13 replies to this topic

[Rackminster]

I took a few months off and re-upp'd my account two nights ago. I have to say that the game is feeling far more balanced now than I've ever seen it.

I PUG exclusively so my experiences might differ from yours if you're strictly grouping.

When I walked off last time, the game had seemed to devolve into two components - either solid walls of heavies and assault Mechs enshrouded in ECM that dominated the battlefield or zippy clusters of Lights that picked you apart and stayed safe from harm in lag-shield cocoons.

Given what I left, I've been really happy coming back.

I'm really seeing a good mix of Mechs - everything is out there in what feels like appropriate force (except LRM boats, which seem quite rare now; maybe that's a good thing?). When I load into a map, my team is everything - Hunchbacks, Catapults, Jagermechs, Highlanders, Awesomes, Centurions, Jenners - everything in a good mix and no excess of any one thing.

It's rare to see more than 2-3 Atlas Mechs in any given map, which is also refreshing. When I field my Atlas-D or Atlas D-DC I'm actually beginning to feel special in doing so. I don't run into a wall of opposing Atlas fodder.

I also haven't seen fleets of Lights dominating the field. They might run in packs of 2-3, but they also do a lot of legwork with beside the larger Mechs and offer fire support. This is the role I've taken with my Ravens and Jenner; I cruise along with the big dogs and when things get hot I flank and strike - and try to lead unwary opponents around corners into my team. It feels more like what the Light role should be - not just a ravenous pack of tiny ankle-biters all competing for back shots.

ECM seems to have calmed down considerably too - but maybe that's because LRM's are scarce. Almost no one seems to actively cluster around anyone with ECM and I see mostly Ravens with it off scouting.

I've seen more PPC fire than I used to, but I also see a lot of lasers, AC's, and SRM's. Again - seemingly in a fair mix.

I've seen complaints about the game turning into a snipe-fest, but I think that really depends on the map... which again, is a nice thing in my mind. Alpine seems to be the biggest sniper's festival simply due to the complete lack of solid cover in the areas between common engagement areas - but it's not a loss since the hills afford a lot of ways to 'skirt' the snipers and flank them. My stats tell me I land on this map almost 40% more than any other, and 100% more than the older ones. On every other map, there are good ways to get into a brawl and I've yet to see any one group simply hold their ground and prevent brawlers from getting to them.

All in all - I'm glad to be back and find the state of the game highly playable and enjoyable.

[151st Light Horse Regiment]

Rackminster, on 25 April 2013 - 10:33 AM, said:

When I walked off last time, the game had seemed to devolve into two components - either solid walls of heavies and assault Mechs enshrouded in ECM that dominated the battlefield or zippy clusters of Lights that picked you apart and stayed safe from harm in lag-shield cocoons.

lolwut.

It's worse than ever.

Oh, and we've thrown poptarts in just to really **** everyone off.

[Lefty Lucy]

151st Light Horse Regiment, on 25 April 2013 - 10:42 AM, said:

lolwut.

It's worse than ever.

Oh, and we've thrown poptarts in just to really **** everyone off.

Not everyone is super pissed off about poptarts.

[GODzillaGSPB]

Lefty Lucy, on 25 April 2013 - 10:48 AM, said:

Not everyone is super pissed off about poptarts.

Indeed. But they usually get those ever-happy individuals with 6 ppcs to the face. Works EVERYTIME, I promise!

[Joseph Mallan]

151st Light Horse Regiment, on 25 April 2013 - 10:42 AM, said:

lolwut.

It's worse than ever.

Oh, and we've thrown poptarts in just to really **** everyone off.

Why don't the DEVs give me the, 'you must hate this' Memos?

[Rackminster]

151st Light Horse Regiment, on 25 April 2013 - 10:42 AM, said:

Oh, and we've thrown poptarts in just to really **** everyone off.

I haven't seen anyone spending inordinate amounts of time sniping except in some places on Alpine - and even then they get flanked.

Maybe I've gotten lucky in the 40 matches I've had in the last two nights, but the game has played fine and been fine. A good mix of weapons with a good mix of Mechs and a lot of fun brawling.

Again, I PUG exclusively. If you're doing premades and facing a lot of premades and it's getting old and tired, maybe the problem is that people in premades are ruining the game for themselves by obsessing over "the numerically best builds" and overusing them? I'm just not seeing it where I've been playing.

[Kalam Mehkar]

Rackminster, on 25 April 2013 - 11:03 AM, said:

I haven't seen anyone spending inordinate amounts of time sniping except in some places on Alpine - and even then they get flanked.

Maybe I've gotten lucky in the 40 matches I've had in the last two nights, but the game has played fine and been fine. A good mix of weapons with a good mix of Mechs and a lot of fun brawling.

Again, I PUG exclusively. If you're doing premades and facing a lot of premades and it's getting old and tired, maybe the problem is that people in premades are ruining the game for themselves by obsessing over "the numerically best builds" and overusing them? I'm just not seeing it where I've been playing.

I agree with your OP and this as well. And I've been playing constantly since Sept or so (over 3,500 matches so far). Currently, it's rather balanced and I'm enjoying it more now.

Yes, there are poptarts, but they're not like the original ECM craze for example. I rarely see more than two on the opposing force most of the time. Now, I haven't done 8-mans in months, and maybe it's different there, but in 4-man drops, the game has been rather balanced of late (not accounting for Assault competition and new mechs being released).

[FrostCollar]

Joseph Mallan, on 25 April 2013 - 10:58 AM, said:

Why don't the DEVs give me the, 'you must hate this' Memos?

Because they'd be posted in General Discussion.

