79 replies to this topic

[InvictusLee]

Load times are unbelievably long.Takes twenty minutes to jump into a match and takes three minutes or less to be blown to pieces. If all we are gonna do is match making why cant we have smaller matches and therefore faster load times?

To top it off my team almost always gets slaughtered every match, and if i happen to survive I am usually hunted down. Then the HUD starts to shake. It shakes alot, at THE MOST inopportune time, like when I'm shooting at something.

I rarely do over 156 damage. I never get kills. I am killed more often than not, even if I'm striking at vital spots. I've tried all different kinds of load outs, different weapons, Tons of heat sinks, no heat sinks. Sniper? Sure, right until I get ganged up on. Brawler? It's great except to do any damage I have to get insanely close which cause me to become a target. All around? Missile Boat? Its the same all the time. I die quickly.

The only reason I like this game at all is because I like Mechs but playing this game is like an exercise in masochism. I say this after playing over 100 matches. I'd much rather be playing through a story mode, hitting objectives, and actually enjoying the reason I came to this game: The mechs.

If I wanted to take potshots at people I'd just go play Destiny.

[Aresye]

Look at your mini-map. Cross-reference what's happening on the mini-map with what you see happening in front of you. Look where your team needs support to cover a blind area, stay with your team, move with your team, shoot with your team.

Skill matters more in high-end comp play. In solo and group queue, it doesn't matter if your aim isn't perfect. If you work with your team and constantly think through the match, "How can I help my team win this match," you'll start noticing more wins and higher damage numbers.

All the examples you listed have you in specific roles and loadouts, but no specific role or loadout is going to help you do better if you aren't fully dedicating that role to the team's effort.

You're right, this is a frustrating game, but a lot of the frustration comes from thinking it's just like any other FPS. Teamwork has the largest impact on the outcome of the match. You need to always be thinking about how you can best serve your team at any given moment.

[Team Chevy86]

20 minutes?

[El Bandito]

November11th, on 08 October 2015 - 11:42 PM, said:

Newbie stuff...

Look mate, this happens to almost everyone when they first start to play the game. MWO is not your average Call of Battlefield Halo Destiny. One will need months of play to become not sucky at this game, much less the pitiful 100 matches you have played so far. It took me 4-6 months just to get out of 0.25 Win/Loss ratio, and another 4 to make it 1:1.

But if you persevere and keep playing while asking about things you do not understand in the forums, you will get better, I assure you. So either keep trying, or forever consign yourself to be a lowbie.

And for Pete's sake, DON'T blame your team for every loss. You are the only constant in those losses.

Edited by El Bandito, 09 October 2015 - 12:12 AM.

[Speedy Plysitkos]

20 minutes ? you must be talking about CW then.
In pug, im waiting 3 minutes maximum to start a game, sometimes 10-20 seconds.
regarding doing 156 damage, and 0 kills. did you tried assaults ?

[Prof RJ Gumby]

20 minutes to find a match? You're not talking about CW, are you? In solo queue, I usually wait less than a minute, often below 15 seconds (heavies have the longest wait time usually, dunno how much exactly because I don't own a single heavy). In a group queue, wait times are 5 minutes max. Where do you live and which servers do you have on? If ~US or Europe, try to have at least both UE and US servers ticked, the ping on the 'other continent' isn't really bad (there was only the US server half a year ago, and Euro players tend to get along just fine).

How many matches did you have under your belt? Your scores seem more or less normal for a begginer. If you want advice on mechs, tell us which one do you like and I'm sure people will be happy to provide you with info on good builds. Also remember than the mech will always underperform more or less, unless you unlock all elite skills (you have to have 3 variants basiced first, sort of F2P tax).

And remember, this is a pvp game. In every PVP game, the global average win/loss ratio is 1, the average kill/death ratio is also 1. It's normal to die without any kills in a match, most games only about half the players score a kill.

[Overlord Neb]

November11th, on 08 October 2015 - 11:42 PM, said:

I rarely do over 156 damage.

That's... oddly specific

[Alistair Winter]

Almost everyone went through the same thing when they started this game, however... it's probably a lot worse now than when most of the 2012 and 2013-generation players started. The game mechanics are more convoluted (quirks, ghost heat, ECM counters, etc) and the really good players have been playing a lot longer. If you make it to Tier 4, congratulations. You're now potentially being matched up with the Tier 1 players who could pick your mech apart even if they were running a Mist Lynx. Except they're not running a Mist Lynx, they're running that super polished meta Timber Wolf build they've been perfecting the last 10 months.

