19 replies to this topic

[Trystan Thorne]

This won't be a rant. Maybe a small one, but nothing major.

Right now MWO drives me crazy.
I really do like this game but am also sad about all the missed oportunities due to really slow development of this game by PGI.

The best thrills I get out of this game is when I fight a close battle. Obviously, I prefer to win, but a loss of a close battle isn't too bad. At least I had great fun and excitement.
And there are still those matches around.
There I am having a great close battle that I win (really happy), only to get fully obliterated in the next one by LRM rain of death (really frustrating) or to be in the winning team that obliterates the enemy (not much fun winning that way either). I saw less clear victories before the Clans, but seem quite common now. One moment I'm like "this is such a great game!" only 5 minutes later to think "what a bad game!".
Obvioulsly I don't expect to win all the time, but right now it too often feels that no matter what I do, I won't have any impact on the battle and win/lose is depending if you have been simnply assigned to the winning team.

Just to be clear, I'm not complaining about Clans and LRM's in any form. I think the game has a decent balance (I really do). Sure, there are Mech configs/weapons that work better than other, but I wouldn't clasify any as overpowered as any weapon in the game has a counterweapon.
And evenly equiped teams usually end up having a hell of a fun battle.

I think the matchmaker is really the biggest issue now. The MM will need to look at the Mech configs as well. 3/3/3/3 will not help much if for example one side gets all the ECM's and LRM boats, and the other one or two AMS Mechs at best.

These days I noticed, that I play less MWO out of fear to end up in an disadvantaged (and doomed to lose) team.
Saying that. I wouldn't mind a disadvantaged team if there would be a reason for that, like defending FRR Planets against the Clans for example, but Team DM games, should simply be balanced.

[FupDup]

ggclose

[Biglead]

MW:o produces many Love-Hate relationships.

[Dymlos2003]

Join forums instantly become a pessimist. That's what I learned from people.

Edited by Dymlos2003, 28 June 2014 - 04:56 PM.

[Blarkon]

It's better than being indifferent to the game. There are many games in my library which I've played once or twice and thought "meh"

[Deathlike]

Trystan Thorne, on 28 June 2014 - 04:41 PM, said:

I think the matchmaker is really the biggest issue now. The MM will need to look at the Mech configs as well. 3/3/3/3 will not help much if for example one side gets all the ECM's and LRM boats, and the other one or two AMS Mechs at best.

You really don't want to make the MM's job harder than it already is.

The best way to look at things situationally and assume worst case scenario. Once it becomes clear that it isn't the worst case (which is generally true), then you work your way to the point where everything becomes as optimal as you can make it. This won't happen in a day... it requires time, practice, and patience... some of which people do not have at times.

[Bad Frosty]

No worries about the small rant, Trystan. I'm fairly new here and from what I can tell, this is pretty standard. Besides, it gives me something fun to read before my girlfriend gets home and makes me do responsible adult stuff.

I don't really have any easy advice for you on this one. You have to play smart to beat the Clans, which pretty much means shooting them while they aren't looking at you. I know that sounds stupid and obvious, but it's actually a fundamental tenet of real military strategy and unbelievably effective.

Ideally, the light mechs should screen for their allies, spot for lrms, and disrupt the enemy while the heavier classes close in. Just a few seconds, one or two salvos is all they need to even the odds or turn the tide of the match. However, as you mentioned, the MM sometimes screws up, giving you no bruisers at all, and to make matters worse, the lights often end up being behind the bruisers after a brief skirmish. Most light pilots are pretty good, but they rarely remember to attack as one, which makes them either easy to ignore or easy meat for good shots.

But when they get it right, when they force the enemy to turn around, they can create epic victories. Clan mechs may be superior but they aren't that superior. Even the best troops falter and fail when attacked from behind.

None of this suggests there is anything wrong with the game, though. It's fairly well-balanced, if you're not stupid enough to just take another mech head-on and expect to win. Trust me, I do that all the time, and while it usually works, it fails spectacularly against organized opponents. No reason to hate the game, though.

