30 replies to this topic

[Lord Perversor]

LastPaladin, on 05 March 2014 - 11:19 AM, said:

I always push into the center if my team is standing at the chokepoint. This can lead to only two results:

#1 - The team follows my lead and pushes in behind me, and then we may have a fighting chance.

or

#2 - The team doesn't follow my lead, and I get killed quickly, and can drop into a match with a better team instead of banging my head against the desk for the next 5-10 minutes.

It's a win-win strategy for me.

I resorted tothis same tactic long long ago, it does wonders

[Zordicron]

The middle can be held effectively by a smaller force, or underpowered force. For instance, a NO ECM team. By forcing the enemy to try to fire uphill and into a blind area with LRM fire, you can pretty well remove the threat. The enemy wont be able to hold targets on your team as much, even without the ecm coverage, because LOS is lost over and over.

The trick to that is: your whole team needs to be able to understand this: YOU CAN NOT DEFEND THE DOOR BY BEING IN THE DAMN DOOR. This behavior to me, is WORSE then the ramp trains, because defending the center requires you maintain control until you have a strong numbers advantage. If the enemy can LRM your team mate that went to stand in the door in full LOS to half of the ramp train, then he will die. And after a couple do this, the enemy gets some balls and storms in, either on the side that got the couple defenders killed or the other door some of them went to try to flank on. And once they are in, you lose the ability to hold your good position as they will be able to snipe you in the back from the other door, or you are the one underfoot from the stampede.

this behavior carries to many maps, Hamburger hill on Alpine, nothing is as disgusting as taking the high ground on the hill while the enemy is in the low trench road, and the enemy is trying to climb the steep sloe in almosty single file. And instead of playing whacka mole when they pop their head over the ridge, your team GOES TO STAND ON THE EDGE IN PLAIN VIEW OF THE ENTIRE ENEMY TEAM and negates 110% of the advantage they gained. Tonight I had one match of each type in skirmish, first one I kept pleading for them to back up, and watched them all keep moving forward into focus fire, and the second was so whacka mole like it was LOL funny to watch(and shoot with my ERLL raven 4x) as the enemy was on 4 different locations on the slope, and each took a turn popping up just long enough to alpha strike(by which time they ate 90 dmg worth of focus fire) and then backed back down till we won 12-1.

As far as terra therma, lots will tell you "you should stay out of the middle" I always LOL, because thats like 1 match in 10, and if you dont go in there, the enemy will, and then your team will decide to try to capture it from them lol.

[Zordicron]

I made this a while ago too. My initial post was misinterpretted by a few, and some missed the whole point of the thread, and others didnt bother to read any reply at all. None the less, i think a map event would fix a lot of the monotony we see on a fistful of maps.

http://mwomercs.com/...rma-the-middle/


if you read it, try not to get caught up in the single mindedness of the tactical arguments some people couldnt get past.

[PhoenixFire55]

Stopped a fully fresh lance of AC-Jager-Spam on TerraTherma yesterday being INSIDE the crater by my lonesome self. The advantage it gives you if you are in and just wait for the enemy to funnel through those entrances is remarkable. Sadly most people don't have the guts to push inside becase 'oh my god I might die' or 'oh my god my paintjob might be ruined'.

That said, haveing dual gauss helps.

Eldagore, on 10 March 2014 - 07:07 PM, said:

YOU CAN NOT DEFEND THE DOOR BY BEING IN THE DAMN DOOR

This should be made into one of those tooltips poppin in launch screens.

[tucsonspeed6]

I like to take my fast mechs into the center immediately after the match starts and jog a couple laps around the ring until my team shows up. It tells my team "come on in, the water's fine" and tells the enemy "oh noes, they got there first." And yes, the enemy WILL hesitate, even if they only see a single commando up there. In rare cases, a light might show up to chase me off, but it's easy enough to shake them and go back.

[MeiSooHaityu]

I whole heartedly agree. You need to push into the caldera. Sniping from the ramps is a way to get focused and whittled down.

Problem is, even if you type "push into volcano" in team chat, you will find yourself alone in the volcano and agroing all of the enemy team's fire. Heck, even if it bought your team time to push it would be one thing, but nope they just sit there. It almost never works .

