Darwins Dog, on 20 December 2014 - 04:56 PM, said:
The clans have 3 mechs that are a bit better than the IS mechs (stormcrow, timberwolf, direwolf). The difference is slight, but there. Better lasers generally, but IS ballistics and LRMS are better. Not to mention some of the IS quirks (Thunderbolts anyone?) make them really fierce.
The reason why clans are pushing in so far is because several of the best teams in MWO are playing clans. If you face LORD or SJR you will probably get smoked, but it has little to do with clan mechs, and more to do with players that practice together every single day.
Well, this is matter of statistics, because there are so many games being fought. Yes, if the clanners have some really good 12-mans, these teams should make the clanners win a bit more. The relative impact of these groups would be proportional to the number of games these specific people play in comparison to how many games are played overall.
But also remember that attackers get to face an empty field if no opponents show up, and just by looking at the faction map we see night after night that the number of IS players outnumber the clanners to a noticeable degree. This means IS should win more than clanners.
So these op clanner teams need to both cancel the effect of the large population difference, the effect of the IS also having some pretty good 12mans, and the quite massive effect of all other players playing games (the op 12-mans do not make up a significant portion of the entire clanner population).
Not to mention the existence of confirmation bias and that most pug clanners seem to think that clanners are balanced. I mean, I thought I was doing bad, but not
that bad in IS pug/small group drops. Then I started tallying the numbers. Even with a proper plan and coordination, in pug drops I have a 90% loss rate.
PGI shows us the numbers by updating the map. Just look at the second image here.
http://mwomercs.com/...-cw-time-lapse/
Notice how much the IS borders change?
Notice how much the clan borders change?