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Many moons ago, Jumpjets were nerfed into Hover Jets. The Highlander was turned into a geriatric that can't skip rope, let alone actually jump. The Victor? While many of the wrongs inflicted on this once proud chassis have been righted, it still lacks, significantly.
All in a heavy handed, and misguided attempt to curb the former plague of Poptarting, that once gripped MWO like an iron fist. And the real sad part? Almost NONE of those changes were even necessary, nor terribly effective at breaking the Meta, until they finally laid so many layers of nerfs on top of one another, jumping of all sorts was essentially ruined.
Mind you, SOME good things were implemented. Things that need to stay.
-Scaling JJ thrust.
-Fall damage
*EDIT, thanks for pointing this out Naduk*
-JJ heat
Both are good mechanics, that minimize other abuses, like the 1x JJ poptart/assault mechs, and Light Mechs with no situational awareness throwing themselves off 150 meter high cliffs, with no JJs, and taking essentially, no damage. The only people upset by those changes were those abusing them, in the first place. (Though the fall damage did need adjustments). So, to those complaints? Sorry, L2P.
But some BAD things got implemented, and those need to be restored, or at least looked into, and partially restored:
- JJ thrust, power and distance. Some mechs, like the Highlander, are literally a joke. 6-10 tons of JJs achieve next to nothing, slow as a pig. Perhaps we don't need TT level of Jumping (180-210 meters, etc), but the current Hover Jets are pretty universally reviled. Yes, it might cause some issues with CW's wall heights. Make them taller, add more turrets, hide the gate generators better.
- The aerial agility, particularly on the Victor and Highlander. For some reason PGI is convinced the VTR is a Tier 1 mech still. It is not, and has not been for quite some time. All Jumpers are still paying for the sins of the Poptart Gang. It generally sucks as a Poptart now (fine by me), but also is quite subpar as a flanker/brawler/skirmisher. Instead of ridiculously overquirked mechs like the previous generation TDR-9S as the "savior of the IS", let's fix the underlying issues and let mechs shine again like they once did pre-nerf.
So, that, in a nutshell, IMO, is the Problem.
What is the Solution?
One I actually proposed BEFORE any of the nerfs were implemented. One that is stupendously simple in execution and function, but ultimately effective because of that very simplicity.
The simplest, and best IMO (yes a few "Pros" did not like it, yet when I asked them to explain WHY it was a bad idea, not one single one could or did.), is to utilize the already existent "Reticle Shake" mechanic.
On the up jump, the crosshair bounce all over the place. When you cut violent thrust, the vibrations don't stop instantaneously, nor would the targeting computer instantly have the weapons perfectly aligned again. Moving a 7 ton gun takes time.
Simply extend the JJ shake for a full second (can be reduced some if needed, .5 seconds may prove sufficient.) after thrust is cut (preferably having it scale down over the duration.), and the issue is solved. And yes, it really is that simple.
By doing this;
-one needs to equip more JJs if one want's to jump high enough to still have a target window when the shaking stops. So thanks to the thrust scaling and this, no more "1 JJ specials".
-because one has to jump higher, you risk more leg damage now, if you don't equip enough JJs and save enough thrust to cushion said landing.
-Because one now has to jump high enough to have weapons exposed when the reticle stops shaking, one is forced to expose more of the mech, for a longer period, thus reducing the ridiculous risk to reward ratio that Poptarting once enjoyed.
And why is it better than what we currently have, since Poptarting is so significantly reduced, now?
-Because one could restore the old level of jump jet thrust and mobility without it incurring the "Rise of the Poptart Overlords" again.
-There would be zero reason for the VTR nd HGN to jump so poorly and have such poor aerial agility, which still significantly restricts their brawling ability.
-No need for "all or nothing" or other violent/uncontrolled thrust mechanics.
And it literally would require what, adjusting a line of code in an HTML file?
so, TL;DR? Revert or reduce the JJ nerfs currently in effect, save for scaling thrust and fall damage. In place of the layers of poorly thought out bandaids, simply extend the "Reticle Shake" currently experience while under thrust, to continue for a short period after thrust is cut. (for reasons listed in the OP.)
Don't agree, don't like it? That's fine. Articulate WHY, and feel free to propose a better solution. I do think most of us would at least agree that Hover Jets as is, are less than desirable, and the the VTR and HGN still remain neutered.
Edited by Bishop Steiner, 01 March 2015 - 03:27 PM.
