75 replies to this topic

[XXskuXX]

So, I have been playing this game for about a week and I really wonder, is there any "trick" to not get brainless apes as "teammates" in atleast 80% of the random games one joins?

Or is it just intended that (new?) players lose 80% of the random games, no matter how good or bad one plays?

[Rhaythe]

Communicate. That's really about the best I can suggest in PUGs. Start chatting to your team, make suggestions, or even take command and start giving orders. Players will (surprisingly) follow a simple 'move here' order in this game occasionally.

Aside from that, make friends and do group drops.

[DEMAX51]

The best advice we can give you is to stop dropping in random matches and try to group up with some friends. If you don't have any friends who play the game, check out the outreach section on these forums and look for a group to play with. The game's a hell of a lot better when you play with others and talk to them over something like TeamSpeak.

[AlmightyAeng]

If you jump on one of the public TS servers to find groups to actually talk/pug with, that can also help.

But, as a solo pug, it can be hard to try to get your team to do what you want...granted, some people that start giving orders are sometimes very wrong...and get ignored. *shrug* don't be afraid to make mistakes.

[XXskuXX]

Thanks for your replies

To be honest, I am just looking for a game at which I can relaxi one or two hours after work... I dont want to search or communicate much, neither in the game chat (I seroiulsy lack experience to "command" others anyways) and def. not in TS (I have to communicate all the day at work and english isnt my native language)...
I just want to "click and play".

I just wonder why the game puts me in the losing team almost every time?
Is that some kind of "bonus" you get for being new?
Is it active till you pay something for this game?

Edited by XXskuXX, 13 January 2014 - 01:08 PM.

[Void Angel]

Practice.

No, seriously. As you play more and get personally better at the game, the quality of your teammates will improve. Barring that, you can do two things simultaneously:

• Use your words. Like Rhaythe says, talking to your team helps. Obviously, there's no time to type in combat, but if you DO have time, saying things like "which way are we going, guys? Let's not split up," or "I see assaults at the bottom of the dropship ridge," can really help lend direction to your team. One of my own pet peeves is that most players who get murdered by say, a flanking lance, will just sit there and watch from their spectator spot as teammate after teammate gets blindsided just like them. Talk to your team before and after you die (but avoid backseat driving.) An important note, however: DO NOT RAGE AT YOUR TEAM. I personally... struggle... with this at times, but the fact is, no matter how much of a trousered monkey is sitting at the controls of that {Dezgra} 'mech - if you yell at him, you will make him stupider..er. Seriously, there's research. Angry/stressed out people lose higher reasoning ability, so don't scream at them even when they deserve it.
  
• Support the team. Generally, the Puggles are going to end up doing one thing - some guys may be out on the sides doing their own thing, but in general, the team that stays together, slays together. Or they get immolated in a gigantic pyre of cowardice and shame. But that'll happen more often when people split the party. It's generally best to have most of your firepower in one place doing roughly the same thing. So! Adapt what you do to what the rest of the group is doing. If the team is all hiding behind the buildings in Frozen City, jump sniping across Coward's Ridge, don't go do something on your own because you're a brawler. Stay with the team, keep under cover, and wait for your day to come. A lot of things I see "premades" do wrong is go off and do their own thing because "pugs are dumb and you can't trust them." That often leads to the destruction of the team - and then the premade assumes that they either died first because the team didn't support them, or that they died last because they were better. Do your best to cooperate with your team, even when they're being stupid (just try to encourage them along the path of righteousness, too.)

Doing these things together will help a lot with your typical PuG match. Most of those guys aren't really imbeciles - they just play one on twitch.tv. A lot of the time people make poor decisions because they don't have all the pertinent pieces of information, or they're confused and haven't learned game tactics completely yet. Be patient.


Finally, take heart! I seriously doubt that your matches have been going quite as badly as it feels. Click on your profile up at the top of the page, next to "LOGOUT," then click on the "Stats" button in the small options bar under the big "Media," and "Forums" buttons. You'll be able to see your overall win/loss, weapon, and 'mech statistics there. =) See you on the battlefield!

Edited by Void Angel, 13 January 2014 - 01:12 PM.

[Void Angel]

PS: No, there is absolutely not any difference in the matchmaker based on whether you've bought anything for the game. The players wouldn't have it. We would riot, break 'mech cockpit windows, drench the forums in gasoline, and light it all on fire on our way out to other games. =)

This game does have a steep learning curve - but once you get the hang of it, you can totally solo PuG. I do it all the time. It's best, though, if you have a buddy with you; I started the game with a friend, and dropped with him all the time. It helps.

