35 replies to this topic

[Foxfire kadrpg]

This is a quick guide to some actions early players make, why they SEEM like the good idea, and why they are not.

1. Continuing to fire at an enemy.

Even if that enemy is not firing back, continuing to fire at a target early in the game can become a problem.

Early in the game, if you have a line of sight to an enemy unit, there is a good chance that many of the enemy can see you too. Why this is a mistake (again, at the start of a match) is that while you hit one guy with everything you've got, you are then spotted by his teammates and they fire at you with more 'mechs worth of firepower. It doesn't seem like a mistake because most pilots then back out of view and think because they are still alive, they did a good job.

The solution is to fire one salvo and then duck out of view until the match plays out where you KNOW where your enemies are and who can see you.

2. Waiting until you overheat to deal with heat.

Similar to 1, waiting until your 'mech shuts down makes you a lot more vulnerable than you might think, and because a novice player often mashes override and still walks around after it, he doesn't register it as a mistake.

There are exceptions to this, but in general, when you your heat starts getting to about 60%, you should take a break. Try to maneuver to better position, or just take a moment in the match to see where everyone else is and what they are doing.

3. Chasing the light.

Even though the spider that popped over the hill is now running from with a missing arm, continuing to focus on him can have hidden costs. If that enemy has any sort of experience he will be doing two things: turning your attention away from the enemy, or luring you to them.

Chasing the light has the hidden cost of a) allowing the enemy to reposition (such as crossing open fields where you had a better chance of shooting them) or losing locks for your LRM support.

Lights SHOULD be delt with, but most of the time, particularly early in the game, they should be brushed off, not chased. Fire a few salvos to get them to move, leave chasing lights to other lightweight members of your group, and focus on monitoring the bulk of the enemy.

4. Waiting until the LRMs are incoming before doing anything about it.

The novice pilot starts a match, moving forward looking for enemies. He doesn't see any, so he continues moving forward, walking across an open field. Halfway across this field, the warning comes up "Incoming Missiles". For an agonizing full minute, the poor novice pilot turns to the nearest building and starts running, all the while three 'No skill cowards' are pelting him from afar with about 100 missiles total. Enough of them land and the Novice pilot is dead. He screams about 'game balance' then disconnects. Sound familiar?

LRMs are something that are best PREVENTED rather than cured. Like fire exits in real life, starting a match should always have in mind "where is my cover" and "where am I visible". Even though you do not see the enemy, you should move as though you ARE seen, and travel from cover to cover. When you DO receive missile fire, and you do reach cover, stay there a little while after the warning to wait for their lock to expire.

[Charons Little Helper]

#4 should be obvious to new players - but then again - it doesn't seem to be

[Alaskan Nobody]

Charons Little Helper, on 19 April 2014 - 11:58 AM, said:

but then again - it doesn't seem to be

None of them do though - that was part of the point of the list

[Charons Little Helper]

Shar Wolf, on 19 April 2014 - 11:59 AM, said:

None of them do though - that was part of the point of the list

True - but #1 & 3 take are easy traps to fall into, and #2 isn't surprising considering that the only other game I can think of that uses overheating as a mechanic for anything but specialty weapons was Mass Effect 1.


And in the case of Mass Effect - enough people got annoyed enough with it that they removed the mechanic in the sequel. (with rather poor fluff in my opinion)

Edited by Charons Little Helper, 19 April 2014 - 12:33 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Charons Little Helper, on 19 April 2014 - 12:29 PM, said:

..

Yes - and so few other games have any kind of effective indirect fire at that kind of range (in my experience anyways)

When there is one weapon, that when used the same way the other weapons are (IE all the other guns are point and shoot) seems so worthless, why should they fear the warning? Why should they even consider that there is reason to need that extra type of cover?

It seems more obvious to us, because we are more used to it, but that doesn't mean it is actually obvious.

[Charons Little Helper]

Shar Wolf, on 19 April 2014 - 12:32 PM, said:

It seems more obvious to us, because we are more used to it, but that doesn't mean it is actually obvious.

Fair enough.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Which makes me wonder what else we think is obvious that actually isn't...
(In the game or otherwise...)

Any ideas?

[Charons Little Helper]

Shar Wolf, on 19 April 2014 - 12:37 PM, said:

Which makes me wonder what else we think is obvious that actually isn't...
(In the game or otherwise...)

Any ideas?

That socialism doesn't work?

[Alaskan Nobody]

Charons Little Helper, on 19 April 2014 - 12:39 PM, said:

That XXXXXXXXX doesn't work?

Lets keep politics out of it, if for no other reason than we don't want to get moderated.
It is against the rules after all.

