Joseph Mallan, on 26 May 2015 - 08:49 AM, said:
Most fights I've been in is a whirlwind if chaos and then its over... Now those fights haven't included much gunfire, but combat like what MechWarrior is supposed to be about is either furious or patient so which do you want?
I like being in a whirlwind of excitement more than I do dying to paper cuts.
I like a bit of both - and it's funny how some other F2P games have achieved this appropriate mix where planning and positioning pay off for a rapid furious exchange leading to either death or victory.
Right now much of the fighting in MWO feels more like Napoleonic tactics or engagements - you have your Riflemen lined up in the front, some artillery pieces off to the side, and the masses clash into each other.
Reconnaissance has a little value in the sense of letting you know where to mass up and form your lines but isn't an overall requirement. Light mechs could be seen doing the role of cavalry and harassing the flanks but don't serve that same effect as breaking the lines full...most of the time...depends on how many decide to chase the rabbit.
Either way positioning beyond going to the best high point on the map is all people do. there are the "bowls" that we're engineered to fight in through the map design and very little that is unpredictable in many of the fights.
Albeit much of this is my opinion and observations on the game and it's engagements. Though this perspective does jade my attitude toward a lot of the gameplay because of my recollection of MW4 having more variety in what you could do. Take Palace Gates from MW4 - you could send mechs with jumpjets around the edges of the walls to leap over into the enemy flank and then fight amongst the buildings. Skirt one edge into the vehicle hangers or the other edge into the Spaceport. The tiered areas of the map and the wide spread disposition of the spawn even had combat in the central areas up the middle and the addition walled sections there. In the years playing that game and the fact the map launched with MW4: Vengeance it had a variety of strategies and capable means of engaging the opposition.
The current MWO map doesn't doesn't feel as fluid...or at least it's harder to get people out of the rut for going the exact same route every single time.
I think some of that behavior boils down to map design as much as weapon mechanics. No one is willing to walk in the open for a little bit as they get extremely chewed up if not killed so rapidly - so open spaces aren't utilized for maneuvering beyond the first 90 seconds of most matches. People become entrenched in positions with cover doing the poke and hide mechanics for the same reason they're torn up really fast. This is in comparison to MW4.
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