37 replies to this topic

[Telmasa]

In the interest of both not sperging across the forums & getting lost in the neverending sea of new threads, I decided I'm going to create a thread for myself, where in I will place (or safely contain) my:

• idealistic speeches
  
• raging frustrations
  
• praises (OMG June 25th townhall! So much love!)
  
• suggestions
  
• idle thoughts
  
• mech discussion, comparison, and construction

and also allows me to fully embrace any flaming, derailing, or tangential discussions without any worries!




Of course, who knows, maybe some friendly conversation can take place too.


Starting off:
What on earth made PGI think putting the Huginn & Grid Iron on 50% sale on the same weekend, combined with an event specifically aimed at getting people to play the hell out of their hero mechs, was a good idea?
50% cooldown quirks still dominate the game; anybody can pick up a -1N, Huginn, Grid Iron, or a select few other candidates and blow away the competition, barring just being stupid with your mech (which fast mechs like the Huginn can still often get away with). It's so blatantly obvious why doing the same DPS as a 'Mech over twice your weight is broken, yet we continue to just plug our ears, sing "lalala", throw money at these OP mechs and call it all good. Why?
What I don't understand is how PGI acknowledged that the original Thunderbolt-9S and Firestarter-S quirks were OP (and still are in the case of the -S, and the Thunderbolt quirks on all variants are still some of the most powerful around taken altogether), and bothered to reduce/nerf/fix the issue. They seem to realize that the first couple waves of quirks - which I often dub, the "quirkening", made some huge mistakes when it comes to balance; that the "5 tier" view of mech balance was grossly mistaken and hugely based upon the narrow biases of a select few 'popular' players.
And they seem to be approaching newer mechs in a more formulaic fashion, though the recent nerfs to the Timberwolf and Stormcrow took several steps backwards from the encouraging trend.
So why continue this farce? Are they waiting til everyone spends dough on the sale to provide the proper balancing? Is Paul intending to keep them OP so that people jumping on board the Steam ship coming up fast can grab them and enjoy Mechwarrior Online: Easy Mode?
/rant1
Addressed as of the June 25th townhall: there *will be* a top-to-bottom balance overhaul. NICE

Consumable strikes are still ridiculous. I bought the Ember on a masochistic whim today (4SPL, max engine, 5jj, 4MG) to replace my 8-SPL Firestarter-A, and out of 6 games played, 4 of them involved being insta-legged/back-cored by a strike that was either nowhere near me initially or that I never saw nor had any visual/audible warning about.
So really PGI? You're going to continue allowing players to spend a measly 40,000 cbills to instantly ruin my match with a gimmicky magic-card "Meteor Strike!" spellcast that has absolutely zero gameplay drawbacks?
edit: I'm leaving this part in, because I'm not positive it's included in the balance overhaul...but I'll be hoping.


- Person list of topics to keep track of what I will randomly throw about in the future
Rant about misdirection in Timberwolf/Stormcrow nerfs, and the fixes that could've/should've happened instead Addressed in June 25th townhall
Map design, 8v8 vs 12v12, and remaining spawn/balance issues Addressed in June 25th townhall

• Feedback on the patch notes for the last couple patches
  
• What Solaris mode could look like
  
• Playing the game vs. enjoying the game, and where the middle ground lies between the differences
  
• 'Mech build theorycrafting
  
• Thought-streaming about looking at clan 'Mechs listed by 'free tonnage' and how it determines usefulness to a large degree, and why sized hardpoints would fix it, and reasons PGI has/may have to be gun-shy about it.

Edited by Telmasa, 27 June 2015 - 12:41 PM.

[Quicksilver Aberration]

Where is my dislike or downvote button?

[Bilbo]

You could always rant away here:
http://mwomercs.com/...he-daily-whine/

Thread is apparently purpose built for this sort of thing.

[1453 R]

On the other hand, having one thread you go to whenever you want to kvetch might keep the overall forum kvetching simmered down some. Provided, y'know, that everybody had such a thread. In their own section of the boards called "Echo Chamber".

Actually, that sounds like a good idea...where's Tina when you need her?

[Telmasa]

Hukkama, on 19 June 2015 - 01:49 PM, said:

oh this guy has been crying all day in matches about this too

I tire of masochistic grinding eventually, you know. Even I can only enjoy so much on the receiving end of one-sided competition.

Maybe Bishop Steiner will show up and explain how I can find more ways to savor the injustice of being outclassed by magic-power paytowin gimmicks existing in a Mechwarrior game.

[FupDup]

1453 R, on 19 June 2015 - 01:52 PM, said:

On the other hand, having one thread you go to whenever you want to kvetch might keep the overall forum kvetching simmered down some. Provided, y'know, that everybody had such a thread. In their own section of the boards called "Echo Chamber".

Actually, that sounds like a good idea...where's Tina when you need her?

This whole forum is an echo chamber.

[Telmasa]

Bilbo, on 19 June 2015 - 01:50 PM, said:

You could always rant away here:
http://mwomercs.com/...he-daily-whine/
Thread is apparently purpose built for this sort of thing.

