85 replies to this topic

[Deathlike]

FupDup, on 10 November 2013 - 06:00 PM, said:

Oh, now I see it. Whoops.

No matter how it is spinned, even a Spider will do a better job than a Locust. That 10 ton saving isn't going to make Highlander look worse than the Atlas, or the Victor looking that much worse than a Highlander... etc.

[Selfish]

I feel like people will really love the Flea when it's released. It has the same fragility and basic shape of a locust, but will have a max speed of 126 kph. When it uses its MASC, it will theoretically hit a speed of 154 kph. To be honest, I don't think MASC will help.

[Rhent]

A Locust is 20 tons and has a max speed of 169.3 KPH
A Jenner is 35 tons and has a max speed of 152.7 KPH

The Jenner has ([35-20]/35) 42.8% more tonnage than the Locust and moves ([152.7-169.3]/152.7) 10.9% slower than the Locust. What exactly do you expect the Locust to do to a Jenner? The Locust is meant to be a Tag OR Capping mech only. And frankly, only having a 10.9% speed advantage over a Jenner means its a joke for a cap mech.

Only an idio8 would pilot a Locust.

Edited by Rhent, 10 November 2013 - 06:15 PM.

[Snowhawk]

The solution...? Stop playing Locusts..... they are not "competitive"..... that's it.

[stjobe]

Snowhawk, on 10 November 2013 - 11:44 PM, said:

The solution...? Stop playing Locusts..... they are not "competitive"..... that's it.

They aren't "competitive", but they can be a lot of fun. Not everyone is playing the game "competitively" all the time.

But the biggest problem the Locust faces is the same that plagues many of the other lights and even some of the mediums: That there is nothing to do in MWO to get CB/XP apart from doing as much damage you can and try to get kills/assists.

Role warfare is sorely needed, and the Locust with its speed and small size could potentially be a very good scout 'mech.

[Troutmonkey]

Please, by all means stop matching your Locust against Jenners.
While they impliment that I suggest they don't pair anything with streaks against my Jenner's, especially Kintaros.

[Turist0AT]

FupDup, on 10 November 2013 - 05:33 PM, said:

The problem with your example is that this game has a static number of players on each team. You cannot bring more players than the enemy, unless some of the enemy team disconnects or encounters some other glitch.


Let's look at a more appropriate example:

TEAM 1
Jenner = 35 tons
Cataphract = 70 tons
Total = 105 tons and 2 highly effective players

TEAM 2
Locust = 20 tons
Stalker/Battlemaster = 85 tons
Total = 105 tons and only 1 effective player


It's a 2 on 1 battle.

yeah and the phract is an Ilya with 3 AC-10s

[Joseph Mallan]

Training Instructor, on 09 November 2013 - 01:44 PM, said:

It's ridiculous, and it perfectly illustrates how much better those mechs are when it comes to two decent pilots against each other.

Yes, a great locust pilot with a good connection can kill a terrible jenner pilot, but that's not the comparison.

It's when you match an average player like me in a locust with an average player in a jenner. The Jenner is functionally as fast, due to jump jets and so many jenner pilots with speed tweak. And it viciously outguns the locust, and can kill it before I can even begin to get out of range. It just sweeps my legs with those medium lasers, and if I try to maneuver on it, it just laughs and uses its extreme torso twist to shoot me anyways.

I want to like the locust, but it's extremely difficult to xp when you're constantly thrown into matches against lights who are almost double your weight. I can't cap when Raven 3L and Jenners contest it, because they can just gun me down. Speed doesn't f**king matter unless I'm in those rare conquest games where the other team got no lights and I'm the only one on my side. Even then, god help me if I run into a medium who can ambush me and aim, because I lose a leg in no time at all.

Sorry for the tears, but I bought a phoenix package with the expectation that all 12 mechs would be functional, rather than have three of them be just target practice for people sharpening up their spider hunting skills.

The same can be said about Cicadas an Shadowhawks, Cataphracts(the Orion just isn't in that tonnage sweet spot) and Dragons, Atlases and Victors. The comparison is just silly, A 15 ton advantage is even more extreme in the light class.

[-Natural Selection-]

Who is comparing them? Almost bought PP but told myself Id only get it if "at least" the UI came out. Well it didn't.. So I went to the strip club and spent the $80.

