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How To Win As A New Player

Guide Help Me New Player Feedback

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#1 Amethyst Blade

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Posted 25 November 2014 - 01:46 PM

Winning as a New Player
by Taking Command


Quick Story
A "Seargent" drops with us in his custom painted Atlas. All he says is "Your best chance is if you stick with me." And everyone does. They all swarm around him. In a light 'Mech I ended up scaring off a couple of other lights who got behind him. If I had not been watching his back, he would have been cut down by lights. But also, if the Lights hadn't been worried about facing that Atlas, they wouldn't have been run off so easily. And we won.


Drop in Games
12 random people drop into a game. Every game they are new and different. Some are veterans. Some are playing their first game. You can't change 'Mechs or upgrade skills during a game. If you type fast you might get off up to a dozen messages in a game. That's what you get.


Taking Command
I start games with "GL HF" <ALL> <Load Screen>
- This discourages complaining and starts improving moral.

Next I politely ask the team to stick together and offer encouragement. "Let's try stay together and kick some butt!" <TEAM> <Load Screen>
- If I get one or two replies agreeing, we are so far ahead. It discourages Lone Wolves.

*Messages typed during the Load Screen get seen twice, a second time when the game starts, so they are very important.*

I guide the game. "Let's form up around C3." "Let's hit Sigma next" <TEAM>

- This helps to encourage stragglers form wandering off on their own and gives people a direction, rather than guessing and having to circle back around as the group goes the way you didn't expect. Be prepared to admit mistakes and adjust. "Er whoops, let's do D4" or "That's too hot, C10 instead!" <TEAM>

If I have time, I like to reply to kills with "Nice" or "Awesome". <TEAM>
I like to update the game, especially on Resource games midway when people are wondering. "We're doing good." <TEAM>
-This keeps up moral if people are thinking about running away when we need to stick together.

I update the strategy.
If we are on a ridge. "Let them come over the ridge and get shot." <TEAM>
If we are down on 'Mechs in a Resource game; "Stay alive and cap and we have the best chance to win." <TEAM>
If we are down on 'Mechs in a Capture-the-Flag game. "We need to capture the base." <TEAM>
And if we are going to lose. "Make them earn it!" <TEAM>
If we have caught a small number of enemies; "Push into C4 and get them!" <TEAM>
- This helps guide the game at the one, two or three critical moments that may occur.

Getting People to Listen
-Most people don't send any messages during a game. This means most people won't fight with you over orders. (If you get someone else issuing orders, just let them. Two different orders are usually worse than one order you don't agree with.) Given no other directions, most people will go with the orders if you are polite, especially if your order is worded as a suggestion, like they don't have to do it.

-Don't demand. Never single someone out and TELL them what to do. Always ask. "Could you" "We need a scout to do X". <TEAM>

-Don't get mad at people who don't obey.

-DON'T LOG OFF WHEN YOU DIE. This destroys moral and leaves the team leaderless, undermining all your previous work. Now you can guide them, point out enemy locations, and switch from 'Mech to 'Mech getting different view of the battlefield. In fact, as soon as you die, you should continue with an order or observation to LET everyone know, you are still there rooting for them.

Finally, I like to salute the last opponent if we win.

Result
I went from winning 2 out of 10 games to winning 7 out of 10 games. It takes a lot of work, sometimes I run into walls typing, and sometimes your strategy crashes and burns but it seems to really improve the numbers.


Index
GL HF - Good Luck, Have Fun
Chat All is default: T, but you have to click the ALL button during the load screen before the game starts.
Chat Team is default Y, but you have to click the TEAM button during the load screen before the game starts.


Mark Charke

#2 Rogue Jedi

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Posted 25 November 2014 - 03:23 PM

Amethyst Blade, that was an excellent post.

I have been in games where someone insults/swears at the team then expects us to follow his/her orders. that rarely convinces players to follow their plan (then the player spends the next 13 minutes swearing at the team for not backing him up, so I screenshot each incident, and at the end of the match sent a report of the player containing those screenshots as well as time, timezone and map as well as name of the player. I suspect support hates me as it is not unusual for me to send 10 reports off in a night).

offer suggestions and complements, people will usualy listen and that will help the team to win (but sometimes the other members of the team will completely ignore you).

teamwork, positioning and aggression usualy seem to be the deciding factors.

#3 Lanceafer

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Posted 26 November 2014 - 05:31 AM

View PostRogue Jedi, on 25 November 2014 - 03:23 PM, said:


teamwork, positioning and aggression usually seem to be the deciding factors.


This is something that needs to be drilled into most people. Its the first thing we talk about in my unit. We then train about how to tack or move as a lance (positioning) how to keep comms quiet and listen to your commander/lance leader (teamwork). Finally we have custom matches when we make light and med mechs charge LRM boats or flank snipers (aggression).

