6 replies to this topic

[Mr Andersson]

The skirmish mode is here, hooray! Finally a game mode free from cap-fests.

But one thing I don't understand is why the lances are dropped so far apart. They seem even more spread out than the new drop pattern for assault. The effect is essentially that there is a few minutes at the start of every match when both teams assemble (if they are not noobs) before they start engaging.

[Carl Wrede]

Skirmish mode is rubbish just a glorified deathmatch that does not belong in MW. Besides the spawnpoints are totally unbalanced.

[Gralzeim]

Just to note, less than 20% of Assault games end in a capture victory. The rest of them end in total destruction of one team. I wouldn't call that a "cap-fest", but that's just me.

[Penance]

a very minor variation between this and the other 2...just like adding a few flags was minor variation between Assault & Conquest.

Why not CTF?

[Mystere]

Mr Andersson, on 17 December 2013 - 02:31 PM, said:

The skirmish mode is here, hooray! Finally a game mode free from cap-fests.

But one thing I don't understand is why the lances are dropped so far apart. They seem even more spread out than the new drop pattern for assault. The effect is essentially that there is a few minutes at the start of every match when both teams assemble (if they are not noobs) before they start engaging.

That's so Spiders can run and hide unnoticed at the start of the game.

[Greyboots]

Mr Andersson, on 17 December 2013 - 02:31 PM, said:

The skirmish mode is here, hooray! Finally a game mode free from cap-fests.

But one thing I don't understand is why the lances are dropped so far apart. They seem even more spread out than the new drop pattern for assault. The effect is essentially that there is a few minutes at the start of every match when both teams assemble (if they are not noobs) before they start engaging.

In some maps the drop pattern is good for people who know the benefits of them as well as the map. On other maps the decision on the drop points seems more than a little random. It was like "well, we need to spread this cap point from the others BUT there's no real logical place, let's just plonk it down here".

This is leading many to the universal solution of "let's group up before we head out" and the spread drop points are pretty much just wasting time. There's only 3 maps where they seem to have had a significant impact on the game, Terra Therma (less crater rushes now), Alpine Peaks (changed the main combat location from G6isn to j8ish on a more frequent basis) and Tourmaline Desert (fewer teams now take the Ferris Wheel instead of going left or right). These are, of course, all large maps.

Smaller maps had their base moved which was what had the impact with the spread drop locations more "just because it makes it constant" rather than any real and solid gameplay reason.

Skirmish drops are probably further apart (and I have to admit that I don't even know if they are) for no other reason than they can afford to be. There's no bases to cap meaning it's not as hard to provide a tactically even drop pattern. You don't have to worry about who will reach which base quicker etc. It's not going to stop the current gameplay ethic of "group up and smash" though. It's more of a high-end game ethic where the commander can move specific mechs into a specific lance and know where they will drop. They can then use them to blockade common pathways allowing the enemy to group up quickly in order to slow them down and so on.

Will this ever happen? I generally doubt it. Mostly because I don't think we'll ever see a shift to where the meta includes this sort of highly tactical gameplay.

[astinius]

Canyon Network I think seems to suffer from this the most as one side gets 3 points where they can hide on the ridge line or take the most valuable high ground on the map.