30 replies to this topic

[HoldMyHand]

Gentlemen and ladies,

I have a strategy that if I am the last, if not almost the last mech left on the field of battle I will hide and wait for the enemy. Now I only do this on a capture the base game mode, (not conquest or deathmatch). I will go back to my base shutdown in an area where I will not be seen by the enemy mechs walking past. They won't pick me up on radar because I'm shut down. My mechs usually have a high alpha or high DPS so I can core a couple of mechs in the back before I die.

However 8 times out of 10 my team will accuse me of wasting time and will inform the enemy of my position it is so annoying especially because I only want to bring some of the dirty opposition with me.


Although this is a strategy, it's not really the point of the post. I don't like the thought of reporting but I feel like this 'impatience' is a negative culture developing, in a game that is specifically based on timing and patient strategy.

Would I be a cry baby to start reporting those who report my positions?

Edited by HoldMyHand, 14 April 2014 - 03:42 AM.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

No. Play your game, player. Let them cry.

And yes, report that grief.

If you're DC, that's different. If they KNOW you're not DC, then they're griefing you.

Play on, player.

[Revorn]

You do it rigth by tying to get as many Foes down as possible, the Way you do this, is up to you only.



If your Team knows that you are not DC, report any griefing Player.

[Modo44]

Report the griefers. It does not matter if you shut down and go AFK, or shut down to set up a trap. As long as you are not disconnected -- which the game clearly indicates -- telling your location is team treason either way.

[Sparks Murphey]

Players providing information to the opposing team like that is against the Code of Conduct:

Quote

Team Treason
Treasonous provision of information to enemy combatants, also known as "bird-doging" is forbidden. This involves a player using the in-game chat to provide the enemy team with the locations of their own team mates. While we appreciate that some players may wish to have a round end early by calling out the location of an AFK team-mate, the risk that this could be used against an active participant of the match to deny them the use of cover and movement makes this a form of a griefing. You may declare a teammate AFK but not their coordinates or position.

As noted, it's ambiguous about calling out a definitely disconnected player, but if they are active or even just AFK, it's reportable. Take a screenshot of the chat line (hit F12, you should find the image somewhere in the Users directory within your MWO installation directory) and email it to support with the time and date of the match (don't forget your timezone, "8pm" isn't of much use unless they know where you're playing from).

It IS worth noting that non-participation is ALSO against the Code of Conduct. Though I wouldn't count "lying in ambush" non-participation and think you're doing a perfectly fine job, this line may be used against you (to me, non-participation means you never faced the enemy at all, not simply shutting down at the end of a match). However, even if you are guilty of non-participation, the proper course of action would be to report you, not to violate the Code of Conduct in another way.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

In case anyone's not clear on this, shutting down your mech IS a valid tactic in this game. Otherwise, we wouldn't consider Beagle Active Probe's ability to detect shut-down mechs much of a useful feature. It's in the lore, and it's in this game. Most of us that have been around a while have done it a time or two.

Even if you're just hiding to spare your KDR when it's 11-0 against you, go ahead and hide if that's your thing.

Haters gonna hate. Players gonna play.

[Spawnsalot]

Yeah, keep doing what you're doing OP - nothing wrong with it.

I would add that a quick "Relax. I'm going to ambush them." in team chat goes a long way in settling the peanut gallery.

[JackieLemieux]

Maybe you should just not shut down... I mean if you are hidden anyway... the radar doesnt work without line of sight.

[HoldMyHand]

JackieLemieux, on 15 April 2014 - 04:40 AM, said:

Maybe you should just not shut down... I mean if you are hidden anyway... the radar doesnt work without line of sight.

People rely on their radar too much, they quickly scan visually but rely on their radar to pick up a target. You would be surprised the amount of times I've hidden in an inlet and shutdown, they walk past look straight at me and walk on. Camouflage paint schemes are much more than a vanity look when you're shutdown.

[Zeede]

I'll be the first to start yelling at someone who is wasting my time, but no, if you are the last mech, and have good damage potential, shutting down and ambushing the enemy near our base while they are occupied with turrets is totally valid.

Unfortunately, 9 times out of 10 when I see the last teammate shut down they're just being a douchebag because we're playing Skirmish, or it turns out they spent the entire match shut down because they just want to be mop up.

