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Aresye, on 22 March 2014 - 12:15 PM, said:
You've presented a valid counter-point with regards to missiles, but it doesn't fully debunk my original questioning of the game's targeting mechanics, which completely eliminate any tactical use of RADAR ranges.
As of right now, ECM is the only means of tacticifully using electronic warfare, but there's so few mechs that can equip it, the rest of the mechs have no EW capabilities, or they're extremely degraded to the point of being useless.
For example, the Advanced RADAR Range module is pretty much pointless when you receive info. from teammates out to 2500+m.
BAP, normally utilized to extend RADAR range and target ECM and/or passive RADAR mechs out to a farther range, is pretty much useless.
There's no need for a C3M/C3S system, considering everybody on your team has it to begin with.
In short, I think players that don't have the ability to carry ECM should be afforded at least some level of EW control such as being able to control whether they're own RADAR is active or passive, allowing non-ECM mechs at least some level of protection at the cost of having a severely limited range and no lock-on capability.
I actually agree that MWO's entire electronic warfare system is really, really, really screwed up. I just think it should be balanced the other way; I actually really like the idea of making lights relevant by providing scouting to encourage teamplay, and making players use the c3 system which takes tonnage and crits means that not many people will have it, and makes lights even worse than they are now.
Getting free c3 is a pretty decent tradeoff when you consider that we have no radar at all. Using an active/passive sensor system won't really work without a complete overhaul of MWO's ewar systems (which it needs) but I think that takes it in the wrong direction. As it stands, only a few mechs need locks to fire anyway, and for everyone else, there's really not a lot of penalty to running passive radar because of how tiny and predictable the maps are in this game. If I'm running any of the good weapons in this game, there's really nothing stopping me from just sitting out at 800m with passive sensors, because you can be pretty sure where your opponents are coming from, every single time, so it's just a matter of waiting for them to run into your crosshairs.
I'd much rather see BAP and NARC buffed to do what they were originally meant to- BAP gives short range (400m?) of non-LOS radar as well as increased sensor range while losing the missile lock speed bonus, and NARC makes all missiles home, even SRMs. In exchange, ECM becomes a counter to BAP/NARC (instead of BAP/NARC countering ECM, which is what we have now) and can be mounted on more chassis. ECM removes BAP buffs within a certain range and creates fake targets for enemies to lock on and fire at. The best part about all this is that it's all lore-friendly, too.