If there is one real piece of advice I can give you, it would be to talk to other players in-game. When you find a good one, honestly compliment them on their skills, offer to support them, focus-fire with them, and pretty soon you'll have more deadly mechwarriors than you know what to do with. By myself, a clan mech is a tough match, but with my lance-mates, they're just scrap metal waiting to be ripped apart. And I don't even use TeamSpeak, my connection isn't good enough in rural USA to speak with people from Europe and Asia in real-time, but I know how they fight well enough to fight alongside them.

All you have to do is pay attention to them. I can take any Marine fire-team in the world and clear a room flawlessly without ever speaking a word or using hand-signals. It's easy, like riding a bicycle, because you don't need to communicate to fight. Once you understand how someone fights, once you listen to them, your own reactions become natural. I'm pretty sure the Japanese have some sort of cultural concept about this, though I don't listen to them much. I suck at Samurai fighting. Easier to use one hand for the sword, or bayonet as the case may be.

That said, you need to use you lance and your mind to achieve real victory. A kill may be enjoyable, but it is nothing compared to a unit working together to achieve a kill. You will be more proud of your team-mates than you could ever be of yourself.when you achieve victory. Hear this from one who has seen it in the most real sense.

Uh-oh, this sounds like waxing dramatic,and I failed theater class. I'm only going to leave it because it is true. Good luck, have fun, and remember to use your team-mates. Nobody wins a war alone.

[Trystan Thorne]

Ah yeah, I always try to stick with my lance at least. I think I get most frustrated by those matches where I think, no matter how well we work together, we had no chance as the enemy simply was so much better equiped (and it doesn't really matter in the end if the enemy is Clan or IS).
That's where I would hope that MM would distribute the people fairer. But as mentioned above, that could make matchmaking even more complicated and the queues too long.
Probably the best thing now is to simply wait and see what 3/3/3/3 will bring. Maybe I'm wrong and it really will bring us much more balance.

[Piney II]

Its not the equipment that kills you, its the situation / better pilot. If MM loaded teams based on gear, it would take forever to get into a match.

Adapting to the situation is a HUGE part of this game. Take part of that away and it may as well be a pillow fight.

Edited by Piney, 29 June 2014 - 05:42 AM.

[Sug]

Trystan Thorne, on 28 June 2014 - 04:41 PM, said:

I think the matchmaker is really the biggest issue now. The MM will need to look at the Mech configs as well. 3/3/3/3 will not help much if for example one side gets all the ECM's and LRM boats, and the other one or two AMS Mechs at best.

The short times they had 3x4 up and running the games I played were noticeably better. Not having your opponents outweigh you by 300 tons is pretty nice. Hell, I've had games with almost a 600 ton difference in teams. Not fun.

[KingCobra]

Well Trystan this is MWO get used to the fact it is not mechwarrior like it should be but it is trying to do a 360 to become a mechwarrior game.The other day i started up my copy of MechWarrior4 Mercinaries played online with some old friends and had a super time it reminded me why i loved playing MechWarrior all over again.

But then i started up MWO the next day and became depressed that it lacked all the things i loved about mechwarrior overall and i shut it down and quit playing.So play MWO if you love it or dont its always a choice.

[Exilyth]

MWO is currently a nice WoT clone using mechanics from battletech. Hopefully it will grow beyond that soon™.

[Trystan Thorne]

I'll keep playing MWO for a while, that's for certain. Still having fun with it (most of the time).
It's not perfect, but at least we have a MechWarrior game.

The things PGI have on the horizon sound amazing. I hope they'll deliver eventually (don't mind the delays as long as we get the good stuff one day).

[KhanCipher]

Exilyth, on 29 June 2014 - 07:04 AM, said:

MWO is currently a nice WoT clone using mechanics from battletech. Hopefully it will grow beyond that soon™.

