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Mwo Tournament Round 1 Evaluation

Balance Gameplay

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#41 5th Fedcom Rat

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 06:57 AM

View PostNgamok, on 20 May 2014 - 06:49 AM, said:

Misery is debatable.


Misery is NOT debateable. It is by far the best stalker, and stalkers are among the top 3 mechs in the game, and have been since they came out in Dec. 2012. It is pay to win pure and simple.

#42 Davers

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 07:24 AM

View PostScreech, on 20 May 2014 - 06:24 AM, said:

Was hoping this thread would have pointed out the good matches I would want to watch, sadly this is not the case.


MGA v Death Knights and Oosik Irregulars v 12 Donegal Guard- both fun "in your face" brawls.

SiG v Russian Jade Falcons, Russian Clan Wolf v Clan Wolf Delta and BSA v 007 has some good examples of a strong push and overrun tactics.

HARD Corps v Frati Mazzolatori FW has lots of movement and positioning.

Most of the matches were a lot of fun to watch.

#43 Iqfish

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 07:52 AM

View PostMerchant, on 19 May 2014 - 08:44 PM, said:

PS - wish we had Mech personalized HUDs like the Hunchback and Jagermech in this video.



Oh, awesome to see our/mine work here ;)

We created the custom HUDs in a few days, starting as total inexperienced animators.
One in After Effects, one in Blender.

This would take a skilled animator a few days, I guess.

Posted Image

Although these are far from perfect and I can asure you that the HUDs we use in the next episodes are much better, I think it would be appropriate that the Clans have a different HUD at least.

Edited by Iqfish, 20 May 2014 - 07:57 AM.


#44 Roadkill

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 08:12 AM

View Post5th Fedcom Rat, on 20 May 2014 - 06:57 AM, said:

Misery is NOT debateable. It is by far the best stalker, and stalkers are among the top 3 mechs in the game, and have been since they came out in Dec. 2012. It is pay to win pure and simple.

Meh.

Misery is only arguably the best Stalker, and that's primarily because SRMs are borked and LRMs suck. A single ballistic does not an OP Mech make. In most cases I'd rather have the 3F. If they ever fix SRMs, it won't even be a contest.

One of the top 3 Mechs in the game? ROFLMAO. No jump jets. Energy/missile dependent. Flat-out lousy maneuverability. GG close.

#45 Tatula

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 08:37 AM

I've watched a couple of the tourney videos and I don't care for the way they were covered. It's too hard to see what's going on when they used the "sky view" (or whatever they call it) mode. The pilot name/mech call-outs block a lot of the action and all I see are a bunch of letters moving across the screen that are barely legible. It's like watching a football game being played by the "X" and "O" in play books.

I think a better way to cover it, or at least in addition to what they did, was to video capture each of the team's captain's perspective, much like some of the videos that Jager XII posts on YouTube. This way we can see how the captain directs their respective teams and what strategies were employed. Although this may pose the issue of teams giving away their "secrets". Maybe just add those on after the tournament is over so this won't be an issue.

#46 Davers

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 08:47 AM

View PostAloha, on 20 May 2014 - 08:37 AM, said:

I've watched a couple of the tourney videos and I don't care for the way they were covered. It's too hard to see what's going on when they used the "sky view" (or whatever they call it) mode. The pilot name/mech call-outs block a lot of the action and all I see are a bunch of letters moving across the screen that are barely legible. It's like watching a football game being played by the "X" and "O" in play books.

I think a better way to cover it, or at least in addition to what they did, was to video capture each of the team's captain's perspective, much like some of the videos that Jager XII posts on YouTube. This way we can see how the captain directs their respective teams and what strategies were employed. Although this may pose the issue of teams giving away their "secrets". Maybe just add those on after the tournament is over so this won't be an issue.

Forest Colony is a dark map with mostly dark mechs. I hope PGI noticed this for future tournaments. Mechs will be much more visible on maps like Caustic Valley.

Speaking of which, I wish Caustic Valley was the first map used- it would have been the best chance to see some team try out an LRM loadout. No one is going to try that in the semi finals.

#47 Kjudoon

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 08:48 AM

The tournament is revealing that ECM is the backbreaker, not LRMs.

