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[Marcus Tanner]

With the advent of the seismic module and UAV, we seem to be short on the ability to sneak around as compared to previous versions of this game.

=== Ideally, I'd like to all of these things happen at once:

> ECM no longer affects target locks or lock-on times, except of course in that it cancels Artemis and Narc and Beagle.
> ECM should be made available to any mech, in any spot on the mech.
> ECM should hide friendlies from seismic and stop the advanced sensor range module and hide mechs from a UAV.
> Let a UAV last until it is shot down.
> Let Narc last until the section that got hit by the beacon is destroyed (infinite duration, rather than 20s or something silly like it is now).
> You shouldn't need LOS to a Narced mech to have it show up on your team's HUD and/or minimap.
> Beagle, PPCs, UAVs and TAG should no longer cancel ECM protection. Without stopping target locks, the ECM ecosystem should get defoliated.
> TAG should go back to 450m range, for use by scouts but less valuable for missile boats.
> Beagle should ideally be an item for scouts, not LRM platforms. That would suggest removing the increased sensor range in favor of, for instance, making every enemy mech within 120m show up on your team's HUD as if they were targeted and increase the rate at which you get detailed information on mechs near a Beagle.

=== Here's what I think these changes would accomplish:

> With ECM no longer stopping locks, LRMs don't need to be garbage in so many games.
> If everyone can bring ECM then the Artemis bonus would be expected to kick in a lot less often, meaning that Artemis is no longer a no-brainer to bring and LRMs would often have to deal with much worse spread and longer lock-on times.
> Reduced TAG range would also work as a nerf to LRMs, meaning that they would often really need teamwork to get the TAG bonus.
(The removal of ECM lock-blocking does not need to imply a return of LRMwarrior online.)

> Narc would have a use even if nobody on your team brought LRMs, because a Narced mech would often give away its position for the rest of the match. If that looks to get out of hand, then you could expect ECM to show up more often to bring things back into balance.

> UAVs could turn the tide of a match by themselves... unless someone brought ECM on their team or they see the thing and shoot it down.

> Seismic would be far less reliable, returning that element of fear and surprise to a match.

> If ECM pooches the advanced sensor module and Beagle doesn't add to sensor range, then you wouldn't be able to target enemy mechs from the starting positions in River City any more. You may still be able to see them visually (a problem to be sure), but it won't be so easy.

=== In short, ECM should be there to *stop* shenanigans, not *be* shenanigans. We just need to make sure this game has lots of shenanigans worth stopping by increasing the breadth of effective Information Warfare tools to include Narc and Beagle.

I'm not convinced that this is a nerf for ECM, because it becomes useful in more kinds of situations (and against more players) even if it becomes less useful for fighting missiles.

I would expect the game to get less swing-y with these changes, because it means that if ever one of the information warfare tools turns out ot bee too strong, then people will bring more ECM to slow it down. If information warfare tools end up being too weak, then more players will ignore ECM. Doing it this way gives us a built-in safety net for game balance in this area.

[Solis Obscuri]

PGI really screwed the pooch with ECM their implementation.