67 replies to this topic

[SuperJoe]

I haven't touched my hunchback for a couple of months because of this crap.

dont play mediums unless feeding enemy ac40s and ppc boats c-bills is your thing.

[DocBach]

topgun505, on 20 June 2013 - 08:32 PM, said:

Read the CBT novels. Just about ANY of them. In just about every single one you are given descriptions of the mech-jock putting his reticle over the target and waiting for the computer to give him a solid lock on the target.

This is NOT talking about SENSOR lock (which is what we have now).

I interpret this as the computer calculating a firing solution on the target to set convergence to the appropriate range/angle to hit the cross hairs.

What is needed? The computer needs your own direction of travel, direction the torso is facing, direction the arms are facing and your speed of travel. This is pretty much an instant-known variable.

What is NOT known is info on your target. The computer needs accurate range to the target and closure rate, which means direction and speed of travel. It can NOT pull this info in instantly ... it will take a few seconds to take sample data over several data points before it can make this computation.

I envision this as having a sensor lock on the target and after you've had the sensor lock maintained on it a circle ... maybe 1" wide appears around the target and quickly begins to shrink until it becomes the dot at the center of the cross hairs. At that point the computer has near pinpoint convergence on the target. If you fire prior to that point your convergence will not be spot on. So if you didn't wait at all then all weapons would be firing dead ahead of their mounting points instead of focused on the cross hairs.

What will this mean?

Snipers will need a couple extra seconds to line up a solid shot.

Fast movers will have a difficult time with this mechanic ... but if they are worth anything they should be doing fast in and out slash attacks anyway so perfect convergence isn't needed for these attacks anyway.

One thing to make things more consistent is instead of the weapons converging on the center of the reticle, the weapons in different locations should converge to different points of the reticle, so even if the convergence isn't completely gained to optimal levels, players will still know where their shots will land.

If the convergence is based on effective weapon range, fast quick strikers wouldn't be too disadvantaged as they're close up to their targets - and if the speed of the enemy determines how fast the convergence tightens, it makes it harder to put grouped fire on lights, making their speed a better defense against being one shotted by group fire.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Any mech variant should be a viable choice.

One problem comes with how we can over or under optimize when pugging through the MechLab, which also later relies on (hitting that Launch button for a random match to) how opposing teams get balanced through ELO.

Then add the factor with Focus Fire (with Comms or not) being yet another related element that needs to be looked at depending on PGI's goals for providing more fair matches, which seems to also make balancing even more tricky IMHO; but then again balance seems impossible with the capacity for wacky trick shots that can do wacky damage in unexpected ways.

So my question is how can beta players help more with PGI directly involved, every step of the way?

[Fate 6]

Prosperity Park, on 20 June 2013 - 03:36 PM, said:

Also, it's known that Inner Sphere XL engines are vulnerable to destruction from the loss of a single Side Torso, and so Medium Mecghs with XL's should try to be moving at least 85kph whenever not in cover, if possible.

Thanks for the tip, none of us vets realized how XL engines worked. Getting 1shot in the front is nonetheless broken. Sliding heat scale will not change that. Not to mention the fact that the heat scale proposed by PGI is a load of crap as it is balanced on a weapon-by-weapon basis, which will constantly change and which limits some STOCK BUILDS like the 4P (not to mention the fact that they just released the champion 4P with not 8 but 9ML).

Edited by Fate 6, 20 June 2013 - 10:12 PM.

[Satan n stuff]

Prosperity Park, on 20 June 2013 - 03:36 PM, said:

They are adding a sliding heat scale that will apply additional heat whenever a Mech fires more than 3 PPCs at at time. More information is available here: http://mwomercs.com/...-112013/unread/

Also, it's known that Inner Sphere XL engines are vulnerable to destruction from the loss of a single Side Torso, and so Medium Mecghs with XL's should try to be moving at least 85kph whenever not in cover, if possible.

If you'd like to post suggestions about curbing this kind of event, then that'd be fine; There are many threads discussing convergence and Alphas. However,
this kind of field experience followed by a threat to walk away form the game doesn't really lend to the formation of solutions.

• How do you say should convergence and Alpha Striking be addressed?

No offense to whoever came up with that but that's an objectively terrible solution, it's just going to make people go for more mixed Gauss ( ER ) PPC builds.
The heat system itself needs to be looked at, and heat values for PPCs and ER PPcs need to be reverted to the previous numbers. Reducing heat dissipation as the heat goes up will make it impossible to alpha strike more than once or twice in a row on these ridiculous builds, and will make small numbers of flamers useful for keeping enemies running hot. Even dual AC/20 builds would have serious issues with this during sustained combat. This would leave the Gauss rifle mostly unaffected but I think it's fine where it is now anyway.
Furthermore, the supposed refire rate "nerf" to PPCs need so needs to be reverted as well, because it simply doesn't affect the boats, but it has a massive impact on non boating PPC users. For example my dual ER PPC guerillacat is now completely worthless against a gausscat because I can no longer get that one extra hit in I would have had with a 3 second delay, meaning the gausscat now has 50% more firepower unless I add a gauss or boat PPCs as well.

[Blaike]

Why not put weapons into groups I.e. small, medium and large. Then for large weapons you can say Assaults can carry 3, Heavies 2 and mediums 1 or something similar.

[DeadlyNerd]

Prosperity Park, on 20 June 2013 - 03:36 PM, said:

They are adding a sliding heat scale that will apply additional heat whenever a Mech fires more than 3 PPCs at at time. More information is available here: http://mwomercs.com/...-112013/unread/

Also, it's known that Inner Sphere XL engines are vulnerable to destruction from the loss of a single Side Torso, and so Medium Mecghs with XL's should try to be moving at least 85kph whenever not in cover, if possible.

If you'd like to post suggestions about curbing this kind of event, then that'd be fine; There are many threads discussing convergence and Alphas. However,
this kind of field experience followed by a threat to walk away form the game doesn't really lend to the formation of solutions.

• How do you say should convergence and Alpha Striking be addressed?

Wow, like that's going to help against pin point alphas. I've already expressed my thoughts on the whole "adding more heat" matter as opposed to just reworking the system, but mods thought people shouldn't be expressing their thoughts on game balancing in the game balancing forum.

GJ mods.

[SuperJoe]

the penalty should start AT 3ppcs