Why is Power/Energy Density/Pressure not Considered?

[Greg4581]

Measuring energy alone has some obvious issues. First off, time is just as important as the amount of energy. For example, an ordinary human can survive the energy of a nuclear blast if it's released slowly over a long period of time instead of all at once. When we include time into the equation, we get power.

Attack Potency should be measured in units of power, not energy.

And secondly, pressure or energy density matters too. A 5 gram bullet travelling at the speed of sound will have about 300J of kinetic energy, which is comparable to a strong punch from a top athlete, and yet the bullet is far more lethal than the punch because of the increased speed and pressure it causes on impact.

To make another example, a character that can barely survive a 30MJ explosion should not survive a 30MJ railgun, unless they have Regenerationn or some way to survive a gaping hole in their body.

 

[Antvasima]

We are previously aware of these problems, but incorporating your suggestions into the system would regrettably make it too complicated.

 

[Greg4581]

@Antvasima

So what does that mean then? That characters with piercing attacks are basically nerfed just because they use less energy than more broad or explosive attacks? Or are they listed as being able to ignore durability to some extent?

 

[Antvasima]

For attacks that are not near instantaneous, but rather take a long period of time, we already try to use the energy required for 1 second, so that is something at least.

However, I agree with you that characters from Bleach, for example, should be able to damage considerably more powerful characters with their swords. The problem is that we would first have to figure out a better system to incorporate energy density, and then revise most of our over 20000 profiles that are based on calculations.

You make a valid point, but we simply do not have the time and resources to apply it in practice.

 

[Greg4581]

Yeah, and I've noticed that some characters with high energy density attacks are in fact elevated to higher tiers (Krillin's Kienzan alone elevates him to high 5-A). We just need to keep in mind that it's still nowhere near the amount of energy a true 5-A character can output. Krillin's Kienzan is Dwarf Star level yet it wouldn't do anything to an actual dwarf star or something of comparable size. It simply allows to him to bypass Dwarf Star level durability in most humanoid opponents.

As much as I'd like a better system, I can understand why it would be a nightmare to do so.

 

[Antvasima]

Yes, I would like the kind of system that you propose as well, but it is simply not realistic, as it would likely take several thousand hours to apply at this point.

 

[Camilopezo]

If that's the problem I have with the AP and the durability

Surviving a nuclear explosion that covers the entire body does not mean you survive a fist with the same power that covers a square decimeter.

 

[Antvasima]

Yes, but it would be too difficult to apply making our system overly specific.

 

[Wokistan]

We do factor it in a bit with piercing stuff if people make the right arguments. It's generally accepted that two people comparable to one another with swords or something can cut one another just fine, and I've brought up examples before of the round fired by the Barrett M82 being able to penetrate things we consider 9-A in durability (Trees and parts of tanks) in matches before. There's just unfortunately not really a way to account for it on a profile at this point.

 

[Antvasima]

Wokistan is correct. I would like for our system to be able to incorporate this, but we simply do not have manpower with enough free time to handle such a massive conversion.

 

[Camilopezo]

In itself, sharp objects usually cut objects that are far above their AP.