[TheCaptainJZ]

The matchmaker doesn't seem good at placing new players into appropriate matches (there is no segregation after all) so most of the people in your matches have been playing quite a while longer than you have. However, the match maker does better the more matches you play (dozens of matches) as well as you get better skilled yourself. Keep playing, and you'll notice that you are landing more shots and getting more kills as you get more used to the handling of your mech. Oh, and don't forget to unlock skills for your owned mechs in the pilot skills tab! It makes crappy mechs awesome!

[XXskuXX]

Void Angel, on 13 January 2014 - 01:06 PM, said:

Practice.

No, seriously. As you play more and get personally better at the game, the quality of your teammates will improve. Barring that, you can do two things simultaneously:

Dont want to sound arrogant but this thread isnt about me but the quality of my teammates (and/or my opponents)...
I just want to know if it is somehow possible to get even matches by either getting better teammates or worse oppenents so that I get a win/defeate rate of about 50%

Void Angel, on 13 January 2014 - 01:06 PM, said:

Finally, take heart! I seriously doubt that your matches have been going quite as badly as it feels. Click on your profile up at the top of the page, next to "LOGOUT," then click on the "Stats" button in the small options bar under the big "Media," and "Forums" buttons. You'll be able to see your overall win/loss, weapon, and 'mech statistics there. =) See you on the battlefield!

Thanks, but I already did check my stats before creating this thread.

I did the first 30 matches on the premade CICADA CDA-2A©...
I did 29 kills while dying 20 times, did a little over 9000 damage (which means about 300 per match) and got a little over 25k experince points.
As said, I am new and therefore I dont feel that these are "bad stats" for someone with ~100 games (did about 70 on another account which I abbonded because I did some mistakes with buying my first mech).
Nevertheless I lost 21 of those 30 matches!

Edited by XXskuXX, 13 January 2014 - 01:28 PM.

[Mechteric]

I find a well placed UAV can move the PUG herd in the direction of masses of enemies to good effect, sometimes anyway.

[Buckminster]

It takes the matchmaker time to get a good grip on your ELO. You have 30 matches in, I have 1300, so it has a darned good idea of where I belong in the pecking order, and my win/loss is hovering around 50%.

And sometimes it's just a coin flip. I've had plenty of days where I can't win a match for the life of me, and other days I just can't lose. Stick it out a bit longer, and you should see things start to even out. And until then, try and take consolation in the fact that you are doing so well with just 30 matches under your belt.

Edited by Buckminster, 13 January 2014 - 01:30 PM.

[focuspark]

Given how ELO and the MM work, the better you do the better class of player you'll encounter. If you want to get away from the brainless tweens win matches. So long as they keep dragging you down, you'll be stuck with them.

OR get friends and group drop with a pre-made of people you like.

Buckminster, on 13 January 2014 - 01:29 PM, said:

It takes the matchmaker time to get a good grip on your ELO. You have 30 matches in, I have 1300, so it has a darned good idea of where I belong in the pecking order, and my win/loss is hovering around 50%.

And sometimes it's just a coin flip. I've had plenty of days where I can't win a match for the life of me, and other days I just can't lose. Stick it out a bit longer, and you should see things start to even out. And until then, try and take consolation in the fact that you are doing so well with just 30 matches under your belt.

Doesn't MM ignore your ELO until you have something like 100 matches under your belt?

[LauLiao]

focuspark, on 13 January 2014 - 01:30 PM, said:

Doesn't MM ignore your ELO until you have something like 100 matches under your belt?

Yeah I thought there was some sort of special MM rules for new accounts that tended to group newbies together. Once you get out of your cadet bonus things might get better?

[WVAnonymous]

focuspark, on 13 January 2014 - 01:30 PM, said:

...

Doesn't MM ignore your ELO until you have something like 100 matches under your belt?

Everyone gets a starting score of 1300, IIRC. That carries on for some quantity of matches that was over 50 but less than 200 but I don't remember that number.

I definitely have better W/L on the weekends when the players are more "play for fun" types than I do on Tuesdays when we are maybe more dedicated.

[mogs01gt]

XXskuXX, on 13 January 2014 - 12:41 PM, said:

So, I have been playing this game for about a week and I really wonder, is there any "trick" to not get brainless apes as "teammates" in atleast 80% of the random games one joins?
Or is it just intended that (new?) players lose 80% of the random games, no matter how good or bad one plays?

