16 replies to this topic

[AntiCitizenJuan]

Been taking a nice long hiatus from MWO. For some reason I decided to update my game and caught up 12 patches. I still have yet to play a game, because I came here, took one look at General and see that the fanbase still seems relatively conflicted on the current meta.

Is the game still borked?
Are entire weapons systems still broken after all these months?

Could someone give me the lowdown on whats been happening in the last 3 months?

[Novakaine]

Soon.

[FupDup]

Basically, we have a bunch of new robots but roughly the same gameplay.

Additionally, a new meta has almost fully formed itself by now (consisting of 2 large energy weapons + 1-2 autocannons of caliber 5 or higher, preferably mounted on jump-capable heavies and assaults).


The basic gameplay is still fun, but overall there haven't been many improvements and all of the core issues are still lingering around.

Edited by FupDup, 07 December 2013 - 08:14 PM.

[Celestial]

It's probably as balanced as it has ever been.
The community will always be conflicted on the current meta.

[Kanatta Jing]

Don't read the forum to find out if the game is fun. Play the game to find out if the game is fun.

[Mawai]

The game is probably as balanced as it has ever been.

Not every weapon is equally as useful as every other.

Autocannons at the moment are more often than not the weapon of choice if the mech can use them.

SRMs probably need an upward tweak though this may happen naturally when they fix hit registration.

I have seen a wide range of weapon loadouts ... however the 2xppc + AC10 or 2xAC5 or AC20 is a popular build. Especially on a mech with jump jets. Poptarting is not as bad as it was some time ago but is making a bit of a resurgence with the gyro module (which reduces shake). Other than that, I have probably seen every weapon in the game used at some point in the last week (except maybe SRM2) though the flamer was probably being used mostly for lols (or to blind the target).

[Twilight Fenrir]

AntiCitizenJuan, on 07 December 2013 - 08:09 PM, said:

Been taking a nice long hiatus from MWO. For some reason I decided to update my game and caught up 12 patches. I still have yet to play a game, because I came here, took one look at General and see that the fanbase still seems relatively conflicted on the current meta.

Is the game still borked?
Are entire weapons systems still broken after all these months?

Could someone give me the lowdown on whats been happening in the last 3 months?

I was out of the game a bit longer than you, I had 25 patches when I came back to the game 2-3 days ago... I'm still enjoying myself. I hate what they did to the Guass Rifle, but most of the rest of the game has improved its balance, I would say... I tried to give a fairly comprehensive observations in my thread here:

http://mwomercs.com/...er-months-away/

[Aim64C]

Do you want MechWarrior, or giant stompy robots in the image of MechWarrior?

It's okay to drop into and blow up a few things here and there. The balance isn't great, and the implementations have only gotten more off-base - but what it basically amounts to is that the things you used to be able to hit mechs with (missiles), you now cannot; and the things that used to miss all the time (ballistics) now strike fairly true. Some of the mechs that used to have invincible hit-boxes now die appropriately. Some mechs that used to have fatal hitboxes have been made a tad more survivable.

Generally, though, the game is shipped as: "Some Imagination Required."

[Rhent]

As long as you like using:
Lasers
PPC
AC
SSRM

The game is working as intended. If you like Jump Sniping then the game is really working as intended.

If you like using:
LRM
SRM
Gauss

Then you might want to come back in 6 months and check again.

[Noesis]

The Meta is "mostly" Direct fire support weaponry with a few lights to do the leg work.

Short game needs a confidence boost, SRM HSR fixes being the largest annoyance here that limits options. Another possibility might be lowering ML heat to 3.5. Might be a better consideration than nerfing snipers.

Drop tonnage needs to be applied asap/yesterday/last year to make lighter Mechs more viable to use (especially mediums) since the game is essentially still Max damage orientated and persuades people to stomp around in assaults or heavies as a result. However even with tonnage limits it may allow for an Assault & Light drop format but just toning down the number of assaults as a result.

Medium sizes are still too big in relation to others which make them a Heavy/Assault pinata at distance further encouraging the above factors. And might only need a relatively small tweak down to best present an improved "survivability" they need. This still with some engine restrictions still applied that may limit some build options for faster defence with speed. This has been addressed slightly with a few fast insurgency type Mechs of late like the KTO, SHD.

Game rewards are also still skewed more to how much damage and kills you do, which in light of recent c-bill reductions makes the above reasoning of applying the heavier hitting mechs still more appealing also, especially if trying to gain personal infrastructure.

So still a WIP from my perspective with balance.

[Livewyr]

The jump-shoot meta is here to stay. (Anyone who played Mechwarrior 4 knows exactly what I'm talking about.)

Only way to curb that, which I'm a little hesitant about, is to disable weapons while Jumpjets are active and for 2-3 seconds afterwards. (I thought about "while feet are not on terra firma, but that would be disastrous with all the little bumps taking people off the ground for split seconds...including inopportune unavoidable split seconds.)

[DaZur]

Kanatta Jing, on 07 December 2013 - 08:22 PM, said:

Don't read the forum to find out if the game is fun. Play the game to find out if the game is fun.

QTF + 103 likes.

I've said it elsewhere... I am fully convinced the perception of "balance" within this community is influenced more by the forum noise than the actual game mechanics...

[Mawai]

Rhent, on 08 December 2013 - 04:43 AM, said:

As long as you like using:
Lasers
PPC
AC
SSRM

The game is working as intended. If you like Jump Sniping then the game is really working as intended.

If you like using:
LRM
SRM
Gauss

Then you might want to come back in 6 months and check again.

I would disagree on the gauss. The mechanic takes a bit of getting used to and the timing could use tweaking but overall I find it works pretty well ... the weapon is still effective but can't be boated with PPCs or other autocannons to get higher alpha strikes at long ranges.

SRM needs a tweak though that might come with improved hit detection.

Personally I have never gotten LRMs to work properly even though I have seen folks been relatively successful with them. I still see a lot of folks using them so they must be at least somewhat effective.

LRMs may need the baseline improved somewhat and the effects of tag, artemis reduced a bit so that enhanced LRMs don't become overly effective. Balancing LRMs is difficult because part of the issue is that the firer must maintain a lock ,,, you can't beef up LRMs so much that they do decent damage even if fired without skill. On the other hand, tagged, artemis, LRMs in line of sight against a target without AMS or ECM should be reasonably effective.

The best approach on LRMs might be to decide what level of overall average damage you would want to see from a specific launcher ... under ideal conditions and then scale it appropriately. Keeping in mind that LRM damage should be distributed randomly over most of the mech (and not concentrated on CT or similar issues).

[Tekadept]

Do a few drops, if you don't smile, that's your answer.

[Kilo 40]

Rhent, on 08 December 2013 - 04:43 AM, said:

As long as you like using:
Lasers
PPC
AC
SSRM

The game is working as intended. If you like Jump Sniping then the game is really working as intended.

If you like using:
LRM
SRM
Gauss

Then you might want to come back in 6 months and check again.

I use LRMs as my primary weapon on all my builds and I can say that LRMs work just fine.

[Scromboid]

Just come blow up robots. Ignore everything else.

[Sandpit]

Other than a few weapon and module balancing things and hitbox revamps it's basically the same game. If you didn't enjoy it 3 months ago, you aren't going to enjoy it now. If you did enjoy it 3 months ago you'll enjoy it a bit more now in my opinion because of the balancing that's been done