132 replies to this topic

[Garth Erlam]

Merchant, on 26 March 2013 - 10:04 AM, said:

Can we have 1 or 2 more of these for May? Dare I ask 1 for each weight class? That would give several designs for several months. You could even use other designs in the current Heavy topic for later times so that's 1 class done until a new Heavy comes along.

Given the replies, it doesn't seem too popular an idea (and it's a lot of work to gather replies, make a list, and have people vote.) We'll see though.

[Paula Fry]

Edited by Paula Fry, 26 March 2013 - 10:38 AM.

[BLUPRNT]

Fustercluck, on 26 March 2013 - 10:25 AM, said:

I am not sure what you are suggesting here. Are you saying we have a Dragon trial mech now because you already own three Dragons?

furthermore if you compare this to the usual trial mechs this one is actually tuned to some degree and not prone to overheating like a lot of other trials have done in the past.

Yes while compared to other trials in the past it is more managable in heat. The comparison was into that the ones I have built may be a bit more flexible in regards to learning all weapon styles and managing heat as well as survival. The dragon usually gets cored yes, but if pilot can protect his CT than more than likley thier gonna lose and arm and the Gauss is not the toughest gun by any means. Lose the the other arm and whats left. The Gauss which has a high learning curve by way of leading due to slug velocity and the various pings abroad.
My thoughts are, this is the communities choice to introduce the possibilty of a custom build to a new player???

[Suko]

Ramrod, on 26 March 2013 - 10:16 AM, said:

Dragons don't get cored in the side torsos very often due to the giant potbelly CT. You are literally complaining about nothing.

Actually, that isn't literally nothing. Maybe you should find out what the definition of literally is before you start using it to bash people on a public internet forum.

Edited by ShadowVFX, 26 March 2013 - 10:41 AM.

[Rofl]

ShadowVFX, on 26 March 2013 - 10:41 AM, said:

Actually, that isn't literally nothing. Maybe you should find out what the definition of literally is before you start using it to bash people on a public internet forum.

To be fair, if the dragon had a std engine people would be very puzzled and probably complain four times as much.

[Terminal Mehmet]

Garth Erlam, on 26 March 2013 - 10:33 AM, said:

Given the replies, it doesn't seem too popular an idea (and it's a lot of work to gather replies, make a list, and have people vote.) We'll see though.

I'm actually really glad you guys had this "contest." I hope you don't let the negative commenters dissuade you from doing it again as it really will help out the newbies to not be stuck the stock mechs.

[ThunderOverWater]

Garth Erlam, on 26 March 2013 - 10:33 AM, said:

Given the replies, it doesn't seem too popular an idea (and it's a lot of work to gather replies, make a list, and have people vote.) We'll see though.

Well, you have almost 2000 unique votes and over 700 submissions, but you're right, there's no torrent of rageposting. Popular? Yes. Controversial? Nope. Seems like consensus to me; make it a thing.

[Anders]

Garth Erlam, on 26 March 2013 - 10:33 AM, said:

Given the replies, it doesn't seem too popular an idea (and it's a lot of work to gather replies, make a list, and have people vote.) We'll see though.

Mr. Erlam:

With a little under 2000 total votes, plus countless submissions, we here at the Word of Lowtax would suggest that this has been an amazingly positive event which has given the userbase something to do to assist the new player experience.

Given that our internal documents for assisting newbirds (our new pilots) currently runs 28 000 words or so, anything that we can do as a group to assist the transition from free robots to paid ones is a great initiative. You should be commended for taking this initiative under your wing, Garth! We here at the Word of Lowtax look forward to the next round of submissions!

We here at the Word of Lowtax realize that you have limited entertainment destinations and appreciate that you're spending your entertainment electrons on us. Please continue to choose the Word of Lowtax in your future holiday destination spending! We are grateful for your out of the box, blue-sky thinking, and appreciate you touching base with us here at the Word of Lowtax. We hope to synergize our efforts to achieve quantifiable paradigm redefinitions in a future collaboration soon.

Robotically Yours,
Anders

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[Tesunie]

Dragons are nice mechs, but as far as trial mechs go, Dragons are hard mechs to use well. Most people jump into a heavy not to move fast but to cause a lot of damage. Though this build looks great for a Dragon (which I like my Dragon's), I voted for the Cataphrat because I felt new players would have an easier time with it.

Still, great mech. I do hope people like the way it plays. To make new players lives easier, is this going to be sold on the market as is as well? That way players can buy this custom without having to remake it themselves.

Still concerned with newer players running this trial and charging in. That extra speed can get you into trouble if you are careful...

[Surtr]

I have been running a 1n with virtually the same build since closed beta. It is very viable and can fill multiple roles.

[Deathlike]

Garth Erlam, on 26 March 2013 - 10:33 AM, said:

Given the replies, it doesn't seem too popular an idea (and it's a lot of work to gather replies, make a list, and have people vote.) We'll see though.

I don't think you realize how important this contest is, relative to the problems with trial mechs in general.

We want newbies to stay, instead of continuing to suffer that is the current state of trial mechs.

The bickering we do here is minor compared to other issues.

[Aldrenean]

To the people saying this build is "nothing special," or that it needs a more diverse weapons loadout:

New players do not need or want a build that needs 3-4 weapon groups minimum to use effectively. This build is perfect for a brand new player because:

1) It has only two types of weapons, one basically a rifle, the other lasers, both instantly and intuitively understandable to anyone who's played a game or watched a movie before.

