Subverters on drones would be much too evil with the way subverters currently work. It's too easy to over-whelm defenses with huge numbers of drones. Now, if you changed the way subverters work so it's not so 'all or nothing' then it might be reasonable. This would involve changing the way ship capture works, too.
I suggested a long time ago that ship capture should take more than one round. It should be more like planet capture is, with multiple rounds of combat and each side taking casualties before the issue is decided. (And, both side should be able to fire on a ship that is 'in dispute' so you could destroy your own ship rather than see it captured!)
If this were implemented, then the Subverter could convert a percentage of the crew instead of just having a percentage chance to totally succeed or fail. The loyal crew and the subverted crew could then fight it out as if the ship had been boarded. Boarding parties could be subverted, too, of course! Could boarding parties capture their own ship? Why not?
Yes, under some circumstances a ship could still be totally subverted in one round -- especially by multiple hits -- but with careful balancing of the power of the subverter this could be less common than it currently is while still preserving the effectiveness of the Subverter. In particular, the subverter on a drone or satellite should be much less powerful than the subverter on a ship. Then the many attacks possible with units could be properly balanced.
And there needs to be some sort of 'psychic damper' technology to reduce the effectiveness of the Subverter. Even if it's an artifact tech that is only occasionally available that's better than no defence at all.
[ January 04, 2003, 04:33: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]