36 replies to this topic

[Rushin Roulette]

Just because someone is playing in a stock mech, doesnt mean that they are new. There are a few teams in the German community playing in Stock mechs currently because of a player held team Tournament there (only tier 1 tech stock mechs allowed with 450 Ton drop limit and no more than 2 Assaults per team);

http://mwomercs.com/...sic-tournament/

Quite a few of us are playing our stock mechs in PUG games to get a hang of the heat and handling, plus... if we can hold our own against modded mechs, then we will (Theoretically) have less problems against the stock mechs.

[SgtKinCaiD]

This is not a surge of new players, it's the opposite : a lot of players are not playing MWO right now due to the JJ shake (and maybe the nerf of poptarts).

This phenomemum is more noticeable now thanks to that but several players, me included, have been suffering from this, since the introduction of ELO ratings :
http://mwomercs.com/...w-when-to-quit/
http://mwomercs.com/...uch-a-wide-net/
etc.

PGI doesn't want to aknowledge that the number of players in MWO is not sufficent for the ELO system to work properly.
They were forced to change several times the MM in order to lessen the waiting time, which is a good indication on the problem.
Now it appears to widen even more its search as it does not take the mech tonnage into account anymore :
http://mwomercs.com/...ctions-anymore/

The MM was better without the ELO. Now everytime i see the green stock camo, all i want to do is shooting it down to end its sufferings. And I am more and more tempted to leave the match when I see more than one green mech.

[ohtochooseaname]

SgtKinCaiD, on 10 June 2013 - 07:23 AM, said:

The MM was better without the ELO. Now everytime i see the green stock camo, all i want to do is shooting it down to end its sufferings. And I am more and more tempted to leave the match when I see more than one green mech.

Last night, I was in a match with pretty much all green mechs on my side vs a bunch of founders. I was worried, but it turned out those guys in green mechs were pro and we handily won. Can't necessarily judge a mech by its camo.

I must admit, the MM seems to do much better during peak times: during off hours, I often wait for several minutes, and the match outcome is largely defined by the MM with a slaughter one way or another. During peak times, I am matched with similarly skilled people (and often people I've seen many times before), I am matched quicker, and the matches are usually pretty close. Sadly, I don't usually play during peak times because real life takes priority.

Edited by ohtochooseaname, 10 June 2013 - 08:27 AM.

[Multig]

As a new player this is frustrating as hell. I don't want to get matched with experienced vets with modded mechs because I know I can't hang with them. How am I supposed to determine whether or not I want to spend money on a game when every match the first mech I see alpha strikes me to death (usually within 30 seconds) forcing me to hang back and contribute little or nothing to the matches I'm in? Buy a non-trial mech? I'm not willing to spend anything on a game where it "appears" to be pay-to-win. Or even pay-to-even-stand-a-chance. I have loved the Battletech lore for years and I WOULD love this game. But the learning curve is a freaking cliff.

P.S. I apologize for sucking to any and all that I am teamed with.

[senaiboy]

Rushin Roulette, on 10 June 2013 - 06:08 AM, said:

Just because someone is playing in a stock mech, doesnt mean that they are new. There are a few teams in the German community playing in Stock mechs currently because of a player held team Tournament there (only tier 1 tech stock mechs allowed with 450 Ton drop limit and no more than 2 Assaults per team);

http://mwomercs.com/...sic-tournament/

Quite a few of us are playing our stock mechs in PUG games to get a hang of the heat and handling, plus... if we can hold our own against modded mechs, then we will (Theoretically) have less problems against the stock mechs.

Not basing my assumption of players being new based on the mechs alone, but their playstyle as well. Eg. A Spider slowing down then reversing when bumping into my Highlander, an Atlas which kept turning only one direction while being circled, firing LRMs at less than 180m and not realising he's not dealing damage, etc. It's the signs that someone is still learning the ropes. This was what I've seen the whole weekend tho, where I figure there'll be more people playing.

I feel bad killing them knowing they've not fully figured out the game yet, and I don't want to put them off.

Multig: Don't ever feel bad about not 'performing well', it's just a game after all. Just have fun!

