6 replies to this topic

[Malzel]

Let me be the first to say, I think making all of the trial mechs "Champions" is a great idea to help new players get into the game. Dropping newbies into stock mechs when the rest of us are playing upgraded, specialized, and optimized mechs is bad, and playing with professionally-designed champion versions lets new players experience the best the game has to offer and allows the Devs to showcase each weight class's "play style" through a carefully designed example. Brilliant idea, all around.

With that said, I feel like the light and medium chassis are the only weight classes getting represented well. The JR7-F© and SDR-5K©? Great examples of light mechs. The BJ-1©, CN9-A©, and HBK-4P©? Excellent examples of mobile-but-hard-hitting mediums, exactly how I feel mediums should be presented. But the heavies and assaults have really been underwhelming, unintuitive, or over-specialized, and I don't think they're showcasing the norms for those classes.

The DRG-5N© is a very specialized sniper that cannot get involved in any kind of brawl. With a huge CT, XL engine, and vulnerable Gauss rifle, it's a newbie deathtrap, and definitely not the "norm" for a heavy mech. The CPLT-A1© helped showcase how LRMs are used, but it's also a strictly long-range mech that should never get involved in the front-line fighting. Heavies can fill a lot of roles, but so far, MWO has only showcased heavies in fragile, vulnerable, over-specialized support roles, which is hardly the norm for that weight class.

The assaults have been a little better, with the HGN-733C© being an excellent example of a tough, front-line brawler that had a variety of weapon systems, but the AS7-RS© and this new STK-3F© are gimmick builds that turn fearsome, team-anchoring, game-winning assault mechs into vulnerable support builds that die quickly the moment they get into trouble. Un-CASE'd Gauss and 20 tons of LRMS on an Atlas? An XL engine in a Stalker? These make the biggest, most badass mechs in MWO look like the most fragile, one-trick ponies in the game, and that's not what a new player should be exposed to as their first impression of assault mechs.

Now I completely understand that Champions can't be "too good", and no one wants to see an AC/40 Jagerbomb handed out as the Heavy trial mech, but in the next patch or so, could we get a heavy and return to an assault champion that actually excel in front-line roles, where those mechs are most often used?

[xXBagheeraXx]

yeah i got a laf when i saw the trial stalker...gonna be a LOT of xl engine kills with that puppy...

I didnt mind the large laser/gauss dragon tho...ive used that on my flame (or is it the fang...whichever one has the gun arm..torso gauss+xl = doom) quite a few times two large lasers and a gauss in the rear armor isnt something to scoff at...

[Malzel]

Yeah, the Dragon's not awful if you know how to use it, it's just that new players aren't going to know how to use it. They jump in what looks like a big, tough, luchador wrestler, only to find out it's made of paper. My guys have been calling them "suicide Dragons" for a while now.

[Willard Phule]

On the one hand, I'm happy to see a Champion Stalker. On the other hand, I think it was a BAD choice as a Trial Mech...for a couple of reasons.

The first reason is that it's an LRM boat. Generally speaking, once a "New Player" finishes the Cadet Bonus and buys their first mech, it tends to be an LRM boat in the first place...which gets a lot of negative feedback both in game and in the Forums. Everyone says that LRMs are OP and whatever, but fact of the matter is, it isn't LRMs by themselves...it's the sheer number of them being fielded. (perhaps this should be a factor the matchmaker considers?)

The second reason is that when it comes to LRM launchers, equipping more than two of ANY launcher larger than a 5 results in "Ghost Heat." Look it up. So, this Champion Stalker is basically setting new players up for failure. You're not going to get more than an Alpha or two out of it before it shuts down. Something tells me that the experience PGI wants the new players to have isn't one that plays out as "Fire missiles! Fire Missiles! Oh crap, I shut down. Double crap, they shot up the shut down Stalker."

(funny story...saw a brand new guy last night playing the Champion Stalker and he bound every weapon to group 1 on Alpha Strike. Kept shutting down every time he fired. Shame there aren't any mandatory tutorials they have to go through that teaches them how to group their weapons, lock their targets and manage their heat before they're allowed to play live with other people.)

[Pz_DC]

My IMHO:

1)Dragon and other sniper-aimed mechs cant snipe with gauss - sniping shoot need to be done in 0.1 sec, righ in tme, gauss can do so with this terrible loading. AC10 snipe much better, an ER PPC is kin of the snipin hill $)

2)HGN733C© is bad. Just bad. It has nothing that makes this mech champion. And main problem of all HGNs (that called "all-right") make it weak at tanking. 2xSRM6 (or even 3x) can deal with it.

3)New STK is terrible. As any other assaults with XL engines.

There arestill no good browser mechlab (they all lagg like hell for me) so icant show how i see champions. But for example - HGN-HM with 2xPPC+2xUAC5 or HGN733C with mx armo, ams (+2), ac20 (+5), 2xML, 2xSRM6 (+3) and 22m jump distance, STD300 with 1.32 heat eff overhelm this stupid HGN©.

Edited by MGA121285, 05 February 2014 - 10:41 AM.

[Modo44]

Whoever chooses these mechs is trolling new players hard. Difficult weapons like LRMs and Gauss should not be the first thing a noobie has to fight against. Neither should they be faced with piloting a ******* XL Stalker. That guy in charge of trial mech selection is having fun at the expense of your business, PGI. Way to make people uninstall that much quicker.

[Archie4Strings]

i totally agree to your arguments, but in my case,well i was lucky with them:

I bought the Dragon 5N and it turned out to be my most successfull mech of all

And finally they brought the stalker, cause i wanted to give it a try and was thinking about to buy it already for a couple of weeks (couldnt decide between battlemaster or stalker, i bought the battlemaster then, cause the slow turning speed and missing arms of the stalker scared me away..). And i was even more lucky, cause the stalker is an LRM-boat, which i never played before either (it was fun!). So i had the chance to try and now i know at least how my next Battlemaster Chassis will look like!