective of any new players it would be quite confusing to see a nuke defense shoot a sat but for some reason not consume an anti nuke. This seems like, even if it was good for balance, an idea that the game team would not approve of due it not being intuitive. But Jip or anyone is welcome to correct me if i am wrong about that.
just remove it
Why? It adds an interesting element to the game and is far more interesting than no brain arty spam. Currently the only time many are used at once is when Farms is bored and decided to troll. Otherwise you only ever make 1 or 2 to force shields and kill exposed units.