56 replies to this topic

[Alexander Steel]

Not going to lie. I like Theodore Kurita, and as a Davion I'm REALLY glad he wasn't in charge of things during the 4th Succession War as he proved ever bit the equal if not better to Hanse Davion when it came to strats. The war of 3039 showed that. Also his reforms by 3052 on, really would have me considering working for the Combine if I were a Merc. His son ended up being a good person/leader as well, if somewhat bland.

Speaking of how conservative Takahashi was, could you ever see him approving of his daughter sleeping with the leader of the Federated Suns?

[Lord Ikka]

Nope- which is why it was a good thing both he and Hanse kicked the bucket. Both of them would have had an aneurysm.

[Alexander Steel]

The thing that always struck me as interesting is that they say Takahashi took Hanse Davion's death harder than almost anybody else. Saying something like there was no purpose left in his life now that all the great enemies were gone, or something to that effect.

Edited by Alexander Steel, 02 January 2015 - 06:09 AM.

[Lord Ikka]

Great enemies sometimes last longer than great friends, and leave just as large of a gap when they leave.

[Steinar Bergstol]

I'm fairly certain that even though they were his enemies Jaime Wolf and Hanse Davion were among the people Takashi respected the most in the Inner Sphere. Keep in mind also that by the time Hanse died Takashi had seen his entire group of contemporaries amongst the Successor House leadership die one after the other. Katrina Steiner. Janos Marik. Maximilian Liao and then Hanse Davion, a man much younger than himself all dead. I wouldn't be surprised if he felt a bit melancholic and despondent at that point. Everything was changing and everyone he felt he knew was dying off. He probably felt the weight of his age and then some at that point.

[wanderer]

ice trey, on 27 December 2014 - 10:01 PM, said:

We look forward to your support on the Clan front, especially Ghost Bear.

I was on late last night.

Davion is feeding their PUGs into your Clan defenses, thereby "training" them where it's safe to fail and lose your planets instead of their own. I was seeing 50% Davion/Steiner (mostly Davion) forces on Kurita controlled worlds fighting (and of course, losing) to the Clan attackers.

Devious, isn't it?

[StillRadioactive]

Lord Ikka, on 02 January 2015 - 06:22 AM, said:

Great enemies sometimes last longer than great friends, and leave just as large of a gap when they leave.

I knew you'd miss us if we were gone

[Steinar Bergstol]

If we miss you we obviously need to work on our marksmanship.

[Alexander Steel]

wanderer, on 02 January 2015 - 10:06 AM, said:

I was on late last night.

Davion is feeding their PUGs into your Clan defenses, thereby "training" them where it's safe to fail and lose your planets instead of their own. I was seeing 50% Davion/Steiner (mostly Davion) forces on Kurita controlled worlds fighting (and of course, losing) to the Clan attackers.

Devious, isn't it?

That's how I treat Clan fights. Good way to train and try tactics on worlds that don't matter at all to me if we win or lose.

[StillRadioactive]

Alexander Steel, on 02 January 2015 - 01:00 PM, said:

That's how I treat Clan fights. Good way to train and try tactics on worlds that don't matter at all to me if we win or lose.

Cut that **** out.

[Kyone Akashi]

Somehow, I feel we just found another problem with the current implementation of CW.

[Alexander Steel]

StillRadioactive, on 02 January 2015 - 03:03 PM, said:

Cut that **** out.

Roger. Honesty is bad. To be fair it's never on Steiner worlds and only on Kurita/FRR ones.

Edited by Alexander Steel, 02 January 2015 - 03:54 PM.

[StillRadioactive]

Alexander Steel, on 02 January 2015 - 03:53 PM, said:

Roger. Honesty is bad. To be fair it's never on Steiner worlds and only on Kurita/FRR ones.

Honesty's not bad. Not playing to win is bad.

Doesn't matter what border you're on, you play to win.

[Abivard]

wanderer, on 02 January 2015 - 10:06 AM, said:

I was on late last night.

Davion is feeding their PUGs into your Clan defenses, thereby "training" them where it's safe to fail and lose your planets instead of their own. I was seeing 50% Davion/Steiner (mostly Davion) forces on Kurita controlled worlds fighting (and of course, losing) to the Clan attackers.

