7 replies to this topic

[JC Daxion]

title really says it all...


I know this is my first FPS i ever played, outside of playing Mech warrior 3 and 4,,, 4 i did play a few online matches, maybe 2-4 nights.. i really forget..

But to me, learning to group, learning how to solo, learning how to deal with 2-3 mechs... (and not getting group calls, with Dual guass, and what ever other call and dead...)

I know people love to group up, and teach a player, but i swear, the pug cue, is really a lot of fun, and does give you a way to learn that a group doesn't. That is not to say there is not another step up, with 12 man... *(which i recently learned) But in some ways, it makes me think groups, support, in some ways to a bad extent.

thoughts on this way of thinking? Or am i just totally nuts!

[Rogue Jedi]

I would recommend playing the first 25-100 matches solo before looking for a group

the big problem with learning in a group is that the Elo is averaged between all pilots in your group, so 1 good pilot with several new players will mean the new players will come up against significantly tougher opponents than they would in the solo queue, this is even worse if several experienced pilots take along 1 new player.

if you only ever play in a group then try solo it can be a bad experience because you are used to knowing people will have your back and being able to easily coordinate with a group whao want to work together, while in PUG matches that is often not the case.

[John80sk]

JC Daxion, on 23 December 2014 - 09:26 PM, said:

title really says it all...


I know this is my first FPS i ever played, outside of playing Mech warrior 3 and 4,,, 4 i did play a few online matches, maybe 2-4 nights.. i really forget..

But to me, learning to group, learning how to solo, learning how to deal with 2-3 mechs... (and not getting group calls, with Dual guass, and what ever other call and dead...)

I know people love to group up, and teach a player, but i swear, the pug cue, is really a lot of fun, and does give you a way to learn that a group doesn't. That is not to say there is not another step up, with 12 man... *(which i recently learned) But in some ways, it makes me think groups, support, in some ways to a bad extent.

thoughts on this way of thinking? Or am i just totally nuts!

Running PUG matches is a good way to learn the basics as a new player. You'll learn how to clutch matches, how to shoot, how to take advantage of terrain... but you'll also pick up a plethora of bad habits that won't work well in groups.

Running in small groups will teach you how to work with a team, and will generally give you a better idea of how the game is meant to be played. If the small group is good enough though, you won't learn as much because you won't have to do as much.

Running in a 12 man will probably teach you nothing other than how to be carried as a new player if the 12 man is good, and nothing but bad habits if the 12 man is bad.

[Tim East]

Running in the group queue has been pretty much awful to me since I did it as a 2-4 man. You get set against people who have mechs all kitted out and high skills, which makes it hard for even experienced players to play, let alone teach newbies stuff. I have tried this with a couple people a couple of times and it always ends in disaster. Maybe good for training for some people, but when you get annihilated the instant any enemy so much as suspects your presence because you popped up on his wallhack module, you don't really learn much besides cowardice=life and life=boring, since your team either gets rolled no matter what you do or rolls the other one no matter what you do.

Pug'in' is much more forgiving of mistakes since elo seems to be at least within a parsec of yours most of the time nowadays. You don't get the benefit of a proper instructor, but you can learn a lot of the basics just from watching other people play, and develop and refine your tactics iteratively. Plus you don't get the rather discouraging and demoralizing outcome of losing (or winning sans participation) every match, since there actually appears to always be someone worse than you, and the worse you do, the gradually more likely it is to encounter them. It's where I go when I just don't feel like waiting for a CW match, or when I want to blow off some steam in a mech (read: Locust) I actually have properly kitted out and that can move faster than what feels like a snail's pace.

12 manning may be ok for training, but I haven't tried it to really know, so no further comment on this.

[KodiakGW]

Testing Grounds (available on the Home tab) is a good place to start so you can get the feel of how the mech moves, setting firing groups, and learning how to shoot and run. Also a good place to find the weak points on most Inner Sphere mechs.

Better that then test firing into the back of a teammate at the beginning of a round. Or, even better, test firing and killing yourself from overheating when Elo/MM puts you on my team.

I really wish they had the drill Sergeant intro like they had in one of the old MW games. Had you run 50% throttle and shoot targets. If you didn't do well, it berated you to no end.

[Shatterpoint]

I think it depends on your temperament, puging for a while will either make or break you..and in parallel will make or break your desire to play this game.

I've played with pugs exclusively since founder days, I hate almost every player in this game now..my honest opinion is that 97.9999% of people in this game are mentally ******** or first day players due to the actions I've seen in pugs. I know that view isn't an accurate representation but it's the view I've been left with and it's why I play other games instead most of the time.

*You learn that there is no consistent teamwork, every player is out for themselves and you're just a human/mech shield for them to stand behind..they will actively block your escape from incoming fire unless you 180 and alpha their face until it moves.

*There is no balance in MWO, you'll bounce from one meta to another as new mechs/weapons/balances are implemented. One team will ALWAYS massively out skill the other, one team will ALWAYS have at least 90% of the LRMs and ECM cover in any given pug match.

*There is no communication, most people can't even be bothered to press R to inform the team of an enemy mech location for 2-3 seconds before targeting another.

Despite the hatred I play the game a consistent amount..by that I mean X-Y matches per day before I'm so sick of players that I go somewhere non ******** for the rest of the day.

[TheCaptainJZ]

I think it depends greatly on the new player's prior experience. If they have no Battletech knowledge, they will not stick with it pugging. There is simply no support. A comprehensive set of tutorials would alleviate this, but we don't have that. For those players, they should learn in a group. For people familiar with BattleTech, I'd say it's up to them how much committment to a team they want. Some players simply like figuring things out on their own and playing solo. But being able to ask questions when they have them is still crucial.

[AaronWolf]

Tutorials have been needed for a long time. A very good set and instilled series of target shooting, movement, cover explanation, equipment explanation-etc.etc.

Since a lot of people who have not played BT before get hung up on this. Its a common thing.