11 replies to this topic

[Blackice001]

Etiquette 101.

New players may find others in game get agitated by their behavior. The community as a whole is quite open and pleasant to new players, however, there are some forms of behavior that will irk and irritate other players. I will list a few off the common behaviors in no specific order.

1) Don't stand directly behind other players. The most common mistake a new player makes that will cause others to become angry the quickest. A player will peek out from behind cover and take a shot. This of course draws fire to his location and he needs to back up quickly into cover. If a new player stands directly behind him, the result is he's exposed and takes a lot of damage.

2) A "Push" is often called and this means everyone charges the enemy. A common mistake of new players is to walk out from behind cover and then stop to shoot. Many times a push is through a choke point and if you stop moving forward then none of the people behind you can shoot the enemy or move forward. This also means incoming damage from the enemy is not spread out among other mechs and you likely will suntan a larger amount of damage or cause the players who moved forward before you to become primary targets. This results in a failed push or severely reduces the effect of the push overall.

3) Sometimes a player will volunteer to be a Drop caller. Strategy starts on the mech ready up screen. Important information that needs to be collected starts on this screen. One important piece of information is usually how much LRM or missile support is available. This has several effects on which strategies will be most likely effective. If you have LRM's it is good etiquette to type in chat a response that identifies yourself as having missile support. " please lock targets", " 2x LRM 15's here ", " I have LRM's " are all examples of responses that are acceptable. This is a very nice thing to do before each match and in return reminds others to lock and hold targets for you.

4) Aggro vs the Drop Caller. It takes a lot of confidence for someone to step up and Drop Call. This comes at the risk of making bad calls and poor decisions and having other players become hostile toward them in voice chat. This isn't helpful, and is also poor etiquette. Remember only one team gets to win and even if the drop caller does his job flawlessly, their can be many variables in play that cause a loss. In stead of voicing your displease at having a game go poorly, try to offer constructive criticism or just offer a "GG" ( Good Game ) and hope the next game goes better.

5) If you use multiple monitors and are actively managing something out of game, please return to game before the match starts. The reason is when you click on the game to return, you'll fire all your primary weapons and accidental friendly fire can occur. I see this very often and I understand how it happens, however others may become hostile or abusive if you start off a game by shooting others in the back. If and when this occurs please offer an apology quickly so the situation resolves and everyone can go back to focusing on the game.

6) The blessed "R" button. The most important key on your keyboard for helping out the rest of the team. By pressing this button the enemy you see becomes visible to the entire team. A drop caller can not make effective calls if he doesn't know the enemies positions. A missile boat can not support you if they can't see your target, and other players won't know if their position is compromised unless you press that magical button.

7) New player selection of mechs by weight class. Choosing the wrong class as a new player can have negative results on the teams overall performance. I'll briefly list the classes and explain why mediums are the best for new players.

Light lancers. The light lance are the most difficult mechs to play. Before a new player chooses to play this class they need to have skills in navigating mechs. This involves knowing the map very well and also knowing enemy strategies and spawn locations. In addition they also have to understand how to move around without being seen. With out this knowledge it is difficult for a new player to effectively help his team.

Heavies and Assaults. Not a difficult class understand perhaps the most simpl of all the roles, but also one of the most important positions for the success of the entire team. Before a new player moves into this class they need to be able to hit their targets consistently and understand when they need to draw enemy fire and take damage for the rest of the team. An assault that dies after doing 100 points of damage can result if the loss for the entire team. It is because of this high requirement of the classes performance that a new player should avoid these weight classes till they have more of the basic knowledge under their belt.

The medium weight classes are the best place for a new player to start. These mechs are the most versatile as far as how they benefit the team. A new player can experiment with different styles of play that will later help them choose to move up or down in weight based on what works for them the most. The loss of a medium mech will have the least effect of the overall performance of the entire team. Some may disagree with this statement, but in my experience I find this to be true. As a medium player you need to focus on learning all of the various basic skills and only afterwards choose to move into a new weight class. These basic skills include common strategies used on each map, how to use cover and to identify when to abandon your position and move to safety, torso twisting to spread out incoming damage, and to learn all the various commands used by the Drop callers.


Thanks for reading and Good luck in you next match!

[Hans Brackhaus]

Some good advice here, to be sure. I'd like to add another point:

When you die, don't blame the team. Especially if you didn't communicate whatever plan you had to them. We're not mind readers. All too often I see players run off and die without saying a word of their intent, and then start raging at the team in chat or over the mic. It's pointless and childish, at best you're being ignored and at worst you'll get reported.

As an addendum to point #4, the Drop Caller shouldn't take it out on the team when his plan doesn't go the way he wanted it to. I bring this up because I've seen it a couple times lately. The guy calls a plan, the majority of the team tries to carry it out (there's always some that don't listen) but it fails for whatever reason. The Caller then starts to berate the team over voice about our "poor performance," how much we "suck," or how we all act like "idiots." This is a game, and nobody is here to be put down by some faceless stranger because of how we play this game. Good etiquette is a two-way street!
In regards to weight classes, I think new players should be encouraged to try out all 4. Some people just click with a certain class or playstyle. Myself, I found heavies to be a lot more forgiving of my early mistakes than mediums. But there are Trial 'mechs of all 4 classes and that should be taken advantage of.

[Bohxim]

May I suggest as an add on to your first point, as much as possible if you see a friendly shooting across at enemies, try to detour to wait for gaps between firing to run past. Or at least call out so they know. Friendly fire may be a cheap penalty but a friendly kill kinda sucks to both the shooter and one killed. If you do have to run across mid fire (eg to avoid larger incoming fire) a quick apology or acknowledgement over voip is quite appreciated and at the least don't berate them for it.

