64 replies to this topic

[grimunk]

It would appear that I'm cursed. Any team I'm on loses now. It shouldn't be possible to get 26 losses in a row, but here I am. It seems that each game goes through the same phase: They start with cannon whack a mole (or PPC peek-a-boo), and then suddenly we either run into or get overran by 2x as many mechs as we have left. When the real fighting starts, I'm down in under 10 seconds.

I don't know what on earth I'm doing wrong. In my best game so far, I managed to get 4 kills, but still lost. Before I just uninstall and forget about this game, I need to see some good hints on how to play - obviously it's something that eludes me.

Also, devs, whatever text control you have inthese forums is an abortion.It's constantly missing key presses. Just typing this is far more work than it needs to be.

[Alaskan Nobody]

1) Wrong part of the forum
2) Good luck getting the developers attention here
3) ..... good luck with life.

[grimunk]

> 3) ..... good luck with life.

LOL

And you.

[Alaskan Nobody]

In all seriousness - this is really the wrong subforum for that kind of post.

[Koniving]

grimunk, on 17 April 2014 - 07:10 PM, said:

Also, devs, whatever text control you have inthese forums is an abortion.It's constantly missing key presses. Just typing this is far more work than it needs to be.

You're using internet explorer, aren't you? I had the same problem. Then picked up a virus.

On Firefox and Google Chrome it works perfectly. Honestly with I.E. it's very easy to pick up viruses with normal browsing. I.E. is a curse waiting to happen.

[Koniving]

Shar Wolf, on 17 April 2014 - 07:20 PM, said:

In all seriousness - this is really the wrong subforum for that kind of post.

I sort of disagree. It's a new player (still has the rookie tag), asking for tips on how to play. An admittedly frustrated new player at the point of ripping his or her hair out.

Gimme a bit Grimunk. I'm writing something up. In the mean time, what mech(s) are you using and what is your typical strategy?

Edited by Koniving, 17 April 2014 - 07:27 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Koniving, on 17 April 2014 - 07:27 PM, said:

(still has the rookie tag)

If he does - it isn't showing for me - and if it is for you then either you have a bug - or he is wrong about 26 losses.

Koniving, on 17 April 2014 - 07:24 PM, said:

Google Chrome it works perfectly.

I wish it did when I have to use Chrome.....

[Koniving]

Shar Wolf, on 17 April 2014 - 07:29 PM, said:

If he does - it isn't showing for me - and if it is for you then either you have a bug - or he is wrong about 26 losses.

I wish it did when I have to use Chrome.....

grimunk
Rookie
(faction Picture; empty silhouette.)
Members
2 posts

Edited by Koniving, 17 April 2014 - 07:33 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Koniving, on 17 April 2014 - 07:32 PM, said:

Members
2 posts

Also says that he has had 10+ profile views - but not who.

That would be forum rookie - as opposed to actually being new, if I recall - which is why I posted it as politely as I did rather than what I did to the last guy who posted "UR game suxxors" "feedback" in the new player portion of the forums.

Sorry Grim, but that would be a pet-peve of mine.

Edited by Shar Wolf, 17 April 2014 - 07:35 PM.

[TheCaptainJZ]

grimunk, on 17 April 2014 - 07:10 PM, said:

It would appear that I'm cursed. Any team I'm on loses now. It shouldn't be possible to get 26 losses in a row, but here I am. It seems that each game goes through the same phase: They start with cannon whack a mole (or PPC peek-a-boo), and then suddenly we either run into or get overran by 2x as many mechs as we have left. When the real fighting starts, I'm down in under 10 seconds.

I don't know what on earth I'm doing wrong. In my best game so far, I managed to get 4 kills, but still lost. Before I just uninstall and forget about this game, I need to see some good hints on how to play - obviously it's something that eludes me.

Honestly? Very bad luck.
What you might be able to do to alleviate this problem?
1. Give the game a break, come back in a few hours, or another day. What time of day you play makes a big difference. At some times, you will be playing with more experienced players than at other times.
2. Matchmaker predicts whether your team will win or lose. If it predicts correctly, your ELO score does not change much. If it predicts incorrectly, your ELO will go either up or down a bit more. In the long run, it evens out, but in the short run? Not necessarily.
3. Try talking to your team in chat or take command and lay out a plan. Many players will follow most of the time. Even if it's only calling out a rendenvous coordinate at the start.

