213 replies to this topic

[RapidFire7]

Hi all,

This is going to be a long post but hopefully it is worth your while.

Section A) Dealing with gameplay inbalance

Yesterday one of my friends shared this link with my guildmates and I: http://mwomercs.com/...-a-nerf-gun-at/

Paul Inouye: "Sitting across from the studio from me is a board with all the 'Mechs on it. In my crosshairs... the Highlander. More info to follow along with intended implementation date. Just giving you all a heads up."

Now, I love my Highlanders as much as the next guy, but I think this is getting a bit silly.
(Not pointing the finger at you Paul)

Obviously, Highlanders and Victors are pretty much the most powerful mechs in the game because of the current meta. Instead of nerfing these mechs that are overpowered, why not buff the mechs that aren't powerful enough? Because here's the thing, people are always going to complain that ~this~ mech over here is to powerful and ~that~ mech needs to be nerfed... what is going to happen as a result is PGI is going to have to let up and nerf some builds, and then nerf some other ones, and then when we have a new set of top mechs, those will be nerfed too... if this keeps happening, we will end up with a bland game. Each mech will lose their identity if we strip away the things that are unique about them.

What needs to happen is that PGI needs to create more quirks/identity in the mechs that are 'underpowered', so to speak, so that they can all match each other evenly.

I have had a few ideas about what we could add to the game to give underpowered mechs a fairer match against the meta mechs:

1) Have a logical way of calculating the amount of armour and the distribution of armour (I'm getting red squiggly lines under "armour" as I write this - you Americans/Canadians folk spell "armour" funny )

To do this, you would calculate the surface area of a mechs body, compare it with the rest of the other mechs, and work out which mechs should have more than others (obviously smaller mechs will have less, I'm talking about mechs that are similar size and weight but have varying surface areas). Then, on each mech, distribute armour amongst the different arms, legs, torso etc. according to the ratio of surface area distribution.

2) Invent some new modules that can be only fitted on certain (underpowered) mechs. I've had a few ideas tossing around:

- A "Jump Jet Mount" module, which can be bought for [X-million C-Bills], which is attached to the legs only. It takes up 2 hardpoints on each leg, weighs a total of 2 tons and you can mount one jump jet on each leg.
- An "ECM Computer Mount" module which can be bought for [X-million C-Bills], which can be attached to either side torso. You would be able to toggle which side you would like the Computer Mount on. It takes up 4 hardpoints, weighs 0.5 tons, and you can install an ECM on the mount.

3) Install movement quirks on certain underpowered mechs so they become more maneuverable. Not sure which mechs I'd put them on, but does anyone remember the Mad Dog and Summoner from Mechwarrior 4?
(They are NOT called Vultures and Thors... )
You could torso twist 360 degrees.

4) Weight difference affects speed. Each engine is designed to make a specific weight go a specific speed.

But what happens if you've got some tonnage left over? Surely if the mech you've got, say for example, a Jagermech, isn't at maximum tonnage, surely the engine would be able to make the mech run a little bit faster?

If I load my car chock-full of stuff, it goes slower and requires a heavier foot on the accelerator. But if I take my belongings out of it, it's no longer holding maximum capacity, and it can go a bit quicker. See my point?

5) Get rid of ghost heat. It is a botched nerf implemented to control the meta and the weapon boating in this game. Instead of having ghost heat to tone down the presence of these things, why not make the temperature of different maps have an effect on the heat of a mech? I've noticed that if I jump in a certain mech and fire a PPC on Terra Therma and Alpine Peaks, the heat generation is pretty much the same. What needs to happen is that the map's temperature needs to affect the % of heat generated by a weapon, and then compromise with the heat dissipation to get the rate of the cooldown. Once again, there is no need for ghost heat. Firing an alpha of the same weapons creates enough heat by itself.


These are some ideas to make mechs balance by buffing the underpowered ones rather than nerfing the overpowered ones. We all need to think about changing the way we thing about balancing gameplay if we want to make the game better.

