1453 R, on 20 March 2014 - 02:06 PM, said:
I gotta tell ya, Maniac…I read stuff like this, and all I can hear is “I don’t want MWO to be about anything but bloody-knuckles matches played with AC/20s because screw anything that takes brainpower instead of raw, adrenaline-fueled, mindless twitch skill.”
You claim that LRM systems ‘require the dexterity and cunning of a legless lobster’. Might I ask if you’ve ever played an LRM machine? Beyond the absolutely terrible, never-should-have-been-implemented trial Stalker? If you had, you may have noticed that it’s not really quite so easy as idiot Stalker pilots hiding out for indirect fire make it out to be. As is the case with every single player I’ve ever seen make this argument, you equate one skill – twitch aiming with instant-fire, direct LoS weapons – with all skills, and claim that anything which does not make use of this one skill is thusly equivalent to requiring no skill. Allow me to make a counter-argument.
LRM launchers are the only weapon in this game with multiple active counters, requiring LRM users to be more observant and aware of what their target is equipped with, as well as what’s happening with their fire at the other end. Direct-fire users get to point, click, bang, done. An LRM user has to judge whether his target is too well protected by enemy AMS coverage/overlapping ECM to engage, and needs to do so within one or two salvoes tops if he wants to conserve his limited ammunition for fights he can win.
LRM launchers are the only weapon in this game that require R-targeting and lock-ons to function (exempting Streak missiles, of course). A direct-fire twitchgremlin can take instant snapshots at anything he pleases – an LRM user must select his target, then acquire and maintain lock for far longer than any other machine has to, in order to do any damage. LRM users have to face their targets for much longer periods of time than shoot-and-swivel brawlers or poptarts, and need to find ways to engage their targets whilst doing that and not dying.
LRM launchers are the slowest projectile in this game, even after the recent, sorely needed velocity buff. They are the only weapons which can be actively evaded by a target after being fired – even the AC/20’s sluggish slug, if fired on target, moves too quickly for much of anything to reliably dodge. LRMs, on the other hand, give the target an audible warning when fired, clueing a target in that he is under threat and needs to get under cover. An LRM machine has to judge whether it’s even worth engaging his targets – will his missiles get there and deal damage before the target can break lock or find cover?
No Maniac, LRM launchers do not require the mindless, Call of Duty-ish twitch skill prized so highly by…well, Call of Duty players. Instead, they require a level of strategic ability and battlefield awareness not really crucial, or often even beneficial, in twitchmonkeys. Doing all right in trial Stalkers is easier for brand-new, fresh-faced rookies who haven’t figured out the dual reticle yet than is doing all right with a direct-fire ‘Mech – but doing well with LRMs, consistently, against pilots who know what ‘INCOMING MISSILES’ means and how they need to respond to it?
That takes skill and knowledge. Certainly of the Chessmaster sort rather than the Gunslinger sort, but frankly, who are you to tell me that the ability to outthink, outmaneuver, and outplay my enemies rather than outshoot them isn’t skill? If you can catch me out with direct fire and drop me, congrats – you were better at what you do than I was at what I do that match. But if I can drop you with my tubes, then perhaps I was just better at what I do in that game than you were at what you do?
After all, whatever way you look at it, one of us is dead and the other is not. That’s a pretty clear indication of who won a fight.
I was honestly laughing the whole way through that one. Thanks for that. Oh, boy.
"I'm smarter than you! Go play Call of Duty!"
Heard it before. Pathetic. Next!
"Point click bang done"
Isn't that cute. Because, you see, getting into position in a slow mech, not getting shot in the flank while doing it, exposing yourself to enemy counter attack, centering your sights, adjusting for deflection, range, and convergence, scoring a shot, and repositioning requires actual tactics. Actual thinking. Nice denigration. You apologists are advancing my point more than you even realize.
Running around in a brawler entails strategy, activity, and caution. Death is just a corner away if you don't work with your team. Standing still and blazing causes near-instant death by CT destruction. Firing and moving is a hard-learned skill. Fending off multiple opponents is an art. Finding exit routes and pushing weak spots in enemy formations is necessary to stay alive long enough to do the damage.
