Smidjun 1, on 16 February 2016 - 07:25 AM, said:
So far I haven't heard anything here that suggests this is anything other than a first person shooter.
Teams are NOT a required part of this, especially in quick play. I will see what happens as my "tiers" go down ( although I still do not see any REAL benefit to the concept ), but I cannot imagine being in a different tier will change the behavior that is abundant on the servers (very laggy servers I might add).
People are still not gonna follow your orders just because you pushed the right button.
Won't keep people from barking orders without even pushing the right button and expecting them to be followed.
Won't keep them from backing into you when the shooting starts or shooting you in the back as they start off and test their weapons! Won't keep them from thinking that because they went and bought this huge mean clan mech that they are the Lone Wolf Solo Heroe of the game because they did 4000 damage. No accunting for the 7 men or mechs your team lost (and in earlier versions would have required you to pay for repairs and replacements giving the need to work together some purpose), or the fact that very often the primary mission is tossed just so they can kill everyone.
Perhaps at lower tiers the tactical genius level is higher though I can't imagine the people I'm playing with getting any smarter, since after about a month and a half of seeing many of the same names I see them doing the same silly shtuff! And very surprisingly I have found Faction play to often (not always) go on the same way.
I have on several occasions tried to take command on the simple basis of the Lance. Cat herding is not fun and was a 50/50 crap shoot on the wins losses. Sometimes I had 1 or 2 that worked with me, but for the most part it was a lost cause.
Just frustrated I guess. Insanity = Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
The game (or the people in it) just makes you want to pound the key board sometimes.
Not sure if my experience will make you feel better or not. I'm part of a small unit of "weekend warriors"; only half a dozen regularly active members. Even on the days where we do get a team of 6 mechwarriors in a match together we don't coordinate because:
a) mech-builds/dropdecks are not coordinated
b) play-styles differ greatly
c) most of us are more accustom to playing solo then coordinating with a team
As you said, it is akin to herding cats. If I can't get 5 other players who I've played with regularly to listen and work together, how can you manage a team of 11 players you've never played with to listen?
The answer is b) "play-style". In a Solo Quick Play match the team lucky enough to get a large group of like-minded players who are willing to coordinate rather than a bunch of "Lone Wolf Solo Heroe" players you mentioned is the team that has the advantage.
You can't control whether or not these types of players are on your team, but you can find out whether you have anyone willing to cooperate by chatting with your team early in the match. If you don't have anyone willing to cooperate, accept it and figure out what to do expecting no help from your team.
Playing with a group is a totally different story then the solo queue. Even a 4-mech team that uses VOIP and coordinates well can be a game-changer. As I said before, my unit gets thrashed when we're up against a practiced team.
**EDIT addition**
To tie back into the original post and topic. I believe the players willing to coordinate with their team will have a higher win/loss ratio, and as a result will advance faster in PSR than another pilot with similar technique and mech-builds who is not willing to coordinate. On the flip-side, those players with high kill/death stats may not have as high a PSR because they take more losses due to failure to coordinate well with their team.
As a side note, coordinating well with the team sometimes means not doing the best thing for your kill/death ratio and instead doing what will get the team a win. Example: as sacrificing yourself to hold off a cap instead of chasing after that damaged raven for a kill.
The ideal teammate/pilot would have a high K/D ratio, high W/L ratio and high PSR. Ideal situations rarely exist, most of us focus on one of those three. Just don't forget, it's a game, so have FUN!
Edited by GrayFenris, 16 February 2016 - 09:35 AM.