Nerfing overpowered builds is the wrong way of fixing it, buffing underpowered builds is the right way to go.


Section Being supportive of the developers at PGI.

I remember reading recently that the developers at PGI felt like they were under-appreciated with their efforts to develop this game.

I don't blame them, whenever PGI develop a new patch, mech, idea, whatever, we always have the same vocal ones trashing their new content, saying this sucks, that sucks, whinge whinge.

Here's what I want to say:
1) Development of this game currently revolves around new content, suggested content, new ideas and feedback. If you're going to be unsupportive and not offer new ideas or constructive criticism, then in the politest way I tell you, take a hike.
2) Your words have a big effect on people. These people at PGI have grown up taking an interest in video game development, they spend lots of hard work doing what they like to do best - creating a compelling and awesome online game. Your negativity actually affects others, negativity which is completely uncalled for. Think of how long it takes to build a house, and how easily it is to knock the house down. In the same way, a lot of support and positive feedback will go a long way. Keep it up those of you who are constantly supporting the developers.
3) Complaining about overpowered mechs more or less forces them to nerf said mechs to try and keep you happy. Like I said, your complaining will have a negative effect on this game. Now having said that, I know that a lot of you new people (or ones that have been around a while) are sick and tired of being on the receiving end of overpowered builds - which is fair enough - but at the end of the day, you either decide to complain or offer some constructive feedback.

__________________________________________________________________________


Two hours after having begun writing this message, I shall get straight to the point of writing this message. I am writing this in hope that people will change the way they think about this game, because it is headed in the wrong direction. Do you focus on the flaws of your friends, or look at the good in them? Why is it that we remember bad actions and decisions for ages, but we are quick to forget the good things they do?

We need to stop looking at nerfing the overpowered mechs, and instead look at those mechs which desperately need buffs. If we focus on the negative, it will affect the game in a negative way. We need to encourage and support PGI and not bring them down - after all, these are people like me and you, who have feelings like you and I. Besides, they've brought out one of the best darn games of recent times and should be applauded for their efforts.

Stay positive people! If you agree with this message, please hit the "like this" button and share it amongst your fellow Mechwarrior friends.

Don't forget to add your ideas and constructive criticism below

Oh and thanks for reading this message

RFMG567

[Mudhutwarrior]

Stop thinking of pugs as fill for premades matches and give us the same tools.

[Josef Nader]

There is one big flaw in your logic. In order to preserve the feel and tone of this game, mechs need to be tough and hard to kill. Nerfs are designed to increase the time to kill. Buffs are designed to decrease the time to kill. The big complaint (whether or not I agree with it) is that 40 damage pop tarts have a time to kill that is out of whack with other builds. If everything gets buffed, the time to kill drops and the game loses some of its flavor, in my opinion.

Mechs should be resilient and hard to put down. Hence, everything that puts them down too quickly needs to be toned down.

[Roadbeer]

Mudhutwarrior, on 06 February 2014 - 01:58 PM, said:

Stop thinking of pugs as fill for premades matches and give us the same tools.

Ok, explain to me what the role is of a solo Lone Wolf mercenary, in a galactic war, if not to fill the ranks of established units on the battle field.

[Paul Inouye]

I'll chime in here since the write up was well thought out and presented. (Not that other posts haven't been the same, but I'm being prodded by other internal influences)

Josef above touched on the critical issue that we are looking at... increasing the time to kill. I'll go as far as saying this... some of the medium and heavy 'Mechs went through a quirk balance pass. This has not happened for any of the assaults. Currently, assaults are a little too agile for what they are... the giant sledge hammers of the battlefield. The two Mechs which are currently above expected behaviour are the Highlander AND the Victor. Now keep in mind, it is not just the chassis that is the problem in this case, the jump jet effects on turning and lift also compound the issue with these two 'Mechs specifically. We will be addressing both issues at the same time.

Remember.. the nerf gun is a mid caliber gun... it can do little to medium changes but it's not going to render the targets useless.