[Pilotasso]

senaiboy, on 08 June 2013 - 09:19 AM, said:

There seems to be a rise in new players recently - evident from the Trial mechs they are using and the clueless piloting

Issue is, why are they being placed against experienced players? I was just in a match where a PPC Stalker basically obliterated 4 Cataphract-4Xs (trial mechs I presume). I know the Stalker is a good player because he turned around instantly when I fired at him and his aim was very good (my Blackjack got shot running at 70kph and jumpjetting after being exposed for only 2 seconds while trying to flank him).

I guess it's due to a lack of players, anyone else seeing this?

Being saying this for months but people are fixed on weight classes instead.

[Dude42]

Multig, on 10 June 2013 - 08:57 AM, said:

As a new player this is frustrating as hell. I don't want to get matched with experienced vets with modded mechs because I know I can't hang with them. How am I supposed to determine whether or not I want to spend money on a game when every match the first mech I see alpha strikes me to death (usually within 30 seconds) forcing me to hang back and contribute little or nothing to the matches I'm in? Buy a non-trial mech? I'm not willing to spend anything on a game where it "appears" to be pay-to-win. Or even pay-to-even-stand-a-chance. I have loved the Battletech lore for years and I WOULD love this game. But the learning curve is a freaking cliff.

P.S. I apologize for sucking to any and all that I am teamed with.

It almost seems like from your post that you are unaware that you can purchase most mechs with cbills, and that you get a huge cbill bonus for your first 25 games. There is no benefit to buying a mech with MC, except the Hero Mechs, which don't offer any real advantage in combat, just bonus cbills(so you can buy more mechs). There is no real excuse for being in a trial mech outside your first 25 games. Well, aside from specific tournaments/challenges, things like that.

So just do your first 25, which should be against new players as well, since they say they introduced new player ELO for your first games, and buy a mech, any mech, and start upgrading it. It might take you a few matches to get it fully fitted out depending on what you choose, but at least it won't be a trial mech. The only things I've ever spent money on are mechbays and paints and I have 17 mechs all decked out already and I just started 6 weeks ago. Just sayin. Hang in there buddy.

Edited by Dude42, 10 June 2013 - 12:40 PM.

[Kunae]

Playing population dropping.

As has been stated earlier in this thread, the ELO-based MM can't work properly unless given a sufficient pool. MWO's pool shrinks every time they have a fiasco patch like this one.

Unfortunately, that seems to be every other patch, at least.

[senaiboy]

Pilotasso, on 10 June 2013 - 10:14 AM, said:

Being saying this for months but people are fixed on weight classes instead.

It wasn't this bad the last patch.

Now when the skills are kind of even, the weight balance is totally off - 3 lights vs none on conquest, 5 assaults in a team, etc. That isn't really that much fun either.

[Stoicblitzer]

elo per variant might be best. i run a CTF-3D in tournaments/8v8s most of the time and it has probably given my heavy elo a very high rating. i want to play a dragon and i'm playing with players from top clans. it forces me to play the best mechs to even have a chance to win. nevermind my teammates some of which seem to be totally new. however if you factor in new teammates also then i am basically forced to take a self-sufficient damage dealer to grind c-bills. it's so complex with so many different factors involved that it might almost be better to going to back to weight class matching with equal numbers of premades on each side...

Edited by Stoicblitzer, 10 June 2013 - 01:37 PM.

[Anais Opal]

Agreed on all points raised.

IMO This is being caused by the artificially high ELO new players are being given.

This is counterintuitive, how many players will continue to play a game if they are being face rolled everytime by the veterans?

ELO should be set to zero for a new account and the player made to grind it up against pilots of their own skill level. This will give them time to learn the game, learn how to actually pilot a 'Mech and generally not <insert suitable expletive here> the veterans who are actually attempting to win the match.

[Monkeystador]

Stormwolf, on 08 June 2013 - 09:29 AM, said:

I'm probably saying this for the trillionth time, but we really need a stock mode. New players in trial mechs get slaughtered by min maxed rides while fans of the setting can't run around in canon builds and be viable.