2) Both are mounted in the arms, thus using the same (more responsive) cursor, eliminating another major point of confusion.

3) It has insanely high heat dissipation, giving a newbie plenty of time to notice his heat building up, and indeed probably not overheating at all unless they're constantly holding down the LLs on Caustic or Tourmaline.


Apart from all of that, it's actually a damn good build. I wonder if anyone bitching about it has actually run it. I haven't, I don't own Dragons, but I've run an almost identical build on my CTF-1X, and one of my regular lancemates has started using it and loves it, often breaks 500 damage.

Saying that a gauss rifle has a high learning curve is silly. Yes, it's hard to hit things at max range, but projectiles are not some advanced, arcane concept that new players will be baffled by. Most newbies don't even see things more than 1k out, they tend to engage at 600m or less, which makes hitting most Gauss shots pretty easy.

The only weakness I see in this build for a new player is the non-CASE-able Gauss in the arm. New players have no concept of component damage or protecting your vulnerable side, so I can see lots of newbies dying with mostly full armor except on that arm. I would say that it might teach them to twist away from shots, but the post-death damage report is utterly unreadable even for experience players, so I don't see them realizing what caused their death without someone telling them.

[MrTarget]

I voted for the other guy... But grats dude! Will look forward to seeing your build out there

[HammerHawk]

Congrats to Phorashi's and his Dragon DRG-5N!

Hopefully we will get more community events like this!

[Vhetra]

Deathlike, on 26 March 2013 - 09:53 AM, said:

The sad thing is that the 5N build isn't anything special. The 4X was actually viable for something that wasn't a complete classic AC2/UAC5 boat.

And yet that build doesn't have a single AC on it. Imagine that!

I, for one, am happy to see a Dragon win. The basic loadouts are so awful that people using them as trial mechs probably get a bad impression of them. At least this way they'll get to see what the glorious 'mech can actually do.


Even if all I drive are Drac hand-me-downs.

[Xenon Codex]

BLUPRNT, on 26 March 2013 - 10:38 AM, said:

Yes while compared to other trials in the past it is more managable in heat. The comparison was into that the ones I have built may be a bit more flexible in regards to learning all weapon styles and managing heat as well as survival. The dragon usually gets cored yes, but if pilot can protect his CT than more than likley thier gonna lose and arm and the Gauss is not the toughest gun by any means. Lose the the other arm and whats left. The Gauss which has a high learning curve by way of leading due to slug velocity and the various pings abroad.
My thoughts are, this is the communities choice to introduce the possibilty of a custom build to a new player???

I tend to agree with you. Dragon's are my favorite chassis, but they definitely require some getting used to.
This is a good build and a huge improvement over the other trial mechs (especially that DRG-1C in there now), so hopefully some new players will find it enjoyable and not die so quickly!

I applaud PGI for letting us build and choose a trial mech. I think it would be a great idea if the trial mechs each had a long description, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each design and how best to play it.

[Deathlike]

I would like to add:

When it comes to this contest, the biggest bickering factor is the "selection process". A lot of these builds (we're talking more than half) are not newbie friendly builds and/or could be better in some way shape or form. I'm talking more along of likes of not using DHS.

I think Paul referred to a 19 SHS build Catapult build he uses when he was discussing coolant and any good mech builder knows that just going straight DHS is a already a major upgrade than adding 10 SHS to ANY build. We're not even talking about adding another med laser or ton of ammo here or there.. just terrible builds that were selected in this contest.

The majority (over 50%) of the builds are just AWFUL, so perhaps you need to discuss ways of improving your selection process by learning a bit about building a decent mech, even if it wasn't for you, but someone else could be using it. That's where the negativity comes from. Recognizing why a build is bad is easier than to figure out if stuffing an extra DHS is better than adding a ton of ammo. These are different and conflicting issues, but you have to start from the beginning... figuring out what is actually usable through playtesting, and not just putting a "paper mech" together.

[FrostCollar]

I think it looks pretty intuitive for a starter mech. Armed with a few pretty hard hitting weapons that work out to mid range, and relatively fast. It should be pretty easy to pick up and it's miles ahead of the trial Dragon.

Really, this contest wasn't about the best builds but about making a trial build that's better for new players than the current ones. I'd say it succeeded and I'd be quite happy for another one. I just wish the submission criteria was a bit more streamlined! Just listing everything out is a lot less intuitive than something like smurfy.

[Buso Senshi Zelazny]

I voted for the 4X, but am excited to see a Dragon win. Hopefully this shows new and old players alike that the Dragon is a fun a viable chassis.

[Redshift2k5]

DanNashe, on 26 March 2013 - 10:01 AM, said:

Those heat sinks are doubles, right? :-)

If we follow the breadcrumbs to the source, we can actually see it has Endo, Ferro, and DHS (not just ferro as in the first post of this thread) http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__2055918

Not my pick, but not terrible. A lot of what forumites might call a "good" build may be too hot or too complicated for complete noobs, and this is the one that won the vote. Fast, simple, elegant, not bad for a free mech.

I still think my 4x large laser K2 is a great noob build, but it didn't even make the vote

Edited by Redshift2k5, 26 March 2013 - 11:06 AM.