[JohnnyWayne]

Guys, AC's are also part of the problem. Their cooldown is too low for their heat.

In my opinion, PPCs on the other hand are ok... But! they are not good as "main weapon" for a mech...

Edited by JohnnyWayne, 06 February 2014 - 03:01 PM.

[AC]

PGI screwed the pooch here from the beginning. They needed to add more constraints to the mech slots to allow them to balance chassis and control metas. (The mech slots needed a critical space limit per slot, rather than the free for all OMNI slots we have now.)

Additionally, they had to implement things like Ghost heat and gauss delay to try and control the boating from the screw up with the mech slots. But rather than implement them intelligently, they simply dropped the nerf hammer on everything.

Ghost Heat was not needed on Damage over time weapons like lasers. It was needed for pin point damage weapons. Secondly, Gauss Delay ruined the gauss as a snipers weapon. Rather than give a limited time to hold charge, they should have simply allowed you to hold charge indefinitely, but at the cost of heat. A charged gauss should heat up a mech. Let that be the limiting factor. It would have allowed for sniper to carefully line up shots, gage a mechs speed and vector, and then lead appropriately and then fire. You can't do that with the current gauss in a repeatable manner.

[Wintersdark]

I get, as a player, you like buffs and dislike nerfs. Its only natural: nobody wants the mech they bought to get weaker, and everyone loves it when their otherwise uncompetitive mech gets better.

The flaw in the OP's reasoning is leading that nerfs inevitably end to blandness: this is not necessarily the case, any more than buffs lead to variety.

Mr. Nader above addresses part of the issue, but its a broader problem.

If you only buff uncompetitive mechs, you create a power creep. Mechs keep getting more powerful - sure, you can address Time To Kill by including armor buffs in you're balancing passes, but this just leads to endless escalation. It never ends, though, because there is always better/worse things given the current state of the game at any point in time.

Because there are MANY interlocking aspects that lead to balance(or lack thereof), this power creep makes settling on a good balance point extremely difficult.

Instead, you need a measured approach wherein you make small nerfs to the top end and small buffs to the bottom end. The idea, then, is to maintain a constant "center point" as to not cause unexpected balance issues with other systems.

[Sybreed]

Paul Inouye, on 06 February 2014 - 02:53 PM, said:

[color=cyan]I'll chime in here since the write up was well thought out and presented. (Not that other posts haven't been the same, but I'm being prodded by other internal influences)[/color]

Josef above touched on the critical issue that we are looking at... increasing the time to kill. I'll go as far as saying this... some of the medium and heavy 'Mechs went through a quirk balance pass. This has not happened for any of the assaults. Currently, assaults are a little too agile for what they are... the giant sledge hammers of the battlefield. The two Mechs which are currently above expected behaviour are the Highlander AND the Victor. Now keep in mind, it is not just the chassis that is the problem in this case, the jump jet effects on turning and lift also compound the issue with these two 'Mechs specifically. We will be addressing both issues at the same time.

Remember.. the nerf gun is a mid caliber gun... it can do little to medium changes but it's not going to render the targets useless.

about ACs and PPCs, well, pinpoint damage in general: some people suggested that their damage should be more spread out instead of being pinpoint (which would go against TT, but at this point, why not?). PPCs do an initial 5 pinpoint dmg and the rest is splash, while ACs are more "machine gun like". That would make people rethink their holy PPC/ACs build if they no longer can hit the same spot at once... suddenly ACs become less the obvious choice vs energy weapons. Could this be too much for the servers to handle though?

edit: Oh, and Gauss Rifles will become more interesting if they become the only pinpoint weapon in the game.

Edited by Sybreed, 06 February 2014 - 05:35 PM.

