37 replies to this topic

[Alexander Steel]

One of the other factors has to be that the Southern IS powers now seem happy to slap fight each other instead of Davion hitting Kurita and Marik hitting Steiner. That's a pretty big shift that lets more IS units focus on Clan fights.

[DaisuSaikoro Nagasawa]

Nehkrosis, on 09 January 2015 - 06:37 AM, said:

So, how are we going to deal with this exactly?

People have stated broad opinions about how and why things are they way they've been.

I care not to speak about things I don't know about as so much of this is conjecture. I will, however, tell you what my unit is trying to do.

My unit is comprised of individuals who are older and have lives and families that exist outside of the sphere of CW. While we had a really strong thrust when CW started, with the holidays we had to take some time to step back and for a small time. Now that we're back we're working on slowly building up our ranks, maintaining consistent training/practice schedules, working with our mechs and drop decks to counter some of the tactics that have been prevalent of late, and are trying to be loose and mindful that changes will be happening before long.

It's not a great answer, but hopefully one that works. Focusing on increasing the cohesiveness, tactics, skills of our unit (in addition to members. We're a smaller unit of about 35-40 active members but we are spread of many time zones) is what we feel is best for long term success. And remember, these are only days in the course of months and years. Planets will be lost, but they will also be captured.

One last thing I'd like to put out is that my unit Clan Diamond Shark : Diamond Shiver (CDS:DSx) is interested in working with the larger clan community at large as long as those units are respectful and working towards being strong and focused. There are times when we come across units that are just out for a laugh. Out to drink and cuss and blow stuff up, which sometimes doesn't work out when the other team is out to try and roll over us.

Khan DaisuSaikoro Nagasawa

[Jaroth Corbett]

Nehkrosis, on 09 January 2015 - 06:37 AM, said:

So, how are we going to deal with this exactly?

Consolidate. Units fighting for the same faction MUST coordinate or we get rolled, it is that simple. When one unit in a specific timezone attacks & seizes a planet, they need another unit in another timezone to garrison the planet when they are not online & vice versa.

Amarus Cameron, on 09 January 2015 - 11:00 AM, said:

I think our loses have less to do with them and more to do with us. I think we let the idea of being clan go to our heads. We started with some great merc units because we had great bonuses and they get to play in clan tech. Well the honeymoon is over, the FRR has some great bonuses and IS mechs are not as shoddy as they once were. We get nowhere by pontificating on what we cannot control. Strong merc units left, we have to deal with that.

So now the question is how to we attract more to our cause? How do we push forward glorious in victory and honorable in defeat. I have seen so many comments and posts about how CW is dead, I would say no, not at all. I would also say that these posts do nothing but make us look like a bunch of whiner babies. If you cannot post something that contributes to our success then why post, vent your frustrations personally with your clanmates off the official forums, lest you dishonor your unit and your clan.

I believe units within their clans need to work together, not caring who holds the world but just dropping together for the ultimate success of the clan. Do you think every galaxy in the clan always liked working together, don't be naive, we are all humans, vat born or otherwise, and we need to deal with that. So you can either talk about what PGI needs to do and accept your defeat, or you can circle the wagons and talk about what we can do to win for ourselves. That type of determination itself will attract more to our glorious cause. Show them what you were made for!

TL;DR

1) Accept that this is our problem, not merc units' or PGIs

2) Stop venting frustration on the official forums, keep that to teammates who understand and care

3) More communication between units and clans for coordinated assaults

4) Attract more to our cause through honorable conduct in victory as well as defeat

Thank you for your time, and Good Hunting Clansmen,

Amarus Cameron

I had NO idea mercs would be able to fight for the Clans. I & am sure others as well, was caught completely of guard by that. I mentioned the scenario above so I will not repeat myself. They go where the wind blows.

DarthRevis, on 09 January 2015 - 11:34 AM, said:

This problem will not stop though until the MERC CONTRACTS are dealt with. At this time whoever had/has the most numerous Mercs aligned to their faction gains the most ground.

The Mercs were fighting for Green chicken and Bug Bear and those clans made great strides in little time.

