3
In short
MWO needs intentional imbalance to promote different play styles and foster a proper metagame where there is more than one optimal route to victory. This can be achieved by changing the effects weapons have on mech components at different stages of the game.
Pinpoint damage of AC2s, 5s, PPCs, and Gauss rifles does full damage to armour, but only half to internals.
LRMs do full damage to armour and internals.
Lasers do full damage to armour and internals.
AC10 and AC20 do full damage to armour and internals.
SRMs do full damage to armour and double damage to internals.
Pulse lasers do double damage to armour and full damage to internals.
The Rationale:
Starcraft and DOTA2 for example have intentional periods of imbalance to promote different styles and encourage one side to be aggressive. Some strategies are stronger than others at specific points in the game. In SC2, zerg are strong early game, terran strong in the mid game, and protoss dominant at the end game. Winning players maximize their strength at points in the game to achieve victory. This ranges from the infamous zergling rush to the mighty protoss deathball.
Like SC, MWO is also a game of stages. I'd argue that there are five parts to the battle.
1) The Approach - characterized by scouting and manoeuvring your team into a favourable position.
2) The Skirmish (or poptart phase) - characterized by long range engagements and non-committal dog fights by lights in order to wear down armour and gain a clear advantage.
3) The Assault (or push) - characterized by one team moving forward to definitely engage the other team; usually after gaining an advantage in kills, armour, or position obtained during the Skirmish.
4) The Main Engagement (or brawl) - where the two teams have come together and engaging at short range with the intent of destroying the other team.
5) The Consolidation (or mopping up) - where a large number of mechs have lost limbs, significant armour, and weapon systems. By this point, one team is likely to prevail, though comebacks are possible.
MWO currently suffers because there is a dominant play style throughout the course of the game: pinpoint damage, usually from PPCs, AC5s, and gauss rifles. As a result, other play styles are simply not competitive.
Pinpoint damage dominates the approach because skilled players can accurately place damage at the other team from long range (recently nerfed).
Meta-builds dominate the Skirmish because they can deal major damage to individual components, stripping armour and killing enemy mechs more efficiently than anything else.
During the Advance, autocannons are PPCs are still exceptionally effective, picking off individual mechs and operating within their maximally effective ranges.
The brawl has no effect on the impact of autocannons, and only interferes with PPCs at pointblank ranges. Skilled teams and pilots are unaffected by this. During the brawl, other weapons such as lasers become more useful, but do not seriously challenge pinpont damage's supremacy.
Finally, in the consolidation stage, high crit weapons like machine guns and LBX10s become the most effective. Pinpoint damage remains highly viable however, as skilled shots destroy legs, XL engines, and centre torsos.
In short, there is no compelling reason to carry anything other than PPCs and AC5s. They are the dominant weapon systems at every stage of the fight bar the final mop up, where they still remain very effective.
Rather than nerf these pinpoint skill based weapons through cones of fire, or convergence changes, it is best to make other weapons more effective at different stages - or insert intentional imbalance to the game.
For example, change the damage profiles of different weapons.
Pinpoint damage weapons, like the AC5, AC2, and PPCs, do full damage against armour, but only half damage to internals. (Most effective during the Advance and Assault, less effective as the game progresses)
LRMs do full damage to armour and internals (Moderately effective at all stages).
Lasers do full damage to armour and internals (Moderately effective at all stages).
Pulse lasers do 1.5 x damage to armour and full damage to internals (Most effective during the Assault)
SRMs do full damage to armour and double damage to internals. (Most effective during the Main Engagement/Brawl)
Large bore ACs (10s and 20s) do full damage to armour and internals. (Moderately effective at all stabes)
Machine guns and LBX10 - no change.
In this fashion, teams are encouraged to have different configuration, either on the mech, or within the team. It is telling that in the tournament both final teams ran identical compositions of PPC/AC5 builds (8/12) and lights designed to perform well in the final portion of the battle (Medium lasers and MGs).
This makes for dull gameplay, and limited room for innovation. Starcraft is an exciting E-Sport with a devoted following because top players continuously innovate, and use different strategies against each other. When one style becomes strong, players find ways to overcome it. That is what the metagame should look like.
Unfortunately, MWO has one metagame, because the pinpoint damage is so strong at every stage of the battle. We will never see brawling teams seriously compete against pinpoint damage teams, because the pinpointers will do too much damage in the first three stages of the fight. By the time the brawlers close to optimal range, their armour is cored, their weapons are slagged, and they will still be facing mechs still operating under favourable conditions.
If however, the brawlers were composed predominantly of pulse lasers and SRMs, they could take advantage of the metagame to trade off long range damage to be extremely effective close up during the Assualt and Main Engagement. The pinpoint team would be at a disadvantage as their weapons are ineffective against mechs without armour.
Suddenly you have the potential for an exciting E-sport, where a team of fast moving pinpoint damage mechs with LRM support attempts to keep their distance against a heavy team of brawlers desperate to close the gap.
Position, distance, and use of terrain are now major elements in team success. Medium mechs and heavy assaults have greater purpose.
While games should also be balanced for top tier play, this sort of intentional imbalance would improve casual drops and PUG matches as well. Players who prefer brawling have an incentive to do it well, and those who like sniping have penalties to their builds, and must at the very least pay closer attention to their position and choice of targets.
In summary, MWO needs intentional imbalance to promote different play styles and foster a proper metagame where there is more than one optimal route to victory. This can be achieved by changing the effects weapons have on mech components at different stages of the game.
Pinpoint damage of AC2s, 5s, PPCs, and Gauss rifles does full damage to armour, but only half to internals.
LRMs do full damage to armour and internals.
Lasers do full damage to armour and internals.
AC10 and AC20 do full damage to armour and internals.
SRMs do full damage to armour and double damage to internals.
Pulse lasers do 1.5x damage to armour and full damage to internals.
Ladies, gentlemen, and friends, for your consideration.
-Jack.
Edited by JackOfDiamonds, 07 June 2014 - 03:30 AM.
