13 replies to this topic

[Hello1993]

I've recently started playing and as a new player I have a few comments. I feel the tutorial and training grounds give you very little actual help in these 12v12 insanities? What's my point ? I have witnessed now many times 1 mech on the enemy side taking out 4 on our side , Why ? Because he'd clearly played a lot longer.... Should someone who played a lot longer be better then someone whos new? yes? IS it the experienced players fault? No , Is it the developers fault? Yes, He should not put players with such a wide gap in experience in the same battle , Its going to be a bloodbath one which will make the player unhappy which isn't helpful, A 12v12 is far to much for a new player to handle I feel they should have much smaller battles. These are my opinions from a new players perspective. You don't have to change perhaps their is a way of entering smaller battles... That I've missed, Sadly though if this is the only way of doing things and the way they must stay and I cant get past the learning curve in a manner I feel comfortable perhaps this isn't the game for me. Title wasn't supposed to be caps sorry.

Edited by Hello1993, 01 April 2014 - 03:23 PM.

[101011]

First of all, welcome to MechWarrior. Now, this version of the game isn't actually as complete as one might expect a released game to be, but the devs are actively working on fixing most of the issues you mentioned. The launch module, coming this month, will address the 12v12 issue by allowing you to drop with smaller teams. The stomps should theoretically be alleviated with this module as well, as it limits the amount of chassis types per team to a 3/3/3/3 scenario. My advice? Don't give up on MechWarrior, as it is an incredibly fun game once you learn how to play. Find a group of people to play with; they'll be more than willing to welcome you into the fold. If you wanted me to show you the ropes, so to speak, you could PM me. I'm not the greatest player, but I should be able to help.

[Sug]

I've always felt 24 randoms was too much of a ***********. I'd support adding smaller games. : /

[Dark Horse X]

It can't be stated enough......drop with experienced players in a 4-man lance using comms. This game rewards teamwork, and the solo hunting lonewolf doesn't fare well here. 12v12 may seem a bit hectic at first, but you'll get the hang of it. Again, find a group of people to drop with and work as a team.

[Koniving]

The game is eventually supporting private matches, and I'm hoping that along those lines it may support things like 4 versus 4, 8 versus 8... and then with some luck and hope perhaps even 8 versus 8 versus 8, and 4 versus 4 versus 4 versus 4 in specially designed maps.

Example: 4 versus 4 and 4 versus 4, with the four teams separated in 2 versus 2 areas with a gate in between them; and once a team is eliminated on both sides open the gate and allow the surviving teams to duke it out.... Oh Solaris Arena, I await thy glory.

[A Man In A Can]

One of the primary reasons the devs have 12 v 12 battles in MWO is because of the military grouping of Battletech lore called the Company for the Inner Sphere factions, which for Battlemechs equates to 12 Battlemechs. There is a unit smaller than that called a Lance which for the Inner Sphere is up to four players grouped together. This is why in drops there are distinctions for each lance on a side (Alpha Beta Charlie) and why currently the only options to drop as are either solo, in groups of 2-4, or a full 12. As 101011 touched on, there will be some changes in this regard when that patch hits (eta April 29), with private matches allowing players who purchase premium time to drop in matches of any size and set their own parameters for the match. If you have at least one friend who also has premium time, that could be a good way to get some practice in without jumping into regular drops. This game is also still a work in progress so things are subject to change, some much less so than others by developer decree.

But if you are okay with this as you play and practice, then welcome to the game. May you learn the techniques to stay alive, put the hurt on your enemies, and never be afraid to try new or even under-appreciated things. You might get surprising results.

[Koniving]

Anyway, what happens in this game is that the game does average scores with a mixture of experienced and inexperienced players.

The actual skill brackets are in 3 categories; tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3. New players begin bottom-end tier 2 for their 'skill', and begin to curve one way or the other over time. If you turn out to be terrible it'll ease you over into tier 1. If you turn out to be good, you'll start to ease your way to middle ground tier 2. If you're about 'as expected', you probably won't move much toward either side for a while.

The issue with being borderline tier 2 and tier 1 is that it stands to reason that ELO could mix you as either 'high end tier 1' or 'low end tier 2'. If the prior, you're gonna rock like you wouldn't believe. If the latter, you'll have a bit of trouble. In an ideal situation it should keep you at low-end tier 2 but with no higher or lower skilled players in the match, the system couldn't have a basis on which to judge performance.

On to the lances:
Alpha is usually reserved for a premade group. If there is no premade group, Alpha is made of the highest ELO-scoring players. Note: A premade group can be made of totally new players too; keep this in mind.
Bravo is usually filled with high to middle-ground ELO players. Unless there is a second premade, in which case it is put here.
Note: In the case of two 2-man premades, one is placed in Alpha and one is placed in Bravo; the remaining slots tend to be filled with more experienced players for both Alpha and Bravo. The opposing team most likely has one of the following premade combinations: 2 and 2, 2 and 3, 4, 4 and 2 (if the groups on the first team are exceptionally high-averaged).
Charlie is usually filled with newer players, especially after you have played at least 4 to 8 games with one weight class. (If you find yourself in Bravo, the game hasn't had a chance to decide your skill level in that weight class; i.e. light, medium, heavy, assault).