Now the Mercs are fighting for Viking Snake and Blue (ball) Fist and as you can see the Planets are just flipping to the other side now. There is no secret to it no master plan. They just are a LARGE Unit and have many members...so whever they go will gain ground. Anywhere they are not will be stalled or loose territory.

CW is now MERC WARFARE....if you dont have them you are not going to have any fun.

Now that the MERCs are back with GB we will see a large Planet grab from GB this weekend.

Agreed. http://mwomercs.com/...ng-mercenaries/

Edited by Jaroth Corbett, 10 January 2015 - 08:49 AM.

[Noesis]

Nothing is going to stop us "now"

[Dawnstealer]

Alexander Steel, on 10 January 2015 - 12:57 AM, said:

One of the other factors has to be that the Southern IS powers now seem happy to slap fight each other instead of Davion hitting Kurita and Marik hitting Steiner. That's a pretty big shift that lets more IS units focus on Clan fights.

Marik's still tickling our belly, but yes - our Davion brothers are keeping them busy.

[Alexander Steel]

Noesis, on 10 January 2015 - 09:03 AM, said:

Nothing is going to stop us "now"

Nothing's gonna stops us?



We can build this dream together....

[Heckbird]

I feel one of the bigger problems that contribute to Clans having a smaller population than IS is the price point for clan mechs. Any new pilot to the game probably won't invest in 20+ million c-bills to have 4 clan mechs of their own to pilot in community warfare. Especially with the number of IS mechs available, there is just not as many clan mechs to play in comparison.

[DaisuSaikoro Nagasawa]

Heckbird, on 10 January 2015 - 04:34 PM, said:

I feel one of the bigger problems that contribute to Clans having a smaller population than IS is the price point for clan mechs. Any new pilot to the game probably won't invest in 20+ million c-bills to have 4 clan mechs of their own to pilot in community warfare. Especially with the number of IS mechs available, there is just not as many clan mechs to play in comparison.

Very strong point.

Our users, we have new pilots, it's a delicate art because there is still a need to take 3 mechs to master in order to get them finished but clan mechs are amazingly expensive and CW isn't the place to get the cbills or xp. So it makes a split as CW is just sub optimal for grinding things out.

We have members who have come back and they have nothing. The trial mechs are "ok" but they're also sub optimal. Perhaps if there was like a switch where a unit can be considered "clan only" and the users of that unit gets increased cbills so that they can catch up... but right now that situation hurts the clans quite a bit.

Edited by Daisu Saikoro, 10 January 2015 - 07:51 PM.

[Davers]

Grimwill, on 09 January 2015 - 08:29 AM, said:

No it was fun when the game was balanced , PGI needs to limit the number of merc units that can sign with a faction

Players are leaving the game , CW will soon be nothing but 20 min waits for ghost drops......enjoy fighting turrets

"Balanced", ie Clans were winning?

I thought Smoke Jaguar was doing well despite their low numbers?

[Alexander Steel]

Never fails when any game has a PvP element.

I win 95-5, the game is balanced, you suck and need to L2P.

You win 51-49, the game is unbalanced, and you are abusing OP stuff.

Edited by Alexander Steel, 10 January 2015 - 08:38 PM.

[ContingencyPlan]

I can't speak specifically for clan side (although the dude who brought up prices has a point, as only people who paid money for the clan packages probably have a selection of mechs enough to put together a drop deck), but ghost drops in general are a huge problem. They should not exist. They need to be done away with somehow. They make CW horribly broken.

[Doc Sav]

I think in game mechanics to coordinate efforts between units in a faction would be a big help.

[CyclonerM]

Doc Sav, on 10 January 2015 - 09:43 PM, said:

I think in game mechanics to coordinate efforts between units in a faction would be a big help.

True, but even a faction chat would not help if lone wolves and mercs decided they are special snowflakes and they can do whatever they want, even if detrimental to their faction's efforts..

ContingencyPlan, on 10 January 2015 - 09:38 PM, said:

I can't speak specifically for clan side (although the dude who brought up prices has a point, as only people who paid money for the clan packages probably have a selection of mechs enough to put together a drop deck), but ghost drops in general are a huge problem. They should not exist. They need to be done away with somehow. They make CW horribly broken.

