12 replies to this topic

[Volomon]

Yes, I've read the notes and stuff related to this. I assume this is an utterly new thing with the patch, aka was there an max alpha previously?

My concern is, like many things in the game there is no direction or clue for new players. This method is counter-intuitive.

At this point these patches need to stop and work needs to begin on a training simulator for new players. All this patch did is increase the already steep learning curve. It's as if the devs know that they can throw away more money by doing this, or doing that. Do they have an anti-financial department?

I haven't been on since the patch but I have a good feeling I already know the answer.

Implore PGI to stop slamming hammers into newbies faces. I have a feeling they don't like that. Has no one else realize the already steep curve, and then to throw out complex math (you know this is America right) problems in order to figure out how screwed you are going to be for doing something?

Personally I don't see what the big deal is, so what instead of someone firing 3 ppcs no they have to fire 2ppcs and one er laser. Whooo....people are still going to cry, you can't constantly change the game for people who are prone to whine about not winning.

You need to start concentrating on expanding the franchise into a more new friendly sphere. Either create a one player mission with mechs that have AI and create a tutorial, or before you do all these rash and random things create a better UI to give information to players on their loadouts. As is there is not really any clear information for new players, for instance how do I know X mech is better than Y mech I can't test them, I cant check them out in any other interface except the standard loadout. You can't see how they head, you can't see what their efficiency is before you buy them. On and on and on and on.....

Honestly I don't have an issue with the patch I think it's fundamentally irrelevant, not sure the patch was for balance or a cave in to pressure. Either way it's another step that prevents new people from learning the game, and that's what I don't like. I just don't get it, work on the new players first not these old complainers who even though are whining about this and that.

Hell a lot of these people can't aim, I've seen quad AC/5s where a guy misses like 3 out of every 4 shots and I'm supposed to be worried about these peoples alphas? You would be better off increasing recoil and decreasing the accuracy of skilled players, than to do this alpha crap. The reason so many people use LRMs and missiles is because they can't aim worth a damn. Now your trying to force them to use weapons with aim, I'm not sure they like that idea.

[FupDup]

Don't worry, 3rd person will make the new player experience so much better. We promise.

[Ecrof]

The game UI will probably be updated soon maybe even next week we can only hope. aka UI 2.0

[tuffy963]

Ecrof, on 30 July 2013 - 07:40 PM, said:

The game UI will probably be updated soon maybe even next week we can only hope. aka UI 2.0

they sais UI 2.0 will hit test server beofre being released, so it will not be next week. It is much more likely to by 12v12.

[King Arthur IV]

lpl and ll grouped, srm 6/4 grouped, lrm 20/15/10 grouped.................... wtf!

[Corvus Antaka]

FupDup, on 30 July 2013 - 07:31 PM, said:

Don't worry, 3rd person will make the new player experience so much better. We promise.

As he said. and even though his signature is badly designed, it too clearly states PGI knows what they are doing and you have nothing to worry about.

[Dracol]

UI 2.0 has been in the works for awhile, as have tutorials.

Since this game is in beta they have been working to make sure the engine and game play is solid ( game play is a debate for a differant thread)

Be pointless to spend resources on tutorials on a game that is going to change. Now that we are close to launch, IMHO PGI has the game near what they are looking for and so can work on the new user experience to be ready for launch and the new influx of players.

I kinda feel sorry for new players entering any beta cause they never have official manuals and such. One seems to always turn to the community for answers.

Edited by Dracol, 30 July 2013 - 08:49 PM.

[TinyTinSoldier]

So, what is "Max Alpha?"

So far, I know that an "Alpha Strike" is firing all your weapons at once. But what does a value of "Max Alpha 3" mean for SRM6s and SRM4s?

Does it mean that you can only Alpha Strike a maximum of 3 SRM6s at the same time if you had six SRM6s equipped?

@ OP: Maybe we should start putting a tutorial link on our sigs or at the end of our posts to help newcomers, like...

Tutorials/Guide/Manual/Help: http://mwomercs.com/...raining-grounds

[MustrumRidcully]

Max Alpha is part of the entire heat scale penalty system. If you exceed max_alpha, which requires firing more than the listed number of weapons over a 0.5 second duration, you generate more heat than the mere sum of the heat of the weapons. The exact number of extra heat depends on several factors.

That SRM4 and SRM6 share now a "Max Alpha" means that if you fire any combination of 4 SRM4s or SRM6s (e.g. 3 SRM6s plus 1 SRM4), you will generate extra heat. IIRC, the extra heat for SRMs isn't all that much.

More details can be found in the Command Chair and the response threads in the Comstar Focus Group.


If you also want my opinion - you can't put the details of the system in any sensible tutorial, since the details are based on a function that gives you a base value for the heat penalty for certain numbers of weapons, and a weapon specific multiplier on that. The system is pretty intransparent and the values don't really make sense. They seem to be taken because they looked neat on paper (or the black board). General advice would be: Avoid exceeing max_alpha by splitting your weapon groups and chain-firing them in some manner.

[Joseph Mallan]

Or bring 2 of everything but AC20s Noah!

[Koryitsu]

Just going off on a limb here... ive been playing tabletop btech for a long long time. I have no qualms about reading long spreadsheets and hunting for data thats not as displayed as it should be. **** i play EVE Online. spreadsheets in space. thats not the problem.

Even with the patience i usually have for in depth numbers hungry games like this one is becoming.... i still cannot understand any of the reasoning behind WHY these weapons turn into radiators when you tape more than one of them together.

Its silly, its arbitrary, and it confused the **** out of someone who has played battletech and mechwarrior more than half his life. How do you think its going to feel to a brand new player trying out the genre for the first time who opens up smurfys wall of numbers (thanks smurfy!) and realizes if he doesnt assimilate that 5-6 pages of pure math, hes going to be at a huge disadvantage?

Its not a matter of grokking anything here, theres nothing to intuitively understand. its arbitrary. you simply need to memorize verbatim and accept.

THATS the heart of the problem for me with this heat scaling BS. No concrete reason why it exists other than "We cant figure out how else to balance, seemed like a good idea"

***** sake. give me back the mpig, Kali, and 56k modems. We had this **** right a long time ago.

Edited by Koryitsu, 06 August 2013 - 01:55 PM.

[Jabilo]

I thought Max Alpha was a person?

[Joseph Mallan]

You're thinking Max Steel. Its a simple mistake.