[wanderer]

Paul Inouye, on 06 February 2014 - 02:53 PM, said:

[color=cyan]I'll chime in here since the write up was well thought out and presented. (Not that other posts haven't been the same, but I'm being prodded by other internal influences)[/color]

Josef above touched on the critical issue that we are looking at... increasing the time to kill. I'll go as far as saying this... some of the medium and heavy 'Mechs went through a quirk balance pass. This has not happened for any of the assaults. Currently, assaults are a little too agile for what they are... the giant sledge hammers of the battlefield. The two Mechs which are currently above expected behaviour are the Highlander AND the Victor. Now keep in mind, it is not just the chassis that is the problem in this case, the jump jet effects on turning and lift also compound the issue with these two 'Mechs specifically. We will be addressing both issues at the same time.

Remember.. the nerf gun is a mid caliber gun... it can do little to medium changes but it's not going to render the targets useless.

The Highlander and Victor are the ones benefiting from a synergistic combination of effects.

They're the biggest jumpers. With the current jump jet system, they benefit most from a busted system.

They pack enough weight to mix the current meta ideal of frontloaded, pinpoint damage. PPC's and AC's.

That's a combination of the best defense (poptarting) with the best offense (focused, frontloaded damage) which makes the chassis a top choice. Fix those and the chassis becomes one amidst many and the problem won't pop up again later with another one. Hit them with the nerf gun and they're meatshielding the real problems that will simply *ahem* poptart up and shoot back again, only more so with the Clantech coming in later.

[Craig Steele]

Josef Nader, on 06 February 2014 - 02:24 PM, said:

There is one big flaw in your logic. In order to preserve the feel and tone of this game, mechs need to be tough and hard to kill. Nerfs are designed to increase the time to kill. Buffs are designed to decrease the time to kill. The big complaint (whether or not I agree with it) is that 40 damage pop tarts have a time to kill that is out of whack with other builds. If everything gets buffed, the time to kill drops and the game loses some of its flavor, in my opinion.

Mechs should be resilient and hard to put down. Hence, everything that puts them down too quickly needs to be toned down.

Well yes if you're only talking about weapons, but 'buffing' defenses will have the effect of increasing durability. Maybe its just terminology?

Pauls post was good, I don't think they can increase a mech durability quick enough, 2 minutes of walking only to be one shotted by some pop tart or boom Jager is not my idea of entertainment / fun.

[Khobai]

I agree we need hardpoint sizes. Nerfing jump jets still won't make the awesome worth playing. Hardpoint sizes would not only balance mechs like the highlander but also make mechs like the awesome worth considering.

Edited by Khobai, 06 February 2014 - 06:02 PM.

[Jman5]

One area of uncertainty I have is why mechs gain such survivability when they start jumping in place while taking heavy fire. Are they just naturally harder to hit because they're moving up and down? Is it the mid-air twisting? Or is it something more insidious like some sort of netcode issue?

Edited by Jman5, 06 February 2014 - 06:10 PM.

[wanderer]

Metadavion, on 06 February 2014 - 06:05 PM, said:

[REDACTED]

Nice first post there, buddy. Would you like to expound on that, or can we introduce you to K-town? You'd fit in fine.

Edited by Helmer, 06 February 2014 - 06:28 PM.
Thread clean up.

[Gut]

Paul Inouye, on 06 February 2014 - 02:53 PM, said:

Josef above touched on the critical issue that we are looking at... increasing the time to kill.

Why increase time to kill? Why not put people who can't survive in an environment where people are good shots in a different environment, based on their skill level?

ELO system needs brackets that actually work to span out the skill level.

AND it needs faster queue times.

Besides that, fix registration on all weapons (starting with SRMs) and introduce lobbies as soon as possible and people will be happy.

~The Best HGN player in the game

[Asmudius Heng]

Paul Inouye, on 06 February 2014 - 02:53 PM, said:

[color=cyan]I'll chime in here since the write up was well thought out and presented. (Not that other posts haven't been the same, but I'm being prodded by other internal influences)[/color]

Josef above touched on the critical issue that we are looking at... increasing the time to kill. I'll go as far as saying this... some of the medium and heavy 'Mechs went through a quirk balance pass. This has not happened for any of the assaults. Currently, assaults are a little too agile for what they are... the giant sledge hammers of the battlefield. The two Mechs which are currently above expected behaviour are the Highlander AND the Victor. Now keep in mind, it is not just the chassis that is the problem in this case, the jump jet effects on turning and lift also compound the issue with these two 'Mechs specifically. We will be addressing both issues at the same time.