Sure! This would solve all our problems: Steiner and FRR could not attack any of our planets because there are no defenders to face them! That is not broken of course, and will give us room to breath. By the way, i never thought they would be so kind to jump upon a planet and wait in orbit for weeks until a defender shows up, and not attacking until that moment. How honorable are they!

[Alexander Steel]

Yeah the idea that you can't attack a planet unless the defender wants you to is bad for game play. Making the best defense NOT DEFENDING is way worse than what we have now.

[Slapshot]

Carl Wrede, on 09 January 2015 - 07:12 AM, said:

So the game was fun and working as it should while you clans were advancing but as soon as your advance stalled and we started to counterattack the game became a failure?

It is not that it was more fun it was just new and shiny. The initial allure of CW is gone for many of us, including myself. It is just too hollow at the moment. I hope this changes but I probably will not invest any more time in it unless my unit is doing it.

[Codeine Radick]

Aresye, on 09 January 2015 - 05:51 PM, said:

Before it was fun because both IS and Clans both had a decent number of Merc units. For the sake of argument I'm just going to use the following as definitions:

-Merc Units: Units that don't have a "favorite" faction and/or side. For example, a unit that spends 1-2 months with CGB, switches to IS for 2 weeks, then spends another month with CGB would NOT be considered a Merc Unit.

-Permanent Units: Units that spend the majority of their time playing for 1 faction, whether by permanent contract and/or long durations between contracts, with the majority of contracts spent in one particular faction.

Most permanent units tend to encompass a large number of players (100+) that are loyal and aligned with their chosen faction. Examples include: CGBI, JFP, CWI, SRoT, HHoD, etc.

Because of their popularity and large numbers, a good majority of players in these permanent units are either average, or below average in skill. They're there for the lore and/or immersion in the BT universe, not for upper tier competitive play.

On the other hand, most (if not all) Merc units are comprised by competitive teams. Examples include: Lords, EmP, -MS-, SJR, 228, etc.

Because they are looking for fights and are not/marginally interested in lore, their contracts are unpredictable and don't have any ties to any particular unit/faction. They also tend to be smaller in number, however the numbers they do have are at a vastly higher competitive level than the players that make up the majority of the permanent units.

So to go back to the beginning, it was fun both because it was new, and also because most of the merc units were split between factions and both sides.

The Clans made headway due to large numbers of permanent units backed up with the strength of a few merc units, but the progress forward has not been as drastic or rapid as the progress (or lack thereof) backwards this past week. This is because a lot of permanent units in the IS were engaged in IS vs IS battles, leaving only a few merc units to defend against the Clan invasion. The merc units could hold their own against most of the Clan's merc units, however the numbers advantage was provided by the Clan permanent units.

Nowadays, the Clans still have the same number of permanent units, but 2 big things have changed:
1. Most of the permanent IS units have stopped fighting each other and have started focusing on the bigger threat up north.
2. The large majority of all merc units have switched to IS.

This has left the majority of Clans with only permanent units filled with average players, and they have neither a skill nor numbers advantage against the IS side.

It isn't the counter-attack that has changed our minds about CW, but rather the nature of the counter-attack. It shows a gaping flaw in how balance can change on the fly based solely on where the majority of competitive teams align, and I personally don't think an experience designed around lore works very well when smaller competitive teams have more of an influence on the entire map than larger, more permanent teams.

In other words, it basically shows that it doesn't matter what you want out of CW. You're at the mercy of however the competitive teams want to do it. They dictate how everyone's overall experience can go, and I think that's a big problem.

Wise words, Aresye.

Agreed full heartedly.

[Commander A9]

I think it's about time we all start practicing together to get better at this sort of thing.

Private matches if we have to.

[Amarus Cameron]

Commander A9, on 12 January 2015 - 09:59 AM, said:

I think it's about time we all start practicing together to get better at this sort of thing.

Private matches if we have to.

That is a good point, I know a lot of units stopped practicing just to throw themselves at CW, skills get degraded and people become less adaptable. We are doing our best to keep private practices alive while still resuming the push to Terra, if you don't have a base of good warriors with team coordinated skill then no amount of TeamSpeak will solve the problem of people just not playing well together, for that it takes time and practice.