MuonNeutrino, on 01 January 2013 - 08:23 PM, said:
I think part of the perception of ECM's ubiquity might also be that, like lights, it has an impact all out of proportion to its numbers. It only takes 1 ECM mech in a match (12.5%) to have a massive effect on the ability of the opposing team to coordinate fire, use missiles, etc. And that '1 ECM' seems to be pretty common - you made me curious, so I went back and added a tally of ECM mechs per round to my spreadsheet, and out of 27 matches, 18 of them had at least one ECM on my team. And that's even *with* my being on the wrong side of the 'are you more likely to be teamed up with or fighting against a premade' thing. When a hypothetical opposing team is facing ECM in 2/3rds of matches, I think 'ECM is everywhere' is actually a fairly reasonable impression to come out with.
Maybe. I also wonder how much effect premades had on our numbers. Since we don't know how the matchmaker works, I'm curious if they find the premade and 4 others, then match to them (which could mean our assault heavy trials are actually based on assault heavy premades rampaging about), rather than just pooling two teams together and seeing what works.
Though the ECM is everywhere claim isn't that you see it in a majority of matches, and since over a 3rd of lights are running ECM at the moment it's fairly likely if you see a light you'll see ECM, is that ECM is overwhelming in each match, which I just don't believe is true, from our data and anecdotal experience. There are rough games where you see Atlaswarrior online, but with the high number of stalkers and catas/cataphracts running around, there just isn't a lot of room for ECM to BE on the other team.
Let's look at my 2nd set of data. In 20 matches, there were 44 assaults, 35 lights, and 28 mediums. That's on average 2 Atlases, 1 medium, and 1 light, with a 2nd light and medium every other match.
That's potentially 4-6 ECM mechs a match. The light is nearly guarenteed to be a raven, but you're about as likely to get a trial as the 3L (so in that two light match it's likely to just be a 2x/4x and a 3L). The cicada is nearly non-existant, so that medium slot is probably not that, and the assaults are split evenly between stalkers and the D-DC. So on average you're likely to only run into at most 2 ECM mechs a match on the opposite side, a raven, and a D-DC.
I....don't really have a problem with that. I have a problem with the fact that lights are nearly exclusively ravens, that needs to change, but having a D-DC a match doesn't really upset me all too much.
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Which makes me sad, as my centurion is my favorite mech. Hopefully adding new mediums like the trebuchet and blackjack can bring some life back to the class - you've got to admit that the current selection of mediums is pretty limited, given that the cicada and centurion are so unpopular.
I hope so, though I don't see people taking the trebuchet over the catapult or stalker in the long run (after the initial novelty wears off). Probably the stalker, as most Catapults seem to be running K2s thundercats and guasscats rather than pure missle boats, although there are plenty of A1 SRM6ers.
The biggest bludgeons to mediums came when the cadet bonus was added and R&R was removed. There's just no reason to take them when you know you're going to be facing multiple assaults nearly guarenteed.