Remember.. the nerf gun is a mid caliber gun... it can do little to medium changes but it's not going to render the targets useless.

What would be great was not just a comment about time to kill in relation to assault mechs, but the overall plan about the pinpoint high alpha meta that dominates.
- Arm/torso lock
- Ease of shooting while jumping
- ACs and PPCs
- Poor performance of short range weapons
- Lack of mech diversity and personality (ok thats nothing to do with alpha damage just something i wanna know more about )

Please continue to comment in threads, or let us know the direction of these things.

Less people would be so worked up if the REASONING behind changes was explained more clearly and a clearer roadmap of balance is understood by the community.

I do like that assaults might be toned down agilitywise and jump jets made more reasonable though ... it is not the solutionmuch of the community is asking for - but it is helpful.

[OznerpaG]

i just spent 6 months playing only the victor, and i did pretty well with it but once i started piloting the BJ-1X a lot i found the victor to maneuver like a huge pig and can't really go back to it anymore. i exclusively brawl and have never poptarted so of course maneuverability is most important for me, but that being said i think the way JJ's work are the only reason the victor and the highlander are so good in the game because otherwise (i think) they are big pigs like the rest of the assaults

1 JJ on a victor or highlander and it launches into the air right away - it should take a lot more than that to even get off the ground

[Sandpit]

RFMG567, on 06 February 2014 - 01:48 PM, said:

Hi all,

This is going to be a long post but hopefully it is worth your while.

Section A) Dealing with gameplay inbalance

Yesterday one of my friends shared this link with my guildmates and I: http://mwomercs.com/...-a-nerf-gun-at/

Paul Inouye: "Sitting across from the studio from me is a board with all the 'Mechs on it. In my crosshairs... the Highlander. More info to follow along with intended implementation date. Just giving you all a heads up."

Now, I love my Highlanders as much as the next guy, but I think this is getting a bit silly.
(Not pointing the finger at you Paul)

Obviously, Highlanders and Victors are pretty much the most powerful mechs in the game because of the current meta. Instead of nerfing these mechs that are overpowered, why not buff the mechs that aren't powerful enough? Because here's the thing, people are always going to complain that ~this~ mech over here is to powerful and ~that~ mech needs to be nerfed... what is going to happen as a result is PGI is going to have to let up and nerf some builds, and then nerf some other ones, and then when we have a new set of top mechs, those will be nerfed too... if this keeps happening, we will end up with a bland game. Each mech will lose their identity if we strip away the things that are unique about them.

What needs to happen is that PGI needs to create more quirks/identity in the mechs that are 'underpowered', so to speak, so that they can all match each other evenly.

I have had a few ideas about what we could add to the game to give underpowered mechs a fairer match against the meta mechs:

1) Have a logical way of calculating the amount of armour and the distribution of armour (I'm getting red squiggly lines under "armour" as I write this - you Americans/Canadians folk spell "armour" funny )

To do this, you would calculate the surface area of a mechs body, compare it with the rest of the other mechs, and work out which mechs should have more than others (obviously smaller mechs will have less, I'm talking about mechs that are similar size and weight but have varying surface areas). Then, on each mech, distribute armour amongst the different arms, legs, torso etc. according to the ratio of surface area distribution.

2) Invent some new modules that can be only fitted on certain (underpowered) mechs. I've had a few ideas tossing around:

- A "Jump Jet Mount" module, which can be bought for [X-million C-Bills], which is attached to the legs only. It takes up 2 hardpoints on each leg, weighs a total of 2 tons and you can mount one jump jet on each leg.
- An "ECM Computer Mount" module which can be bought for [X-million C-Bills], which can be attached to either side torso. You would be able to toggle which side you would like the Computer Mount on. It takes up 4 hardpoints, weighs 0.5 tons, and you can install an ECM on the mount.