EDIT: @Shar, he wrote this: "Before I just uninstall and forget about this game, I need to see some good hints on how to play - obviously it's something that eludes me." I would take that to mean he isn't just ragequitting, but would like someone to redeem this game from his bad experience, which is something we can and should do.

Edited by TheCaptainJZ, 17 April 2014 - 07:40 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

TheCaptainJZ, on 17 April 2014 - 07:36 PM, said:

3. Try talking to your team in chat or take command and lay out a plan. Many players will follow most of the time. Even if it's only calling out a rendenvous coordinate at the start.

That would alleviate a lot of the problems - this is very much a team-based game, despite what the detractors keep insisting.

The team that coordinates the best usually wins - try visiting the Factional sections of the forums and finding a group to drop with.

[Tesunie]

grimunk, on 17 April 2014 - 07:10 PM, said:

It would appear that I'm cursed. Any team I'm on loses now. It shouldn't be possible to get 26 losses in a row, but here I am. It seems that each game goes through the same phase: They start with cannon whack a mole (or PPC peek-a-boo), and then suddenly we either run into or get overran by 2x as many mechs as we have left. When the real fighting starts, I'm down in under 10 seconds.

I don't know what on earth I'm doing wrong. In my best game so far, I managed to get 4 kills, but still lost. Before I just uninstall and forget about this game, I need to see some good hints on how to play - obviously it's something that eludes me.

Also, devs, whatever text control you have inthese forums is an abortion.It's constantly missing key presses. Just typing this is far more work than it needs to be.

I'd have to open with, sorry about all the bad luck you've been having! It sounds like it might be more the team than you though. However, depending upon when you drop, what day of the week you drop, and even what time of the day you drop, can often change the whole feeling of the team/game.

As far as suggestions:
What kind of mech build are you running? We might be able to help give suggestions to your build to better your chances in combat. Smurfy is a great place to go to make builds, and show them around.
How are you playing? Are you hiding? Are you staying with your team? Do you rambo off alone (doesn't sound like it so far)? Sometimes, you need to go independent of the team and try to flank or draw enemies out. Sometimes you might be the mech that has to charge in first to get the team momentum started. (If you don't know when to do either, stick with the team.)
You can also try to team up with people. Plenty of people on the forums are willing to team up with others. There are (someone fill in this blank) even chat servers (if you have a mic) you could join, with people willing to help you out.

I'd say, keep trying to play. Joining with a team (of up to 4 players) can greatly improve your odds of winning.
(Basically, most of the advice you have probably already been hearing here so far.)

If you post your build, we can probably help you even more, even if it's a standard (trial) champion mech. Some trial mechs we might be able to give you suggestions on how to use them better... If it's your own custom mech, we might be able to give advice on customs that seem to work well with them.

(And if all else fails, LISTEN TO KONIVING! He knows everything! I swear it!)

[TygerLily]

What mech have you been playing grim?

[Koniving]

grimunk, on 17 April 2014 - 07:10 PM, said:

It would appear that I'm cursed. Any team I'm on loses now. It shouldn't be possible to get 26 losses in a row, but here I am. It seems that each game goes through the same phase: They start with cannon whack a mole (or PPC peek-a-boo), and then suddenly we either run into or get overran by 2x as many mechs as we have left. When the real fighting starts, I'm down in under 10 seconds.

I don't know what on earth I'm doing wrong. In my best game so far, I managed to get 4 kills, but still lost. Before I just uninstall and forget about this game, I need to see some good hints on how to play - obviously it's something that eludes me.

This ironically is a very close description to my latest experiences.

Tip number 1... Don't go into the cave.

Since you said you got 4 kills, you are likely playing a heavy or assault.
So Tip number 2:
On the typical whack-a-mole, what always slaughters your team is the enemy team sent one to four guys to flank your position and no one notices. While they are playing whack-a-mole, hang back and look around. Watch for it.
Here are 2 whack-a-mole situations.
This is on the flanking perspective. The whackamole has the high ground and we're circling around to kill it instead of hanging out with the group.

