518 replies to this topic

[Chronojam]

Paul Inouye, on 22 January 2014 - 11:20 AM, said:

This will likely come shortly after Feb 4th due to the size of the Feb 4th patch.

[Corvus Antaka]

Satan n stuff, on 28 February 2014 - 02:18 PM, said:

Having had some time to think about the proposed NARC buff, I think removing the NARC destruction mechanic would be a very bad idea, it's simply too abuse-able. Increasing the amount of damage required to take out a NARC beacon to something more reasonable, like 60 or 80 would however make NARC more useful for solo play without allowing multiple LRM boats to simply spam NARC assisted missiles on targets.

yeah I tend to think the nullify ECM for 30s or 60dmg will be plenty, 30s without a damage falloff could end up being too much.

[Wintersdark]

NARC will only be potentially abusable in organized groups - not at all in pug matches. 30s is _not_ a long time, particularly when you consider in that 30s window you need to target, and achieve lock, then rain. While a clever scout may re-NARC targets, that applies regardless.

And in those organized groups, the standard provisions apply which always make LRM's lackluster: passive defenses, cover, etc. Folks who're capable of really exploiting NARC are the same folks (and ideally playing against the same folks) who understand how to really shut down LRM's.

[Kjudoon]

Chronojam, on 04 March 2014 - 11:09 PM, said:

like I said... April...

orrrrrr.... I was wrong. LOL

[aniviron]

Kjudoon, on 05 March 2014 - 12:34 AM, said:

like I said... April...

orrrrrr.... I was wrong. LOL

I mean, we used to be able to do this ourselves in closed beta, all that needs to be done is modifying a few numbers in an XML file. I can't imagine why that would take them four months to put in for the April patches, and for the same reasons I'm a bit perplexed as to why it's over a month late now. I mean, I can't imagine they went, "Oh hell, this makes NARC OP!" Right now, I see more flamers than NARCs. That's how bad this is.

[Deathlike]

http://mwomercs.com/...te-feb-25-2014/

Paul after being hugged by goons said:

NARC has had some of it's code rewritten and the new values (does not get blown off and provides ECM counter) have been added to the build. I'm guessing a date of March 18th for it to show up on the live servers.

[Paul Inouye]

Sorry for the delay folks... lot of big things being pushed into the builds lately and NARC is still in testing. That being said, March 18th is the targeted and scheduled release date. I was hoping this would be a data driven change (changing item stats) but that was not the case.

There was a little re-engineering required to get the functionality I described earlier. When this happens, the internal dev support team needs to further test the changes to make sure something else didn't break with the code change. I have personally approved the change and dev support is just going to ensure that nothing else broke.

Again, apologies for the delay.

[BlackIronTarkus]

Paul Inouye, on 05 March 2014 - 11:34 AM, said:

[color=cyan]Sorry for the delay folks... lot of big things being pushed into the builds lately and NARC is still in testing. That being said, March 18th is the targeted and scheduled release date. I was hoping this would be a data driven change (changing item stats) but that was not the case.[/color]

There was a little re-engineering required to get the functionality I described earlier. When this happens, the internal dev support team needs to further test the changes to make sure something else didn't break with the code change. I have personally approved the change and dev support is just going to ensure that nothing else broke.

Again, apologies for the delay.

keep on the good communication... yes I know I need to change my signature.

[Cimarb]

Paul Inouye, on 05 March 2014 - 11:34 AM, said:

[color="cyan"]Sorry for the delay folks... lot of big things being pushed into the builds lately and NARC is still in testing. That being said, March 18th is the targeted and scheduled release date. I was hoping this would be a data driven change (changing item stats) but that was not the case.

There was a little re-engineering required to get the functionality I described earlier. When this happens, the internal dev support team needs to further test the changes to make sure something else didn't break with the code change. I have personally approved the change and dev support is just going to ensure that nothing else broke.

Again, apologies for the delay.[/color]

That right there is all we ask - all of the "hmmmm, what's going on" debate can stop because we know officially. Thanks Paul!

