259 replies to this topic

[MischiefSC]

Some of the best pug games I've ever had, all back to back. I've lost 4 in a row and don't care - they were great matches. Hard fought, tactical and better coordination than I've seen in a long time.

Everyone has the same goal on your team now. Everyone is on the same page, there's no fear that one or two people might have a different plan or be 'doing their own thing'. I've watched planned and unplanned pincer movements, watched other teams try to set up fortified positions and draw us into them.

Every match has been close and hard-fought. Shockingly short sniper segments, which is a huge improvement. There is no holding back or having no clue where your teammates are going or what they're doing. You know where they're going - the enemy. No point in chasing kills, nobody is going to suddenly cap the match out and end it early. It'll be done when they're all dead or you are, no sooner.

I watched a one-legged Jenner kill an Atlas, I watched a Wolverine stripped of all but one weapon make a suicide rush to draw attention while the rest of them piled in to charge (which worked well), I watched pugs coordinate in chat to dig an enemy team out of a fortified position.

Maybe it's just luck or it'll pass but for the moment I'm finding Skirmish to be the most Battletech I've gotten out of MW:O in a while. Due props.

[80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie]

I agree, this mode is A LOT more enjoyable to play.

Biggest gripe I have is the matchmaker...


I had one of my ~8 games this afternoon where it was about 8 of us in medium ands 2 assaults v a team with 8 assaults and a catapult, orion, and two phracts. We were out tonned by about 450. In a mode like this, equal tonnages mean EVEN more. Its just pathetic the MM is still that dysfunction from time to time.

Other than that, games have been relatively close, and much more fun.

[aniviron]

I agree, nothing says "This is Battletech" quite like a Jenner hiding somewhere in Tourmaline, undiscoverable and shutdown for ten minutes. Good times.

I'm guessing what you are experiencing is patch-day euphoria. Don't worry, it will wear off. It turns out that normally, one-legged Jenners don't kill Atlases very often. This is happening mostly because today is one of the two days every month when people come back to see if anything worthwhile has changed.

[Bhael Fire]

MischiefSC, on 17 December 2013 - 07:26 PM, said:

Some of the best pug games I've ever had, all back to back.

Lucky you.


MM hasn't been so kind for me in PUGs...mostly 12-0 stomps so far in Skirmish...

[MischiefSC]

Actually I've done about a dozen drops in Skirmish so far. One was 12 to 3 and that was largely due to my team having 4 LRM boats who held fire and the other team trying to cross an open area early on. Also one guy on my team in a Dragon Slayer who did a brutal job putting pain to people.

I have yet to run into someone powering down and being a twit. I expect it to happen sooner or later but honestly? I find that less irksome than a cap-rush. Less of a waste of time. At least a powered down mech is a game of hide-and-seek, capping is just an act of boredom.

Everyone has the same goal in Skirmish. You know where everyone is going - where the enemy is. Scouting matters - did they split up or stay together? When scouts find the enemy the player response thus far has been quick and brutal. Everyone is hunting people who split off from the group or looking to push the other team into a vulnerable position.

There is nothing to distract the other team from you, no reason for them to pull back or split up when they find you. It's less forgiving of mistakes and gives bigger rewards both to well considered caution and sudden and well-timed acts of bravery.

It's more like Battletech, less like CoD. I like it.

[Bhael Fire]

Starting to even out a bit at around 12-8, but still haven't won a Skirmish yet.

I like the idea of Skirmish...just wish it was solo players only for more granular matchmaking.

[Bobdolemite]

Skirmish is fun except for the 1 match where the last mech on the enemy team (a misery) climbed a hill in therma and shut down. Luckily after about 2 mins of this his own team outed his position and we killed the sandbagger with glee!

Skirmish is fun, its objective is so simple almost anyone can reliably play it (if you suck at aiming tho nothing can help you!)

[Sug]

Bobdolemite, on 17 December 2013 - 09:15 PM, said:

Skirmish is fun except for the 1 match where the last mech on the enemy team (a misery) climbed a hill in therma and shut down. Luckily after about 2 mins of this his own team outed his position and we killed the sandbagger with glee!

I don't understand **** like that.

IF YOU ARE THE LAST MECH ALIVE AND YOU WANT TO SAVE YOUR PRECIOUS KDR JUST QUIT THE MATCH!!! THE MATCH WILL END!!

[Fabe]

MischiefSC, on 17 December 2013 - 07:26 PM, said:

Some of the best pug games I've ever had, all back to back. I've lost 4 in a row and don't care - they were great matches. Hard fought, tactical and better coordination than I've seen in a long time.

Everyone has the same goal on your team now. Everyone is on the same page, there's no fear that one or two people might have a different plan or be 'doing their own thing'. I've watched planned and unplanned pincer movements, watched other teams try to set up fortified positions and draw us into them.

Every match has been close and hard-fought. Shockingly short sniper segments, which is a huge improvement. There is no holding back or having no clue where your teammates are going or what they're doing. You know where they're going - the enemy. No point in chasing kills, nobody is going to suddenly cap the match out and end it early. It'll be done when they're all dead or you are, no sooner.

I watched a one-legged Jenner kill an Atlas, I watched a Wolverine stripped of all but one weapon make a suicide rush to draw attention while the rest of them piled in to charge (which worked well), I watched pugs coordinate in chat to dig an enemy team out of a fortified position.