You know what would be interesting to see the stats on? A "No ECM" tournament and see the weapon loadouts then. If you watch LRM teams mop the floor with these high skilled players, then you have even more confirmation ECM is the problem with the whole issue. On the other hand, if high skill is more important than solid ECM usage and they're able to kick an LRM team around the map... ECM isn't quite the boogeyman to the LRM pilots as stated. Of course that still means LRMs are nerfed too hard and need fixing instead of ECM.

But this is pipe dream fodder.

Edited by Kjudoon, 20 May 2014 - 08:49 AM.


#48 Durandal

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 08:58 AM

View PostNgamok, on 20 May 2014 - 06:37 AM, said:

Sorry if already mentioned, the Jenners were D and F not D and K.


I was wondering about that ;) Would've been really surprised to see the JR7-K in competitive matches. That 4th module slot just doesn't make it a match for the D or F...

#49 Shae Starfyre

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 09:25 AM

View PostIqfish, on 20 May 2014 - 07:52 AM, said:


Oh, awesome to see our/mine work here ;)

We created the custom HUDs in a few days, starting as total inexperienced animators.
One in After Effects, one in Blender.

This would take a skilled animator a few days, I guess.

Posted Image

Although these are far from perfect and I can asure you that the HUDs we use in the next episodes are much better, I think it would be appropriate that the Clans have a different HUD at least.


This is a very engaging, informative, and immersive HUD; very nice work.

#50 Trauglodyte

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 12:49 PM

View PostLyoto Machida, on 19 May 2014 - 11:38 PM, said:

Was waiting for someone to make this thread. Not surprising no LRMs...where's all the LRM whiners now?


standing out in the open dying to LRMs, no duh!

#51 Murzao

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 03:05 PM

Lrmageddon...still more of a classic BT feel than poptarting fld. Which is definitely NOT classic BT.

Guess we should all go play hawken (yes I'm vomiting as I say that)....because that has more of a BT feel to it nowadays.

Edited by Murzao, 20 May 2014 - 03:06 PM.


#52 Aresye

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 03:15 PM

View PostMordin Ashe, on 19 May 2014 - 10:11 PM, said:

Add 3/3/3/3 into the mix and whoa, we may actualy have a balanced game!


Well 3,3,3,3 is in the mix, and considering everybody is stuck on the search screen, I guess you were right about everything being balanced. Everyone's doing exactly 0 damage, and 0 kills.

Perfect balance!

Edited by Aresye, 20 May 2014 - 03:16 PM.


#53 ShadowWolf Kell

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 03:25 PM

View PostMurzao, on 20 May 2014 - 03:05 PM, said:

Lrmageddon...still more of a classic BT feel than poptarting fld. Which is definitely NOT classic BT.

Guess we should all go play hawken (yes I'm vomiting as I say that)....because that has more of a BT feel to it nowadays.


Speak for yourself.

My Strike lance was all FLD and JJ capable just for that very purpose and that was back when the 3050 TRO first came out. :P

#54 Corvus Antaka

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 03:27 PM

Bad ECM design.

Bad LRM Design.

Bad weapon tuning on PPC/ac/5 and various systems.

Jee, if only some members of the community had pointed these things out 3 years ago and predicted them :P

No surprises here.

#55 Goose

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 03:35 PM

Three years ago, it was "SRMs or GTFO" …

#56 Kaldor

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 03:42 PM

View PostGoose, on 20 May 2014 - 03:35 PM, said:

Three years ago, it was "SRMs or GTFO" …


It hasnt been 3 years...

And yup, SRMs or GTFO. Was is that bad? Or do people still have nightmares about SRMCats splattering them because they were not paying attention? SRMs even back them were still really powerful, but almost worthless in excess of 150m or so. They were a true brawler weapon. They had downside, as well as upside. Guess what, SRMs were relegated to back of the bus status, and now its all FLD meta, JJs or not. True brawling is almost an afterthought.

Edit: Back to the discussion on Round 1 please

Edited by Kaldor, 20 May 2014 - 03:43 PM.


#57 wanderer

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 04:43 PM

View PostCattra Kell, on 20 May 2014 - 01:32 AM, said:

>No LRMS

A.C.E.S would like a word with you...




Let's do a little post-mortem here.

Posted Image

ACES displays actual force organization and specialization, while their opponents bring a scattered, mixed force.

