A) For the last few days I have been hearing of weapons fire not doing the proper damage they should -- the best example I can give of this is a several instances of guys saying they are firing alpha strikes at red shields and the shields don't go down -- Now me -- I haven't seen this so I chalk it up to lag
Um... I hate to say this... but over the years I have experienced this problem once in a while....
It seems to be geared by when one race is fighting against another certain race.
I first noticed it playing Fed against Lyran.
I have noticed it also with Hydran vs Kzinti.
Also, using Fed & Hydran, I have had it happen against ISC ships.
And once when flying Lyran I had it happen against g0rn AI. (the other three examples have been against Human & AI opponents, but mainly AI)
From those examples (granted, it is mainly the races I fly the most & personal experience), I think when a race is flying against a non-traditional enemy, there is a foul up in the system....
It doesn't happen much... but only every once in a while.
Take a moment to see what race your ship should belong to and compare it to what I got....
Another note, when I have noticed this happening, the AI I am facing seems to uber powers and can drop even green shields with minimal effort.