Maybe it's just luck or it'll pass but for the moment I'm finding Skirmish to be the most Battletech I've gotten out of MW:O in a while. Due props.

Sounds great,might have to log in and give it a try. I just wounder how long until skirmish degrades into everyone just mindless brawling in same location on a map to the point where the rest of the map might as well not exist.

[5th Fedcom Rat]

Good to hear you had some fun Mischief.

I had kind of the opposite experience after forcing myself to play this game for an hour again. Stupid team mates running every which way as usual, splitting up for no good reason while the enemy rolls up the middle. This mode just emphasizes blob warfare to the extreme. No tactics required.

This charge toward the enemy and die mode seemed more like COD than ever. Rock music at the start just drives that home.

[Abivard]

it seemed like lemmings online to me, rush straight towards where they 'think' the enemy is at top speed, die, then disconnect, only to constantly repeat.

[Jman5]

aniviron, on 17 December 2013 - 08:11 PM, said:

I agree, nothing says "This is Battletech" quite like a Jenner hiding somewhere in Tourmaline, undiscoverable and shutdown for ten minutes. Good times.

I'm guessing what you are experiencing is patch-day euphoria. Don't worry, it will wear off. It turns out that normally, one-legged Jenners don't kill Atlases very often. This is happening mostly because today is one of the two days every month when people come back to see if anything worthwhile has changed.

Doom and gloom aside you are right that we can't judge skirmish mode simply on how people stumble about in the first few days. We have to let things settle and see where the game mode actually stands.

It's just like when a new map comes out. It's a giant cluster-f*ck for a couple weeks until people learn the map and get into a groove.

I predict things are going to slow down and the tonnage is going to increase over the next few weeks. However for now, enjoy the chaos and uncertainty while you can.

[w0rm]

Skirmish is basicly: Move your HGN blob A to superior position B. Start killing, then mop up the rest or search the hiding light. Repeat. Got bored after like ~20 matches.

[XtremWarrior]

Skirmish or "biggest canon contest".
Next we're gonna get: "loudest audio system contest", then "neons and lights contest"...
If Mechs had rims, "need for speed" might have seen some trouble... Well, that's what the community asked for anyway.

[Blue Boutique]

Skirmish I find is the best way to level up your mechs and get cash if you can get the spotting and kill assists. No more backing up to kill a annoying light capper while the heavies get all the moolah.

[Gyrok]

Agreed with all of this...

I had one match where last man was a spider, and he had an ER PPC, so he ran to about 1000M and shot at our last 4 mechs every now and again...for 7 minutes.

That was a bit ridiculous.

However, Skirmish *IS* what this game should be all about.

[MuonNeutrino]

mwhighlander, on 17 December 2013 - 08:08 PM, said:

Biggest gripe I have is the matchmaker...

I had one of my ~8 games this afternoon where it was about 8 of us in medium ands 2 assaults v a team with 8 assaults and a catapult, orion, and two phracts. We were out tonned by about 450. In a mode like this, equal tonnages mean EVEN more. Its just pathetic the MM is still that dysfunction from time to time.

Sounds like the one skirmish match I got to play on the new map. 4 highlanders, 3 victors, a misery, a phract 3D, orion, jaegermech, and one lonely shadowhawk versus our 4 lights and mixed bag of the rest. We had to have been outtonned by a good 300+ tons, and that doesn't even count how 9/12 of the enemy team was optimized meta builds. Was interesting to see the map, and I have to admit that skirmish mode isn't as bad as I was originally thinking it would be, but ugh matches like that just make me want to turn the game off and go do something else.

[BossTek Xeno]

MWO | NEW Moon Map | HPG Manifold | Dual ERLL | Skirmish



Skirmish should be the ONLY mode. I could play this map for hours and hours. Great damn job Dev's.

Edited by BossTek Xeno, 18 December 2013 - 05:32 AM.

[Piney II]

XtremWarrior, on 18 December 2013 - 03:20 AM, said:

Skirmish or "biggest canon contest".
Next we're gonna get: "loudest audio system contest", then "neons and lights contest"...
If Mechs had rims, "need for speed" might have seen some trouble... Well, that's what the community asked for anyway.

Other than the fact that caps have been removed, what's so different about skirmish that it's the "biggest cannon contest"?

The only strategy in skirmish is to fight - get your armor dinged up. No fresh mechs sitting on a cap while their team dies fighting. Hiding and saving yourself for last will do nothing. You'll just face a crowd of mechs that will focus fire you into the ground.

So, you may as well jump right into the fight and come out swinging.

[Roland]

aniviron, on 17 December 2013 - 08:11 PM, said:

I agree, nothing says "This is Battletech" quite like a Jenner hiding somewhere in Tourmaline, undiscoverable and shutdown for ten minutes. Good times.

This never happens.
It was an imagined "danger" of TDM which doesn't happen in reality.

In conquest, there was actual reasons for the last light mech to run off and hide, because he could win by doing so.

In Skirmish, there is no incentive to do it.

Also, the folks who play skirmish seem to actually want to fight. I've not seen ANY skirmish match end with some guy hiding.


As the OP mentions, the skirmish matches I played last night were easily some of the best games in MWO I've played since closed beta. The mobility during the fight seemed to be far greater, as teams flanked around each other, since no one was tethered to a red square.

Overall, it is a great addition which really should have been added right off the bat, since it was trivial to implement.