11 replies to this topic

[Chados]

Fellow noobs-

I've only been in the game since July, own nine mechs (all of which hail from two distinct chassis), and have less than 500 drops and a K/D ratio of 0.21 so I think I still qualify as a noob.

I wanted to pass on some advice to those who may still be struggling and not progressing, and aren't sure what the next step is. Once you have sort of a feel for what you like (my game has evolved into second line support, no matter whether it's LRMs, a u/AC5, or lasers), I advocate that you reach out to some of the organized units and move into the social side of the game. Many years ago I was in Multiplayer Online Battletech on the old GEnie servers and it was the social aspects of the game that were the most fun. It helps to run with folks who hold a similar philosophy to yours (mine is casual, with willingness to run with more-competitive group queue or CW drops from time to time but not an elite competition outfit). I have found two groups that are great fun to run with and finally joined one.

I pass on to you to consider talking to representatives from the organized units in this board that interest you. I actually was recruited by two of the active units in game, both excellent groups of folks, both of which have different philosophies and playstyles. I ended up joining one of the two more for its members' real-life values and social side than simply for the game, though I obviously spend the majority of my time with them in MWO. It adds a dimension to your game that you may be missing.

[Rawnblaed]

Thanks for the insight Chados. I am thinking of joining a well behaved group of adults at some point. I am just not sure how much hard commitment i could make due to family first.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Not surprisingly, there are quite a few teams that are VERY casual. Almost every team out there is also very interested in helping new players progress and learn, and will be quite understanding of the New Player Experience. Even if you don't care to formally join, if you find a team you enjoy playing with, they'll usually be cool with bringing you in to casual drops in public queue.

There ARE a few tryhard-only teams out there, but that seems to be a kind of rare bird in this zoo. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say that 90% or more of the, what, couple hundred teams (just among English-speakers, not to mention those in several other widely-spoken languages), are open to taking on casual players.

[Kurvi]

Great advice. So where does one find a list of groups and their times/expectations/social stuff?

[Void Angel]

Chados, on 29 August 2015 - 09:12 AM, said:

Fellow noobs-

I've only been in the game since July,

... Why do you have a "11/5 Never Forget" Catapult nerf signature if you're new since last month?

[Rogue Jedi]

Kurvi, on 29 August 2015 - 08:48 PM, said:

Great advice. So where does one find a list of groups and their times/expectations/social stuff?

the community warfare forum is the best place to look for units, most units have recruitment threads under the relevent subforum
http://mwomercs.com/...munity-warfare/
if for example your favorite faction is Clan Smoke Jaguar and you only ever want to play with CSJ then look in their subforum for a unit, if want to try to earn all the CW rewards, or just want to play with a variety of factions then a Merc unit would be a better choice.

another great place to look for units is the signatures of players, some of us have links to our units website in our signatures.

I strongly recommend doing a bit of research before signing up with a unit, visit the units website or talk to a few players, and check out a few units before making a any decisions. this it to check that the unit looks like a good fit to you.

A while back a new player asked for help, he was having trouble with his unit, they were training him but also evaluating him for potential as a competitive player (while he was still an inexperienced player), one of his challenges was putting him in a Spider not yet out of basics against there best atlas pilot, and saying he should be able to kill the Atlas or at least reduce its health to below 50%, he failed and was told to give up on lights ^{(how is a pilot new to Light Mechs, in a Mech not yet out of basics supposed to take down an expert Atlas pilot and his fully mastered Atlas in a 1 on 1 dual? yes an experienced Spider pilot would have the advantage but not a new pilot)}, the common advice was to find a new, less competitive, unit.
that is a major reason I suggest doing your homework.

if you swear every few words there is no point joining the Praetorian Legion or Seraphram both have a code of conduct which states you should not swear on comms,

there are some competitive units with no interest with casual players so if you are more interested in having fun than winning best to avoid the highly competitive units

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 30 August 2015 - 12:21 AM.

[Chados]

Void Angel, on 29 August 2015 - 09:41 PM, said:

... Why do you have a "11/5 Never Forget" Catapult nerf signature if you're new since last month?

Because I support the movement to fix the Catapult. I've chosen to display that. Is that evil? The Catapult is my favorite mech. And five of the nine I own are Catapults. The overwhelming majority of my in-game experience has been collectively aboard the A1C, C1, and C4 Catapults; I've mastered the A1C and C4 and I'm within 7500MXP of mastering the C1.

Edited by Chados, 30 August 2015 - 12:25 PM.

[Void Angel]

I'm just wondering how you managed to glom onto a longstanding gripe meme in a month and a half's time. Call me a suspicious soul.