Its really rough getting teammates who have a clue. Especially when Im calling out where the enemy is and my teammates are farting around some place else trying to snipe the enemy as they are getting flanked..

[Redshift2k5]

The trick to having at least 33% of the team working together:

[chevy42083]

^Eh. Some of us simply can't/don't want to talk. He is not native english (though many of you may not be). I simply play in a room in the main living area, where others are doing their thing. or others are sleeping. I don't want to disturb. Typing works very well... except when under heavy fire.

Do you always play a light?
Sometimes noobs will play a heavy/assault, then basically throw it away by going all out or playing too conservatively. Basically, the team is down a heavy hitter.


Seriously, it may not be your hit ratio/dmg/kills... but your assistance to the team itself. The goal is for everyone, not simply yourself. Maybe you take pot shots at all the enemies backs, when calling them out for your team would be best. Playing together, even when it's a "bad" plan... is almost always better. So communicate... at least a bit. I'm constantly amazed that out of 12 players, only 3 or 4 will type something out.

Sometimes, silence is fine... they are listening, or following the heard. I've simply called out "going EXTREMELY wide left to the map edge, all around then attacking from the rear" at the start of a match... and starting marching. Amazingly, EVERY PUGger followed. EVERYONE. One of the quickest wins I'd had. It was awesome.

Edited by chevy42083, 13 January 2014 - 01:45 PM.

[AaronWolf]

XXskuXX, on 13 January 2014 - 01:21 PM, said:

Dont want to sound arrogant but this thread isnt about me but the quality of my teammates (and/or my opponents)...
I just want to know if it is somehow possible to get even matches by either getting better teammates or worse oppenents so that I get a win/defeate rate of about 50%



Thanks, but I already did check my stats before creating this thread.

I did the first 30 matches on the premade CICADA CDA-2A©...
I did 29 kills while dying 20 times, did a little over 9000 damage (which means about 300 per match) and got a little over 25k experince points.
As said, I am new and therefore I dont feel that these are "bad stats" for someone with ~100 games (did about 70 on another account which I abbonded because I did some mistakes with buying my first mech).
Nevertheless I lost 21 of those 30 matches!

TS will be your friend. Or buddy up with some people here!

Since the best way to avoid PUG issues is to run in a small premade of 2-3 people. It is also a lot more fun when speaking with others.

Remember PUG'ing in any game, usually its a coin flip on how it goes. So you could have a string of defeats, then have a huge string of wins.

Redshift2k5, on 13 January 2014 - 01:42 PM, said:

The trick to having at least 33% of the team working together:

But this really really helps a lot.

[XXskuXX]

CapperDeluxe, on 13 January 2014 - 01:26 PM, said:

I find a well placed UAV can move the PUG herd in the direction of masses of enemies to good effect, sometimes anyway.

Sorry, but what is UAV?

Buckminster, on 13 January 2014 - 01:29 PM, said:

It takes the matchmaker time to get a good grip on your ELO. You have 30 matches in, I have 1300, so it has a darned good idea of where I belong in the pecking order, and my win/loss is hovering around 50%.

And sometimes it's just a coin flip. I've had plenty of days where I can't win a match for the life of me, and other days I just can't lose. Stick it out a bit longer, and you should see things start to even out. And until then, try and take consolation in the fact that you are doing so well with just 30 matches under your belt.

Thanks for the cheer up mate, but I dont think I can play even another 100 games when I know I am going to lose most of them... After all I am playing this (and every other) game for fun - Losing because some matchmaking system wants you to isnt my defination of fun

focuspark, on 13 January 2014 - 01:30 PM, said:

Given how ELO and the MM work, the better you do the better class of player you'll encounter. If you want to get away from the brainless tweens win matches. So long as they keep dragging you down, you'll be stuck with them.

I cant win matches with good players on the enemy team and brainless apes on my team so I am basically stuck at where I am?!

LauLiao, on 13 January 2014 - 01:33 PM, said:

Yeah I thought there was some sort of special MM rules for new accounts that tended to group newbies together. Once you get out of your cadet bonus things might get better?

Why does it group newbies together instead of grouping them against each other?





So, to come to a conclusion:
Am I right on the assumption that it is basically impossible to have fun (fun = atleast 50% winrate) on this game if you are just into "click and play" and dont want to dedicate time for "social activity"?

[mogs01gt]

chevy42083, on 13 January 2014 - 01:44 PM, said:

Do you always play a light?
Sometimes noobs will play a heavy/assault, then basically throw it away by going all out or playing too conservatively. Basically, the team is down a heavy hitter.

This right here drives me insane!