Boating LRMs? You point your crosshair at the big red box and click a mouse. Congrats. You are probably a killer at Microsoft Excel.
Keep on insulting players who think LRMs are flawed. Go right ahead. Bleed players one at a time until you and your little premades are the only ones willing to play SItwarrior Online. I'll be cool with that. I'll just figure out a way to get MW3 running on a modern computer again. Surely it can be done.
"against pilots who know what ‘INCOMING MISSILES’ means and how they need to respond to it?"
Yeah, like getting your 45 kph mech out of the line of fire before oh wait nevermind now Assault and Heavies have no chance at all to do that and might as well just sit back at spawn or better yet just disconnect entirely and uninstall the game THIS SOUNDS GREAT. I see now why this flight speed increase was such a good idea! Let's just get those pesky slow mechs out of the game and LET'S ALL PLAY HAWKEN
"That takes skill and knowledge. Certainly of the Chessmaster sort rather than the Gunslinger sort"
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA Yeah, I see a common, thread, here.
LRM apologists think they are cleverer than they really are
More denigration. Keep it coming, brother. If it works for politicians, it certainly should work for you. Call non-LRM spammers "mindless."
I'm glad I don't have to feel too bad about responding with the same.
"An LRM machine has to judge whether it’s even worth engaging his targets – will his missiles get there and deal damage before the target can break lock or find cover?"
No they don't. 90% of LRM users merely hold the button down, brother. You're not fooling anyone who isn't already on your side of this thing. Hold till the little red box goes away. Hence, I'm still getting "INCOMING MISSILES" spam about 3 or 4 seconds after completely disappearing from line of sight pretty much every single time I'm engaged by a boat.
No sale.
" As is the case with every single player I’ve ever seen make this argument, you equate
one skill – twitch aiming with instant-fire, direct LoS weapons – with
all skills, and claim that anything which does not make use of this
one skill is thusly equivalent to requiring
no skill."
Bogus generalization and blatant deflection. I never said anything of the like, nor did I suggest it. Nor did I suggest that LRMs and skillful engagement are mutually exclusive concepts, nor did I suggest they should be. You are deflecting, and poorly. What I said is that LRMs in their current state are crap.
No sale.
"A direct-fire twitchgremlin can take instant snapshots at anything he pleases – an LRM user must select his target, then acquire and maintain lock for far longer than any other machine has to, in order to do any damage."
Aaaaand yer done. You hold a crosshair over a target that you NEEDN'T EVEN BE ABLE TO SEE, wait a moment, and then press a button for damage. Dude, just stop.
EDIT:
Daekar, on 20 March 2014 - 02:05 PM, said:
Funny when you consider his perspective on the use of LRMs, that they're widespread, common, and too effective. If they were widespread and formed the meta of the majority of games, then PGI would know because they track those statistics. And PGI has a habit of nerfing the meta. But they buffed LRMs, which is an indirect testimony that they weren't being used enough.
That's some solid logic, there. I'm sure it has nothing to do about the constant crying about OMGOVERPOWEREDFRONTLOADEDSUPERLEET damage.
I'll go with my theory: it's meant to satiate the bads, which are, as I see now, the overwhelming majority of...well, pretty much the communities of every online game everywhere. Learning how to play is so overrated. Let's all just roll some dice, stick in a RNG for everything, and just pull in MOBA rules and make MWO a numbers and strictly role-based game. Everyone else is doing it.
I see the future now: assaults will have force fields to tank damage, lights will have modules that make some damage count as misses, heavies will have a super speed boost charge attack, and mediums will have a rate of fire increase with a cooldown timer. Min/Max those Level 80 Purple Brawler Supreme Highlanders, man, they're sooooo meta.
RIP skill, strategy, and tactics. You will be sorely missed.
Edited by Master Maniac, 20 March 2014 - 02:37 PM.
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