As soon as possible, figure out which group is Alpha and tag along with them. Your chances of surviving will improve significantly. You can use "Q" to help you do this, as it makes names and statuses appear on allies. Pressing Tab can let you see the players and their groups. (Remember that enemy lances are, in fact, scrambled until the end of the match; the Tab Score Screen does not reflect the actual enemy lance arrangement mid-match).
If Alpha is not attainable, find the nearest similar mech and stick with that one or group of them.

Under no circumstances should a newer player wander off on his or her own.

For more on matchmaking, please see this.

Please note that while the above is generally true, it in no way diminishes the value of Charlie lance. Players within it can occasionally be equal to or superior over those of higher lances. This is simply the way that ELO appears to arrange players. Remember that ELO bases your skill officially on win/loss ratio (...which is pretty stupid if you ask me).

I personally believe ELO uses accumulated Match Score, which is a combination of playing the objective, kills, kill assists, other forms of kill and assist, time survived within the match, reduced by accidental team kills dealt, and whether or not victory is achieved and what kind of victory. It simply strikes me as a lot more logical.

At the end of a match and even during, players within lances are rearranged in real time based on performance, and universally the player with the highest match score in the lance is portrayed at the top of the lance.

Edited by Koniving, 01 April 2014 - 06:52 PM.

[Koniving]

Some quick advice while in the testing grounds.
Turn off throttle decay and armlock.
Use Left Ctrl, move the mouse and fire weapons. Notice something neat?
Use Shift, move the mouse and fire weapons. Notice something neat?
Remember those.
Try out and learn the differences of first and third person. In certain situations sometimes one is better than the other.

Practice using R to target enemies, and looking for weak spots. Example: Shoot an enemy mech multiple times without targeting them, in random spots at range. Approach the target, hit R as you do so, and spot what areas are more damaged than others. Focus on those areas.

Focused, concentrated fire on specific body parts is the way to go. Remember to avoid going for arms. But legs, side torsos, chests, or even (sometimes) heads are often pretty easy to take out.

[PhoenixFire55]

Reason for 12 vs 12 is compensating for poor matchmaker. If you randomly draw 24 people and randomly split them into two teams they'll be matched closer on average than if you do same with 8 vs 8. We had 8 vs 8 some time ago, and it was far better in many ways, more tactical, teamplay and coordination beyond "lets make a giant 12 mech death blob" mattered. One of the other reasons is that PGI doesn't want 4-man premades to be able to affect the outcome of the game (yes, teams do not matter for them in team-based game). The more people you have on a team, the lesser the impact of a 4-man group becomes.

IMO, leave 12 vs 12 for Alpine, Tourmaline and TerraTherma, but make it 8 vs 8 for all other maps (that are smaller).

[Rubidiy]

whatever reasons of 12v12 are, it became apparent long ago how much this game lost after cutting 8v8 off the game.
Thing is, that MWo map creators fail to make maps that force teams to split up at least into two groups. Latest Crimson Straight and HPG Manifold has a little bit of this, but generally we play on maps, where simply forming a deathball of 12 mechs gives you 90% of success. That's why I still think that eliminating 8v8 was a great mistake.
Another great issue with 12v12 is how unfriendly and unforgiving this game had become to newcomers after all these climb restrictions and 12v12. Peek wrong corner = dead. This is no fun to the majority of players. And I do understand how it works, but nontheless, balance between hardcore and fun is broken here. It definitely repells a lot of players, who want to try MWo out.
I'd like to have option between "wall on wall" (12v12) gameplay and "duel/flank" (8v8) gameplay.

[WintermuteOmega]

I was opposed to 12v12 in the beginning, but it shiftet Gameplay towards Pugs a bit. In 8v8, one 4-Man premade was evil, 2 in a Team were always deadly. Though jumping in a game with 2 premades on the other Team still hurts badly.

And ilook foward tothe Drop-Module, thouhg remember Private matces (4v4 etc.) are only availible to Premuim-Accounts (or at least the Host must be a Premium).

[Alaskan Nobody]

Mechwarrior Mousse, on 01 April 2014 - 09:29 PM, said:

Listen to this guy. He knows more about the inner workings of the game than most of the rest of us do combined.

Fixed that for you

[Moku]

Saving money squeezing in more people per server drop and waiting around twiddling our thumbs.

[Koniving]

Hello1993, on 01 April 2014 - 03:22 PM, said:

No longer has recruit tag!

I see you got your 25 matches in.

How are you making out now? Has it become a little bit easier?