[BARBAR0SSA]

I don't get why people would even complain....disconnect and play another match in another mech....or am I the only person with 30+ mechbays

[Buckminster]

I'd think that as long as you say that you're not AFK, you'd be okay. And then, I'd report the crap out of any griefers.

But I can also see where someone might not realize what you're doing and start calling out coordinates. If you're spectating a mech and it's not doing anything, it's not far off to assume it's AFK.

[Spleenslitta]

I experience the same sometimes but i don't do ambushes. i just keep moving like nuts and snipe/sneak up behind.

Keep doing what your doing but type something about setting up an ambush before you shut down before they report your position.
If they still do it. Report them.

[Gigastrike]

Ambushes are a legitimate strategy.

[Magna Canus]

You also need to consider the fact that while you lie in wait for the enemy to come to your base and fall victim to your ambush, you are denying your team your firepower.

Both cases are situationally good/bad, and what worked well in one game will be useless in another.

I think it is key here to communicate your intent first. If your team is fine with it, then go for it. If they are not fine with it, then at least consider changing tactics for the above reason.

But even if you do decide to follow your own tactics contrary to what your team chooses, team treason should be reported, each and every time it happens.

[TygerLily]

I think it's fairly obvious when someone is maneuvering to try to get one more kill in...Personally, I think hiding, powering down, powering up, ambushing...it will generally be just as effective as actively maneuvering, cycling targets to find the weakest one, and going in for the kill.

However, if you are powering down and facing a wall, it kind of means your trying to hid your location from YOUR team and therefore people's typing fingers get itchy...

[1453 R]

Sparks Murphey, on 14 April 2014 - 04:22 AM, said:

It IS worth noting that non-participation is ALSO against the Code of Conduct.

This is the part everybody glosses over when they're riding their shut-down-for-the-last-ten-minutes-of-a-match high horse. Certainly ambushes are a thing, but far, far, far too often, players just dust themselves off in a distant corner of the map, far from any possible enemy contact, in order to wait out the match timer because dey dun' wanna dye.

[[NOTE: I play 'All' match bucket, not just specifically Skirmish, and in fact think Skirmish was a terrible idea largely for this reason. No sass on that count.]]

Now, according to PGI, if that player fired two medium lasers twice at some distant target they thought looked like an enemy 'Mech, then proceeded to shut down for fourteen-and-a-half minutes, they've earned full right of participation for that match and reporting their position is liable to get you reported, infracted, banned, perma-banned, and in fact will incite the orbital grid to start dropping meteorites on your house. Never mind that the player is CLEARLY, UNAMBIGUOUSLY, AND UNARGUABLY no longer playing the match in the spirit in which it was intended...he gets to do whatever he likes, because he fired his guns once or twice and moved for twenty seconds before shutting down and AFKing.

Why is this behavior considered perfectly legal, acceptable, and even encouraged by the player base, but every time someone comes up with a thread like this there's five million guys clubbing everyone over the head with the Team Treason rulings?

Anyways. HoldMyHand, you're doing just fine. You're clearly positioning yourself for maximum damage from ambush, and doing your best to play the game in the spirit in which it's intended. I've got no problem whatsoever with you, and props for playing a style of game very few people bother with anymore. It's the rampaging douchenozzles who swear by all the dead gods that firing their lasers twice before running to a corner and hiding means THEY PARTICIPATED(!!!1!), or that they can shut down for the first ten minutes of the match and not help at all so that they can swoop in at the end and try to Bee Teh Heerow and clean out all the wounded enemies. These players are bassholes and need to be punished, not protected by an awkward, lopsided interpretation of the EULA.

[fluffypinkbunny]

I've shutdown inside of a dead mech before, people walked right past me, it was funny. My team was reporting positions and everything even saying hay, dragon, stop, turn look at the dead dragon, he walked right by me again. I powerd up, shot him in the back, then ran off, letting them report my location because what good will that do, of a full speed spider with ecm, and no lights left alive on the other side.

[Shadowhunter99]

I have actually used this strategy many times and have had my coords called out only a few. The way i make sure of this is after you power down you can still move your head so i just look around so they know that i am still there. i still get yelled at for being a wimp but they take it back when i tie it up. and imo they are being the cry babies because they cannot support you , only themselves. I hope this helped.

[Ngamok]

If your intention is to never power back up just to save your KDR then yes. If you plan to go shut down in the corner of the map where no mech traffic usually happens and proclaim you are waiting to ambush the enemy then yes. If you plan to ambush the enemy in a smart position then no.