Bishop Steiner, on 14 June 2014 - 08:37 AM, said:
Doesn't have to. Just has to be viable and have an effective role. Also, as other Clan Mechs come in, they will fill the light squirrel role, as Firemoths, Piranhas and such appear. Technically half the IS Lights are DOA to the comp crowd, but IMO that is a horrible reason to dismiss them, since the comp crowd is probably less than 5% of the playerbase.
Even if I were to agree that the competitive crowd is the "minority", seeing people copy it (or "tryhards" for a lack of a better term) in addition to the whining that goes with it... it was shown on display in that team tourney. "Trickle down" balance does happen, even if people refuse to use/believe it.
I assure you that I have love for the Quickdraw (except the hero, which I think is a gimmick, especially when I don't see those run weeks after its debut), even though it is completely noncompetitive. Heck, I even like the Commando... being a craftier light (@170kph) that people seem to ignore (which is great for me). I'm not completely blind to "the meta"... I have appreciation for most of the mechs I have grinded and played with. However, there's just a number/host of flaws that exist that IMHO should be addressed in order to get people to at least give it some attention.
While I don't want every mech having to be compared to the "competitive mechs", there are still mechs that need a BOATLOAD of help in order to become "usable"... and I'll keep pointing to the Awesome as the poster child for that. If all "underpowered"/noncompetitive mechs are "taken care of" through careful/slow/thoughtful tweaking instead of being relegated to just "trash", then we will have a better overall game.
That's kinda all that really matters IMO.
Edited by Deathlike, 14 June 2014 - 01:29 PM.