283 replies to this topic

[Bulletsponge0]

SO, I decided to make this post detailing my MW:O journey so far to see if its in line with what should be expected, or if I'm ahead or behind the curve....so here goes..

I discovered MW:O on March 8, 2014. I was a Mechwarrior player way back in the day, so when I found this I was instantly hooked. Downloaded the game, hopped into a trial mech and was off to the races...or more like the scrap heap, as I had a very very rough go of it at first (zero kills and about a billion deaths in the first week).

SO, in my own illogical way..I decoded that I simply needed a bigger mech...ground some c-bills and bought a Banshee...didn't go too well...so I decided that because I love the MW franchise, and this was F2P, that I'd throw some money at the game in support, and bought a La Malinche.

with the LM, things got a little better for me...but was still waaaaaay in the red on both KDR and W/L ratio...so I kept grinding and was starting to see some improvement..

THen I got on these forums and picked up some unbelievable tips from veteran players (Special shout out to Koniving for his work...amazing)

I decided maybe the Banshee wasn't suited for me, but still felt I needed to be the big boy on the block so I started grinding Victors. Absolutely loved the improved mobility of the Victor over the Banshee but was still dying and losing at an alarming rate. I was killing at a better clip though, but not as fast as I was dying...

well, wanted to change that so I decided to grind Cataphracts...and with the 4X I was actually able to kill more than die, but was still losing a lot. I needed more help with tactics (thanks again to Koniving for his great pointers)...and started recognizing mistakes by other players that I use to make myself...and I realized that I actually was improving as a player.

But alas, the Cataphract was still too slow for my liking..so I took a risk...and went medium...got a Kintaro (to light hunt, as the lights at the time were the bane of my MW existence)..loved it....ground it out and was doing well.

Now, at this time, I was having so much fun that I decided to give a little more money to the game and bought a GOlden Boy...and up til that point, it was the best game decision I had made....ground it out and was able to reliably kill more than die..it recently became my most played mech, and is BY FAR the best at KDR....

I was having so much fun stomping around in my GB at 94 kph that I decided to take a risk...I had already mastered chassis in assault, heavy and medium...so I threw c-bills at lights...Ravens..and this..this is where I saw a huge MW personality shift for me.

Instead of wanting to be the biggest, baddest, most heavily armed boy on the block...I realized I had more fun racing around at 150+ kph, and relatively lightly armed...harrassing anything and everything..it was an epiphany....a total departure fomr my real life personna (always the biggest of my friends...they are all little guys...5' 5" and 125 dripping wet...while I was the 6'2" 200 lb football player)

And I am doing well in my Raven 3L...more kills than deaths...KDR near even (i know thats pGI's goal)...so now..I'm a medium/light lover for life...

that is, until the clan mechs drop ad I have to re-evaluate everything

I know a lot of people here complain about various aspects of the game, but I absolutely love it and am hooked for life..and recently, my overal KDR ratio is now in the green....from being roughly 250 deaths below even as recently as 2 weeks ago, to positive territory now....feels good...now if I could just get that W/L ratio in the green, all would be right in the worlld...

[Durant Carlyle]

Yeah, my preference for lights and fast mediums was a big surprise to me as well. I figured from the very beginning that I'd prefer heavies and assaults.

I might not like how easily my 'Mechs are killed, but the "run around like your hair is on fire" play style still appeals to me even after over 21 months of playing MW:O.

Edited by Durant Carlyle, 29 April 2014 - 05:17 PM.

[Bulletsponge0]

Durant Carlyle, on 29 April 2014 - 04:09 PM, said:

Yeah, my preference for lights and fast mediums was a big surprise to me as well. I figured from the very beginning that I'd prefer heavies and assaults.

I might not like how easily my 'Mechs are killed, but the "run around like your hair is on fire" play style still appeals to me after over 21 months of playing MW:O.

lol....yeah....only I think my style is more "run around like your butt hair is on fire"....

[Mecheart]

Thoughts follow from another new player, therefore will not really let you know if your experience is normal. Hopefully still relevant however. Much like you, I had bad experiences in a few weight classes. I went from spiders, to thunderbolts; to victors and shadow hawks, back down to commandos and also spent time with cataphracts. Nothing seemed to fit. Then, I too discovered the Kintaro, elited the three basic variants and now spend time mostly with the KTO-20. Additionally, I discovered Dragons--the mechs few seem to take seriously nowadays. And there was the MWO hook for me--in the Dragon. Playing the force multiplier/cavalry/sniper, etc. was where my experience in this game really began to shine. More so for the effort of fitting into various roles in a "lesser" mech.

