17 replies to this topic

[ZionStation]

I had an idea about Narc after remembering how effective it was/is in MWLL, and I thought what would give players more incentive to use it and what can be adjusted or added to give teams more awareness over it's activity? I was thinking that maybe if the person who fires the narc beacon could also get additional damage along with and based off of a percentage of the lrm damage done to that mech while narc is active. At the moment Narc is using too much space(slots/tonnage/ammo) with no real benefit to the wielder in terms of getting more cbills/exp. Personally i have 0% experience with the weapon in MWO, so sorry if I am not precise in what it's capabilities are. Also, I feel like it should be able to counter Gaurdian ECM, but not Angel/clan ECM. Thoughts, ideas and/or opinions?

[MustrumRidcully]

You mean extra damage counted for XP and C-Bill purposes? I don't believe it would be sufficient, but it'S something one should think about anyway.

For example:
You hit a target targeted by
- TAG
- NARC
- Someone with a Command Console
- Someone with the Lance or Team Leader Positon
=> Both you and the player doing the targeting gain some extra rewards.

[Corbon Zackery]

The fact is NARC is not permanent it lasts for 30 seconds so its not worth making a Narc run on a mech because buy the time your LRM mech locks on its going to be gone. The fact that SRMs are dumb fire shot gun makes it worthless up close since the missiles won't track to the beacon.

[ZionStation]

I was under the impression that Narc didnt need a lock. Hopefully after may 21st patch the extra time that narc is active will make this a viable tactic.

Originally though I was talking about who ever plants the narc receives the same damage done that the one launching lrms would receive. If the reward is too exponential then it could be balanced.

[General Taskeen]

It won't really ever be viable until it allows auto-seeking for SRM's and LRM's.

[One Medic Army]

General Taskeen, on 09 May 2013 - 06:10 PM, said:

It won't really ever be viable until it allows auto-seeking for SRM's and LRM's.

Good old Nemesis pods.

[General Taskeen]

One Medic Army, on 09 May 2013 - 06:23 PM, said:

Good old Nemesis pods.

That's for the Improved Narc Beacon I believe, so it can make use of 3057 Semi-Guided LRM's and Arrow IV Missiles, which were made to function 'originally' with TAG only until iNARC rolled up.

I'm mostly refering to the original function of NARC, which allows regular SRM's and regular LRM's to auto-seek the beacon. For the original "NARC," in order for missiles to seek a beacon, it simply required the SRM or LRM missile to upgrade to be "narc seek" capable at twice the cost of regular SRM/LRM ammo. Unfortunately, as of yet, neither feature exists in the game, even though it has been featured in many other Mech Warrior games.

Edited by General Taskeen, 09 May 2013 - 06:38 PM.

[Cur]

Nah dude, sorry.

Anything other than flat out killing a mech/components should get **** all XP/CB

Because that's how PGI have done up their model for making lights and medium's usefull! Tell them their role is to scout ,provide intel, locks for their team! And then make them feel like a usefull pissant for doing it by giving them the lowest XP/CB score each game!


Cant be rewarding you for doing your intended job now can we!? that would be blasphemy!

[Taemien]

The only issue with a Narc currently is that its duration is too short. The idea that a fast mover can pop in, shoot a narc and get the heck out of dodge without needing LOS to keep missiles and targeting info going is a pretty good thing. Its just that missiles are in a rut right now and it makes Narcs even worse.

Boost duration to at least 30seconds and it cannot fall off till then. That way the only way to get away from narc is wait it out or get within ECM.

[One Medic Army]

Taemien, on 09 May 2013 - 06:46 PM, said:

The only issue with a Narc currently is that its duration is too short. The idea that a fast mover can pop in, shoot a narc and get the heck out of dodge without needing LOS to keep missiles and targeting info going is a pretty good thing. Its just that missiles are in a rut right now and it makes Narcs even worse.

Boost duration to at least 30seconds and it cannot fall off till then. That way the only way to get away from narc is wait it out or get within ECM.

Especially when you consider it's a dumbfire launcher that weighs as much as an SRM6, takes up one of your missile hardpoints, and only gets 6/ton of ammo.

