I want to keep the discussion around the physical difference between the mechs and the lore of the game.
Lights are "Mechs are generally used as scout 'Mechs and anti-personnel units instead of frontline combat duty, but some are designated combat 'Mechs with relatively heavy armament."
vs
Assaults are "'Mechs are the heaviest regular class of BattleMechs, weighing in between 80 and 100 tons. Some of these huge 'Mechs can mount up to 50 tons of weapons as well as very thick armor protection."
In my imagination when playing table top games, and from every description I ever read about lights, I always envisioned them quickly running around to scout and kill people on the ground. Maybe blowing up a tank or two. Never did I envision them soloing an Atlas as they can do in MWO.
I also have to point out the difference between and the weapons on the lights vs the armor on the assaults. I just don't see how machine gun bullets could possibly do enough damage to penetrate the "very thick armor protection" of an assault. I have seen videos of people shooting steel plates with guns, and the bullets just plink off with maybe a dent to the steel. Ok maybe in fantasy world the bullets are a little better, but then again the steel plate armor in fantasy would also be way better as well!
Now I understand that being a good pilot has its benefits when fighting in MWO. In fact, I feel that I had a poor game if I do less then 300 damage when running my Jenner. However, while its fun to do that much damage, I really have a hard time believing in it. I feel like its cheating the lore somehow.
On the other side of the coin, when I am running my Atlas I feel as if i should be able to ignore the little light at my feet and continue with what I am doing and let my team pick off the annoying pest. Again, this is not the case in MWO. If you do not address the light right away, he will simply core out your back with machine guns in a few hits.
I like this analogy... How many [Elementals] could I take on at once??? I can simply ignore one [Elemental] hitting me in the back and no damage done. According to the website below it would take 19 of them to take me down.
[Link Redacted]
I agree that the light warm is deadly, but not just 1 or 2 on an assault. Can't an Atlas simply step on a light and kill it? lol
I just don't get it...
for the description on mechs I used:
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/BattleMech
Edited by Niko Snow, 10 January 2014 - 10:36 AM.
While funny, the website linked crossed a border of appropriateness. Thanks for your understanding.