At any rate, I think growing pains are rather common in MWO, but for those who persevere, the personal reward is quite worth it. Best of luck to you OP, hope to meet you in game.

[Bulletsponge0]

Mecheart, on 29 April 2014 - 04:21 PM, said:

Thoughts follow from another new player, therefore will not really let you know if your experience is normal. Hopefully still relevant however. Much like you, I had bad experiences in a few weight classes. I went from spiders, to thunderbolts; to victors and shadow hawks, back down to commandos and also spent time with cataphracts. Nothing seemed to fit. Then, I too discovered the Kintaro, elited the three basic variants and now spend time mostly with the KTO-20. Additionally, I discovered Dragons--the mechs few seem to take seriously nowadays. And there was the MWO hook for me--in the Dragon. Playing the force multiplier/cavalry/sniper, etc. was where my experience in this game really began to shine. More so for the effort of fitting into various roles in a "lesser" mech.

At any rate, I think growing pains are rather common in MWO, but for those who persevere, the personal reward is quite worth it. Best of luck to you OP, hope to meet you in game.

with the new private matches....it could be guaranteed...

[Koniving]

Just peeking in.

Shot by Lordred.
Check it out. The thread's pretty active right now we're doing more shots too. o.o

But yeah, the Banshees might be worth going back to; they do a lot better once you get the master skill set going and stick to standard engines.

Though shortly Lordred will get some screens of me in a Raven.

And here's a Locust vid. Because even though I hate going fast myself, there's lots of fun to be had when you mix Ninja Ray Bang Bang with Locusts!

Spoiler

Song begins playing more completely just after 5:40.

Edited by Koniving, 29 April 2014 - 05:35 PM.

[dragnier1]

I started in the opposite direction...hunchbacks, then commandos as i was broke cbills wise...but commandos were just as expensive. It was not until i played the jenner that i realized jumping was fun.

Anyways, i would suggest a revisit to heavies or assaults maybe some time later, you might get a different perspective of them as you improve your gameplay.

[_____]

Love the Raven? Consider joining House Liao

OK didn't mean to turn this into a recruitment thread. But I think you're experiencing this because of how MWO tries to balance lights vs assaults. Unlike other MW games where taking an assault is almost always better than something lighter, MWO's maps and game modes make mobility and situational awareness much much bigger factors than overall firepower and armor.

This is one adjustment I had to make when starting to play MWO. Same as you I bought big mechs first and was ignorant about the other parts of gameplay. Now I play every weight class and I happen to enjoy the tanky feel of slow assaults the most.

[Bulletsponge0]

BlackhawkSC, on 30 April 2014 - 02:20 PM, said:

Love the Raven? Consider joining House Liao

OK didn't mean to turn this into a recruitment thread. But I think you're experiencing this because of how MWO tries to balance lights vs assaults. Unlike other MW games where taking an assault is almost always better than something lighter, MWO's maps and game modes make mobility and situational awareness much much bigger factors than overall firepower and armor.

This is one adjustment I had to make when starting to play MWO. Same as you I bought big mechs first and was ignorant about the other parts of gameplay. Now I play every weight class and I happen to enjoy the tanky feel of slow assaults the most.

oh, I'll probably give all weight classes a try again when clan mechs are available

[meteorol]

Nice to see you actually have fun playing the lighter mechs.
I tried it, but i love my assaults too much. I own two (mastered) heavy mechs, and that is the lightest i will ever go.
If you still have your banshee, you should try it again btw. Assault mechs really start to shine once you get better.
The banshee 3E is an absolut beast when it comes to assault vs assault/heavy combat. Mine has a K/D of 3.70 after 100+ games, and i wouldn't trade it for any other mech. (just lacks JJ for meta jumpsniping)

You should reappraise the mechs you already bought once in a while, maybe you will like them more (or even less) than you did before.

Edited by meteorol, 01 May 2014 - 02:22 AM.

[Bulletsponge0]

meteorol, on 01 May 2014 - 02:21 AM, said:

Nice to see you actually have fun playing the lighter mechs.
I tried it, but i love my assaults too much. I own two (mastered) heavy mechs, and that is the lightest i will ever go.
If you still have your banshee, you should try it again btw. Assault mechs really start to shine once you get better.
The banshee 3E is an absolut beast when it comes to assault vs assault/heavy combat. Mine has a K/D of 3.70 after 100+ games, and i wouldn't trade it for any other mech. (just lacks JJ for meta jumpsniping)

You should reappraise the mechs you already bought once in a while, maybe you will like them more (or even less) than you did before.

