Hi. Me again, defending the poor LRM from unfair discrimination.
I don't know how long many of you have been here, but I've been around for a while now, and I can tell you that LRMs are about as balanced as they have ever been, and about as balanced as they possibly can be, until ECM gets fixed.
Back when LRMs were only 0.8 damage, enemy mechs would just wade forward, ignoring the light pitter patter of rain on their armor.
Then convergence got removed, and suddenly they had to cower behind rocks, for fear of being instantly gibbed by the Mighty HexPPC and QuadLL Stalker. They still ignored LRMs.
Then LRM Damage got Buffed. Mechs were dying left and right, as splash damage resulted in the CT sponging up to three times the amount of damage an LRM salvo should be able to deal. This was the Second LRMageddon. (The first being when Artemis was first introduced, and it used to come straight down on top of you, cockpitting the mech). A series of Hotfixes followed, the splash radius was reduced, damage remained the same, and people continued to ignore the rain, because of the Mighty HexPPC.
Ghost Heat was introduced, and the Mighty HexPPC and Quad LL Stalker shuffled off into a corner, as the new contender entered the ring, the Gauss/PPC "Sniper". The rise of the Poptart began. LRM rain was still ignored, because hills blocked it, and you could make a cup of coffee in the time it took to reach you. And so the Brawlers trembled behind their rocks while waiting for the gaze of the Sniper to move away.
And then the missile trajectory changed. Many proclaimed a new LRMageddon, but it was premature, as a series of Hotfixes modified the trajectory, and missiles were still the slowest way to deliver your mail. The Raven Spotter arose for a short time, but due to the blanket effect of ECM, very few could maintain a lock long enough for missile to land. The PPC Snipers rejoiced.
Not long ago (sometime in the past six months, wasn't it?) an attempt at EW was made, and suddenly there was a way to nullify enemy ECM, short of dropping a Raven in the middle of the enemy team with Counter. Cries of "The LRMageddon is HERE! REPENT!" echoed for the briefest of moments, as every man and his dog took LRMs to the battlefield. However, it was short lived, and the PPC/Gauss returned.
Then the Gauss suffered a traumatic injury, one it is only just beginning to recover from now. It got a divorce notice from the PPC. For a short period, LRMs once again appeared on the battlefield, but were quickly shelved when the new affair between PPC and AC5 began. The two have been happy together ever since, despite a few futile attempts by PGI to keep them apart.
In response, the LRMs received what many perceived as an excessive buff, a minor speed upgrade. The vocal outcry was great, and hotfixes brought them back down to a more evadable level.
But for the first time in a very long time, it is not JUST the PPC that is forcing people to cower behind the rocks. Now the LRMs are doing it too. But because the LRMs are so obvious about it, you can see them coming, and they rattle you around, and Betty yells in your ear that there might be danger over yonder ridge, LRMs are viewed as the culprit behind the need to find a very large rock. What most don't realise is that we have been cowering behind rocks since the rise of the PPC. It's just that LRM's have made us realise this.
TL:DR: LRMs are not the only weapon at fault. Long Range Pinpoint fire is, and has been for more than a year, the main culprit for causing players to hide behind rocks. It's just that LRMs require taller rocks.
(Also, my timeline may not be entirely chronologically correct. I remember the details, just not the order. There was also the introduction of HSR in there somewhere. About the same time as convergence removal, if I remember correctly.
Edited by Thunder Child, 26 July 2014 - 09:20 PM.
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Mavairo, on 26 July 2014 - 01:08 PM, said:
