Logan Frost, on 01 August 2015 - 08:13 AM, said:
Already done. Guess its back to Megamek until someone with more sense gets ahold of the IP. Honestly, its not even that I absolutely hate playing, it really is that I feel like launching into a match means I keep a skilled player from playing for the team. I feel like me being there is a complete hindrance to the team. A game should not make its new players react in such a way.
(sorry for the book, But i had a lot to say.. I hope you take the time to read it.. Maybe it will help)
I guess i looked at things totally different when i started... I played my first 137 matches in a trial Dragon.. this was back before they got quirks, and it sported an XL engine, with 2 Large lasers, and a gauss. I have never in my life played pvp shooter before this,. Though i have played a ton of mech 3 and 4, but haven't for years. I also only played it in PVE.
I was one of the first people to die just about every match.. My KDR was an abysmal .43 My average damage per match was a pitiful 131, and in all those games i had only 37 kills.. So to say i sucked the big one, was actually being kind. Part of this was my computer, as my FPS was pretty low.. at times bellow 15, and trying to kill a light was a lost cause..
But ya know what, I had a blast and was hooked... and honestly the best part of me dying first or second, i actually got to watch people that knew how to play, and i learned a ton from watching them. If you are coming into this game, expecting to win, or be good, it just isn't going to happen. It takes tons of time to just learn the maps.
By the time i played 1600 matches, my KDR was .79, and my average damage was up to a whopping 200.. though now, i was actually helping the team some matches, and i could even pull 3-4 kills in a good one. But i still died early more often than not, but at least i was starting to understand how to play, and how to protect my weapon systems, and using twisting to keep myself alive. I had gone from being basically one of the worst players on my team to a middle of the road player.. In a match that i did 400 damage i was doing well.. Lights now were still the ban of my existance, but i could kill um, (partly because i started playing light hunting mechs, like my HBK 4SP, back when a pair of streaks were pretty powerful. But then the 12 man drops came, and my computer could not handle it, so i had to quit till i upgraded my comp about 4 months later.
All this time, i had been playing hunchbacks, and i bought a couple catapults, and an atlas, but didn't really play um.. But i was rocking the hunchbacks and doing well some games. Heck i even had a top 3 score once or twice!
so fast forward to when i returned with my new computer that could handle the game.. I decided to get into cataphracts at this point, and that is when i really started to get my grove going. The new computer had good frames, so lights no longer blinked by my and my skills where improving and i was no longer the first to die, and in fact i started to be one of the reasons the team would pull out a win. I was improving, but i still was not what people would call good. I guess at this point i would say i was average.
Now it has been 2 years since i started playing, I have around 6k matches under my belt and now have 3-4 mechs from every weight class, with 3-4 varriants of each mech which adds up to 50 mechs. I still am playing in pugs but now i am often the top scorer in my lance, and in the top 3 of my team more often than not. At times i even pull top score from both sides. I can say now, i am a pretty good player. I just play pugs for the most part, but the few times i have played in 12 man teams i have held my own, and in events i even have gotten pretty decent scores.. (though events you really need to play a ton of matches to really place well and i typically don't play enough to really move up) But playing 40 matches when they only count 10, and placing you are doing something right.
I now also play lights, so i am one of those people i used to curse at, as i shred up a heavy as they desperately try to kill me. in fact i really love lights, especially my commandos but ravens have a soft spot in my heart going back to mech commander. My KDR is improving as well, and i have a few mechs closing in on the 2.0 mark.. I still play a lot of mechs that just don't kill well, so i often end up with tons of assists and lots of most damage done counts, and i can be the reason why a team wins now. though i still can do stupid things and end up being the first one dead and have only 60 damage.. (especially playing in a light) But in mediums and heavies, which are my best mechs, far more often than not i play well. Assaults are still my worst mechs, though i really only have played stalkers, but even those i can be the top assault on the team from time to time. My average damage in matches is up, and many mechs over 300, and scoring 600+ is not rare.. even had some matches in my lights pulling 600-800 and pulling 3-4 kills, and racking up 8+ assists.. (still have yet to get 12 assists though, that achievement is still alluding me.
the point of all this... you are just starting, and it is hard.. But if you stick with it, you will improve, hopefully it doesn't take you as long as it took me to actually get good.. But so what if it does.. You need to just have the right outlook on it. It's a game, just have fun, even if you are sucking out.. Get blasted my a dual AC-20's from a king crab and die.. Learn from that mistake, and try not to stand in front of one next time
Even being good you are still gonna get cored from a guy that is great.. like those blasted people that can pin-point with dual gauss from 1k+ I still suck at sniping.. Which is why i play brawlers.. I can actually hit parts i want, and do it pretty darn well.. But over 500m.. i might as well be using a firehose i'm about that accurate at longer ranges.. I'm just happy to hit the mech lol.
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You really need to take some time, and launch into the testing grounds, and learn them. You can shoot the stationary targets, Learn to manuver, and most importantly learn to aim and manage heat, and get to know the weapon recharge system. Spend a few nights playing in there.. Kill all the targets on the map, and then launch again.. Play every map 5-10 times at least.. the smaller maps like forest colony and frozen city are great for your slower protector.. the large ones like alpine, terra, and tourmiline, id suggest using your jenner.. caustic is easy to learn, the bog isn't tough, but either mech will work here.. just watch out for the roots
Practice aiming for Side torso's while you circle them, practicing just hitting one arm, making all shots hit that arm, or leg, or back section, or what ever.. But do it while moving, and twisting away, then back and taking that shot trying to hit the same location. Practice shooting the leg as you circle, Practice shooting them in the crotch (that will damage both legs)
You also need to figure out what mechs you are good in, and what styles.. For me, its large AC's and pulse lasers for the most part.. SRM's i am ok with, and i do decent with LRM's from time to time.. PPC's are hit or miss, No pun intended. And i have been putting off playing with my gauss mechs still. But hey i did build an atlas, and a victor to try um again.
Maybe you will be a great medium pilot, or maybe assaults are your thing.. I dunno, and at this point neither do you.. playing a few matches in a stock jenner and protector is hardly enough to even figure out a build you like, let alone become a good player.. It will take you 100-200 matches just to start to figure out the game and that is all right, as long as you try to just have fun, and laugh at the mistakes you make. It sounds like you are taking things far to seriously, and expecting to be good, because you played other pvp games. This game is unlike any pvp game around from everything anyone that plays other pvp shooters has told me.
Take it from the guy that never played a pvp game in his life before this.. (outside of my starcraft addiction of the late 90's which helped zero with playing this, other than knowing what it is like to be schooled by someone Far superior to myself) This game really is a blast once you get the hang of it, and it really is worth putting in the effort.
Outside of that, the only thing i can say, if you just can't.. maybe come back when they add PVE, and start learning then.. Or perhaps when they add AI bots to testing grounds.. which is coming, 2016 from what Russ mentioned, but nothing official as of yet.
Edited by JC Daxion, 01 August 2015 - 04:59 PM.