So, as does anyone who bothers to tally their own hits and whether they deal damage, I have for a long (very) time noticed that many hits do not land. While this is most obvious when using, say, an AC20, PPC or other high-damage singe hit weapon, the fact that this happens to all weapons is apparent.
But, there are also "good games" and "bad games". Some games have a higher rate of hit detection, as do some periods of gameplay. This post is to describe the situations in which hit-non-registration happen most often. The biggest culprit of hit-non-registration seems to be the number of projectiles in the game at any given time.
For example, a shot from, say, an AC20, is not as likely to be properly recorded when the server is also parsing shots from a 4xMG spider or 6xMG jager. Likewise, it is also less likely to detect shots when the air is full of LRM volleys.
Likewise, weapons with higher projectile counts (MGs, LRMs, all laser weapons) have a bad habit of producing sub-par damage when actually used in a live match. I believe this is due to the high number of projectiles they themselves fire. This fact is accentuated by perceptible lag spikes when/while these weapons are firing from anywhere on the map.
This server overload is possibly among the largest factors that reduce the number of solid hits being actually detected and applied, and therefore the best way to reduce these unfortunate numbers of "hits that do nothing" is to seriously reconsider the mechanics of them.
For example, MGs could be made to fire at 1/4th the current rate and deal 4x damage. Lasers could have the number of individual "pings" of damage within the beam also reduced and increased in individual strength. I don't readily see a solution for LRMs, though reducing the processing needs for tracking other weapons would probably be enough to bring everything >closer< to hand.
Just a thought, PGI. Simpler programs are easier to maintain and ensure proper functions of, and most of the mechanics behind these weapons are arbitrary flash and wasted processing power, with unfortunate results.
Edited by TheFlyingScotsman, 30 November 2013 - 11:47 AM.