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MischiefSC, on 09 March 2013 - 08:07 PM, said:
I'd disagree with that. The problem is that just about everyone is pretty accurate now. Hence the need to make cockpits only slightly larger than a single missiles hitbox.
The key is to make the CoF small. You can still hit a torso, arm, leg or the like at 500m with a good eye. The issue is 3 or 4 converged weapons hitting a cockpit at 800 while jumping. it also adds a useful weapon balancing factor. Currently it's hard to differentiate effectively between weapons without painfully limiting hardpoints.
In a game where accurate, well placed fire is pantamount to the second-by-second strategy, any sort of target deviation ruins the tactical depth and becomes all about who can put out the largest alpha strike. This game rewards carefully placing shots in weakened or exposed areas. Remove that ability, and it becomes about who can put the most damage down range. This kind of mechanic wouldn't really hurt splat cats, or pepsi snipers (who cares how accurate you're being when you're getting pegged by 60 damage?) or LRM boats. It wouldn't bother AC20 cats or dual gauss builds all that much, either. Sure, you won't be as perfectly accurate, but you've still got a high alpha that can put a lot of damage downrange.
What this -will- cripple is smaller ballistics, like mechs that mount a single gauss or AC20, or the smaller autocannons. The key to making these mechs work is extremely accurate placement of shots. Pummeling your enemy in his weakened sections and making those shots count. Take away that perfect accuracy and you absolutely ruin these mechs' ability to fight.