[Chados]

I did a search on "Catapults" in the General Discussion forum a couple weeks ago and it came up. I read the whole thing and I was *horrified* at what I learned. I co-opted the OP's sig to show support, and to support PGI's intent to rescale the mech that literally turned my game around. Were it not for the Catapult I would have quit the game my second week. It was that bad for me at the time. That thread showed me that once, the Catapult *was* the meta. It may be a shadow of its former self but I love it just the same and I'd like to see it buffed.

(edit) all the edits in my posts are because of my iPad and its vicious autocorrect function you can't turn off. It creates typos out of whole cloth and it drives me nuts to see my posts with typos I missed that the iPad caused.

Edited by Chados, 30 August 2015 - 12:32 PM.

[quantaca]

Chados, on 30 August 2015 - 12:20 PM, said:

Because I support the movement to fix the Catapult. I've chosen to display that. Is that evil? The Catapult is my favorite mech. And five of the nine I own are Catapults. The overwhelming majority of my in-game experience has been collectively aboard the A1C, C1, and C4 Catapults; I've mastered the A1C and C4 and I'm within 7500MXP of mastering the C1.

5 catapults ? Wow you really want to earn that noob tag dont you

But seriously, joining a unit is good advise, i'm not the most social of people so at first i was a bit hesitant on joining a unit, but i found one in the reqruitement thread by acident actually and i liked the tone of that thread so i thought why the hell not and applied ... best thing i ever did, they had 2 comp teams but you werent expected to join those although you could always apply to them but just by dropping with them and viewing their actions when i was dead through the spectator mode i learned a lot. Now you can mostly find me in CW running with -MS- (my unit had a good relationship with them and when our numbers dropped we merged ).

Dont get hung up on thinking that a unit will want training and x number of hours a week of your time, thats just not how most of the mwo units work, except for the top comp teams (emp sjr csjx) and if they never heard of you before they prob wont even look at your application, most people here have families and jobs and whatnot so most units understand that you dont always have the time. Yes some units (like -MS-) will have a certain standard that you have to prove you can reach but you will also be given time (last week i dropped with 2 people that only had trail mechs), but the most important parts are dont be a a$$, make an effort to,improve (like using suggested builds) and be a teamplayer.

So really hit those recruitement threads, find one that you like and apply because even getting stomped is much more fun in a group

Alternatively there are some ts servers you could visit and just drop with people in the same faction (mostly cw) and you can eventualy join a unit whose players you like dropping with.

[Void Angel]

Chados, on 30 August 2015 - 12:28 PM, said:

I did a search on "Catapults" in the General Discussion forum a couple weeks ago and it came up. I read the whole thing and I was *horrified* at what I learned. I co-opted the OP's sig to show support, and to support PGI's intent to rescale the mech that literally turned my game around. Were it not for the Catapult I would have quit the game my second week. It was that bad for me at the time. That thread showed me that once, the Catapult *was* the meta. It may be a shadow of its former self but I love it just the same and I'd like to see it buffed.

(edit) all the edits in my posts are because of my iPad and its vicious autocorrect function you can't turn off. It creates typos out of whole cloth and it drives me nuts to see my posts with typos I missed that the iPad caused.

Heh. Autocorrect is your worst *****. Don't believe everything you read on the forums, though. The Catapult used to have a couple of very strong builds, but it was changes in the overall game and the introduction of other 'mechs that passed it by - not the scaling of the ears. It used to be a mainstream 'mech, but it was never the meta.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

Chados, on 30 August 2015 - 12:20 PM, said:

Because I support the movement to fix the Catapult. I've chosen to display that. Is that evil? The Catapult is my favorite mech. And five of the nine I own are Catapults. The overwhelming majority of my in-game experience has been collectively aboard the A1C, C1, and C4 Catapults; I've mastered the A1C and C4 and I'm within 7500MXP of mastering the C1.

Don't let anyone tell you the CPLT isn't a GREAT chassis. It IS.

I own a couple myself. Held on to a K2 and a JESTER. The latter may yet see time in my IS drop deck. GREAT snipers, those two. And the 'proper' Catapults, the missile birds, need only wait until balancing puts LRMs back in the meta, and they'll be common as cockroaches again.

Played with a couple guys yesterday who still swear by LRMs, and ran Cats. They regularly put up 600-800 or more in damage, and I can certainly understand how with high-volume LRM boats.

So you keep that right up, mister!

Back OT: I'll shamelessly plug QQ Ragequit Mercenary Corps for just a second. Casuals and competitors all welcome. Swing by and say 'HI' some time. You might even get me to pull out the ACH spotter build for ya...