First off, I have to agree w/ the OP on this particular subject. In most other mechs, avoiding FF is fairly easy. I find that the DWs slow torso twist makes this considerably more difficult, especially with lasers.
The problem isn't just with lasers though. Prime example was today, firing at a fleeing Cicada. Somebody in a Firestarter steps in front of me and takes the left hand gauss round into his right torso(the other round hit, btw). He gets pissed off, backs up and shoots me. I get pissed off, look at him and say "Want some?".
He starts a smart $%# response, so I cored him. I move on, and somebody not even involved in the incident decides to be an hero and empties into my rear CT while I'm going at it with the enemy. Needless to say, we lost. The extreme irony in all this, is that if he had waited long about a second he would have received an apology.
I think I find this particularly annoying because I happen to pilot lights and mediums quite frequently as well, and for some reason I don't have problems being shot by DWs. I think it probably has to do with the fact that I try to stay out of their line of fire. On rare occasions, I do get hit by FF from heavies/assaults, and most of the time it's my own fault. I accept it and move on.
HashtagComStarWasRight, on 29 September 2014 - 11:15 PM, said:
One guy bing a jerk (cutting in front of you) doesn't warrant you also being a jerk (shooting him in the back) though. If he's cutting off your firing lanes then he's taking responsibility for the target's return fire, now isn't he?
We can talk about whether getting in front of other people is a jerk move or not, but that's a separate issue than whether or not you should keep firing when somebody does it. If you fire your guns you are responsible for where the ordnance goes. If you shoot teammates in the back you are responsible for it, not them.
It most certainly is justified*. Let's go through the reasons why:
First,
Murphy's Law number 28, "Incoming fire has the right of way". It doesn't matter where the fire is coming from, if you get hit by it, it's your problem. If you get hit by it, you weren't taking proper precautions to avoid being hit by it, regardless of where it came from.
Point number two,
Newton's Second Law of Motion states, "F=MA The vector sum of the forces
F on an object is equal to the mass
M of that object multiplied by the acceleration vector
A of the object." Meaning that for two objects of differing mass at a given velocity, the heavier of the two objects will have more force. What this means is, heavier has the right of way. An anecdotal note; a friendly in a Kitfox tried to give my Direwolf a "Hug" today(I am not making this up), and died when he ran into me.
Point number three, as I have already alluded, is that it is easier to avoid being hit by friendly fire(and enemy fire for that matter) in a light than it is to do anything in an assault mech.
Point number four, and here is where things get controversial, is that MWO is a form of combat simulation. The goal in combat of any form is to neutralize any present threat. Note that there is no requirement for malice on the part of the threat. If a "teammate" is a threat, regardless of intention, they need to be neutralized. In anticipation of the backlash resulting from this statement, let us first consider the following:
1.) According to
Wikipedia, "Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, wit or sense." Stepping into the line of fire is generally a strong indicator of a lack of reason, wit, or sense.
2.) According to Carlo Maria Cipolla's The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity, law the third, "A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and possibly incurring losses."
A.) The individuals being discussed in this thread, or at least their actions, could easily be considered to be causing losses to others:
I.) The damage they absorb is not being done to the enemy for whom it was intended.
II.) If the teammate attempting to damage the enemy manages to avoid doing damage to their interloping teammate, they have still had their damage output against a given enemy reduced.
III.) The enemy, having sustained less damage, has their survival time increased. As a result of the enemies increased survival time, friendly units sustain more damage.
3.) According to Carlo Maria Cipolla's
The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity, law the fourth, "Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals..."
4.) According to Carlo Maria Cipolla's
The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity, law the fifth, "A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person."
5.) "threat"
may be defined as, "A person or thing likely to cause damage or danger"
Therefore, any person who has intercepted "friendly" fire on behalf of the enemy should be considered a threat, and as such should be neutralized with extreme prejudice.
All that said, most of us, being civilized human beings, not wont to cause harm to our fellows, are content to apologize for the incident and continue about our destructive business. What I find disturbing though, is the attitude adopted by many on the receiving end, that the incident was intentional. Most of the time, speaking from my own experience(both firing and being fired upon), this is not the case. We all do stupid things from time to time,
This is MWO, it is not
internet spaceships, and it is not serious business(this is a sort of joke). My advice, which I strive to adhere to myself, is not to make a mountain out of a molehill, and having made a mistake, do not prove yourself a fool by trying to go toe to toe with a Direwolf in a light mech.
*I should also note that I am not talking about situations where the receiving party did not move into a line of fire(I have literally spectated a Jagermech pilot as they put three volleys into a teammate that was not moving simply because they did not clear[move past] their teammate before commencing fire, and were not paying attention).