Love the topic BTW
#MakeMWOgreatagain

[Nerd Incognito]

Great points, all. I especially appreciate someone pointing out the role of assaults that newbies may not think about: when to take damage and draw fire for the rest of the team. There's nothing worse than having a new player sit in the rear in an assault, launching LRMs and not even paying attention to the battle. I'm not totally against LRMs--I think they have their place--but assaults need to be up with the rest of the pack, doing and taking damage.

I also agree on the choice of a medium mech. I started with a TBR, and I suspect my general terribleness with it was more harmful to my team than it could have been with a medium. I was just armoured enough to feel brash and balzy, with no skills to back it up. Losing a well-armed and armoured heavy with only 200 damage and no kills can be a big deal in a firefight; losing a medium with only 100 damage and no kills is considerably less problematic.

[InspectorG]

"Hold Locks plz, LRM100 here!"

Basically means: you risk your armor, ill sit in the back 'supporting' the team. This will not usually be received well, unless some 'wacky' event is running.

The 'proper' way to LuRM is to do so in a fairly mobile mech and generally stay @400m from the main action and use your own TAG or NARC.

Why?

400m lets your missiles get there quicker(enemy has less time to hide) and you offer yourself up as a target making the enemy decide on who to shoot(dilutes enemy DPS)

TAG is for insta-locks, specially vs ECM. Narc is similar. BOTH help missile spread...which is GOOD.

Asking if teammates have Narc is acceptible, they may be in it for 'role' play or the rewards. Feel free to coordinate with them but they should tend to prioritize fatmechs, and you should pay attention.

[Blackice001]

Thanks for the replies guys. I noticed another wave of new players recently. I'm hearing a lot of new players apologizing before the match even begins which prompted me to write the post. I can only assume they had a bad experience and were made to feel a burden to the team. Please don't feel this way! Everyone on your team started out just like you, and if someone feels the need to yell at you it makes the community as a whole look bad. Have I yelled at someone for standing behind me, or not following my drop calls..... Sadly yes, As a player I too had to mature and adjust my perspective. Since I've started drop calling I've learned that encourage and complimenting players usually works out much better.

Its a game, have fun, You can pull a 0-12 match and still have a good time. Even if you die first, --->Spectate, look at players fits, watch how they torso twist and dodge. Watch the battle map, see how the battle moves and flows, You must know a thing to understand a thing. Once you see tactics and skills other players are employing you'll understand what players are thinking and whats expected from your team..

The best trick I've learned is, you don't need any weapons at all to kill an enemy. Keep his attention and turn his back to your friends...... Thank them and everyone gets their LoL's in.

[Daggett]

Good points. There is quite some rage going on during matches and each initiative to reduce that is welcomed.
I also agree that mediums are probably the easiest class to learn the game on for most new players.

Regarding assaults i think they are even more harder to play correctly than stated here.

That's because they are often expected to lead the way and initiate a push when no Drop-Caller is present. And in my opinion it takes quite some experience to know the best attack vectors and the correct moment to push. So a single new player staying back when he should push or pushing (with his team gravitating around him) right into a strong enemy fire-line has the potential to cause a match-loss for the entire team.

A light mech player however is more independent and when he messes up, he rarely leads his entire team into a deathtrap.

So though lights require more 'functional' knowledge than assaults to be effective, the latter requires more 'tactical' knowledge to prevent leading his team into severe problems.

Edited by Daggett, 26 September 2016 - 07:01 AM.

[Jay Leon Hart]

Blackice001, on 11 September 2016 - 01:19 PM, said:

Etiquette 101.

6) The blessed "R" button. The most important key on your keyboard for helping out the rest of the team. By pressing this button the enemy you see becomes visible to the entire team. A drop caller can not make effective calls if he doesn't know the enemies positions. A missile boat can not support you if they can't see your target, and other players won't know if their position is compromised unless you press that magical button.

Easily the single most useful thing for people to learn. IDK if you need that KMDD for 10MC - press the frelling key!

[Daggett]

Jay Leon Hart, on 26 September 2016 - 12:58 PM, said:

Easily the single most useful thing for people to learn.

Indeed. Just spectated a guy who was ambushed and torn apart. Of cause he did not use the R-key and therefore his teammates right around the corner were unable to help him because they did not know that he was in trouble...

Edited by Daggett, 26 September 2016 - 02:24 PM.

[Jay Leon Hart]

Daggett, on 26 September 2016 - 02:22 PM, said:

Indeed. Just spectated a guy who was ambushed and torn apart. Of cause he did not use the R-key and therefore his teammates right around the corner were unable to help him because they did not know that he was in trouble...

Oh the amount of times I go to rescue a teammate because I notice they are taking damage, only to find 4+ 'mechs tearing them, then me, apart. I at least try to pop off a (an?) UAV before I die from an ambush.

[Insanity09]

Good advice.

A couple other suggestions:

Be kind to your drop callers, as the OP said, it takes confidence to step up and try to lead the herd of cats. Part of being kind to your caller means actually trying to pay attention to what they say. Even a good plan will fail if it isn't followed, but conversely, even a bad plan might just succeed if folks give it a try. (iow, any plan is better than none).

Intel is offered for a reason, it might be a good idea to pay some attention to it. If somebody says the enemy is pushing, not responding in any way kinda helps the enemy succeed. The exact response to intel will vary according to the situation, but rarely is doing nothing the right answer.

[The Basilisk]

-- When you pass by slower mechs dont move into their LOS towards the enemy and block your team mates fire.
You are damaging three partys this way.
Yourself or better your backarmor, your teammate by forcing the penalty on him and your team for beeing taken out of the game early.

-- If you've won the game don't GG or brag. You have won already so be a sport, its the loosing team that congratulates the winner first.