69 replies to this topic

[Zepster]

I love sniping and I must say I think the charging mechanic was a good tweek/nerf to them. If you can't handle using them don't come to the forums whining about it... Spend some time practicing with them. There are many alpha's in the game that will have the same effect as 2 gauss to the CT.......

[Xeraphale]

I have to admit that when I started playing it was the gauss rifle which I found the hardest to master, it felt unnatrual to fire a weapon with the release of a button. It felt sluggish as you couldn't snap shot with it and it took forethought to use.

But you know what? Practice helped. I loaded a Jagermech with a pair of them and dropped constantly with it, it didn't take long before I became proficient with it. I would say I was Hawkeye, deadly blindfolded with a hand tied behind my back but I got good enough not to care.

The real trick is combining it with other weapons which fire differently to it, but you know what? That's right, more practice makes you better at that too!

Just remember.... Practice, practice practice.

[Joseph Mallan]

BUDFORCE, on 06 October 2014 - 10:48 PM, said:

I wouldn't consider myself a complete novice neither would I consider myself anywhere near the top end of the skill pile. I took a reasonable long break from MWO (although after the gauss changes) and I have noticed more dual guass builds around, particularly Dire Wolfs.

For those who started a while go, you will remember that gauss cannons didnt have the "charge up" mechanic they do now, you could just point a click and they would fire. Back then, the game was a horrible meta jump snipe long range game, and PGI made a lot of balance changes to try and make the game more "brawly" which is good. One of them was to add the "charge up" time on the gauss cannons to make them harder to use.

That is all good in theory but what I think has happened is that the more elite players, have either practiced enough to get good with them anyway, or are using scripts (I would guess more the latter, but people will never admit that on public forums) and the average jo novice player, like me, who find them impossible to use, are being excluded from using this weapon.

Or to put it another way, you've got a powerful weapon, that now only the more elite players can use effectively.

Now a single guass is not an issue, yes if you get caught out by one, it hurts, you make a note of it, if you get caught out again, its your own fault. I dont have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is popping out of cover with my medium mech to take a look, getting popped by dual guass in the CT and have to try and play the rest of the game in structure damage off the bat, its just not fun.

What I suggest? Actually I am not sure, but I dont think the current method is working at all, maybe making the single guass back to how it was, and either making it impossible, or with a significant nerf to be able to mount 2 at once.

What I think is a Mistake is players pigeonholing the Gauss into a Sniper Weapon only. I have 20+ years using it as a long range slugging weapon.

Second Combat should never be Forced to be anything it is not, and that would be Static. The game should not be a Brawling or a Long range game specifically. And it should not be forced to be any one thing. Each Match should be what it turns into, Even when it isn't what WE want! Especially when it becomes something WE don't like.

There are in Universe builds that Carry 3 Gauss or 2 Gauss and a PPC(or 2). Your suggestion would make those Builds impossible to have and I for one like that kind of fire power.

[TyphonCh]

Zepster, on 07 October 2014 - 04:04 AM, said:

I love sniping and I must say I think the charging mechanic was a good tweek/nerf to them. If you can't handle using them don't come to the forums whining about it... Spend some time practicing with them. There are many alpha's in the game that will have the same effect as 2 gauss to the CT.......

Whining? He makes some valid points. This thread is hardly whining. People don't need to be told to "Suck it up and play harder". Unconstructive.
And yes, there are many builds that can alpha high. The point is a Direwolf does it best, without fear. Knowing it can more or less smash anything lighter than a 70 ton with a well placed shot. The difference is that it is instant. Not like lasers or srms where the damage is spread out

[zortesh]

^
the true lethality of the guass is the inability for a target to mitigate its damage, if you can aim, then you take out or remove the majority of the armour from whatever component you aim at, no amount of skill on a targets part can save them, and you can do it stealthily at really good range.

No other weapon really offers that, cept maybe boomjagers, but they have to be up close and subject to return fire.

[Arctourus]

gauss is pretty fun actually...I like the mechanic ok, although removing it wouldn't make me cry either. No reason to nerf dual gauss....the weight, space, ammo and fragility of them makes having two in a mech a penalty enough. Besides, lots of canon mechs had dual guass, and we're only now starting to see the heavy assault mechs that are capable of truly using such builds.

