46 replies to this topic

[dubplate]

I can see the OPs point, it's not really fun when you die to things that are mostly out of your control, especially so quick into a match. If we were actually deploying mechs for a battle, would you risk the slowest mechs on the outside? If we're choosing deployment I'd mix up the lances more so they were more balanced, I could hang out next to an assault in my medium and the other 2 mechs to get our lance bonus. Not as much of an issue once everyone groups up though.

For this to really be a factor there's a few random variables, map selection and drop point along with the enemy's tactics (though maybe it's a standard one now, I don't really notice). Is this much worse than the random map selection being horrible for your loadout? If I pull an SRM medium and the random map chooses alpine, that's basically a wasted match for me. It would be nice for skills to always be able to overcome the match setup, but it almost becomes limiting too, you always know lance A will be at spot Y, if you know which map you're dropping into everyone chooses the same mechs/loadouts. While it can be frustrating it helps keep things a bit more fresh.

[Lolpingu]

dubplate, on 07 April 2015 - 01:42 PM, said:

I can see the OPs point, it's not really fun when you die to things that are mostly out of your control, especially so quick into a match. If we were actually deploying mechs for a battle, would you risk the slowest mechs on the outside? If we're choosing deployment I'd mix up the lances more so they were more balanced, I could hang out next to an assault in my medium and the other 2 mechs to get our lance bonus. Not as much of an issue once everyone groups up though.

My point exactly.

[Insects]

I think it adds some randomness and encourages team play. The selfish team who leave their far spawning assaults behind will usually get stomped (and blame Elo).
It means that tactics like the alpine mountain aren't always appropriate when the assaults are far away and smart gameplay is to try a different tactic for a change. Though the majority of players are incapable of thinking of anything new.

[Novakaine]

Rally with the assault lance not freaking run away from it.

[Lolpingu]

joelmuzz, on 07 April 2015 - 02:10 PM, said:

Though the majority of players are incapable of thinking of anything new.

Precisely.

PUGs represent the masses.
As with any trend, the masses will continue to do the same thing until a better alternative hits them in the face.
Having established that many PUGs don't have enough foresight to understand that protecting their assaults will make the match more likely to result in their victory, and assaults suffer because of this, there needs to be either an immediate reward for sticking with the assaults, or more favorable placement of the assaults. I've already proposed ways either could be done.

That being said, I've also mentioned that I've been in several matches where the assaults were abandoned and a victory was still achieved - this indicates that abandoning assaults clearly doesn't have enough of an impact on success so as to consistently discourage people from doing it.

Novakaine, on 07 April 2015 - 02:22 PM, said:

Rally with the assault lance not freaking run away from it.

Since pretty much everyone who posted in this thread (including myself) agree that it's stupid to leave the assault lance behind, I think it's safe to say that you are preaching to the converted.
I don't think the nascars are even reading this thread. They don't care.

That's why I'm not trying to appeal to PUGs in this thread, because I know it's not going to work.

Edited by Lolpingu, 07 April 2015 - 03:11 PM.

[EgoSlayer]

Lolpingu, on 07 April 2015 - 02:36 PM, said:

<snip>


Since pretty much everyone who posted in this thread (including myself) agree that it's stupid to leave the assault lance behind, I think it's safe to say that you are preaching to the converted.
I don't think the nascars are even reading this thread. They don't care.

That's why I'm not trying to appeal to PUGs in this thread, because I know it's not going to work.

It's not that NASCARs don't read the thread - it's that NSACARs don't read the *forums*. A simple 'Form up on the assaults' message in chat is usually enough to herd the cats in a PUG match where people don't know better. Preaching to the choir here isn't going to fix it.

Although River City, and RCN especially, need to be jettisoned.

[Lolpingu]

EgoSlayer, on 07 April 2015 - 08:36 PM, said:

It's not that NASCARs don't read the thread - it's that NSACARs don't read the *forums*. A simple 'Form up on the assaults' message in chat is usually enough to herd the cats in a PUG match where people don't know better. Preaching to the choir here isn't going to fix it.

Although River City, and RCN especially, need to be jettisoned.

"usually" of course meaning about 50% of the time in my experience.
And that's just the start of the match - It's not at all uncommon to see the team engage the enemy, and then suddenly take off and leave the assaults dead in the water.

This brings me back to the point that you just can't consistently play the heavier assaults in PUGs, because they rely on the team too much, sometimes even more than the team relies on them.