[Chronojam]

Cimarb, on 05 March 2014 - 11:44 AM, said:

That right there is all we ask - all of the "hmmmm, what's going on" debate can stop because we know officially. Thanks Paul!

You could say we... Wanted a NARC Update.

[Cimarb]

Chronojam, on 05 March 2014 - 12:09 PM, said:

You could say we... Wanted a NARC Update.

This was a more general pat-on-the-back to encourage official updates to threads than specifically about NARC, which I don't think I have ever equipped on any mech...ever.

[Rebas Kradd]

Paul Inouye, on 05 March 2014 - 11:34 AM, said:

[color=cyan]Sorry for the delay folks... lot of big things being pushed into the builds lately and NARC is still in testing. That being said, March 18th is the targeted and scheduled release date. I was hoping this would be a data driven change (changing item stats) but that was not the case.[/color]

There was a little re-engineering required to get the functionality I described earlier. When this happens, the internal dev support team needs to further test the changes to make sure something else didn't break with the code change. I have personally approved the change and dev support is just going to ensure that nothing else broke.

Again, apologies for the delay.

We'll survive. Thanks for keeping us in the loop!

Edited by Rebas Kradd, 05 March 2014 - 12:54 PM.

[Kjudoon]

I know this much, I can be patient a while longer if it means NARC won't get nerfed or broken in implementation. Rather have it right to minimize my screaming later.

[Wintersdark]

Thanks for the update, Paul, it's much appreciated!

[Roland]

Paul Inouye, on 05 March 2014 - 11:34 AM, said:

[color=cyan]Sorry for the delay folks... lot of big things being pushed into the builds lately and NARC is still in testing. That being said, March 18th is the targeted and scheduled release date. I was hoping this would be a data driven change (changing item stats) but that was not the case.[/color]

There was a little re-engineering required to get the functionality I described earlier. When this happens, the internal dev support team needs to further test the changes to make sure something else didn't break with the code change. I have personally approved the change and dev support is just going to ensure that nothing else broke.

Again, apologies for the delay.

Could you elaborate on what types of engineering changes were required to implement the described changes?
Those kinds of details tend to make us happy, and give us better insight that helps us make better requests in the future.

I think many of us appreciate that you stepped up, said it was gonna be delayed, and apologized though.

[aniviron]

Paul Inouye, on 05 March 2014 - 11:34 AM, said:

[color=cyan]Sorry for the delay folks... lot of big things being pushed into the builds lately and NARC is still in testing. That being said, March 18th is the targeted and scheduled release date. I was hoping this would be a data driven change (changing item stats) but that was not the case.[/color]

There was a little re-engineering required to get the functionality I described earlier. When this happens, the internal dev support team needs to further test the changes to make sure something else didn't break with the code change. I have personally approved the change and dev support is just going to ensure that nothing else broke.

Again, apologies for the delay.

Thanks for the word. Just good to know what's going on and that it hasn't been forgotten about.

I look forward to seeing how it works on the 18th. Would love to run my 3L as an ewar mech like it was meant to be.

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

Question for Paul:

If 1 Narc cancels the ECM of a single Mech, would 3 lights firing 3 Narc's at 3 ECM Mech's cancel all of them during the same time?
- effectively eliminating any ECM the Enemy had. (if they only had 3 ECM Mech's.)
- could the light's simply cancel all the Enemy ECM at once?
- and would launching a UAV give any additional effects? (possibly boost the Narc jamming radius?)


I ask because we will be moving to groups of 3 of each weight class being fielded soon, and with only 5 Mech's currently capable of mounting that Guardian ECM suite. It may be rather easy to track them down and pop one on them once they are identified.
And might I also ask if there is anything in the works that allows us to keep the Id info/scan info listed once we have acquired the full read-out on an Enemy Mech.
- That does not require the full scan time, every time.
- Once id'd and scanned it will shorten any future scan attempt by the same Mech.
(thinking of something in the line of an add on sensor module, once we get the multi module brackets. Something like "id memory module" upgrade.)

BattleMechs Capable of Mounting ECM:
- Atlas-D-DC
- Cicada-CDA-3M
- Commando COM-2D
- Raven RVN-3L
- Spider SDR-5D


Thanks,

9erRed

Edited by 9erRed, 05 March 2014 - 07:51 PM.

[ExAstris]

9erRed, on 05 March 2014 - 07:30 PM, said:

If 1 Narc cancels the ECM of a single Mech, would 3 lights firing 3 Narc's at 3 ECM Mech's cancel all of them during the same time?
- effectively eliminating any ECM the Enemy had. (if they only had 3 ECM Mech's.)
- could the light's simply cancel all the Enemy ECM at once?
- and would launching a UAV give any additional effects? (possibly boost the Narc jamming radius?)


I ask because we will be moving to groups of 3 of each weight class being fielded soon, and with only 5 Mech's currently capable of mounting that Guardian ECM suite. It may be rather easy to track them down and pop one on them once they are identified.

The fact that this can even be asked with a straight face is a sure sign of what a terrible state ECM is in.

3 light mechs dedicating 4+ tons and a weapon hardpoint each, after having roamed the map (away from their main force) so that they can (potentially if they all hit) grant their team 30 seconds (assuming they all hit simultaneously) of awareness about the positions those mechs (who, while away from their team are exposing themselves for those shots, and their positions as well, unless they have the magic box too).

That's 12+ tons used to, under optimal conditions, nullify an advantage conferred by 4.5 tons, to gain the benefit of position data and target locks (which the enemy team can do to a team without ECM with any unit at any time as per the normal capabilities of any mech). Those target locks can then potentially be used for LRM locks, which will take at least a few seconds to lock, and then up to 7 more for the LRMs to actually arrive, meaning some 20 seconds of fire. Which can still be mitigated entire by getting inside 180, outside 1k, behind (the ever abundant) cover, or failing that, more heavily mitigated than ever by AMS.


ECM's most powerful attribute is, and always has been, its total nullification of the entire information warfare system in place in MWO.

The joke it makes of LRMs is just an anecdotal icing to the proverbial cake.


The moral of the story for NARC: Glad its finally getting buffed. Still won't be worth a damn in the current environment.

[Gorgo7]

ExAstris, on 06 March 2014 - 11:39 AM, said:

The moral of the story for NARC: Glad its finally getting buffed. Still won't be worth a damn in the current environment.

Don't worry Ex...you won't have to use it. You'll just have to eat it!

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

The point I was attempting to make was, can a single launching Narc unit fire multiple Narc missiles and have them overlap each other in there canceling of ECM.
(my earlier reference of 3 vs 3 was just to get the multi Narc pods out there at the same time, and confirm that the cancelling bursts do indeed work at the same time.)

- Even if this Narc equipped Mech travels with the main body, it main job is to locate/acquire ECM mech's in the battle and take there function out of the fight. (even if for only 30 sec's at a time)
[This would work much faster when the team is using Comms.]
- And with Narc speeding up LRM as well as Streaks, the ECM carrier would most likely go down faster.
- This would make carrying that 3 Ton and 2 slot element a team asset, and not an after thought.

Within the current Mech variant's we have now there are some stock Mediums, as well as Heavy's that originally carried Narc as a normal weapon assist system. But due to there past lack luster performance, disadvantages they are quickly discarded. I'm hopping that these new additional performance buff's, (or closer to what they should have been to start) will see this element return to the battlefield. And see it return to the sometimes dangerous item it was considered in past offerings of the BattleTech Universe.

Additional note: I do think that Narc should be extended to a full 60 sec's of ECM disruption, this alone would make locating the Narc launcher unit as much a threat as the original ECM mech was. An additional balancing aspect for it's use.

9erRed

Edited by 9erRed, 06 March 2014 - 06:57 PM.