I know it's a game...but most of us get enjoyment from the immersion of the gameplay...i.e. the realistic factor. If you're enjoying the "realism," remember that your enemy in a real war won't simply remove their weapons because you think their firepower is too great.

[Ultimax]

MisterPlanetarian, on 07 October 2014 - 02:32 AM, said:

I for one understood Gauss charge when PPC's were not 850m/s projectile speed. If you want to make it a sniper weapon just reduce it's dps alot by increasing cycle time to like 5 seconds or so.


It's already fragile as hell, heavy, 7 critslots and triggers an ammo explosion more ofthen than actual ammunition when destroyed.

It already has very low DPS compared to other ballistics.

A single AC 5 competes with it for DPS at nearly half the tonnage.

[FupDup]

I think that allowing people the option to fire their Goose Waffle as a click-charge-click system rather than click-charge-release would be a bit more intuitive than the current setup (preferably add it as an optional checkbox in the options menu, so people who are adjusted to the current system don't get messed up by it).

[RockmachinE]

meteorol, on 06 October 2014 - 11:47 PM, said:

You literally have to do nothing but hold down a button and release it after 0.75.
It is dirt easy. It takes like 1 try to learn. Really. I'm losing faith in humanity whenever someone brings up the "gauss is hard to use".

What happend to gamers? Years ago there where many games so difficult you wanted to bite your keyboard. Nowadays pressing a button for less than a second and then releasing it is called a "complicated mechanic" that is "difficult to use" for new players. Seriously? Seriously? It's pressing ONE button.

I agree. Its actually more fun to use like this, for me at least.

[Zerberus]

Interesting thought OP,. I find teh exact opposite to be true, that newbies have a much smaller issue learning teh mechanic than some veterans, which I admittedly think stems in no small part from newbies being unbiased towards it while some veterans absolutely refuse to learn it properly simply because they don`t like it for reason x.....

Edited by Zerberus, 07 October 2014 - 06:09 AM.

[B E E L Z E B U B]

just practice. im very good with gauss and i got good because i kept at it.

[Appogee]

Shouldn't try to nerf skill, it should always be a key differentiator for success.

[Gyrok]

BUDFORCE, on 06 October 2014 - 10:48 PM, said:

I wouldn't consider myself a complete novice neither would I consider myself anywhere near the top end of the skill pile. I took a reasonable long break from MWO (although after the gauss changes) and I have noticed more dual guass builds around, particularly Dire Wolfs.

For those who started a while go, you will remember that gauss cannons didnt have the "charge up" mechanic they do now, you could just point a click and they would fire. Back then, the game was a horrible meta jump snipe long range game, and PGI made a lot of balance changes to try and make the game more "brawly" which is good. One of them was to add the "charge up" time on the gauss cannons to make them harder to use.

That is all good in theory but what I think has happened is that the more elite players, have either practiced enough to get good with them anyway, or are using scripts (I would guess more the latter, but people will never admit that on public forums) and the average jo novice player, like me, who find them impossible to use, are being excluded from using this weapon.

Or to put it another way, you've got a powerful weapon, that now only the more elite players can use effectively.

Now a single guass is not an issue, yes if you get caught out by one, it hurts, you make a note of it, if you get caught out again, its your own fault. I dont have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is popping out of cover with my medium mech to take a look, getting popped by dual guass in the CT and have to try and play the rest of the game in structure damage off the bat, its just not fun.

What I suggest? Actually I am not sure, but I dont think the current method is working at all, maybe making the single guass back to how it was, and either making it impossible, or with a significant nerf to be able to mount 2 at once.

People do not use scripts...

I do not even use scripts for Gauss + PPC sync.

You can get it down with time spent behind gauss rifles. I would recomment start with something like a Gauss Jager/K2 with no other major weapon systems on it, and do that until you have it down before you add in any other weapon groups to sync.

[Revis Volek]

AH Keira_NZ, on 07 October 2014 - 01:00 AM, said:

I'm totally appalling with the gauss!

its press and release within a sec or 2 or lose the charge though... thats what messes me up

If you look at the target reticule/nod associated with the gun it will change to green when the gauss round is fully charged and ready to fire....

