Well, in my opinion poptarting is fine tactical option, it doesn't lower the depth of the gameplay it increases it. The real problem is that with the current heat of the PPC + mechanics + short range weapon nerfs it doesn't lose it effectiveness close up - you have enough heat dissapation to maintain your superiority.
The meta should be that you can choose a long range alpha build and play tactically to keep your opponent at range you win, but if you allow a brawler so close up without taking damage the brawler should win. Then the game has depth and balance- if you brawl you have use cover and team work effectively.
For those who don't think HSR is a factor I would like to add the circle strafe issues. Back before netcode + HSR fixes, closing to less than 100m and keeping your speed above 100KPH meant that you had a huge, broken mechanic induced lag shield that mean a medium/light pilot was viable and overpowered. This mechanic has gone and a speed of 130kph is now required for effective circle strafing, and this is not possible for most medium mechs.
Well balanced games with different weight classes follow a classic pattern I will outline below, and that MWO USED to follow reasonably well.
1. Heavy Tanks. These have high damage output and high armour. They are balanced by having slow speed ( which means you must be tactical in play as once you commit to a fight you cannot flee and must stick together ) and poor targeting ( making it hard to hit small fast moving objects ) and poor turning speed ( this makes a high skill "blindspot" attack possible )
They can be configured with either powerful close range or long range weapons or a mix of the two.
The skill comes from your tactical/strategic manuvering and difficulty in hitting targets. Team play should be essential.
The counter is light fighters, and they should be excellent at killing medium mechs.
2. Medium cruisers. Medium damage, Medium armour. These are used as a support platform for the heavy tanks, to provide fire support during snipe/brawl phase of battle, however the primary job is to shield the heavy tanks from the lights. Losing your medium mechs while the opponent still has light mechs should mean the heavy tanks lose.
The skill comes from balancing your engagements to avoid being focussed by heavy's and do your job of killing the lights, being being the master of nothing but good at everything.
They should have the widest combat role, being able to have long and short range weapons, and should be configurable into machines that either murder lights more effectively whilst being more vulnerable to heavies , or are more powerful/survivable vs heavies whilst being less effective vs lights. There should always be compromises when min maxing one particular class.
The counter to a medium cruiser is a heavy tank, and a medium should be excellent at killing lights.
3. Light fighters. High speed, low armour. Balanced by a correctly landed shot ruining your day, whilst it should is very hard to land that shot due to he speed. They should be fast enough to manuvure into a heavy's blindspot. They should be limited to Primarly short range weapons - giving a high speed with long range often end up with a "kite" that can use its speed to avoid being hit whilst still hitting the enemey which is very problematic for game balance.
The skill comes from playing in a high speed twitch fashion. They require less tactical skill to play as is is easier to swarm, and you have options to disengage/engage at will due to superior speed.
The counter is medium cruisers and they should be excellent at killing heavies close up when played with a high level of skill.
With the above meta, the game naturally balances, beacause if an overpowered heavy build appears, people can switch to lights to counter it. If an overpowered long range build appears, people switch to fast close range build to counter. If a overpowered raven type light build appears, people can play mediums to counter. It's a player chosen evolving system of rock paper scissors.
The game has depth, tactical moves are important, and teamplay is more important as you need your teammates to survive.
MWO has lost all this. Long range weapons are as effective as close range weapons. Heavies are just fine at killing lights unsupported. Medium mechs don't counter light mechs and do all jobs badly ( apart from a few gimmick builds like medium laser boat hunch ) As a result you are seeing games where the team with the most assault mechs with PPC's wins and you are NOT seeing peopel going lights to counter this. You can conclude that the meta is broken.
Edited by MrDrunkenMaster, 13 May 2013 - 01:16 AM.
0
TexAss, on 12 May 2013 - 12:38 PM, said:
