Joseph Mallan, on 31 January 2014 - 04:17 AM, said:
This is a surprise to you? You believe you should be able to beat 4 coordinating players who are working as a team against you in a team oriented game? What if its 2 PUGs that just have good synergy? Teamwork wins. In a Team Game Team work should always trump individual effort. ALWAYS.
No, that's not what I was trying to say. I was saying that solo players, even good ones, can't typically overcome the advantage of four guys on comms. Yes, sure it happens, but in this game, it's pretty rare.
I understand it's a challenge. But to be competitive on that level, people have to set aside the time to organize a group, to make sure everyone has all their little technical kinks worked out, they have to be in an environment that allows them to probably talk loudly, and they have to be willing to do fewer drops because of everyone's bio breaks, etc. I generally can't do that with any kind of regularity because I'm a grown-up with a family and a job. When I have time, I jump in as a casual solo for a couple of hours (usually late) to get my mech on. And there are a LOT of people like me. For the typical casual solo player, the disparity between that kind of experience and a voice-coordinated team experience is astronomical.
I'm not saying comms or being organized is bad! It's great, and I agree that is what this game is built on. But that organization has a place and a purpose, and when given the opportunity it can certainly be abused.
Last night I was running late and apparently the pool was so shallow that I ran into the same 4 man team at least 4 times over an hour or so. Every game they ran the same very effective builds. They layered their fire to the point of basically preventing anyone from getting within 300 meters of them. Every game they all lived. Every game they had the most damage and the most kills. If you managed to get some bit of damage on one, they all turned and focused on you...LRMs, PPCs, ballistics. Yes, that was the better team. All props are given! But it will always be the better team unless another team with that same advantage steps up. Do they belong in the casual solo queue? Hell no, and you know it. If anything, the good solos should be PUGs for THEIR queue.
Edit: Just deleted the last couple of paragraphs because they were just inflammatory.
Edited by Xtrekker, 01 February 2014 - 12:25 AM.