2 replies to this topic

[fat4eyes]

I was quite surprised when I found that even ECM mechs show up as empty red doritos even at extreme range. I was under the impression that the 3 second delay also included suppressing the empty red dorito instead of just preventing lock on.

What I don't like about this is that it takes stealth out of the game, instead of just making it harder to do. I've always thought that ECM's greatest asset is denying positional info (i.e. the red dorito) and preventing lock-on is a FAR second.

Being able to detect ECM mechs at extreme range instantly (even if you can't lock on) removes a lot of gameplay options from existing builds. The audio and visual cues given by the dorito make it impossible to hide. No more ECM mediums leading flanking maneuvers. No more ECM Ravens NARCing at 400m, or ECM light snipers. Even the surprise Atlas DDC, already very hard to pull off on the production servers, will be almost impossible to do with the ECM nerfs. It risks turning MWO from an incomplete information game (e.g. Stratego) into a complete information game (e.g Chess), making it less exciting and unpredictble.

I'd suggest that mechs under the ECM bubble not show up as a red dorito until after 3 seconds in LOS and in sensor range, with the timer resetting every time the mech goes outside LOS or sensor range. ECM reducing detectability would be good too (20-40% reduction in sensor range when trying to detect mechs in an ECM bubble). I'm fine with the 90m bubble, hell I'd be fine if ECM only affected the mech carrying it, but ECM should still be able to hide a mech from radar detection (at least for a while), not just lock on.

[Skarlock]

fat4eyes, on 15 October 2015 - 11:22 AM, said:

I was quite surprised when I found that even ECM mechs show up as empty red doritos even at extreme range. I was under the impression that the 3 second delay also included suppressing the empty red dorito instead of just preventing lock on.

What I don't like about this is that it takes stealth out of the game, instead of just making it harder to do. I've always thought that ECM's greatest asset is denying positional info (i.e. the red dorito) and preventing lock-on is a FAR second.

Being able to detect ECM mechs at extreme range instantly (even if you can't lock on) removes a lot of gameplay options from existing builds. The audio and visual cues given by the dorito make it impossible to hide. No more ECM mediums leading flanking maneuvers. No more ECM Ravens NARCing at 400m, or ECM light snipers. Even the surprise Atlas DDC, already very hard to pull off on the production servers, will be almost impossible to do with the ECM nerfs. It risks turning MWO from an incomplete information game (e.g. Stratego) into a complete information game (e.g Chess), making it less exciting and unpredictble.

I'd suggest that mechs under the ECM bubble not show up as a red dorito until after 3 seconds in LOS and in sensor range, with the timer resetting every time the mech goes outside LOS or sensor range. ECM reducing detectability would be good too (20-40% reduction in sensor range when trying to detect mechs in an ECM bubble). I'm fine with the 90m bubble, hell I'd be fine if ECM only affected the mech carrying it, but ECM should still be able to hide a mech from radar detection (at least for a while), not just lock on.

The big question I have, is when will we see a complete picture? If we don't get instant target acquisition any more like in the previous test patch, then everyone has ECM to some degree, and it's all on the spotting mech to have the appropriate bonuses to be able to instantly spot enemy mechs. I'm not sure if PGI plans to combine any or all of these features. All of these things, delayed target acquisition, ecm, spotting range quirks and base values, interact with each other so it's important we get a chance to test the whole thing, not just piecemeal changes, to provide useful feedback for PGI.

[LennStar]

The ECM change as it is now is a bad one. The (too) great advantage of ECM was that you didnt show up as a beep even when sitting in plain sight on a hill.

Quote

I'd suggest that mechs under the ECM bubble not show up as a red dorito until after 3 seconds in LOS and in sensor range, with the timer resetting every time the mech goes outside LOS or sensor range. ECM reducing detectability would be good too (20-40% reduction in sensor range when trying to detect mechs in an ECM bubble). I'm fine with the 90m bubble, hell I'd be fine if ECM only affected the mech carrying it, but ECM should still be able to hide a mech from radar detection (at least for a while), not just lock on.

+2 on all