What I'm going to be talking to ya'll about today is the topic of getting stuff actually fixed. Forums of every game in the history of ever are jam-packed with discussions about what is overpowered and what is underpowered. Such threads are (usually) perfectly valid to create, but what we must understand is that such threads don't usually have any noticeable impact whatsoever. Sometimes this is for the better, because threads can sometimes suggest hopelessly stupid ideas. At other times, this can be for the worse.
Whatever the implications are, your balance threads are rarely, if ever, going to see the light of day. There is a much more practical way to convince the developers to make whatever change you're looking for, and this requires taking matters into your own hands. What I'm suggesting for you to do is to go out and "prove" that weapon-x is overpowered, or that variant-y is underpowered. Note that this thread does not care about what specific things are OP/UP, I am simply laying out the framework for the way to get things changed.
If something is overpowered, the best way to get it nerfed is to abuse the living daylights out of it. If you think autocannons are too good, start using autocannons. Doing so will provide additional statistics for PGI to make their decisions based off of. If they see a disproportionally large part of the playerbase using a very narrow set of tactics and equipment, they might get the impression that there is a reason for such behavior. Being a hipster with your LPL + SRM2 + LBX + Flamer + LRM10 frankenmech isn't going to affect change, and will in fact slow down or inhibit change.
Conversely, if you believe that something is underpowered, STOP USING THAT ITEM and refuse to touch it with a 31.5 foot pole. If you think that the Raven 4X and 2X variants are bad, don't use them. Using them would cause PGI to see that people are getting decent performance out of them, and thus they would get the impression that those variants don't need any help. If you think that the LPL is bad, don't use LPLs. Being a hipster with your LPL Stalker is going to give PGI statistics that people use the weapon and do okay with them, and thus LPLs will never get buffed.
Going "against the meta" directly increases the duration of that "meta" because it can give statistics-gatherers the impression that things are hunky-dorey. It is a sad fact, but it is true. Trying to be a unique little snowflake is going to make the developers conclude that the meta isn't really the meta after all. If you want OP things fixed, relentlessly abuse those things. If you want UP things fixed, avoid those things like the plague, and maybe even sell them off from your mechbay. Take matters into your own hands, and give the people in power the statistics they need to make a decision on the issue.
Edited by FupDup, 23 November 2013 - 08:17 AM.