I plan on revisiting the banshee...once I look up some better builds on smurfy

[Auton]

Yea I had the same issue with Assaults and Heavies when I first started. My first mech was a Centurion and I loved it. It was so flexible and could be built many different ways. Since then I went to Cataphracts and Spiders. Now I am working on Shadowhawks and having a great time.

Some of my favorite games have been in my Spider 5D but overall I like Mediums the most (good speed and good weapons). Still having a Dual Gauss Cataphract is great fun.

[Bulletsponge0]

Auton, on 01 May 2014 - 03:32 AM, said:

Yea I had the same issue with Assaults and Heavies when I first started. My first mech was a Centurion and I loved it. It was so flexible and could be built many different ways. Since then I went to Cataphracts and Spiders. Now I am working on Shadowhawks and having a great time.

Some of my favorite games have been in my Spider 5D but overall I like Mediums the most (good speed and good weapons). Still having a Dual Gauss Cataphract is great fun.

I had a lot of fun in my quad ac5 cataphract..my hightest single match kill game was in the banshee ..but nearly equalled several times in my golden boy

[CG Chicken Kn]

Ah, some one has discovered the weeee!
Will you try a Jenner at some point?
Lights and jump jets go together like beer and pizza.

People will always go for the big gun, but as you are discoverng, those artistic kills against bigger opponents are priceless.

And sailing by at head height on an Atlas sideways and ending him.....style points.

[Bulletsponge0]

CG Chicken Kn, on 01 May 2014 - 09:15 AM, said:

Ah, some one has discovered the weeee!
Will you try a Jenner at some point?
Lights and jump jets go together like beer and pizza.

People will always go for the big gun, but as you are discoverng, those artistic kills against bigger opponents are priceless.

And sailing by at head height on an Atlas sideways and ending him.....style points.

I can definitely see a Jenner in my future...is there an ecm Jenner?

[_____]

Bulletsponge0, on 01 May 2014 - 09:42 AM, said:

I can definitely see a Jenner in my future...is there an ecm Jenner?

Nope. The only ECM jumper is the SDR 5D but it lacks the Jenner's hardpoints. 2xLL/ERLL 5D can be pretty effective, but it's slower than most other maxed out lights.

[Bulletsponge0]

BlackhawkSC, on 01 May 2014 - 10:36 AM, said:

Nope. The only ECM jumper is the SDR 5D but it lacks the Jenner's hardpoints. 2xLL/ERLL 5D can be pretty effective, but it's slower than most other maxed out lights.

Hmmm...gonna have to do some research then....

[Auton]

Bulletsponge0, on 01 May 2014 - 03:57 AM, said:

I had a lot of fun in my quad ac5 cataphract..my hightest single match kill game was in the banshee ..but nearly equalled several times in my golden boy

Yes those are fun. My best kill game (8 kills) was with my 3 UAC5 Ilya with 2 Med. Lasers. Now my best damage games was a 1200s damage with a Shadowhawk 2D2 with 4 SSRM2 and 2 Medium Pulse Lasers. Still not sure how I did that much damage but I did use all my ammo (4 tons) and shot a lot.

Best "I'm not dead yet" games are my Centurions. I had one that won the game with 21% health, no armor, no arms, 1 leg and no left or right torso. Still my 2 Medium Lasers killed the last guy before he killed me. Fun matches.

[CG Chicken Kn]

An ecm jenner would be OP lol.

JJ mobility and fantastic handling are Jenner strong points, and smallish hit boxes.

I have a screen shot on my desktop of 1017 damage game in a Jenner F. 4 meds 2 smalls 152 kph speed tweaked,

The wee was strong that day padawan...

One cannot play at that level for hours on end, it is tiring. But every once in a while. when the stars align, the epicness will erase the badness of 100 bad random games.

Worth It.

[Bulletsponge0]

CG Chicken Kn, on 01 May 2014 - 12:32 PM, said:

An ecm jenner would be OP lol.

JJ mobility and fantastic handling are Jenner strong points, and smallish hit boxes.

I have a screen shot on my desktop of 1017 damage game in a Jenner F. 4 meds 2 smalls 152 kph speed tweaked,

The wee was strong that day padawan...

One cannot play at that level for hours on end, it is tiring. But every once in a while. when the stars align, the epicness will erase the badness of 100 bad random games.

Worth It.

giving the trial jenner a try right now...we'll see how it goes