Still, it is always worth a try.

[Lightfoot]

The best maps don't force anything, they let the player choose. So even if you want your jagged volcano mountain, you also create areas of flat cooled lava flows so gameplay isn't always stagnant versions of the same thing over and over. Which is why Terra is so bad. It's always the same.

[IceCase88]

Quote

Posted Yesterday, 05:45 PM
The best maps don't force anything, they let the player choose. So even if you want your jagged volcano mountain, you also create areas of flat cooled lava flows so gameplay isn't always stagnant versions of the same thing over and over. Which is why Terra is so bad. It's always the same.

There is so much to like about this comment! AMEN! I wish I could hit the like button over and over and over again! It is a fundamentally flawed map.

[Faith McCarron]

The real problem is the fact that your average PUG gets distracted by shiny objects. Just like every PUG Atlas feels the need to chase that Jenner running away at 150kph, PUGs feel the need to stop and shoot the first thing they see. So even if you organize a push into the PUGzapper, once you crest the ramp, they see triangles on their screen and they do what comes naturally to them: they STOP and shoot at the triangles. Then even if friendlies WANT to push, they cant because they are blocked. This is why I NEVER push with PUGs. I'll only rush the center if I've got a 4-man with me.

[Danghen Woolf]

Faith McCarron, on 14 March 2014 - 07:55 AM, said:

The real problem is the fact that your average PUG gets distracted by shiny objects. Just like every PUG Atlas feels the need to chase that Jenner running away at 150kph, PUGs feel the need to stop and shoot the first thing they see. So even if you organize a push into the PUGzapper, once you crest the ramp, they see triangles on their screen and they do what comes naturally to them: they STOP and shoot at the triangles. Then even if friendlies WANT to push, they cant because they are blocked. This is why I NEVER push with PUGs. I'll only rush the center if I've got a 4-man with me.

That is probably one of the most accurate statements. I enjoy MWO, I enjoy playing as a PUG, I enjoys watching good light pilots run circles of death around assault mechs that just stand there and circle around in confusion throwing every weapon they have at the little guy. Terra Therma is a map that offers a lot of tactical options that usually are not used. Unfortunately for players right now the only statistics that are really rewarded are damage and kills. Until role warfare is released we will not see viable tactics used in games. Why should new players spend 10 minutes in a match for 100,000 C-bills when they can run into the caldera, get some damage money, die in <2 minutes, and start a new game?

I play mechs to their role, I had my best game ever on Terra Therma in a stock HBK-4G wandering by myself around the flank, dropped 3 mechs with the AC20 before they finally realised I was there. Total lemming syndrome on the ramp, everyone trying to shuffle to the front like they were handing out cookies. I love to run in my COM's, play the flanks, before turrets hop on the base a few times and draw the baddies away from my friends, when they start coming in force run away and try again from the other flank.

Some people are not tactically minded: "I haz big gun, I shoot BOOM, YAY, BIG FIRE!" Some people do not want to play as a team: "I can get more points/kills/C-bills away from everyone else, they suck anyway." Some people cannot multi-task/communicate: "No point in letting everyone know where I am going, I have to stop moving/shooting to type."

I like this map, my HBK-4P, not so much a fan.

[Navy Sixes]

LastPaladin, on 05 March 2014 - 11:19 AM, said:

I always push into the center if my team is standing at the chokepoint. This can lead to only two results:

#1 - The team follows my lead and pushes in behind me, and then we may have a fighting chance.

or

#2 - The team doesn't follow my lead, and I get killed quickly, and can drop into a match with a better team instead of banging my head against the desk for the next 5-10 minutes.

It's a win-win strategy for me.

This. I love pushing past all the "OMG THEY'RE IN THERE SHOOTING AT US" Highlanders and Atlases in my little Blackjack. "Outta the way, Bi%ches!" Even more fun when you find out all that's in there are a Cicada and an overheating Jag.

As you say, either they'll come in behind me, cowed and ashamed of themselves, or I'll die and get a chance to drop with players who know how to use their big, bad assaults in the next match. Win-win.