Not to mention its the same amount of time each time....just count it out. Takes about 1 second to charge i was counting out loud the first few weeks i tried to use it. Once you get the timing down and learn to time yourself weather you tap your foot or count it out to yourself, its just a timing thing and isnt hard to cope with at all.

[RG Notch]

meteorol, on 06 October 2014 - 11:47 PM, said:

You literally have to do nothing but hold down a button and release it after 0.75.
It is dirt easy. It takes like 1 try to learn. Really. I'm losing faith in humanity whenever someone brings up the "gauss is hard to use".

What happend to gamers? Years ago there where many games so difficult you wanted to bite your keyboard. Nowadays pressing a button for less than a second and then releasing it is called a "complicated mechanic" that is "difficult to use" for new players. Seriously? Seriously? It's pressing ONE button.

This game apparently attracts a lot of people who are challenged by anything other than point and click. When 3PV was added it was because people couldn't grasp TORSO TWISTING!

[Revis Volek]

MisterPlanetarian, on 07 October 2014 - 02:32 AM, said:

I for one understood Gauss charge when PPC's were not 850m/s projectile speed. If you want to make it a sniper weapon just reduce it's dps alot by increasing cycle time to like 5 seconds or so.


It's already fragile as hell, heavy, 7 critslots and triggers an ammo explosion more ofthen than actual ammunition when destroyed.

Gauss ammo doesn't explode Only the rifle itself does. So what do you mean? Are you putting other non gauss ammo on the arm with a gauss cannon? Thats a silly build if that what you are doing.

Edited by DarthRevis, 07 October 2014 - 06:35 AM.

[Redshift2k5]

Gauss charge is intended to make the gauss a higher skill weapon. Otherwise the gauss would be so effective and so easy it would dominate the playing field entirely (been there, done that) and the new players would bear the brunt of the deaths from such plentiful gauss rifles if the charge were removed.

If they are still working on their own personal playing skills and gauss chargeis too dofficult, they can bring an AC10 or a PPC or an AC5 or any of a large list of other weapons until they can effectively use a gauss. We have lots of point and click weapons with other drawbacks (ammo, heat, etc) and the gauss' advantages (long range, no heat, high pinpoint damage) neccesitates drawbacks (exploding weapon is not enough of a disadvantage)

[Revis Volek]

Pjwned, on 07 October 2014 - 01:30 AM, said:

Part of the problem that makes it hard to use, as I have now mentioned several times in various discussions over the past while now and it's still not changed or showing any signs of being changed, is that after charging up the gauss rifle for 0.75 seconds you only have 1.25 seconds to shoot before the charge dissipates. That's a really low amount of time to hold the shot, so if you feel that you need a little longer to adjust your shot before firing (because firing the gauss rifle haphazardly is a terrible idea, at all times) then that's just tough crap, and during that period of needing to charge the gauss rifle for 0.75 seconds again you can easily lose the opportunity you would've had if you could've just held the shot a little longer.

The time to hold the shot needs to be doubled (at 2.5 seconds) to make it more reasonable, or if not doubled then at the very least set to 2 seconds, then people can start using it more like the souped up sniper rifle that it is.

You must pay more attention to the target reticule, i will repeat this....the nod associated with you rifle fire group turns green when it is ready to fire....just pay attention.

Edited by DarthRevis, 07 October 2014 - 07:21 AM.

[Lootee]

They should get rid of the charge hold time and make it fire as soon as it is fully charged.

Just like the rail gun in Elite Dangerous, which good players seem to have no problem hitting spinning juking flipping sliding space ships with.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Lootee, on 07 October 2014 - 07:00 AM, said:

They should get rid of the charge hold time and make it fire as soon as it is fully charged.

Just like the rail gun in Elite Dangerous, which good players seem to have no problem hitting spinning juking flipping sliding space ships with.

The only reason I like the overcharge mechanic (and I mean only reason), is if an enemy gets out of the way and I no longer have a shot. I can just let the overcharge hit and de-power the Gauss saving one round. If the gun shot once the charge was filled up, I would end up wasting a round (or two with a dual Gauss).

P.S. I really need to get a flight stick hooked up so I can play Elite properly. I bought into the early Beta, and I tried with the 360 controller, the throw of the thumbstick is too short to aim properly...ugh.

Edited by MeiSooHaityu, 07 October 2014 - 07:11 AM.