ACES actually invests in decent LRMs and protects them. Their opponents rapidly abandon their Catapults with no escort, leaving them to die before delivering any real damage whatsoever. Worse, much of their short range firepower is random-spraying Streaks...even the Atlas-D-DC's are using them, leaving them unable to focus damage effectively or even function in many cases in the face of ECM.

If you'd lost to that bunch with your layout, I'd have suggested you delete your account in embarrassment. They had no reason to be in that tournament other than to go down in the first round as target practice to even moderately skilled opponents.

#58 A banana in the tailpipe

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 05:12 PM

View PostIqfish, on 20 May 2014 - 07:52 AM, said:


Oh, awesome to see our/mine work here :P

We created the custom HUDs in a few days, starting as total inexperienced animators.
One in After Effects, one in Blender.

This would take a skilled animator a few days, I guess.

Although these are far from perfect and I can asure you that the HUDs we use in the next episodes are much better, I think it would be appropriate that the Clans have a different HUD at least.


That's some pretty slick work. Is it ok with PGI to give yourself the added visibility tho? If so I might consider looking into something similar.

#59 Wildstreak

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 05:37 PM

Some extra stuff.

Was going to do detail about why certain Mechs but I think that is obvious.

Mechs Overall
- Mechs with 3 Module slots see play probably for the increased Arty/Strike ability. Atlas-D-DC, Raven-3L, Jenner-K, even a few Yen-Lo-Wangs were seen. Only the Spider-5V with 3 slots was absent bet due to no ECM! Wait, I forget, they get FOUR slots when Mastered.
- JJs are pretty much everywhere, I do not think poptarting is the only reason though that has an effect. Jenners & Spiders are not really poptarters and the Cataphracts with Brawler builds are not either. I drove my first JJ Mech, a Griffin, not really a meta Mech but the versitility of JJs made it sooooo good. Maybe now the argument can be made that even Mechs not using JJs stock should have them as an option.
- Surprised there were so few Blackjacks.
- Of all the ECM Mechs, no Commando-2Ds and that says something since it has the most Missile and least Energy of all Commandos. I even rarely see them in PUG matches now that I think about it.

Weapons
Doubt I need to explain why though the AC10s with LLs I saw on Miserys were an interesting choice expecially since the 3LLs were used to Alpha despite GH.
Overall balance needs discussion again after this tournament and this time Weapon Health needs to be included. I have tried to have FLD removed from ACs and PPCs and been told to stop nerfing, well now we can just trade one advatage for another. Remove FLD and give better health to those weapons with the end result being no change overall. You may not do FLD but your weapons will last longer.

Consumables
Arty/Strikes - The big issue here. Maybe now an idea from Stock mech Monday will be used, tie use of these to the Command Console somehow if possible in game, at least in Tournaments. If they want one side to have lots of Arty, make a working Arrow IV system.

ECM Stealth just needs to die. I know it will require a lot of changes but it needs to go. If need be, tweak the value of how much it affects Missile systems even if not TT values. If LRMs are a concern, then borrow how they worked in MW2.

#60 Wildstreak

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Posted 20 May 2014 - 06:08 PM

View PostUltimatum X, on 19 May 2014 - 09:04 PM, said:

Mostly it's because no issue is black and white.

Coordinated teams and smart players can foil LRM use.

PUG teams are at the mercy of a completely random Matchmaker that might put them not only against a premade lance, but an enemy that has more/all the ECM, all/more LRMs.

At least half of the complaints about LRMs probably come from sheer frustration of two things:

1) When enemies you can't see can target you, so you can't "fight back".
2) Screen blur & cockpit shake is wildly out of wack.


I imagine if they toned down #2 we'd see much fewer complaints overall.

#1 probably requires a total overhaul of indirect fire, artemis, TAG, NARC & ECM mechanics.

True, all valid and true though I will be interested in seeing what happens if a team like A.C.E.S. continues to use LRMs against a more direct fire team like most are currently.

View PostUltimatum X, on 19 May 2014 - 09:04 PM, said:

You feel bothered that a 70 ton mech can run the loadout of a 50 ton mech?

It's not even an optimal loadout for the Cataphract, and isn't taking advantage of both ballistic slots.