3) Install movement quirks on certain underpowered mechs so they become more maneuverable. Not sure which mechs I'd put them on, but does anyone remember the Mad Dog and Summoner from Mechwarrior 4?
(They are NOT called Vultures and Thors... )
You could torso twist 360 degrees.

4) Weight difference affects speed. Each engine is designed to make a specific weight go a specific speed.

But what happens if you've got some tonnage left over? Surely if the mech you've got, say for example, a Jagermech, isn't at maximum tonnage, surely the engine would be able to make the mech run a little bit faster?

If I load my car chock-full of stuff, it goes slower and requires a heavier foot on the accelerator. But if I take my belongings out of it, it's no longer holding maximum capacity, and it can go a bit quicker. See my point?

5) Get rid of ghost heat. It is a botched nerf implemented to control the meta and the weapon boating in this game. Instead of having ghost heat to tone down the presence of these things, why not make the temperature of different maps have an effect on the heat of a mech? I've noticed that if I jump in a certain mech and fire a PPC on Terra Therma and Alpine Peaks, the heat generation is pretty much the same. What needs to happen is that the map's temperature needs to affect the % of heat generated by a weapon, and then compromise with the heat dissipation to get the rate of the cooldown. Once again, there is no need for ghost heat. Firing an alpha of the same weapons creates enough heat by itself.


These are some ideas to make mechs balance by buffing the underpowered ones rather than nerfing the overpowered ones. We all need to think about changing the way we thing about balancing gameplay if we want to make the game better.

Nerfing overpowered builds is the wrong way of fixing it, buffing underpowered builds is the right way to go.


Section Being supportive of the developers at PGI.

I remember reading recently that the developers at PGI felt like they were under-appreciated with their efforts to develop this game.

I don't blame them, whenever PGI develop a new patch, mech, idea, whatever, we always have the same vocal ones trashing their new content, saying this sucks, that sucks, whinge whinge.

Here's what I want to say:
1) Development of this game currently revolves around new content, suggested content, new ideas and feedback. If you're going to be unsupportive and not offer new ideas or constructive criticism, then in the politest way I tell you, take a hike.
2) Your words have a big effect on people. These people at PGI have grown up taking an interest in video game development, they spend lots of hard work doing what they like to do best - creating a compelling and awesome online game. Your negativity actually affects others, negativity which is completely uncalled for. Think of how long it takes to build a house, and how easily it is to knock the house down. In the same way, a lot of support and positive feedback will go a long way. Keep it up those of you who are constantly supporting the developers.
3) Complaining about overpowered mechs more or less forces them to nerf said mechs to try and keep you happy. Like I said, your complaining will have a negative effect on this game. Now having said that, I know that a lot of you new people (or ones that have been around a while) are sick and tired of being on the receiving end of overpowered builds - which is fair enough - but at the end of the day, you either decide to complain or offer some constructive feedback.

__________________________________________________________________________


Two hours after having begun writing this message, I shall get straight to the point of writing this message. I am writing this in hope that people will change the way they think about this game, because it is headed in the wrong direction. Do you focus on the flaws of your friends, or look at the good in them? Why is it that we remember bad actions and decisions for ages, but we are quick to forget the good things they do?

We need to stop looking at nerfing the overpowered mechs, and instead look at those mechs which desperately need buffs. If we focus on the negative, it will affect the game in a negative way. We need to encourage and support PGI and not bring them down - after all, these are people like me and you, who have feelings like you and I. Besides, they've brought out one of the best darn games of recent times and should be applauded for their efforts.

Stay positive people! If you agree with this message, please hit the "like this" button and share it amongst your fellow Mechwarrior friends.