So yeah, I can see that it's rough. If it gets too bad, just join up with a good unit. You may not get the top scores, but a good win rate should improve your kill/death ration by default.

Ghazzy, on 09 October 2015 - 12:12 AM, said:

That's... oddly specific

OP is Karl Pilkington.

[Prof RJ Gumby]

El Bandito, on 09 October 2015 - 12:07 AM, said:

Look mate, this happens to almost everyone when they first start to play the game. MWO is not your average Call of Battlefield Halo Destiny. One will need months of play to become not sucky at this game, much less the pitiful 100 matches you have played so far. It took me 4-6 months just to get out of 0.25 Win/Loss ratio, and another 4 to make it 1:1.

Now you're exaggerating. Tiers 4 and especially 5 are filled with players who are still learning the ropes. Only problem here is you start at middle tier 4, not upper tier 5. Probably so alt account griefers won't be able to grief the newbies too much. Anyway, some practice and OP will do just fine. I've experienced tiers 5-3 myself. You wouldn't believe how battles at tier 5 look like. I couldn't.

El Bandito, on 09 October 2015 - 12:07 AM, said:

And for Pete's sake, DON'T blame your team for every loss. You are the only constant in those losses.

1/12 of every loss is the fault of the individual player. Loose streaks happen. When I started, I needed to play 8 games to have my first win. My friend, less experienced with games like these, started with a win streak of 3 or 4 games.

EDIT: Oh, the screen shake is most probably due to you getting hit by LRMs. Long Range Missles tent to look terribly overpowered when you start the game, but when you learn how to counter them they won't be so scary. Games in higher tiers usually have no LRMs at all, because everybody and their brother know how to defend themselves against them to a point where they are nearly useless. For starters, equip an AMS (and/or ECM if your mech can do it) and run to high cover when you get the missle warning.

Edited by Prof RJ Gumby, 09 October 2015 - 12:34 AM.

[PyckenZot]

November11th, on 08 October 2015 - 11:42 PM, said:

"takes three minutes or less to be blown to pieces"
"my team almost always gets slaughtered every match, and if i happen to survive I am usually hunted down"
"I rarely do over 156 damage. I never get kills. I am killed more often than not, even if I'm striking at vital spots."

Says more about you than the game imho. The first 2 points even sound as if you're one of those suicide lights.
I would propose to practice at the game, use the minimap, stay with the team, communicate, learn to torsotwist.

When it comes to loadouts, check out
www.mechspecs.com
www.metamechs.com
http://www.nogutsnog...forum/index.php

A lot of people have shared and discussed a variety of good and less good builds.

On your last point. Any PVP game is sort of masochism. There is always a bigger fish out there that'll eat you.

Edited by PyckenZot, 09 October 2015 - 12:32 AM.

[InvictusLee]

Team Chevy86, on 09 October 2015 - 12:04 AM, said:

20 minutes?

It's long enough for me to boot up a video and watch it all the way through. 15-20 minute wait on my Ebon Jaguar is no exaggeration.

El Bandito, on 09 October 2015 - 12:07 AM, said:

And for Pete's sake, DON'T blame your team for every loss. You are the only constant in those losses.

I never said I blame them, I am just sick of being gangbanged, or getting a face full of timberwolf.

Titannium, on 09 October 2015 - 12:07 AM, said:

20 minutes ? you must be talking about CW then.
In pug, im waiting 3 minutes maximum to start a game, sometimes 10-20 seconds.
regarding doing 156 damage, and 0 kills. did you tried assaults ?

I die faster in assaults, the direwolf especially for some reason. I am much better at heavies and the random mystlynx.

Prof RJ Gumby, on 09 October 2015 - 12:08 AM, said:

How many matches did you have under your belt? Your scores seem more or less normal for a begginer. If you want advice on mechs, tell us which one do you like and I'm sure people will be happy to provide you with info on good builds. Also remember than the mech will always underperform more or less, unless you unlock all elite skills (you have to have 3 variants basiced first, sort of F2P tax).

I only have the one mech so I cant go past Tier 4. Kills / Death
21 / 116 Kill / Death Ratio 0.18

Ghazzy, on 09 October 2015 - 12:12 AM, said:

That's... oddly specific

Its weird but I rarely get higher than the 150's. I see other people doing damage in the thousands and I'm frustrated.

