97 replies to this topic

[vettie]

I know there are many that 'care' about their 'Kill to Death' stat / ratio and problem many that are also concerned with their 'Win / Loss' ratio.

I am interested to know how many of you care about these or some other stat.

Please be HONEST.

I could care less about W/L because for me playing PuG / solo it is mostly out of my hands. In Team / Group play it is different.

I do care about my K/D ratio but not enough to change my play style, or sit in the back and wait until 5 mechs are a breath away from being destroyed and then going after them, no I just continue to play my regular play style, usually to aggressive, lol

My main stat info I am concerned about is Weapons Accuracy.

I wish there were a couple of things that also showed on the stats page, like how much Team Damage I issued and What mechs the weapons were most used on / accuracy by mech/weapon load - meaning I have an 85% accuracy rating with gauss rifle on Highlander 732, but a 25% rating on a Victor 9S....I tried using a spread sheet, but that was just, well no.

So for me its Weapons Accuracy

You?

[Agent1190]

Stats are fun, but it's not the end game for me. I would rather get some of the achievements, which we need more of (as well as CW specific achievements, but they're probably holding that for full release).

Edited by Agent1190, 04 January 2015 - 08:26 AM.

[vettie]

Agent1190, on 04 January 2015 - 08:26 AM, said:

I would rather get some of the achievements, which we need more of (as well as CW specific achievements, but they're probably holding that for full release).

They (CW Achievements) are already there. Check you achievements page and click on faction once there.
There is a list of things to be ADDED to this and my understanding it will be retroactively awarded once implemented (such as Mech bays, MC, Pit Do-Dads, Paint colours / Camos and so on..) Cant find the link to it, but there is a list of rewards to come along with the extra CBills you currently can earn.

Edited by vettie, 04 January 2015 - 08:33 AM.

[Impossible Wasabi]

The Space Pope finds them all interesting, although he discounts wins/loss because of the nature of the matchmaker.

Accuracy and K/D he uses as a way to evaluate his own progress in mastering his chosen mechs. However, with that being said they may not be very indicative of your value to a team depending on how you play as there are a number of playstyles that may be very useful to the team but may not exactly provide you with a high K/D.

Peace by upon you,
The Space Pope

Edited by Merlevade, 04 January 2015 - 08:34 AM.

[Rhaythe]

Kill to Death in this game is the most overhyped and misleading stat there is. But it's a "shooter" game, so people care.

[LordKnightFandragon]

I care equally about all stats. I realize im never...ever...ever going to get a winning record in this game, so I focus more on improving my KD and damage per match....but I find it beyond annoying all the same when I end up on the losing side.

[kapusta11]

All I care about is W/L, Kill Most Damage Dealt, and Solo Kill stats ...and maybe Accuracy one too. The rest shows nothing IMO.

[Burktross]

I forgot we had a stats page.
Huh.

[focuspark]

I used to care about kdr per chassis but I stopped looking long ago (> 1 year now).

[Zerberus]

The only stats I care about are C-bill Balance and to a lesser extent gxp balance. There`s a bigass interactive map for tracking anything else of relevance.

Edited by Zerberus, 04 January 2015 - 10:04 AM.

[LordKnightFandragon]

I only really care about my WHK stats....and atm, they are winning by 2 games, but 8 kills from a 1.0 KD lol.

Ofc, if CW tracked, they would be in the positive by 1, but losing by prolly 2 games in total.

Edited by LordKnightFandragon, 04 January 2015 - 10:07 AM.

[GreyNovember]

I don't know how to record "Messed up a heavier mech's day", or "Came out on top of a dogfight" as a stat.

[Adiuvo]

Rhaythe, on 04 January 2015 - 08:52 AM, said:

Kill to Death in this game is the most overhyped and misleading stat there is. But it's a "shooter" game, so people care.

KDR is more important here than in others due to the lack of respawns.

[Mcgral18]

Adiuvo, on 04 January 2015 - 10:18 AM, said:

KDR is more important here than in others due to the lack of respawns.

But still has issues as a defining stat due to vulturing or just waiting to be the last one standing.


Still, if it's below 1 or 2, I guess it's a fair indication of one thing.

[Pika]

vettie, on 04 January 2015 - 08:22 AM, said:

I know there are many that 'care' about their 'Kill to Death' stat / ratio and problem many that are also concerned with their 'Win / Loss' ratio.

I am interested to know how many of you care about these or some other stat.

Please be HONEST.

I could care less about W/L because for me playing PuG / solo it is mostly out of my hands. In Team / Group play it is different.

I do care about my K/D ratio but not enough to change my play style, or sit in the back and wait until 5 mechs are a breath away from being destroyed and then going after them, no I just continue to play my regular play style, usually to aggressive, lol

My main stat info I am concerned about is Weapons Accuracy.

I wish there were a couple of things that also showed on the stats page, like how much Team Damage I issued and What mechs the weapons were most used on / accuracy by mech/weapon load - meaning I have an 85% accuracy rating with gauss rifle on Highlander 732, but a 25% rating on a Victor 9S....I tried using a spread sheet, but that was just, well no.

So for me its Weapons Accuracy

You?

Personally I try and maintain a 1.0 KD at a minimum, and in most shooters my average floats upward of 3.0-4.0 In this I find it very hard to simply maintain a 1.0. I write that off to the nature of the game. The sheer amount of health the enemies have and the ease... or perhaps difficulty, of landing killing blows, KD means almost nothing in this game

That said, I know that if I'm pulling 500+ damage in my Timber on average I'm doing alight. If i'm breaking 800+ I'm doing great, and I instead try and aim for damage done, rather than working on my K\D.

