I've played a bit of both (and actually have a largish collection of stuff that I've barely read).
I do understand some of the idiocy you've pointed out -- a weapon that only does one damage at a time is all too likely to get bounced by shield reinforcement, that can be refreshed every turn, while a weapon that does more damage all at once can pretty much guarantee doing at least some damage to the shield boxes themselves, which is much harder to remove.
(You have three -- sometimes four, if you're using an armored ship like a Romulan Warbird or an old Federation CL -- layers of protection. The basic shield has a set number of boxes of strength, usually about 20-40 depending on the ship. You can buy Specific Reinforcement (extra boxes to any one shield arc) for 1 power point each, or General Reinforcement (360-degree shield points) for 2 energy each. Damage destroys general reinforcement first, then specific reinforcement, then actual shield boxes, which are the hardest to regain.)
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
I do understand some of the idiocy you've pointed out -- a weapon that only does one damage at a time is all too likely to get bounced by shield reinforcement, that can be refreshed every turn, while a weapon that does more damage all at once can pretty much guarantee doing at least some damage to the shield boxes themselves, which is much harder to remove.
(You have three -- sometimes four, if you're using an armored ship like a Romulan Warbird or an old Federation CL -- layers of protection. The basic shield has a set number of boxes of strength, usually about 20-40 depending on the ship. You can buy Specific Reinforcement (extra boxes to any one shield arc) for 1 power point each, or General Reinforcement (360-degree shield points) for 2 energy each. Damage destroys general reinforcement first, then specific reinforcement, then actual shield boxes, which are the hardest to regain.)
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.