10 replies to this topic

[ProfessorD]

If quirks are going to remain a major balance tool, this isn't a trivial question. How many MWO players actually understand mech quirks? Or, more specifically:

1. What fraction of MWO players are aware that quirks exist?

Assuming, without some kind of data or confirmation, that the typical new or very casual player even knows quirks exist is a mistake. The Store and Mechlab screens that provide mech stats are very cluttered, and it is quite possible that a large number of players never read any of that information at all.


2. What fraction of MWO players build their mechs in a manner that makes use of the current weapon quirks?

I'm talking about really, really basic use here. Like, putting any energy weapons at all on your TDR-9SS, or putting any ballistic weapon at all on your HBK-4G, 4H, or GI. I have a suspicion, not backed up by any data, that part of the reason PGI has proposed to remove all weapon quirks is that there are a significant fraction of players that don't make use of them in their builds at all.


3. How many MWO players can recall a large selection of mech quirks quickly from memory?

The answer here is almost certainly "very, very few".


4. Does it matter in game if players can quickly recall the quirks of their own mech or a random other mech on the field?

I'm not sure. Discuss, ForumWarriors!


This all speaks to the basic design of the quirk system: the location where quirk information is displayed, the number of points of information needed to understand the quirks of a single mech, and the number of different types of quirks that need to be considered.


If PGI doesn't already have data to answer these questions, this Public Test Phase might be a great time to try to collect that data. Question 2 can probably be answered in server logs, but the others require reaching out to the player base in some way.

[sycocys]

Question 5 - how many PGI lead devs understand mech quirks?

[guy0320]

I can remember the quirks of almost all the mechs that I currently own and those of a few of the variants that I don't own. I think that only the most novice players in this game don't know about the quirks.

Edited by guy0320, 12 September 2015 - 09:10 PM.

[Davegt27]

I pretty much ignore quirks

To me everything has to be tried on the testing ground or in game

Let’s say you have a 12% cool down quirk

12% of what the game has no scale (it’s like an un-calibrated volt meter)

What test equipment are you using to verify this 12% cool down

People should ignore the quirks and play the PTS as a new game and just see how things work

[Nothing Whatsoever]

On a related note, how many players know about smurfy's, or make use of Li Song's MechLab and/or the Weapon Heat Simulator?

All three are great resources.

[Mawcor]

The first is a good question, though I'm not really sure how you would test it.
The people most likely to find any sort of survey are ones who already pay enough attention to the game that they probably already know about quirks, and I think for something like taking data of player's builds directly, you couldn't tell if someone didn't optimize for quirks because they didn't know about them, or because they are willfully ignoring them.

I'm not sure what the percentages would be. For a number of given mechs I see enough people running the same build or builds that I think a number either know about quirks, or follow a build that accounts for them (so they might as well know). For my part, I often try to make use of quirks to some degree, but I base my builds on what I like to play first and foremost. I do think accommodating more unusual builds is the reason the quirks of at least some mechs have gone from more specific to more general (the Huginn comes to mind, which used to have MG oriented boosts, but that changes to a general ballistics bonus. Which I like, because I run mine with an AC5).

For the last two though, here's the thing: knowing the quirks is really only important when you're in the mechlab. They never change the way a weapon behaves, particularly relative to other weapons, even if they affect its performance somewhat. If something has 7 MPLs, it doesn't matter if it's a thunderbolt, a grasshopper, or an awesome, you could use the same tactics to avoid being melted. Some might have somewhat higher damage values, or be able to shoot more times before overheating, but the weapons won't fundamentally behave differently.
This is coupled with the fact that you can see what weapons an enemy is carrying with a lock-on. You don't need to know what the quirks of a given mech are to find a way to avoid its weapons, and you don't need to know quirks to know what weapons it has. And then in the mechlab, you have as much time as you like to look up those sorts of things.
I also think that, unless you just love min-maxing and/or efficiency, quirks can be ignored if one chooses. They're minor enough that knowing how the use the weapons and how to build a mech that support whatever weapon type you favor trumps taking advantage of quirks.

[Zentil]

I have been playing for less than a month, and I thought I knew what quirks were. Except that today I found out that, for Clan mechs, quirks are associated to each pod, and not to each chassis variant, as I was initially led to believe.

It is therefore a pretty severe informational gap the fact that I cannot find anywhere a reliable, up to date source of clan pod's quirks. This is the most up to date source I found, and it appears to be not in line with what I see in the game store, and surely incomplete--for exampe, only two TRB-PRIME pods are in the list.

I have to decide which clan mech to buy, which is quite an expensive decision for a beginner, and I have no data on how pods choice affect quirks. So I may buy a Timberwolf only to realize that, with the pods I intended to use, I suffer a tremendous penalty to laser weapons, much higher than any of those listed in the STORE for each variant of the Timberwolf. Since I am a planner by nature, I like to get a pretty good idea of what I want to try out with my mech before purchasing it.

Any other source I missed? Thanks for the help...

Edited by Zentil, 05 October 2015 - 09:47 AM.

[bar10jim]

The OP has a mostly irrelevant question, as quirks as we now nkow them are being replaced.

[Zentil]

bar10jim, on 05 October 2015 - 10:17 AM, said:

The OP has a mostly irrelevant question, as quirks as we now nkow them are being replaced.

Can you elaborate on this? Just the usual quirk update or something else entirely? What is your source?

[Blaze32]

Zentil, on 05 October 2015 - 11:20 AM, said:

Can you elaborate on this? Just the usual quirk update or something else entirely? What is your source?

http://mwomercs.com/...alance-and-pts/ this is the source total revamp of quirks

like +50 CT structure for atlas type of revamp
source: http://mwomercs.com/...6-atlas-quirks/

Edited by Blaze32, 05 October 2015 - 09:04 PM.

[Chuck Jager]

I never played BT so I never had to unlearn anything. Quirks are easy to figure out especially with the new UI. They are really no different than knowing the range and heat.

If you can balance your heat, armor speed and range, quirks are not that much harder. This is the thinking part, and it is the most realistic part of the game. All design has multiple levels of design parameters with the simple formulas usually falling by the wayside for the best results.

I like the fact that non-twitch pvp gaming skills can be offset by smart mech design. In MWO both skill sets can be learned by anybody if they take the time. This is part of the main appeal to me.