W\L means little if you mostly play Solo Queue. Too many factors out of your own hands.

EDIT: This is overall by the way. When it comes to individual chassis, especially ones I want to be good with, I will try endlessly to push my K\D as high as I can go while still making sure I'm breaking 500+

Edited by Pika, 04 January 2015 - 10:26 AM.

[Rhaythe]

Adiuvo, on 04 January 2015 - 10:18 AM, said:

KDR is more important here than in others due to the lack of respawns.

No. Sorry, but it isn't. It's a worthless stat in a team game about inflicting lots of damage to enemies that can soak lots of damage. Perhaps if the stats kept track of destroyed mechs that you were responsible for most of the damage. But kill-to-death only means you are good at delivering the killing stroke.

I have a positive kill-to-death in a few Locusts. Doesn't mean they are killing machines.

Edited by Rhaythe, 04 January 2015 - 10:24 AM.

[Adiuvo]

Rhaythe, on 04 January 2015 - 10:23 AM, said:

No. Sorry, but it isn't. It's a worthless stat in a team game about inflicting lots of damage to enemies that can soak lots of damage. Perhaps if the stats kept track of destroyed mechs that you were responsible for most of the damage. But kill-to-death only means you are good at delivering the killing stroke.

I have a positive kill-to-death in a few Locusts. Doesn't mean they are killing machines.

That's precisely why getting the killing blow is important. Assuming that everyone is actually trying to kill a target nobody is going to be able to 'killsteal' enough to get them a good KDR if they were an otherwise horrid player.

[Triordinant]

Some stats don't really show how good a player is at the game and pursuing such a goal makes them bad teammates and opponents.

Kill/Death Ratio or KDR is a prime example of this. In the pursuit of higher KDR, some players can and have resorted to the following:

Hide and Shut Down. When they realize the battle is lost, some players hide and shut down, hoping the clock will run out before they're found and killed in order to protect their KDR. Other players sometimes have to wait 7 or more minutes for the match to end or the KDR hog to get killed. This would almost never happen if there was no KDR to protect.

Zombie-Style Swarming. This is when the team swarms around a lone enemy 'mech hoping to get the kill shot and end up shooting their teammates in the back. I've seen teammates get teamkilled this way.

Kill Trolling. I've spectated this so I know it happens. Guy zips around the battlefield in a light 'mech looking for enemy 'mechs that are nearly dead. He spots one murdering his teammate and sees the enemy is still in somewhat good shape. Rather than save his teammate, he looks around and spots a weaponless enemy being hit and about to die then shoots that one instead hoping to land the killing blow and inflate his KDR (and his ego) while doing only 1 to 5% of the damage.

Gaming the System. In the group queue, it's possible for a Unit to have a "designated hitter" before they drop. Whenever possible, that's the guy who's supposed to land the killing blow. The Unit can then advertise that they're elite because all their members have high KDR.

Teammates as Clay Pigeons. These guys basically wait while the two teams duke it out, then swoop in after their teammates take the bulk of the damage dished out by the enemy. They can then shoot the heavily-damaged enemy 'mechs to dish out the last 1-5% of the damage needed for the kills then say "Look at me! I have high KDR!"

Last but not least, KDR sometimes simply means having the dumb luck to land the killing blow. It happens to me and I'm sure it happens to everyone else.

Because all of the above can be used to artificially inflate one's KDR, the stat becomes meaningless. Not only does KDR fail to reliably show who's a better Mechwarrior, it also encourages players to do things that are detrimental to their team and/or a hassle for everyone else in the match.

What's the Solution? Get rid of KDR and put up stats that are more meaningful. One possibility is Average Match Score. This would reward teamwork (assists) and players who play a role well (spotting, for example). PGI can even tweak Average Match Score by reallocating how many points you get for each action (kills, assists, damage, spotting, etc.), unlike KDR which is fixed (you can't partially kill or be somewhat dead -it's all or nothing) and untweakable. PGI has already tweaked the scoring once.

Ditching KDR in favor of more meaningful stats (suggestions are welcome) will allow us to more accurately determine Mechwarrior quality and lessen the unwanted behaviour listed above. Note: Win/Loss might still be a usable stat, but maybe only for teams.

[Rhaythe]

Adiuvo, on 04 January 2015 - 10:27 AM, said:

That's precisely why getting the killing blow is important. Assuming that everyone is actually trying to kill a target nobody is going to be able to 'killsteal' enough to get them a good KDR if they were an otherwise horrid player.

I'll have to just disagree with you, because focusing only on getting the killing stroke inspires horrid team skills like poptarting, LRM farming, and generally hanging back trying to live as long as possible just so a player can kill-snipe. I am not accusing you of these things, so please don't minunderstand my post. But in this game, concern over K2D results in exactly this kind of behavior, which is quite detrimental to the team.

[Adiuvo]

Rhaythe, on 04 January 2015 - 10:30 AM, said:

I'll have to just disagree with you, because focusing only on getting the killing stroke inspires horrid team skills like poptarting, LRM farming, and generally hanging back trying to live as long as possible just so a player can kill-snipe. I am not accusing you of these things, so please don't minunderstand my post. But in this game, concern over K2D results in exactly this kind of behavior, which is quite detrimental to the team.

Agreed, which is why W/L is important along with KDR. The two stats are really needed if you want to make any determination about the quality of player.

Though, if someone does participate in all the behaviors you listed, and they were otherwise bad, I doubt they would be able to raise their KDR much above 1.

Triordinant, on 04 January 2015 - 10:28 AM, said:

snip

None of these things happen with any degree of regularity, especially not to the point where you can discount the entire stat. Some of these situations are entirely manufactured, like 'gaming the system'.