Yep, I do because when one Mech can question taking another and render that Mech non-viable, I think that is a bad deal. Sure, the Cataphract is 20 tons more but has too many benefits compared to the same build on a Hunchback-4G/H.
I could go further with detail if desired, for now I am saving it for a future topic when the Tournament is over but will if asked for

View PostUltimatum X, on 19 May 2014 - 09:04 PM, said:

Which part are you upset about here, that the AC 5 has as much health as the MLAS or that the MLAS has as much health as the AC 5? (If it's the first one, we disagree. If it's the second one, we agree).


Personally I think weapon health should be based on number of critical slots and/or tonnage of the weapon.

I think a MLAS should have lower health than a LLAS which should have lower health than a LPL/PPC.

Like you the second.
I agree WH should be based on crit slot though there might be a few exceptions like the Gauss, it has the same slots as an AC10 but less WH already.

View PostSephlock, on 19 May 2014 - 09:13 PM, said:

I agree. They have been nerfed and nerfed and nerfed WAYYYYYY too much.

It should get removed.
Just to be clear because last time I said this it confused people.
I have no idea what part of the game Screen Blur refers to here.
Cockpit Shake can mean two things.
1 - The HUD shake produced when Jumping.
2 - The shake produced when people are hit by certain weapons.
When I say removed, I refer to #2.

View PostMordin Ashe, on 19 May 2014 - 10:11 PM, said:

You don't like it? I am at top elo bracket with heavy, assaults and light Mechs and this is basicaly all I get in matches. All in all, if ballistics get recoil and PPCs get charging just as gausses do, we will have balance rather fast. Add 3/3/3/3 into the mix and whoa, we may actualy have a balanced game!

EDIT: Anyway, nice and constructive post, +1 well deserved, keep it up!

I don't think PPCs need Gauss charging and I have no idea what this recoil is. Not all that is needed for balance though. The problem I have with 3/3/3/3 is that it offers not other alternatives and is too restrictive, I think doing community tools that allow us to balance our matches would be better.

But over 2 years, I only know 2 things I actually had an affect at making happen.

View PostAresye, on 19 May 2014 - 10:19 PM, said:

The reason you don't see many LRMs in competitive play is because teams are actually able to organize and prepare for it, which more or less completely voids LRMs as a viable weapon because you KNOW for a fact that any smart team is going to stick together, have plentiful amounts of ECM mechs, and possibly have AMS on every mech.

LRMs are pretty much only viable in the pug scene. They suck as a weapon and only work when you get matched with a random team that doesn't have ECM or plentiful amounts of AMS to defend against it.

Aside from that, LRMs also give your opponent time to react and protect their weak sides, and any damage that is dealt is spread over multiple areas. Very poor choice when you're trying to minimize TTK for each opponent, which is the entire point of competitive drops. Kill as fast as possible to get the advantage in numbers.

LRMs will pretty much never be seen in tournaments like this unless they do a complete overhaul of LRMs, NARC, TAG, ECM, and trajectory.

*EDIT*
It's also worth noting that there will always be a meta. No matter how balanced things can get, there will ALWAYS be a build designed around minimum TTK, and the competitive scene will use it.

Yes, I know I am not top tier.

And yet, somehow, even though I PUG, I have gone up against teams with ECM, AMS, know how to prepare for it and still done consistant damage because there is more to LRM use than I hear people speak about. My LRM Griffins and Hunchback-4J did the same results in Kills, Assists and Damage as the 2 Awesomes used by the A.C.E.S. in the video provided here. Many reasons behind how they work is why I recommend LRM Mediums over Assaults.

But I do agree with some of what you said, there needs to be an overhaul regarding ECM and all its counters.

View PostKarl Streiger, on 19 May 2014 - 10:35 PM, said:

And if you do - you have to rework the indirect fire mode for LRMs. Its to precise. Must be more a kind of areal denial weapon / light artillery weapon - for disturbing not killing.
Because when you nerf LRMs simple - they are even more useless for direct fire.

Its a hard call - and i don't believe that somebody has the guts to make it work

That is Swarm LRMs that come when the Clans come though I do not know if PGI is coding them. I do think the difference between LRMs from MW2 and MWO is very interesting.

Edited by Merchant, 20 May 2014 - 06:10 PM.






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