[Joseph Mallan]

The OP seems to think that ALL chassis should be created equal. It's a very romantic thought, but romance dies in competition.

[stjobe]

Joseph Mallan, on 11 November 2013 - 04:43 AM, said:

The OP seems to think that ALL chassis should be created equal. It's a very romantic thought, but romance dies in competition.

All chassis should be viable; there's a difference between "viable" and "equal". Currently the Locust (all variants), Spider (5V & 5K), and Raven (2X & 4X) aren't viable.

[Xeno Phalcon]

Delusions of MLG aside, Locust is a very cheap mech and like anything cheap you get what you pay for: Its either a cheap death, or cheap thrills.

[Joseph Mallan]

stjobe, on 11 November 2013 - 04:46 AM, said:

All chassis should be viable; there's a difference between "viable" and "equal". Currently the Locust (all variants), Spider (5V & 5K), and Raven (2X & 4X) aren't viable.

Viable is dependent on the pilot. But if you take the lightest, least armed and armored mech and expect it to be viable and easy to use in combat... Well the smallest and lightest has never been viable in combat. They are one hit wonders. One hit and you wonder what happened.

[stjobe]

Joseph Mallan, on 11 November 2013 - 05:14 AM, said:

Viable is dependent on the pilot. But if you take the lightest, least armed and armored mech and expect it to be viable and easy to use in combat... Well the smallest and lightest has never been viable in combat. They are one hit wonders. One hit and you wonder what happened.

That's the whole point, isn't it? Straight-up combat is currently the only thing to be viable at in MWO, and a 20-ton 'mech has neither the armament or armour to do straight-up combat well.

So again, we need role warfare; we need it bad, and the Locust needs it to have something to be viable at.

[-Natural Selection-]

stjobe, on 11 November 2013 - 05:23 AM, said:

So again, we need role warfare; we need it bad, and the Locust needs it to have something to be viable at.

So who is to blame for no role warfare? A "ton" of these issues are the players, not the game.

[Mechteric]

Once groups are forced to be under a certain weight limit is where you'll find these lighter mechs come more into play. Being 15 tons lighter per mech in your recon group means you can can be 15 tons per heavier elsewhere, which may be desirable in certain drop groups.

[Joseph Mallan]

stjobe, on 11 November 2013 - 05:23 AM, said:

That's the whole point, isn't it? Straight-up combat is currently the only thing to be viable at in MWO, and a 20-ton 'mech has neither the armament or armour to do straight-up combat well.

So again, we need role warfare; we need it bad, and the Locust needs it to have something to be viable at.

To reinforce your point, a Locust was a RECON asset and a crowd/infantry control Asset/infantry. We don't have crowds or PBI. Without a true Recon role, What good is a Locust, other than being a red headed step child!

[Training Instructor]

Joseph Mallan, on 11 November 2013 - 04:43 AM, said:

The OP seems to think that ALL chassis should be created equal. It's a very romantic thought, but romance dies in competition.

Most of my romantic thoughts involve 20 year old girls, not 20 ton mechs.

If there's one thing I enjoy in a competitive team game, it is being a liability to my team. You see, my job is to make my team better by dying as early as possible, or doing trifling amounts of damage, which forces the rest of my team to work harder to win. Working harder makes them better players.

I'm pretty happy that PGI has produced a mech that is almost custom built for this very important role I've chosen.

[Rascula]

Its all subjective, if you want a 'competitive game then stay away from the locust like the plague... However if you pugging and want to feel like you actually earnt that kill steal then the Locust offers that very cheap thrill...

Its a fun mech, play it that way and you'll enjoy it... just don't force it to be competitive because it wont work that way!

[stjobe]

Dozier, on 11 November 2013 - 05:42 AM, said:

So who is to blame for no role warfare? A "ton" of these issues are the players, not the game.

The players can only play the game PGI provides, and currently PGI provides zero role warfare.

CapperDeluxe, on 11 November 2013 - 05:58 AM, said:

Once groups are forced to be under a certain weight limit is where you'll find these lighter mechs come more into play. Being 15 tons lighter per mech in your recon group means you can can be 15 tons per heavier elsewhere, which may be desirable in certain drop groups.

Weight limits will only mean someone - perhaps you - will be forced into a non-viable, non-fun, non-contributing 'mech so that someone else can play a viable, fun, and contributing 'mech.

It may well be this game's undoing if it arrives before role warfare.