Posted 30 July 2014 - 08:31 PM
Well,
I would pick the first one, because it would affect exactly one of my 110 mech loadouts, and I am planning on changing it anyway. So there's that, the I dont care because it wont affect me. PPC speed would, on lots of mechs, including mechs with just a single PPC and no ballistics tied to it, which means I find that solution cludgy. Well, both are in their own ways, but I dont like the speed change as it affects people that havent been grouping the weapon with gauss.
I guess in the end, leave PPC alone, if you want to restrict how they pair with gauss, fine I guess, make some weird trigger restrictions.
I would prefer something else though, probably anything that wouldnt really restrict.... heck make gauss burstfire. Pinpoint dmg solved, PPC's or not.
Increase gauss cooldown times further, then give them some little boost like increased ammo count per ton. Longer cooldown means player has to either not fire the PPC and wait for gauss to cooldown, reducing damage output, or will fire the ppc seperate of gauss anyway, and then the pinpoint dmg is also mitigated.
Really though, and I keep saying this, if you guys would just fix HSR, man, there are like 75% of other weapons that would do what PPC and gauss can for much less tonnage and dissadvantage(heat, slots, etc) but people dont use them because HSR ***** them over. Giant alpha strike with mega heat is at a disadvantage in any situation but sniping(or if it will finihs off the enemy, where then the heat wont matter) BUT it is the main go to style, because HSR crap affects it the least. All the info is sent in one packet, so odds of all of it getting lost is still there, but not as likely at all compared to the guy who is chainfireing stuff or using burstfire/LBX/missiles etc where the packets get dropped and 0-100% of the dmg from a given weapon dissapears.
FIX HSR, META CHANGES, SIMPLE AS THAT.
For example, PPC does 10 dmg. LL does 9 dmg.
PPC will do 100%, or 0% of its dmg depending on HSR, and as it is a single packet to transmit, odds are pretty good it will register.
LL is hitscan, multihit etc(to compare it to LBX cannons, misile clusters, etc) so, its dmg can potentially get split in packets, and HSR can say OOPS, and miss a packet, or get confused trying to apply it to a moving target, because the first 30% is when target is at location A, and then the last 70% is at location B, confusion for HSR if you still hit it, more calculations whatever. So now, LL isnt doing 9 dmg, even when held on target, for HSR reasons. So now, the balance of LL is MOOT, because players gets full heat from it, but not full dmg. Might not seem as bad on surface, however, in the long run, players will notice effectiveness over time in terms of reliability, and migrate to pinpoint single shot stuff. AC20 was in this boat also for a long time, for the same reason as PPC. All or nothing is a billion times better then sometimes most of it.
I mean look Paul, you keep revisiting the same weapons. Why? because when you guys adjust HSR, it throws a giant wrench into the balance again. BUT THE SAME THINGS ARE ALWAYS UNDERLYING. It is always the pinpoint FLD stuff, because it is the most reliable. Sure, it rewards excellent aim, but thats not what makes it the go to for most players. It is the reliability of the hit/dmg registering. People will say "PPC HSR is bad, I see missed hits all the time" but you know, its because it is more noticable, not because more frequent. Think about it, someone fires that LL, sees the crosshair red, "well it hit" even if 1% dmg applied.
So, make PPC/Gauss trigger stuff, FOR NOW. Make a big note, put it on top of your monitor on your desk " FIX HSR FOR GOOD --> REVISIT MY WEAPON GROUP RESTRICTIONS"
Even things like the ghost heat caps might need revision once lasers and missiles all do what they are supposed to. Yes, I know HSR is a *****. especially for people like me, with 300 ping. I live in WI, and have no other option for ISP. Do you really want to write me off as "sorry ping to high cant help you" ? I gave you guys hundreds of dollars so far, and really want to see the game do well, mechwarrior is one of my all time favorite series. HSR code needs to work for higher pings too, or you will never see the end of complaints about it(not just me lol ) I dont have the solution for HSR issues. Someone out there, some place does. You need to get IGP to look for that person, and hire them. Might be costly, it will be worth it. As I have said for a long time now, HSR dictates weapon balance, All dmg most of the time is much much better then some of the dmg all the time, and it has driven the meta to what it is now.