Alistair Winter, on 09 October 2015 - 12:24 AM, said:

Except they're not running a Mist Lynx, they're running that super polished meta Timber Wolf build they've been perfecting the last 10 months.

So how do I counter that? Buy more mechs? O_O

[LowSubmarino]

This game is actually easy.

Get a good mech like the madcat or hellbringer or stalker (check forum) and get a meta loadout. Stay with team, stay in cover. Find an enemy mech in range, unleash as many alphas as possible and hide behind cover again. Change position if necessary, rinse and repeat.

If a player has any shooter experience then mwo is prolly the easiest game he/she has ever played. Its a shooter in ultra slow mo.

If your team sucks then theres nothing you can do but die. If you hunt for kills you will die as an inexperienced player. Its way more important to stay with group and position yourself smartly.

If you have a mech that has high mounted weapons (e.g. stalker) you can poke over ridges or what not, barely exposing yourself and shoot. If you have a mobile mech like the madcat you can jump to great positions. Shoot and get out of harms way again.

If you die all the time and only get 150ish dmg, then you die after doing only a handful alphas. Thats definitely your mistake and your playstyle. You seem to expose yourself to multiple mechs each time you engage the enemy. Thats not how you play. Thats how you die and serve as cannonfodder.

Ppl use uavs all the time. Expect the enemy to know where you are long before you have a clear los in 9 out of 10 times. Play accordingly. Dont present a target.

Noobs and newbies see three friendly mechs shooting at enemies from a narrow position. They try to squeeze inbetween or push from behind to shoot as well. Thats how a lot of ppl die all the time. They just play abysmal.

If half the enemy team is pointing there guns in your direction you do not leave cover. You will die instantly or lose most armor without accomplishing anything.

Most really bad players I see die, because they aimlessly run. Clearly visible on radar and even choosing expected approach vectors.

On most maps ppl know exactly where the enemy team will go. Stay in the back. Stay in cover. Dont fall back either.

If you stay in cover and with group, if you have half decent aim and understand the mechanics of your mech and weapons then mwo is the easiest shooter ever.

Its not hard to get 500 - 800 dmg. Once you focus on these things you will get kills automatically. But its much more efficient to focus fire with your team. Help them, cover them, stay alive as long as possible, get locks for them, write in chat if you see multiple mechs flank your team.

A brief '4 mechs going to our left' is all you need to say sometimes. That way your team can react to the threat, will have a much higher chance to survive and thus enable you to live longer and do more dmg too.

If you just run around aimlessly and die after 4 alphas then you do not understand the game.

Watch on youtube how the game is played.

20 mins wait time???

In Cw maybe. But nobody plays cw.

Normal que is 1 - 2 mins.

[Oberost]

November11th, on 09 October 2015 - 12:39 AM, said:

So how do I counter that? Buy more mechs? O_O

No, just play more...

[Navid A1]

November11th, on 08 October 2015 - 11:42 PM, said:

Load times are unbelievably long.Takes twenty minutes to jump into a match and takes three minutes or less to be blown to pieces. If all we are gonna do is match making why cant we have smaller matches and therefore faster load times?

To top it off my team almost always gets slaughtered every match, and if i happen to survive I am usually hunted down. Then the HUD starts to shake. It shakes alot, at THE MOST inopportune time, like when I'm shooting at something.

I rarely do over 156 damage. I never get kills. I am killed more often than not, even if I'm striking at vital spots. I've tried all different kinds of load outs, different weapons, Tons of heat sinks, no heat sinks. Sniper? Sure, right until I get ganged up on. Brawler? It's great except to do any damage I have to get insanely close which cause me to become a target. All around? Missile Boat? Its the same all the time. I die quickly.

The only reason I like this game at all is because I like Mechs but playing this game is like an exercise in masochism. I say this after playing over 100 matches. I'd much rather be playing through a story mode, hitting objectives, and actually enjoying the reason I came to this game: The mechs.

If I wanted to take potshots at people I'd just go play Destiny.

Unfortunately, that is currently the new player experience in MWO.... also you forgot the endless grind with minimum to no rewards and having to buy a chassis in three variants to be able to have fun in 1.

boy, am i glad i started in the old days... before paulconomy...

November11th, on 08 October 2015 - 11:42 PM, said:

...because I like Mechs but playing this game is like an exercise in masochism.

This summarizes MWO pug (and sometimes group) play in its current state.... pretty accurately!