Devious, isn't it?

We see the same thing on the FRR side.

[Alexander Steel]

Alexander Steel, on 02 January 2015 - 03:53 PM, said:

Roger. Honesty is bad. To be fair it's never on Steiner worlds and only on Kurita/FRR ones.

Where did I say I didn't play to win? I said I don't care if I win or lose.

[Alexander Steel]

Kyone Akashi, on 02 January 2015 - 03:41 PM, said:

Somehow, I feel we just found another problem with the current implementation of CW.

Absolutely. The system that is in place now rewards less points for doing things that are the most effective when it comes to winning then it rewards for doing things that are less effective.

Example: In matches on defense legging enemy mechs and then flipping to another mech is a really good strat to slow down or disrupt a rush. However, killing mechs is worth more points, money, and the like. The system rewards the pilot for a non-optimal strat and if the planet they are fighting over doesn't matter to them, it obvious what many are going to do. Both are playing hard and playing to win, but one way helps out the pilot way more but the odds of winning the match less.

[Kyone Akashi]

Not only that, but I also dislike the idea of letting pilots from other Successor States decide the fate of a Combine world. As wanderer explained, and you confirmed, pilots will generally feel less attachment to the world they are defending if it is not of their own faction, which as a question of morale and dedication will affect their focus and determination, and thus their battlefield performance.

It gets even more ironic when we consider that the pilots defending these worlds are actually enemies of its holder, so regardless of the outcome, it would be a win-win situation for them. Together with the rewards you mentioned, it may result in Mechwarriors playing for maximum personal gain whilst ideally also making sure the enemy faction they are "defending" loses yet another planet to a third faction. Though even if the latter is mostly an unintentional result of the former, it's still wrong.

I actually like the idea of "allied matches" where Inner Sphere powers band together to repel the Clans, but I feel this should happen on a few dedicated worlds in a sort of moderated process (perhaps along the center of the invasion corridor), rather than making it the default approach across all fronts. The way it is implemented now is uncanonical, and it is unfair. It should not be possible for hostile factions to essentially lose your planets for you.

Edited by Kyone Akashi, 03 January 2015 - 10:02 AM.

[Alexander Steel]

Quote

Not only that, but I also dislike the idea of letting pilots from other Successor States decide the fate of a Combine world. As wanderer explained, and you confirmed, pilots will generally feel less attachment to the world they are defending if it is not of their own faction, which as a question of morale and dedication will affect their focus and determination, and thus their battlefield performance.

I'm not going to lie, I play differently when defending Combine World's than I do when defending Davion world's. I imagine that true for most people. Even if they don't mean to, or even if it's real subtle... like not taking lead and just coasting and going with the flow rather than putting the 110% effort that trying to lead a pug requires, it's there.

It seems wrong to let pilots who have no vested interest in the planet defend it or even worse, lose it for a team that gets hurt if they lose. I mean if Kurita needs 4 more wins on the Clan border towards the end of the night when they are fighting Davion even up on that border that is going to be a good thing for the Davion faction as it means that the Combine has to send more warriors up north to fight the clans. How do you ignore that 100% if you are a Davion pilot. Even if you could, how can you convince the Combine guy in your drop group that you gave it your all if your team loses and they lose the planet for it.

[William Knight]

Alexander Steel, on 03 January 2015 - 11:44 AM, said:

I'm not going to lie, I play differently when defending Combine World's than I do when defending Davion world's. I imagine that true for most people. Even if they don't mean to, or even if it's real subtle... like not taking lead and just coasting and going with the flow rather than putting the 110% effort that trying to lead a pug requires, it's there.

It seems wrong to let pilots who have no vested interest in the planet defend it or even worse, lose it for a team that gets hurt if they lose. I mean if Kurita needs 4 more wins on the Clan border towards the end of the night when they are fighting Davion even up on that border that is going to be a good thing for the Davion faction as it means that the Combine has to send more warriors up north to fight the clans. How do you ignore that 100% if you are a Davion pilot. Even if you could, how can you convince the Combine guy in your drop group that you gave it your all if your team loses and they lose the planet for it.

I have a great deal of respect for you.

[ShiroganeTakeru]

Bump.