This is on the flanked-perspective. Here I'm part of the whack-a-mole crew and on the front line. We're alternating between who is front and who is not. Then the enemy tries to circle around in front -- and then on the side! We successfully did away with them because we were watching our flanks.


In pugging matches however, no one looks to their sides. And if there is a problem, no one says anything. Look to your sides, do something, say something. A team falls within minutes if they lose their 'whack-a-mole' team (aka their front line).

On this tip, here is a tactical failure. With a whack-a-mole stalemate in favor of the enemy team, the only way to break it is to send fast-moving mechs around and behind the enemy force. Even slow mechs would work -- assuming it could climb the ridge but we had none that could. Everything rides on the medium and light mechs making that flank. Requests are made. No one listens. Nothing is done. The enemy does what we wanted our team to do, and they kill us.

Tip 3: Sometimes it's better to NOT stand next to the gaggleduck of allies playing whack-a-mole. Instead watch from a distance, and shoot anything that sneaks up on them.
Example 1: Fire support for the fire support.
Example 2: (Note: aside from my voice all voices heard are in the same teamspeak but NOT in the same game; their fight continues even as mine ends. My camera man Lordred doesn't record his voice.) Atlas chooses to avoid the cluster of allied meta rigs to instead watch a different front. Due to distance from the forces, Atlas manages to stay in great shape when threats do come. Extreme heat efficiency allows it to perform exceptionally well in the high heat environment, delivering deadly blows while enemies overheat and die.
Example 3: Overwatch.
Example 4: Stealth (Light.)
Example 5: Stealth (Assault.) This Stalker got behind the entire enemy whack-a-mole line, completely unseen, and recording begins immediately before pressing fire on the rear-most enemy. It then systematically kills almost everyone, one at a time.

(More help to come with some feedback on what Grimunk's using for a mech, weapons, etc.)

Edited by Koniving, 17 April 2014 - 08:04 PM.

[Void Angel]

The metagame is kinda jacked up right now in PuG play. Because rapid-fire autocannons, jump snipers, and other long-range weapon builds have been so prevalent for so long, people have learned that taking any sort of fire is bad for your health (this is why so many long-range weapons have been getting nerfed recently.)

The newest round of AC nerfs put a bit more of a dent in the long-range metagame, but it'll take time for players to adjust - even in the face of massive damage during the NARCpocalypse, many players took days to load AMS back onto their Battlemechs.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Void Angel, on 17 April 2014 - 08:08 PM, said:

many players took days to load AMS back onto their Battlemechs

Some never did and maintained that it was a waste of tonnage.

[ThatBum42]

Koniving, on 17 April 2014 - 07:24 PM, said:

You're using internet explorer, aren't you? I had the same problem. Then picked up a virus.

Ah, Internet Exploiter. Or Internet Exploder. Or horrible non standards-compliant mess of legacy spaghetti code. Take your pick. :L

Anyway yeah, OP, the new player experience isn't great. Just keep on trucking till your Elo stabilizes. I think the middle level Elo tier is where the most stomps happen because there are as many new players as there are actual average-skilled players.

If you feel you've contributed something to your team and are proud of your personal performance, you're doing it right. You can't really control the performance of the rest of your team, unfortunately.

[Modo44]

Frankly, if you are having such bad losing streaks, I would wait for the next patch. The matchmaker is pretty bad, and often puts players of vastly different skill levels against each other. You are not the first to notice it. MWO is getting a major matchmaker overhaul with the first step hitting on April 29th. Yes, you can improve a lot as MWO has a steep learning curve, but why take the early frustration.

[Tesunie]

Shar Wolf, on 17 April 2014 - 08:46 PM, said:

Some never did and maintained that it was a waste of tonnage.

Well, one half applies to me... the other half does not... (You guess which is which!)

[Shatterpoint]

Good chance you're not facing noob players but vets on backup accounts preparing a setup they know to farm a 2nd free mech later.