Thats what i am thinking since the start of the trial vs custom problem too. Easiest solution and no one ******* complains about it anymore.
AND btw you could do trial ( stock mech ) battles only if one would wish so.

[Anais Opal]

I honestly see MWO being relegated to the hardcore player base and nothing else with probably the same numbers we saw during closed beta 2-2.5K players online at time. PGI won't be able to afford to keep the game going especially if they keep fouling things up with bad implementation, i.e. adding counters for a system that was initially broken and downright wrong...*cough* ECM *cough cough*. Garth can pipe 'working as intended' or 'it's where we want it' as much as he likes, doesn't change the fact that it was wrong to start with, is wrong now, and will forever be until PGI admit they ****** up.

Just as an example, BAP is not supposed to counter ECM. It actually does this:-
'The Beagle Active Probe (BAP) is a suite of enhancement technology that, when attached to general electronic sensors, enables the equipped unit to detect and classify other battlefield units -with the exception of conventional infantry- whether they are camouflaged or even shut down.
In addition to the ability to detect and classify targets at longer range, the Beagle includes a memory unit that records the events of a battle and allows for later playback. This includes the ability for the user to "re-fight" the battle by making different tactical decisions, which are then analyzed and implemented by the system, allowing for the resulting consequences to be observed'

Guardian ECM has this caveat.

'Contemporary guided missiles such as standard LRM or Streak SRMs are not affected by the Guardian suite and will be able to achieve hard lock as normal.'


BUUUUT i do like the cockpit shake that was added, poptarting was getting to be really irratating. The players that aren't playing because they can't do that anymore just showed themselves skilless in my humble opinion.

Edited by GlycerineOxide, 11 June 2013 - 03:05 AM.

[Jam the Bam]

Interesting, I thought it was fluke that my last 5 games or so have all included at least one stock loaded Atlas who blundered around and died in a ball of fire. I think each match ended with the lowest damage score in the game being an atlas.

Didn't affect the outcomes that much, won 3, lost 2, but it must be a bit crap being the new guy getting his arse handed to him be some half decent light pilots.

[senaiboy]

I've seen plenty times where an Atlas-RS separated from his teammates and ended up literally getting harassed to death by a light. I can only imagine the frustration he must be feeling, so much that I try to run to help him out if I see it happening.

That usually leave our main force 2 big mechs down and get hammered. Sure they will blame me for not being at the fight but I figure it's better to at least attempt to make a new player's gaming experience better.

This is happening far too often though.

[Kunae]

senaiboy, on 11 June 2013 - 10:12 AM, said:

I've seen plenty times where an Atlas-RS separated from his teammates and ended up literally getting harassed to death by a light. I can only imagine the frustration he must be feeling, so much that I try to run to help him out if I see it happening.

I've frustrated many an assault pilot that way. Newbies really need to pay attention to advice in chat, from their team. And PGI needs to have Throttle-decay and arm-lock off by default. Right now they're throwing newbies to the wolves with a straight-jacket on.

[Tharkan Stuermer]

Multig, on 10 June 2013 - 08:57 AM, said:

As a new player this is frustrating as hell. I don't want to get matched with experienced vets with modded mechs because I know I can't hang with them. How am I supposed to determine whether or not I want to spend money on a game when every match the first mech I see alpha strikes me to death (usually within 30 seconds) forcing me to hang back and contribute little or nothing to the matches I'm in? Buy a non-trial mech? I'm not willing to spend anything on a game where it "appears" to be pay-to-win. Or even pay-to-even-stand-a-chance. I have loved the Battletech lore for years and I WOULD love this game. But the learning curve is a freaking cliff.

P.S. I apologize for sucking to any and all that I am teamed with.

Unfortunately, MWO is quite tough to learn. In fact, a few friends of mine, which are dedicated BT players stopped playing MWO because they were shot out of their Mech pretty fast nearly every time. I somehow managed to hang on, but since I focus on light or medium Mechs, it was still a tough time. However, you can earn C-Bills quite fast, if you support your team. I. e. you will get money for capping, spotting, or kill assists. In fact, you don't have to do much damage, to get a assist, one solid hit will do. You just have to be a bit patient