FupDup, on 22 January 2015 - 12:58 PM, said:
Unfortunately, that doesn't turn out to be very fun in an actual video game. MWO has had a long history of this, starting with mechs like the Dragon and Awesome being never used as well as metagames like the Lagshield Raven 3L or 4 PPC Stalker. Having a handful of options be 100% clearly superior leads to dumb situations in-game.
The one use the SMN had compared to the TBR was being cheaper to buy/repair due to not having Endo Steel. That's really about it. Any loadout you can build on a Summoner can be replicated on a Timberwolf, most of the time better.
If you stay behind and camp your base, your 11 teammates will have to fight against 12 enemies without you. Outnumbered and thus more likely to be overrun. Alternatively, one or more enemy lights or fast mediums might come along and harrass your base, probably killing that Urbanmech in the process. Even a Locust boating Small Pulse Lasers will be able to out-damage an Urbanmech carrying AC/10 + SL.
During heated battles, changing position to retreat or push forward when opportunities present themselves is pretty damn vital and is what makes or breaks a match. Not being able to retreat or push forward with one's team is a severe handicap because it means your team basically has one player missing, a player that could have been dealing and/or absorbing damage. So much for teamwork...
I've gone over this several times by this point, so by now I think you're just strawmanning instead of innocently misunderstanding my position.
For the gazillionth time, going at Clan light mech speed is NOT fast for a 30 ton mech. 106.9 kph is only fast for mechs above 45 tons. For mechs under 45 tons, it's still crappy speed, but just not as crappy as 50.5 kph. That's not anywhere damn near Spider speeds, at least sensibly built Spiders that is.
As a sidebar, why do you even end your posts with that anyways? I can see your username along the left border of the thread. It's redundant.
Fun is relative: therefore one cannot say with any authority what is or is not fun. You could say that you do not find specific mechanics or roles fun, but you cannot make an absolute statement as such.
There has never been a time when no DRG or AWS was ever used (once they were included in the game of course). Suboptimal mechs are constantly seen and lambasted and often easily killed; however, they can still be dangerous due to being underestimated. Nor was the multi-PPC STK ever the only mech fielded, and it was not overpowered and arguably worse than some other potential options. Lag affects all mechs and was hardly limited to the RVN-3L. Fact is no mech in game is 100% superior.
While the SMN is cheaper to repair, that is not the only thing it does better than the TBR, as you yourself admit: by definition "most of the time better" means there are times it is not.
Yes, a modified LCT could take a stock UM - aside from you that is not in doubt. However, a mod'd UM will take that mod'd LCT. The UM can boat MGs & SPLs too! And do it with 10 (16 actually) more tons of weapons, armour & equipment.
In a meeting engagement or mobile defence, sure speed can matter. In a static defence? Not so much. Further mobility is not just sheer speed. Jets, accel/decel, twist & turn rates and torso twist all matter.
Teamwork is not blindly following the blob. There are few maps that permit 12 FR mechs to simultaneously engage 12 EN mechs. But the fact is that should really never happen, and when it does it has nothing to do with teamwork. But even say your 11 teammates are overrun, that leaves the possibility that the spunky little defender will save the day! Base defences are significantly enhanced by the presence of a defender: sure a light lance swarm will probably kill the UM, just as an assault lance swarm would overwhelm a lone KGC; however, that lone defender can delay (or even prevent) the cap buying time for reinforcements to arrive.
Teamwork is also working to include everyone on the team. Deliberately running off is pretty much the antithesis of teamwork. Covering off each others' weakness and fulfilling less desirable roles to free up others to play better to their strengths is teamwork.
It is fair to say that you are deliberately obfuscating the issue: the UM is not slow for a Light, it is slow for ALL mechs. The speeds of other light mechs are irrelevant. It is clear that you think it needs to be fast, but actual mechs in game demonstrate otherwise.
Anything worth writing is worth signing with your name. Not to mention that depending upon the forum theme selected or the screen/resolution being used, the name sidebar can be obscured.
Roadkill, on 22 January 2015 - 03:04 PM, said:
We never asked for a joke Mech and we don't want a joke Mech. We want a quirky and fun Mech that has a reason to exist, even if that reason isn't identical to its reason in TT. (Because that reason doesn't exist at all in MWO.)
The UM's raison-d'etre totally exists in the game. That people do not want to play that role does not invalid its existence. That aside, there are many 'quirky & fun' mechs that are not complete jokes that would fit much better into other reasons for MWO existence, so perhaps you should campaign for those?
85 DAV
RAM
ELH
Edited by RAM, 22 January 2015 - 04:21 PM.