Rhalgaln, on 16 July 2013 - 11:36 PM, said:
I simply like it.
It's a cool Idea to stop Alphas and still keeps them as an emergency Option which they should be.
None of my builds is penalized.
Great Job !
So... Alphas are an emergency option?
Not really - you start taking considerable internal damage when you overheat (whether you have hit override, or not).
It's more like a suicide option in MWO - since you stand still and fall apart (or just fall apart while running).
The "Alpha Strike" in battletech has had varying explanations through the versions. Some said that a mech exhausted all of its autocannon ammunition in that turn. Others said that it was firing every weapon it had available during that turn (which, for many mechs, didn't mean jack diddly, as they were back to 1 or 0 heat) and still others said that the mech fired its weapons until it would have to shut down in the next turn (for a mech with 15 double heat-sinks, this means it could double its shut-down threshold of 30 points).
The shut-down mechanic doesn't behave the same in MWO as it does in TT. Every mech acted, somewhat, as if it was shut down when it got shot at. A mech could move in view of yours and alpha into it - because it wasn't your turn. In MWO - much of the gameplay involves those split seconds of being able to actually fire at each other between cover.
SanGan, on 16 July 2013 - 11:36 PM, said:
I like the new heatsystem.
It brings more quality in the game. The Piloit needs more skill as just press alphastrike.
Where are more variants of weapons and mechs at the battlefield.
I think its working as intended.
just my 2 cents
East Indy, on 17 July 2013 - 04:29 AM, said:
So, I played more matches after posting -- I'm seeing all kinds of builds, and pacing remains where you'd expect for BattleTech.
My suggestion is to close the loop, and add a special restriction to the Gauss, as players are tacking it onto fire groups for one last grasp for big alpha. After last night's fun, they just don't have an excuse for going against the spirit of the game.
The reason for the change is, mostly, because people are risk-averse. Adults and teens, alike, tend to over-estimate risks. I would wager that if you conducted a poll - most of your players who continued to play with their old builds are in their teens. Most adults would have shifted their builds to those they found to not generate a heat penalty.
The high-'alpha' builds will return. They will simply take different forms. My 6 medium pulse laser BlackJack has performed considerably better since the PPC spam corrected, some - but that will soon change once people realize their PPC builds will still be just as effective chain-firing into me as they were alpha-ing and missing 2/3s of the time.
The PPC is still a vastly superior weapon to all the other energy weapons, and it will soon be back in play.
It will take about a month or two for its use to recover to the day before yesterday's usage levels - but it will return.
Spare for those who have taken up SRMs.
Even so - SSRMs need a damage buff up to 2.5 damage, now. They're kind of irrelevant.
And, East Indy, this heat penalty system goes against the spirit of the game.
Jagsmar, on 17 July 2013 - 05:40 AM, said:
The change to heat management has a bit of unintended consequences. I am use to running mechs with 3 to 4 different weapons, all of which are on the penalty list. Now it it much easier to manage heat by boating 1 weapon type than it is to try to manage a "balanced" mech.
I would much rather see as heat builds, your mech movement slows down (twist, speed, aiming) and weapon convergence starts to drift, but I guess the younger audience is too hung up on headshots or "one shot one kill".
The problem with trying to do this is the difference between how that worked in Table Top and how that works in MWO.
In TT - heat was calculated per turn. You fired your weapons in one turn, and in the next turn, you subtracted heat equal to your heat sinks. Only if there was heat remaining did you suffer consequences from heat. For example - you could fire 3 PPCs on many mechs all day long, so long as you were standing still, without suffering any heat penalties. Since each round was 10 seconds, though, that doesn't translate well to the real-time environment.
For this type of system to work, you would have to actually have two heat scales - one being the load on your heatsinks, the other being the load on your chassis. "Stale" or heat left on the load of your heatsinks for longer periods of time would begin to dissipate into your chassis, which would be what is used to generate heat consequences.
This still doesn't fix the alpha problem - as it would only penalize players who run for extended periods of time at high heat. Those who have only spikes in heat would be only minorly affected. Which means the 4PPC builds would be perfectly viable (and even preferred) by this system.
Not that a literal system would do any better. A Jenner would either have to stick around all day to fire a laser, let the heat drop, fire another laser, let the heat drop.... or would have to alpha and instantly go from 130+kph to something like 90-100kph and start getting thwacked with autocannons.
Neither is preferable - while the 4 PPC just pops his head out, fires, and waddles back behind cover (who cares if he can't see to shoot - he didn't intend to, anyway).
Riddler9884, on 17 July 2013 - 09:47 AM, said:
I agree that the way they did this was very likely not the best. The should of probably tweaked the heat dissipation of weapons being boated, it would of been less complicated to explain.
On the upside
- I am seeing Lights and Mediums, chassis that I had not seen in game since it became Alpha components off Warrior online.
- LRM are making a comeback but it doesn't feel overpowering... yet.
Rest assured - the former meta will return.
Component/hardpoint restrictions, various heat contraptions, and changes to ballistic behavior/damage were unable to balance the PPC in previous MechWarrior games. The PPC spam will return.
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