[Alistair Winter]

November11th, on 09 October 2015 - 12:39 AM, said:

So how do I counter that? Buy more mechs? O_O

Playing in the solo queue is hardmode for new players. If you want to make it easier, you can go get the "meta" builds. The best mechs with the best loadouts, such as the Thunderbolts or Timber Wolves with only lasers, or laser + gauss.

But joining a big unit and playing in the group queue is also an alternative.

[Apathy Enrage]

I agree with Alistair, pug cue is rough, group cue is the way to go... Even losing feels a lot more satisfying when you're working with a team and you guys account for most of the damage and kills. It's personal satisfaction.

Also, there's this handy little readout of how many people are playing each class of mech. If Mediums are sitting at 50% and you're trying to drop in one, you're gonna have a bad time.... And let's face it, heavies are ALWAYS high...

Also, people whining about the grind... You guys do realise this game has minimal grinding, right? I reference EVE online or friggen Destiny even... I was basicing my crabs and bought 2 zeus's in 1 day of gameplay (roughly 4 hours)... That's nothing...

[Prof RJ Gumby]

November11th, on 09 October 2015 - 12:39 AM, said:

It's long enough for me to boot up a video and watch it all the way through. 15-20 minute wait on my Ebon Jaguar is no exaggeration.

Again, check what servers do you have ticked. Do you use Oceanic server only? The only reason for such wait times is using only one server outside of peak hours for that server (afternoon-evening in that and neightbouring time zones).

Quote

I die faster in assaults, the direwolf especially for some reason. I am much better at heavies and the random mystlynx.
I only have the one mech so I cant go past Tier 4. Kills / Death
21 / 116 Kill / Death Ratio 0.18

That's normal stats for a newbie. Had exactly 0.18 when I started

Quote

Its weird but I rarely get higher than the 150's. I see other people doing damage in the thousands and I'm frustrated.

Funny thing is, people with "thousands" of damage actually must suck a lot. You can kill a mech with average of 80 damage when you aim good. Less for lights. Most experienced players will tell you that if you have above 800 damage in a match, you must have a bad aim, unless you have 5+ kills on top of that. 150dmg is average that you need to kill an average mech most of the time.

Quote

So how do I counter that? Buy more mechs? O_O

Don't listen to him. People who "perfected the meta timberwolf for 10 months" don't play in your tier. You can't be good and stay at tier 4. I am average IMHO and I use many weird builds, and I'm tier 3, going up. (tier 5 is lowest, 1 is highest, you're on tier 4, meta timberwolf masters sit at tier 1 and you'll never meet them until you advance in tiers, hell I never meet them myself).

Edited by Prof RJ Gumby, 09 October 2015 - 01:03 AM.

[Speedy Plysitkos]

i think doing 156 damage means, you have not yet found your weight class.

[zaku potion]

I dont think I got one kill in my first 100 games.

[Apathy Enrage]

Prof RJ Gumby, on 09 October 2015 - 12:53 AM, said:

Funny thing is, people with "thousands" of damage actually must suck a lot. You can kill a mech with average of 80 damage when you aim good. Less for lights. Most experienced players will tell you that if you have above 800 damage in a match, you must have a bad aim, unless you have 5+ kills on top of that. 150dmg is average that you need to kill an average mech most of the time.

I disagree. I've got good aim, and high damage doesn't mean that at all. Kill Securing runs rampant in this game... I cannot tell you enough how many times I've had games of 800-1000+ damage and gotten only 1 or 2 kills, if even those, because as soon as I get something cored, if anyone happens to be targeting that mech, suddenly it's "override engaged, activate all the things, must get kill nao", and frankly, THAT'S what being a bad player is... If you overheat just to get a kill, that's a solid 10 second's you're vulnerable, not dealing damage, not helping your team, not getting assists, not moving, spotting, tagging, whatever it is you do... I'll take 1000 damage, 9 kill assists with most damage dealt with the W any day... My goal is to keep myself alive, with my team, and putting out as much consistent damage as possible... THAT is how you are a team player in a Fire Support mech... Once you stop thinking of kills as being the be all end all goal, and start focusing on what it takes to help your team secure the W, then you'll suddenly see a much better outcome to your games.

Also, as far as meta mechs are concerned... I SELDOM run meta... Mostly just for CW and even then, they're close, but they've all got my own personal twist to fit my playstyle... I don't run 4Ns, or laser vomit timbers... And I'm pretty much always top damage in game... Meta makes me laugh, 'cause it just means you're playing the game on easy mode