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This is not a thread on "remove capping on Assault" or "block capping for X time on Assault". Those are simply unacceptable answers as there has been no proper rebuttals with them (with a faulty premise to boot). I wish to refine the system, not play straight TD... we do that 80+% of the time according to PGI. I hope to make it 90-95+% of the time, instead of the fail base scouting, fail base capping, or fail map distance traveling (Alpine) that plagues the modes themselves.
Feel free to add ideas, but PLEASE HAVE A CIVIL DISCUSSION ABOUT IT and do not be angry if your idea is countered with legitimate points. That's what a discussion is all about.
1) Have a cap speed modifier per map - The simple premise here is that the speed of capping should be directly related to the traveling distance that is required from reaching one point (starting location) to another point (base cap). For Alpine, the base capping should be slower, that it would for River City as the distance to get back to base from "the middle" (usually Epsilon on Conquest) is fairly significant, even for fast mechs. Actual numbers would need to be tested out, but that is how it should function. There shouldn't be any reason to counter this logic...
The only difference in this behavior is for Conquest... where it should be "easier" to cap the points. Why hold those capping points longer than they need to? This should be directly related to the cap speed modifier.
2) Cap speed modification altered by time - The simple premise here is that depending on the current time consumed in a match, the cap speed increases the longer you spend in a match.
My current proposal is this (it can be changed, so #s are not finalized, just an idea):
For the first 600 seconds of a match, cap speed is X/600 where X is the current time spent in the current match. The earlier you cap, the less effective you are at capping. So, it will take approximately 5 minutes to reach 50% of normal cap speed. This primarily should address matches where two teams totally miss each other on the battlefield (it happens in River City and other maps) and one team decides to cap. The other team should be able to respond to this due to the cap speed modification, so matches don't always end on a cap win in the first 5 mins of the match. It isn't perfect, but as I said, the #s could be adjusted.
Closing off the capping makes little sense... I have no issue with people trying to do a cap distraction, which is a legitimate tactic. However, closing off capping essentially removes such a tactic altogether. What I'm suggestion is simply to reduce the effectiveness of capping earlier, so it is to one's discretion at the current moment to cap distract or backrage some other mech who isn't paying attention.
Suggestion #2 is specifically for Assault.
3) Cap speed modification altered by top speed - The premise here is that fast mechs will get to a point quicker, therefore their capping speed should be reduced in proportion to their speed. For instance, if a Raven-3L has its max engine (295XL), it should cap SLOWER than its Raven-2X brethren (245XL max). When the Raven-2X gets there, it should cap FASTER than a 3L, but the 3L will be overall better because the time that it would take the 2X to finish capping a point, the 3L would be on its way to another capping point. Remember that the 3L should GET THERE FASTER, but not CAP AS FAST.
This idea isn't strictly for Conquest, as it could be applied to Assault. Remember that top speed ALREADY calculates TONNAGE and ENGINE RATING, and the only difference then between a bigger and small mech running at the same speed is ACCELERATION, which smaller mechs should have an advantage here. This also helps newbies as newbies tend to run slower engines and this idea should not penalize them too much.
Also, I know people will say "why can't I just a exploit the system by using a really slow mech/engine and cap?" Although this has less relevance to non-light mechs, but putting a slow engine on any mech makes you significantly more vulnerable and although you may have the firepower and armor, I've seen really really bad pilots try to base cap with the slowest Atlas imaginable... and they easily die because they move like they had rocks in their pants.
I'm sure there are other ideas, perhaps better than mine, but please feel free to comment on these ideas, as I believe these are solid foundations for improving a flawed system.
Edited by Deathlike, 25 April 2013 - 04:39 PM.