[Corbon Zackery]

Taemien, on 09 May 2013 - 06:46 PM, said:

The only issue with a Narc currently is that its duration is too short. The idea that a fast mover can pop in, shoot a narc and get the heck out of dodge without needing LOS to keep missiles and targeting info going is a pretty good thing. Its just that missiles are in a rut right now and it makes Narcs even worse.

Boost duration to at least 30seconds and it cannot fall off till then. That way the only way to get away from narc is wait it out or get within ECM.

That's the whole point its a homing beacon that's magnetically locked on your mech it just doesn't go away nor does it stop functioning being next to someone with ECM suppresses it.

This is all or nothing weapon right now its worthless due to time duration. It makes me wonder if I'm playing MechWarrior or were just going to make it up as we go along and rip off the MechWarrior name.

[Shazarad]

Corbon Zackery, on 09 May 2013 - 09:00 PM, said:

That's the whole point its a homing beacon that's magnetically locked on your mech it just doesn't go away nor does it stop functioning being next to someone with ECM suppresses it.

This is all or nothing weapon right now its worthless due to time duration. It makes me wonder if I'm playing MechWarrior or were just going to make it up as we go along and rip off the MechWarrior name.

You're going to base whether this is a Mechwarrior game or not based on one missile system that's ALWAYS been terrible? If your logic works that way then MWO would be as about as authentic as it can get.

NARC needs to have ridiculously huge buffs to it to make it worth while.

[BbadAK]

I have to echo the sentiment that NARC has never been a useful weapon system in any Mechwarrior game it has made an appearance in. Until it cuts through ECM, functions properly by allowing non LoS targeting, and is not stripped by damage, it will remain where it always has: in the mechbay.

[MacKoga]

General Taskeen, on 09 May 2013 - 06:37 PM, said:

I'm mostly refering to the original function of NARC, which allows regular SRM's and regular LRM's to auto-seek the beacon. For the original "NARC," in order for missiles to seek a beacon, it simply required the SRM or LRM missile to upgrade to be "narc seek" capable at twice the cost of regular SRM/LRM ammo. Unfortunately, as of yet, neither feature exists in the game, even though it has been featured in many other Mech Warrior games.

This would be a good feature for MWO. When the Clans show up, they'll be rocking Clan Streak SRM6's. So having an option that allows are SRMs to lock on target, at the expense of dealing with NARC, seems like a reasonable thing that we need to balance in for the future, anyway.

Also, I suspect it would be fun to be able have a teammate note that they're about to use NARC, so you and some others fire LRMs up into the air, over a ridge. Then the NARC beacon is landed on the mech, and suddenly all the LRMs are swerving towards a target. That would be cool.

[Taemien]

Corbon Zackery, on 09 May 2013 - 09:00 PM, said:

That's the whole point its a homing beacon that's magnetically locked on your mech it just doesn't go away nor does it stop functioning being next to someone with ECM suppresses it.

This is all or nothing weapon right now its worthless due to time duration. It makes me wonder if I'm playing MechWarrior or were just going to make it up as we go along and rip off the MechWarrior name.

Thats a bit of a strong negative statement, especially considering it wasn't until MW4 that the Narc was actually useful. And I dare say its still more useful than MW4's because of the way LRMs travel. LRMs were more likely to hit hills and such in MW4 since they beelined to the target rather than went up and came back down.

I've seen these arguments made way too often. Players will come in here, complain about a feature and say previous titles did it better... when previous titles either were worse about a feature, or didn't even have them. Doesn't mean things can't be better here, but there are way better arguments than simply trying to put the Devs on the chopping block.

[MadcatX]

I'm actually curious to see how much of an impact the target decay module on missile boats could have in regards to the 30 second / 40 damage rule. If they tweak LRM's to go faster, even after the initial volley knock narc offline, target decay should still keep the target lit up long enough for the remaining volleys to hit home. With current LRM damage I can't see it as being the next big thing, but that'll be interesting to see anyways.

[-Muta-]

what is the command console usage nowadays???

[MustrumRidcully]

Mutaroc, on 10 May 2013 - 11:42 AM, said:

what is the command console usage nowadays???

I think it's used for all the letters of fan mail the Atlas DDC receives.