I thought about it, but no, that's not quite suitable for my purposes. Putting myself in this thread will allow me to cage myself into one center of vitriol and attention that can be controlled and focused until all my steam, creative juices, and urges to change things (or punch walls) all run out.

1453 R, on 19 June 2015 - 01:52 PM, said:

On the other hand, having one thread you go to whenever you want to kvetch might keep the overall forum kvetching simmered down some. Provided, y'know, that everybody had such a thread. In their own section of the boards called "Echo Chamber".

Actually, that sounds like a good idea...where's Tina when you need her?

See, this guy gets it!

[N0ni]

Every time Telmasa dies... especially in a losing match, you know what's coming next.

[Lyoto Machida]

Telmasa, on 19 June 2015 - 01:53 PM, said:

Maybe Bishop Steiner will show up and explain how I can find more ways to savor the injustice of being outclassed by magic-power paytowin gimmicks existing in a Mechwarrior game.

I think you're talking about Joe...

[Tiamat of the Sea]

Telmasa, on 19 June 2015 - 01:47 PM, said:

• Rant about misdirection in Timberwolf/Stormcrow nerfs, and the fixes that could've/should've happened instead

I will join the everloving blue-eyed Thing out of you on this one.

Telmasa, on 19 June 2015 - 01:47 PM, said:

• Ranting about clan 'Mechs listed by 'free tonnage' determining usefulness to a large degree, and why sized hardpoints would fix it, and why Russ is gun-shy about it

However, at the same time, I will likely argue quite vehemently against this one.

[1453 R]

Every time someone says "Sized Hardpoints" on the MWO forums and does not mean "they are utterly awful and would be a huge detriment to this game", a pixie bursts into flames.

Think of the pixies, MWO community.

Think of the pixies.

[Saint Scarlett Johan]

1453 R, on 19 June 2015 - 04:00 PM, said:

Every time someone says "Sized Hardpoints" on the MWO forums and does not mean "they are utterly awful and would be a huge detriment to this game", a pixie bursts into flames.

Think of the pixies, MWO community.

Think of the pixies.

While I loathe the idea of sized hardpoints because in MW4 it was all about mechs with large hardpoints so they could pack big weapons or a high volume of smaller weapons, preferably with JJs.

I wouldn't mind, however, toying with the idea of quirked hardpoints. So instead of boating all one weapon, only that location sees the quirks. Want to utilize the PPC quirks on the 733P? Better put those PPCs in the right arm.

Edited by Lord Scarlett Johan, 19 June 2015 - 04:23 PM.

[Telmasa]

Quickdraw Crobat, on 19 June 2015 - 03:55 PM, said:

I will join the everloving blue-eyed Thing out of you on this one.
However, at the same time, I will likely argue quite vehemently against this one.

Fair enough, bring it on!

Dead Eye 01, on 19 June 2015 - 03:28 PM, said:

Every time Telmasa dies... especially in a losing match, you know what's coming next.

It's not about whether I die, it's whether I get to fully play the game - cause to me that is synonymous with enjoying the game (which I realize is a bit different when applied to most people). If you'd shown the end score for that match, you'd get what I mean here.

Being forced into a 1v12 situation because of random-chance-selected teams is a pain; 8v8 would lesson that pain considerably, and Solaris mode would alleviate it entirely.

1453 R, on 19 June 2015 - 04:00 PM, said:

Every time someone says "Sized Hardpoints" on the MWO forums and does not mean "they are utterly awful and would be a huge detriment to this game", a pixie bursts into flames.
Think of the pixies, MWO community.
Think of the pixies.

Okay, it's news to me that sized hardpoints have downsides. What are the drawbacks, exactly?

'Cause in my head, sized hardpoints means we get to do away with Power-Ranger style "quirks" entirely. That would be huge, in terms of making this game more fun.

I hate magic power gimmicks.

Lord Scarlett Johan, on 19 June 2015 - 04:22 PM, said:

While I loathe the idea of sized hardpoints because in MW4 it was all about mechs with large hardpoints so they could pack big weapons or a high volume of smaller weapons, preferably with JJs.
I wouldn't mind, however, toying with the idea of quirked hardpoints. So instead of boating all one weapon, only that location sees the quirks. Want to utilize the PPC quirks on the 733P? Better put those PPCs in the right arm.

Really? In MW4, it seemed to me that the sized hardpoints were what gave 'mechs flavor - it made you choose between whether you want to be able to take larger heavy weapons, or be restricted to smaller stuff.

I mean, if MW4 never had sized hardpoints, the variety in 'Mech choice would have gone down the TUBES.

The problem with MW4 is that, while the hardpoints were sized, it did not also limit the number of weapons you can put in that hardpoint.

SO STAY WITH ME HERE EVERYONE:
What if sized hardpoints were implemented, together with the numerical hardpoint restrictions?
As in: Summoner gets 1x"huge" energy hardpoint on the right arm; that is, it can mount any size Energy weapon in that arm. BUT, it still can only mount ONE energy weapon there.