If it was, we wouldn't have nearly as much of the meta of high FLD PPA (you're still going to have a couple outliers), PPC/Gauss would have to stand still for a couple seconds to get an accurate shot off, Brawler/DPS builds would actually be able to put the beat-down on poptarts, and being able to put your shots where you want at any time would be gone.

sounds like a game i want to play...

[Sug]

I've been riding that fence for years.

[Angel of Annihilation]

Totally feel this way. All I do anymore is seem to find some gripe or another about the game or more often how badly PGI is running the game. Hell I have even quit like 3-4 times now, sometimes for months. I also vow never to spend another dime but recently bought the Timberwolf ala Carte.

I guess in the end, the game is alot of fun and has major potential which is why I keep coming back. However, I wish PGI would fricken sell it to another developer that was alot less greedy and didn't have their heads up where the sun don't shine, then maybe the game could actually realize that potential instead of just limping along with barely enough playerbase to keep the lights on.

[Raymund]

Viktor Drake, on 29 June 2014 - 09:19 AM, said:

Totally feel this way. All I do anymore is seem to find some gripe or another about the game or more often how badly PGI is running the game. Hell I have even quit like 3-4 times now, sometimes for months. I also vow never to spend another dime but recently bought the Timberwolf ala Carte.

I guess in the end, the game is alot of fun and has major potential which is why I keep coming back. However, I wish PGI would fricken sell it to another developer that was alot less greedy and didn't have their heads up where the sun don't shine, then maybe the game could actually realize that potential instead of just limping along with barely enough playerbase to keep the lights on.

This is me exactly. I dont have many regrets in life but buying my timberwolf Is definitely one of them. Once you get over the 'oooooh shiny!' You realize the game is exactly the same. Same tired game modes, same under-developed gameplay, same unimaginitive, cash grabbing developer with bloated art department(whats new in gaming these days amiright). I don't blame the individual devs, I blame the leads/execs/publisher for this mess. It's as if they are reinvesting the minimum required and pocketing the rest.

I wish they'd just hand the game over to a more... imaginitive group of folks that truly love battletech. I understand a business has to make money but this is just ridiculous. Community warfare wont help the game unless more imagination is put into the game.

Seeya at the next cash grab.

[C E Dwyer]

I know how you feel.

As an inner sphere supporter who will never own a clan mech, and have 1/1 mastered and also own, every mech in the game, there is now zero reason for me to log into MWO.

There is no conflict, no territory, no mechs to grind nothing, just round after round of pointless arena battles which got old even before I finished mastering.

I've spent more on this game, than it really justifies, and paid for features that are not here yet, and are even now going to be late if they ever happen, pgi started to make veiled excuses for CW being late even before the clans arrived, and now I'm sure 'tweaking balance' will transpire to be an excuse used for CW not arriving in 2014.

So yes I want the game to be great, but I'm sick and tired of PGI's late half assed delivery or promised features, and currently playing star trek online Aion, and Secret world with the odd log in for a few battles of WoT.

I still hang around the forums looking for a reason to come back, as even handing clan mechs their ass, got old within a week of their launch

[draiocht]

Trystan Thorne, on 28 June 2014 - 04:41 PM, said:

I think the matchmaker is really the biggest issue now. The MM will need to look at the Mech configs as well.

I agree: matchmaker problem, but I feel the issue of mech configs is just magnifying the worse underlying problems of skill/strategy/organization. Players who apparently don't know how to use their trial's gauss or lrm and a lance charging into a first-minute 4v12... versus enemies stacked with top tournament players. Those matches seem somewhat inappropriate.

Tho, of course, mech configs might be the easier problem to solve.

[Exilyth]

KhanCipher, on 29 June 2014 - 08:05 AM, said:

If it was, we wouldn't have nearly as much of the meta of high FLD PPA (you're still going to have a couple outliers), PPC/Gauss would have to stand still for a couple seconds to get an accurate shot off, Brawler/DPS builds would actually be able to put the beat-down on poptarts, and being able to put your shots where you want at any time would be gone.

sounds like a game i want to play...

I agree, movement modifiers would be nice to have.