[Flaming oblivion]

I'vr donr allot of this and honestly if I know I cnt win for example I'm the last mech against 4 I stop moving I wait and sink everything I have into the nearest guy not looking at my heat, *shrugs* im dead anyway

[Charons Little Helper]

Shar Wolf, on 19 April 2014 - 12:42 PM, said:

Lets keep politics out of it, if for no other reason than we don't want to get moderated.
It is against the rules after all.

How about that socialism has never worked? Now it's not politics - it's a historical statement.

Edited by Charons Little Helper, 19 April 2014 - 01:02 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Charons Little Helper, on 19 April 2014 - 01:02 PM, said:

How about that socialism has never worked? Now it's not politics - it's a historical statement.

Flying never worked either - until the wright brothers (and one guy before them) worked it out.

That is science.

Democracy never really worked until the Romans did it, so who knows, maybe we just haven't found the right way to run Socialism. (or at least that would be the argument for it, I would assume)

Socialism is a political thing (style? faction? brain-fart on the term for that)
Rules say to leave politics out of it, and it is probably better safe than sorry.

[Charons Little Helper]

Shar Wolf, on 19 April 2014 - 01:06 PM, said:

Flying never worked either - until the wright brothers (and one guy before them) worked it out.

Except for all of the hot air ballooons & airships.

Shar Wolf, on 19 April 2014 - 01:06 PM, said:

Democracy never really worked until the Romans did it

Except for the Greeks. (who the Romans got it from) Was it even tried before them?

[Alaskan Nobody]

Charons Little Helper, on 19 April 2014 - 01:12 PM, said:

Except for the Greeks. (who the Romans got it from) Was it even tried before them?

I meant the Greeks >.<
Romans had more a Republic?
Cannot remember well today.

There were several ancient societies that tried Democracy - usually wound up labelled more as Anarchists for it though.

[LauLiao]

Foxfire kadrpg, on 19 April 2014 - 11:54 AM, said:

4. Waiting until the LRMs are incoming before doing anything about it.

The novice pilot starts a match, moving forward looking for enemies. He doesn't see any, so he continues moving forward, walking across an open field. Halfway across this field, the warning comes up "Incoming Missiles". For an agonizing full minute, the poor novice pilot turns to the nearest building and starts running, all the while three 'No skill cowards' are pelting him from afar with about 100 missiles total. Enough of them land and the Novice pilot is dead. He screams about 'game balance' then disconnects. Sound familiar?

LRMs are something that are best PREVENTED rather than cured. Like fire exits in real life, starting a match should always have in mind "where is my cover" and "where am I visible". Even though you do not see the enemy, you should move as though you ARE seen, and travel from cover to cover. When you DO receive missile fire, and you do reach cover, stay there a little while after the warning to wait for their lock to expire.

As a "no skill coward" myself I can attest to the veracity of this. I see a lot of new players making the mistake of sticking their nose out to check for LRM, then if they don't get locked when they stick their toe out, they just waltz out into the open. As an experience LRM user, I know my weapons work very differently than direct fire weapons, and I'm not going to take twitch-shots at you. I SAW you stick your nose out. I know exactly where you are. I'm purposely not using my TAG laser so you don't know where I am, and I'm just WAITING for you to get a few dozen meters away from cover before I nail ya.

[Charons Little Helper]

Shar Wolf, on 19 April 2014 - 01:17 PM, said:

I meant the Greeks >.<
Romans had more a Republic?

Sort of a democratic republic (like most democracies today - only without checks & balances) though not everyone was a citizen, and only citizens got a vote. And of course the Senate still existed but lacked any real power post Julius Ceaser.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Charons Little Helper, on 19 April 2014 - 01:44 PM, said:

And of course the Senate still existed but lacked any real power post Julius Ceaser.

That was something I noticed reading about him and what he did - the government he was setting up was intriguingly like the one the USA uses - and surprisingly unlike anything I had been able to find anyone else using (IE: it was technically similar to others, without being anything like them)

I am about convinced he was killed because no-one could comprehend his plan
IE: he was taking himself out of power - how many people throughout history have voluntarily done that?!

Must have been incomprehensible!

(We are getting really off-topic though....maybe? I don't know this is kinda stuff people don't really think is obvious/do think is obvious, kinda?)

[Fiona Marshe]

#5 Deciding that "I don't need to stinkin AMS" and they haven't developed the skills to minimise damage for incoming.

[Flaming oblivion]

ams is over rated cover takes no tonnes and stops all the missiles hitting me. And before some1 says lrms are forcing everyone to stay near cover, Really? So ya always stand out in the open providing target practice for the all the snipers do ya ? May be zeroing in on your problem there.

[Kjudoon]

Charons Little Helper, on 19 April 2014 - 01:02 PM, said:

How about that socialism has never worked? Now it's not politics - it's a historical statement.