As for the OP, nice write up. You are 100% correct in that if you want someone to do something ask them to do it don't tell them. Communication is the key to teamwork. It takes a long time to not have to talk to your team and still be able to work as one unit. In a pick up game that just plane wont happen most of the time. If it did you got really lucky.

#4 Nemesis Duck

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Posted 26 November 2014 - 10:35 AM

The best advice I can give to new players is to first learn how survive to the end of a match. Surviving to the end implies you have to win the match as well, so surviving isn't a matter of hiding until the end, but rather avoiding damaging while getting hits in.

The best kind of hit you can do is to the enemy is where you damage an enemy but they don't damage you in return. It's those hits will put your team above the enemy in terms of winning. Even a little damage is better than no damage.

You will learn a plathora of skills by simply by making it your mission to survive until the end of the match.

#5 Ertur

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Posted 28 November 2014 - 10:37 PM

Moral is right vs wrong (or the point of a story). "MORE-uhl"
Morale is how people feel. "mo-RALL" (the RALL doesn't rhyme with ball, but pal). It's French, I think.

/vocabulary-gestapo

Other than that, dead on and good points made.

#6 Shatterpoint

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Posted 01 December 2014 - 11:35 AM

Assuming the new player is pugging:

Realise you're playing 1vs12, your entire team is absolutely useless to you, they are playing for themselves at best or actively against you most of the time.
If more than 2/12 of the enemy team decide to focus fire, you're probably dead.

Play heavily defensively on the above assumption.

#7 Ens

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Posted 01 December 2014 - 12:55 PM

- turn off all chat
- don´t lemming
- be vigilant
- aim well
- twist hard

#8 Molossian Dog

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Posted 02 December 2014 - 07:50 AM

If you plan to communicate:

"Push" sounds like you want people to play cannonfodder for you.
"I will push" makes people confident they won´t be used as meatshields. Chances that they come with you rise exponentially.

#9 Hamish McPiton

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Posted 02 December 2014 - 05:37 PM

View PostMolossian Dog, on 02 December 2014 - 07:50 AM, said:

If you plan to communicate:

"Push" sounds like you want people to play cannonfodder for you.
"I will push" makes people confident they won´t be used as meatshields. Chances that they come with you rise exponentially.

Yes - yes - this.
I like to type - "I'm going to rush/push/flank" (whatever) - "who's with me?"
Mostly I get help - except in one of "those games" which are screwed, anyway.

#10 Darth Futuza

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Posted 02 December 2014 - 05:41 PM

One suggestion: when first greeting people playing, only attempt to greet (GL HF) your team, don't increase the enemy morale only your own teams.

#11 Ice Viper

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Posted 02 December 2014 - 06:09 PM

No disrespect to the OP here but I was always under the impression that once you die it was bad etiquette to keep relaying commands or info in chat. I'm not critiquing the fellows attempt to improve the game I'm just asking a polite question.

#12 Alaskan Nobody

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Posted 02 December 2014 - 06:20 PM

View PostIce Viper, on 02 December 2014 - 06:09 PM, said:

No disrespect to the OP here but I was always under the impression that once you die it was bad etiquette to keep relaying commands or info in chat. I'm not critiquing the fellows attempt to improve the game I'm just asking a polite question.

Depends on the background of the player and their gaming experience.

I have been told that in many FPS games, it is considered a form of cheating
(Edit: in which case I would wonder why so many still give the ability to do so...? end edit)

Here, it is actively encouraged by the developers for dead team mates to help their still active fellows.

Edited by Shar Wolf, 02 December 2014 - 06:20 PM.


#13 3xnihilo

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Posted 02 December 2014 - 06:44 PM

View PostMolossian Dog, on 02 December 2014 - 07:50 AM, said:

If you plan to communicate:

&quot;Push&quot; sounds like you want people to play cannonfodder for you.
&quot;I will push&quot; makes people confident they won´t be used as meatshields. Chances that they come with you rise exponentially.


I have successfully led pushes in light mechs with a "follow me". If you are quick and lucky you get past the enemy before they take off your leg and your team gets to shoot them in the back while they chase the squirrel...and I have also been focused down and killed in a couple seconds attempting the same thing :P



#14 Kalamity27

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Posted 03 December 2014 - 07:33 AM

Great thread and a must read!

View Post3xnihilo, on 02 December 2014 - 06:44 PM, said:

I have successfully led pushes in light mechs with a "follow me". If you are quick and lucky you get past the enemy before they take off your leg and your team gets to shoot them in the back while they chase the squirrel...and I have also been focused down and killed in a couple seconds attempting the same thing :P


Like in all things a combo of skill and luck.

#15 L Y N X

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Posted 03 December 2014 - 05:56 PM

a bad plan is better than no plan!

Teamwork wins!





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