Sevrid, on 13 January 2015 - 03:14 AM, said:
I mean as much as I would like to know when I'm lit up like a Christmas tree, to me, the whole idea of narc is kind of a stealth mission thing. If someone knows they were hit they will start looking for the person who hit them. And narc is so underused right now do we really need to make it harder?
I believe it already does make an unique, subtle impact sound.
NARC isn't that underused. I see it about fairly often, but it's not essential to missiling for either Inner Sphere or Clan, so there are plenty of boats who never would consider it, and plenty of teams who never would devote lights to carrying it as taggers/narc beacon spotters.
The thing about NARC is, it is a radio beacon with a clamp that fires and hits like a missile and for it to be sending targeting data quite effectively across the battlefield that is strong enough to not be interfered with by all the electromagnetic bursts, ecm, eccm means it has to be broadcasting pretty powerfully, for it's brief 20-30 second life span (great batteries and antenna). That powerful signal apparently is picked up by all your allies, so thier onboard computer shows YOU narc'd but it seems the mech that is itself effected still cannot determine this about itself. That, TO ME - seems incorrect.
Even if the NARC is a very overpowering broadcast signal on the target that the target's own computer can't identify correctly because it's external sensors get errors or do not "scan" the space that is the mech itself, there should be something showing that powerful targeting and telemetry/(counter ecm too) signal blasting across the battle field around you... interference (light) on your HUD screens, odd random bits of data or numbers like telemetry showing your x, y coordinate showing ON YOUR screen, because your targetting computer has detected your coordinates being sent out via radio wave and has recognized you need to know. Something. It doesn't have to be a klaxon, nor a bitchin betty report - just a subtle data/coordinate pop u, or something weird like on the MINI MAP, your location is suddenly being indicated in some unusual way for even you to notice... if you see on the mini map that you are lit up this way, or appear as a blinking Icon, or in an odd color, you realize you are actually NARCed.
This would be my suggestion. But just to be clear, those who know to be wary of NARC are often in teams and when they see individual NARC shots, they usually seek cover if they know they were exposed, furthermore they ask their team mates, AM I Narced. Unfortunately the reply rate is about 50%... too often it's,"Uh, what's NARC... the "symbol" I mean", or something like that said, due to many players not really paying attention to anything they don't see on themselves - so never really knowing that the "wifi signal strength" symbol by the targeting brackets was the clear indicator of NARC beacon being on a given mech they are targeting, or having relayed to them, or even seeing on their own team because they have pressed "q".
Also, Narc beacons, they do make a sound that is audible when it hits, it's just not an explosion, so gets lost in the background. I've heard a sort of "klumphf" sound after a torpedo's away sound from a jenner - k or anansi spider and was fairly certain I was NARCed, ending up being glad to have then retreated to cover, informing others that there was a NARCer and therefore possibly Missile Boats to take out, which we then proceeded to do when they started firing on my Narc location that was tempting but where actually I could avoid most or all of the volleys, perhaps taking a little damage deliberately so they would keep firing rather than manuver away from my teammates hunting them and their NARCers.
Edited by Mad Porthos, 13 January 2015 - 08:03 AM.
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