Don't forget to add your ideas and constructive criticism below

Oh and thanks for reading this message

RFMG567

Let me go on record

I don't agree with a lot in this post
I also dont' agree with Paul in Assaults are too agile

With that said, I would hope that everyone that reads this thread sees the difference between
"Hey, PGI, I've got some ideas and thoughts and here's a well written post regarding those."
and
"Arrghhhh %$# PGI, @#$%$# my game up. I hate them. This is how it should be done! Argghhh!! PGI sucks I hope they lose the license so some other company will come along and I can heap my nonsense on them"

See which one gets actual notice from the devs? I may not agree with the OP but at least he was sensible and articulate. This along with recent NARC changes should put any and everyone on notice. PGI is paying attention and I swear to baby jeebus the next person that posts "PGI doesn't listen to its customers" should get no responses other than linking this thread.

Nice post OP, still don't agree with you though lol

[Sephlock]

Paul Inouye, on 06 February 2014 - 02:53 PM, said:

[color="cyan"]I'll chime in here since the write up was well thought out and presented. (Not that other posts haven't been the same, but I'm being prodded by other internal influences)

Josef above touched on the critical issue that we are looking at... increasing the time to kill. I'll go as far as saying this... some of the medium and heavy 'Mechs went through a quirk balance pass. This has not happened for any of the assaults. Currently, assaults are a little too agile for what they are... the giant sledge hammers of the battlefield. The two Mechs which are currently above expected behaviour are the Highlander AND the Victor. Now keep in mind, it is not just the chassis that is the problem in this case, the jump jet effects on turning and lift also compound the issue with these two 'Mechs specifically. We will be addressing both issues at the same time.

Remember.. the nerf gun is a mid caliber gun... it can do little to medium changes but it's not going to render the targets useless.[/color]

Just as long as they don't end up like this

[mekabuser]

idk.. this is such a dead horse imo.
I never had a problem with the highlander JJ or victor meta. I dont fear them. I flit around the top elo from time to time and I dont see it as a problem.
THis isnt mercs which was poptart heaven ala 3pv

The whole"i died in one minute thing" thats not valid reasoning.. Thats bad piloting. period. Im not even cautious and that happens to me.. oh, once in 50 matches generally only if Im baked to the gills.

the thing is, we have had this game with NO ppcs on the field and there was still fotm for a variety of reasons.
Its important to remember there is a sub set of top tier players who will almost ALWAYS use what they perceive to be the best tools at their disposal no matter what.. COmbine that with a potent skill set and it will always seem OP to the casual observer.

So.. lets nerf ppcs, diminish pinpoint , increase splash and heat to target.. Nice balanced nerf.
lets increase ac5 cooldown so thats its not an obvious first choice and decrease ammo per ton.
lets even take away pinpoint.

<hypothetical> so now the current meta is demolished. Suddenly ace pilot x says, hey, medium mech x can carry two LL in its arm. Lazers are pinpoint damage no matter what<its time on target for full damage right?> so it eliminates the convergence complaint, besides both lazers are in one arm.

He then says "hey this build is great, lets run it guys" Suddenly 20 top pilots are using medium mech x with two LL in one arm.
All things being equal , a large number of good pilots using similar builds will generate cries of OP etc no matter what they use. why? because they ARE good.
even if its a miniscule difference in power, whether its range, rof, whatever, there is a bit of a hive mentality when it comes to what is perceived by this subset of top tier pilots as the "best" build for MWO.
in battletech its IDIC, so no matter what the devs do to weapon xyor z or mech xy or z for that matter, there will always be the next great mech loadout to take its place.
and like I said, there is a hive mentality to this, so to those who have a "problem" with the various fotm, there will always be this perception that this is OP or that is OP when in fact the only thing that IS OP is teamwork and your enemies skill set.


tldr, Every asset in game could be completely equal but a subset of top tier pilots would still run build X as their preferred build until they moved onto their own fotm. Good pilots and teams can beat you in an infinite number of ways.

Edited by mekabuser, 06 February 2014 - 09:07 PM.