If it uses the arm with 2 energy hardpoints, then it gets restricted to "medium" size energy weapons (LL and under) only in those hardpoints. And it can still only mount TWO energy weapons. (This would of course mean increasing the crit space on Clan ERLLs by 1..which I'd be OK with - hell, it could be an excuse to reduce the burn time - but that's up for debate too.)

For 'Mechs that can mount 6 energy hardpoints on a single arm, obviously that's restricted to "small" size energy weapons (ML and under). Sure, you can still boat ERML and DHS, but that relies heavily upon min/max alpha-strike tactics...I personally have not been having much trouble preventing all these Ebon Jaguars running around, from getting full laser burns off on me; so I'm not personally all that worried about the ERML spam.

Having tried similar builds to ERML spam (Hellbringer BEGS to use tons of ERMLs), it's not *that* easy to do well with the things, given the high heat and the burn time.

Maybe I'm just too used to not standing still and trading with extended face time, I dunno.

I may have to write a good rant about this with a nice couple of MSPaint pictures to show what I really mean, but I think you get the gist of it.

Edited by Telmasa, 19 June 2015 - 06:49 PM.

[Telmasa]

Off on a momentary tangent of random 'Mech discussion:

• The Misery is sexy. I named it the Doom Star, if you catch it ingame you may see why.
  
• Firebrand is surprisingly fun with PPCs. I was worried I might swing towards the usual "yawnface" double gauss build. This way I get to eke by with a STD engine, it's fun making people do double takes and nab a kill to boot because they think taking my side torso is enough. ('Course I shouldn't be losing side torsos to begin with, but hey, 1v12, what can ya do.)
  
• The Ember *needs* pilot skills to survive...at least if you want to get away with using SPLs. I may try MLs when it's elited, but that's just such a mainstream weapon; with the SPLs I can justify to myself the use of the lightspeed XL295 engine.

In other news, I *finally* took all the LRMs off my pair of Atlai! (3 LRM15a launchers between the two, don't overreact.) While its height and arrangement does favor the LRM-command-mech thing...the maps we have really just do not. And since I don't plan on taking "command mech" roles anytime soon, I'll be rocking some LPLs, UAC-5s, and/or SRM4As instead - it's pretty fun so far.

Bonus question: What Atlai do I have (don't cheat bro) and what are the builds I have on them?

Edited by Telmasa, 19 June 2015 - 06:47 PM.

[Burktross]

I thought ktown was for squawking?

1453 R, on 19 June 2015 - 01:52 PM, said:

On the other hand, having one thread you go to whenever you want to kvetch might keep the overall forum kvetching simmered down some. Provided, y'know, that everybody had such a thread. In their own section of the boards called "Echo Chamber".

Actually, that sounds like a good idea...where's Tina when you need her?

isnt that called your forum feed

hover over my name and you'll see my momentary squawk

[Telmasa]

Gah, alright, aside from doubles, I give up on anything to do with this weekend event.

Every match, nothing but full-derp Huginns running around farming damage & getting away with it because #magicquirks + jumpjet glitching + SRMs (so fire and forget) = unstoppable.

And if it isn't that, it's Grid Irons firing Gauss Rifles like they're AC-5s...because the Grid Iron is obviously a complete marshmellow of a mech and CLEARLY doesn't have the same exact capability as every other 50 tonner in the game without the magic quirks....

Do other people enjoy being reduced to being a punching bag for quirk cheese?

[Tiamat of the Sea]

Telmasa, on 19 June 2015 - 07:15 PM, said:

Do other people enjoy being reduced to being a punching bag for quirk cheese?

No, but a lot of people seem to enjoy using excessive quirks, regardless of whether they actually make the 'mech with the quirk appropriately strong or not (making no discernment to whether or not they render the 'mech in question overpowered or fall short of the goal quality, that's a whole other bag of cats).

Edited by Quickdraw Crobat, 19 June 2015 - 08:23 PM.

[Telmasa]

Quickdraw Crobat, on 19 June 2015 - 08:22 PM, said:

No, but a lot of people seem to enjoy using excessive quirks, regardless of whether they actually make the 'mech with the quirk appropriately strong or not (making no discernment to whether or not they render the 'mech in question overpowered or fall short of the goal quality, that's a whole other bag of cats).

A fair and apt observation, methinks.

My cynical spiteful version is just that everyone doesn't care about balance so long as they get to abuse the OP things, and that it's all OK so long as all the OP things are 'available' to anyone.



edit: You know what, I bet it's the cat. It's the cat that did it and got Russ to head into the June 25th townhall meeting and say there's gonna be a whole top-to-bottom balance update. Yup, this totally must be it.

Edited by Telmasa, 27 June 2015 - 12:31 PM.

[GeistHrafn]

Moving thread to a more appropriate location. Carry on!

[Telmasa]

Worth a laugh: look at the leaderboard scores for the hero tournament.

Grid Iron and Huginn scores are consistently higher than for every other 'Mech - even though many of the 'Mechs are heavier by considerable amounts.

Gee guys, I wonder why?

How long are quirks going to continue to ruin this game...? edit: apparently not for a whole lot longer after all

Edited by Telmasa, 27 June 2015 - 12:29 PM.