Protection, on 20 August 2013 - 06:54 PM, said:
>Blatantly steeling screenshots from /vg/
I still remember the early competitive games. The huge risks associated with scouting. Knowing that if I sent my Jenners over that hill to find out what was on the other side, they might not be coming back. I could well be sending my teammates to their deaths on a foolish whim. The weight of those decisions made them real and meaningful to gameplay.
Nope, screw that. Press a button, hug a rock and get all that information and more without having to even approach a cone of fire.
I'm going to go into the old ELP files (of which I'm no longer a member) and dig up an old game from the very first Run Hot Or Die Tournament. Game 1 of ELP versus Jade Wolves - a game that many of our team still consider to be one of the very best we ever played.
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Eridani Light Pony vs Jade Wolf
"Dangerous at Both Ends, and Crafty in the Middle"
A back and forth struggle with nonstop intense action, and some cunning and risky plays by both teams. All three of the matches could easily have tipped the other way, but fortune favoured the bold in each of the respective matches.
Round the First: "Borrowing a Page"
Frozen City
Ponies on High Side (two cave entrance), Wolves on Low Side (one cave entrance)
Ponies funnel into the caves, prepping for an all out cave rush, sending the Jenners around to the side to scout ahead. Jenners call for full abort, as Jade Wolf has already organized into a firing line, with vision from the dropship ridge to the caves. Pony forces pull back, and the two teams enter into a long range sniper war, with the occasional glancing blow from PPCs or Gauss. PureNo tries a risky play in his Jenner, ends up getting tackled deep near the Pony heavy mechs, but gets away with only modest damage. Neither team has a definite advantage, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Window darts across the dropship, but PureNo is too good, tackles him and Window is down - giving the Wolves a 1-0 lead with less than 5 minutes to go, and sitting comfortably in a fortified position. Ponies split up their forces and make a charge. Two Atlai and a Catapult pour out from the caves, Jenners and Hunchbacks storm the ridge, and others move up from the ravine. Centagon guns down Protection, but the firing line is suddenly surrounded on all sides, Pony Atlai Stimbles and Zylo take down the Wolf Assaults, giving the Ponies the weight advantage. Wolf Jenners take down a Hunchback and Catapult, but the Pony Atlai grind down the Wolves to only two Jenners. With all four remaining Pony Mechs on the Wolf base, the Jenners are forced to try and defend, but don't have the time for hit and runs, and are gradually shot down by Rextale, the Pony fast Hunchie.
Result: Light Pony Victory. 8-4 Elimination.
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Jenner scouting absolutely defined this game for both teams. Jade Wolves were the better snipers, by far, and arguably even the better team. We might've been the better brawlers (at the time, anyhow), but we needed an opportunity to close in. Without the extreme high risk scouting, nothing in this game would have happened the way it did. It was extremely close and every decision was costly and even painful. My heart was in my mouth when Window went down and the clock was ticking away.
And the second game, Jade Wolf won by faking the same tactic then rushing for the base, and got away with it because we failed to scout adequately that round.
In the current game mode, none of this would ever happen and all of that scouting would be irrelevant and wouldn't matter. We'd know enemy locations and positions without ever being susceptible to attack, and we could all just take turns cover shooting and remaining dormant until the clock winds down.
3PV is a castration of game depth and strategy. It has no place in this game.