[Lightfoot]

Agreed. MWO is very competitively balanced right now. And it's not just a Medium Laser brawl every match. No lag to deal with makes the game turn even more on your decisions.

Very soon we will know the map we are going to drop on before we exit Mechlab, and if you still bring an AC20 to Alpine when you know it's coming, well back to Mech Boot Camp for you scrub.

[Rackminster]

Last night I bumped into my first pair of genuine 'pop tarts' - Highlanders who'd simply get behind cover and Jump Jet up to get a shot and then fall back down.

I flanked them in my Raven and they couldn't seem to figure out where the damage was coming from for a good four volleys. Once they did, they lumbered off and joined a real fight. We lost that round, but it had nothing to do with these two being toaster strudels.

Since I've been watching it, I do admit to seeing more PPC fire than I used to... but since that was basically "never" I rank it as a good thing. They seem to be about as used as lasers or ballistics now. It means that perhaps the weapon is more balanced than it used to be. Maybe it's not perfect, but I can attest to never being "alpha-struck" to death by someone loading out a huge number of PPC's.

I maintain that the only map sniping is problematic on is Alpine, and it's only problematic because of the huge hills you can climb on top of and the vast open areas with no cover. A sniper's dream. Alpine is additionally problematic in that it has accounted for 18 of my 68 drops in the last three nights - or 26.4% of all my drops. There are NINE maps to choose from, and each should be getting used 11.1% of the time.

Put a Sniper in Forest, River City, or Frozen City and you can very easily get around them.

Last night I found a PPC Stalker in Rivery City that (for reasons unknown) completely ignored me while I parked behind him and cored his rear CT. He just kept taking pot-shots at other people across the river and at one point started walking away and tried to cross the river - with me right behind him the whole time. It took a good number of 2x LL volleys, but he went down to a solitary little Raven 4X and didn't even flinch. Mark me confused.

Edited by Rackminster, 26 April 2013 - 07:06 AM.

[Phashe]

Thumbs up.

I am not the best pilot, I do not get 600 dmg, but I enjoy it a lot since I started in March.

One thing I have noticed on the forum is that for every gripe about something being over-powered or nerfed, something being too big, or too slow, there is always someone who will disagree with the claim and state the opposite as fact. So to me that sounds like "balance".

Of course there areis issues; things are being tweaked, and never fast enough for the masses. And it is still "beta" - not sure if that will ever change. But I am having fun.

Play on.

[DegeneratePervert]

Rackminster, on 26 April 2013 - 06:59 AM, said:

Last night I bumped into my first pair of genuine 'pop tarts' - Highlanders who'd simply get behind cover and Jump Jet up to get a shot and then fall back down.

I flanked them in my Raven and they couldn't seem to figure out where the damage was coming from for a good four volleys. Once they did, they lumbered off and joined a real fight. We lost that round, but it had nothing to do with these two being toaster strudels.

Since I've been watching it, I do admit to seeing more PPC fire than I used to... but since that was basically "never" I rank it as a good thing. They seem to be about as used as lasers or ballistics now. It means that perhaps the weapon is more balanced than it used to be. Maybe it's not perfect, but I can attest to never being "alpha-struck" to death by someone loading out a huge number of PPC's.

I maintain that the only map sniping is problematic on is Alpine, and it's only problematic because of the huge hills you can climb on top of and the vast open areas with no cover. A sniper's dream. Alpine is additionally problematic in that it has accounted for 18 of my 68 drops in the last three nights - or 26.4% of all my drops. There are NINE maps to choose from, and each should be getting used 11.1% of the time.

Put a Sniper in Forest, River City, or Frozen City and you can very easily get around them.

Last night I found a PPC Stalker in Rivery City that (for reasons unknown) completely ignored me while I parked behind him and cored his rear CT. He just kept taking pot-shots at other people across the river and at one point started walking away and tried to cross the river - with me right behind him the whole time. It took a good number of 2x LL volleys, but he went down to a solitary little Raven 4X and didn't even flinch. Mark me confused.

I would've just utilized my JJs to close range snipe your Raven. I complain constantly about Poptarts because they ARE a problem right now. When the entire team has one or two, it's not really an issue. When the entire team is composed of them, and a lot of 4-mans and 8-mans are right now, it's a massive problem.

[Rackminster]

See, the 4-man and 8-man games I avoid. I'm not highly competitive by nature nor do I have the time to invest in fostering friendship with a group and committing to the group. I play when I can - so I PUG.

I assumed the issue was largely in organized grouping, which will always be a problem. People game the system any way they can when you let them cluster and form groups.

In World of Tanks, that might have been attaching a really low-class tank to a really high-class tank in an effort to get the opposing team's "best" tank to end up categorically "worse" than yours. I'm sure there's cheese in other games too. I just hate to see nerf-herding done on things that work well until groups of people gather up and exploit it.

[Pater Mors]

It's not worse than ever. I am still enjoying myself. Just bought my first Highlander and Mastered my Treb 3C so things are dandy.

The only issue I am having at the moment is stability issues. Getting crashes every 3 or 4 matches which is a pain.

Rackminster, on 26 April 2013 - 06:59 AM, said:

Last night I found a PPC Stalker in Rivery City that (for reasons unknown) completely ignored me while I parked behind him and cored his rear CT. He just kept taking pot-shots at other people across the river and at one point started walking away and tried to cross the river - with me right behind him the whole time. It took a good number of 2x LL volleys, but he went down to a solitary little Raven 4X and didn't even flinch. Mark me confused.

Had this exact same scenario, same level, except with a Highlander. Just stood behind him in my Treb and cored him with SRM6's and ML's. He never even bothered to turn around and see what was going on behind him.

Bads will be bad.

Edited by Pater Mors, 26 April 2013 - 12:22 PM.