40 replies to this topic

[Chuck Jager]

been t2 for a while. My unit is not as big as it used to be and I can say that the XP bar moves very slow in solo pug and I still try to bring my game face. I agree with OP, team work that creates wins does help movement more than pure damage or individual skill.

Congrats on clearing the hurdle

[Musashi Alexander]

I started in low middle Tier 2. I'm low middle Tier 1 now but know that ultimately I'm a rung below top players. I thought Tier 2 was about right for me so was never bothered by it and as a result I played whatever I wanted and continue to do so. Vindicators, Trebs, unlevelled mech...whatever. I don't find playing in Tier 1 particularly different from Tier 2. I haven't felt the need to modify how or what I play. Incidentally, there was a debate about LRMs (again) and someone said you couldn't play LRMs in Tier 1 effectively so I tested that and find I'm averaging 500-600 damage and a couple of kills. It isn't just noobs that die from LRMs.

Oddly enough I activated a long dormant alt account and started in bottom of Tier 4 and about halfway to Tier 3 after going about 10 matches into the cadet games. Haven't seen things to be massively easy...just sometimes players stare you down a bit too much. I presume their aim is generally worse too.

Anyway, Tiers don't really matter. I understand why it matters to you but basically, play for enjoyment.

Edited by Musashi Alexander, 05 March 2016 - 12:02 PM.

[Appogee]

Musashi Alexander, on 05 March 2016 - 11:54 AM, said:

ultimately I'm a rung below top players.

Me too. While I made Tier 1, I am under no illusion that that's at best the top 20% of the population ... probably an even wider group when you consider all the inactive players who would be occupying Tiers 3 and 4.

[cazidin]

Star Trek:Enterprise has forever ruined that song for me. I'm glad that you're enjoying this great game and have found good friends to drop with though.

[Uncl Munkeh]

Appogee, on 04 March 2016 - 11:55 PM, said:

Mechwarrior has been a favourite part of my life for more than 30 years.

So, even though we've since worked out that the PSR system is as much XP bar as it is an indicator of player skill, it was a source of quiet angst that I have been only Tier 2 in the game I love so much. A man has his pride, and I'm not ready to be relegated to a Solahma Unit just yet.

So I set myself the goal of reaching Tier 1. And in the following brief video, I'm commemorating what, for me, feels like a life milestone. Perhaps you might enjoy it, too.



I want to thank you all... the Comrades-in-Arms who stepped up and secured victories, and the Foes who fell.

---

For those wishing to undertake a similar quest, here's what I learned on the "long road, getting from tier to tier".

1. Winning matches matters. Driving up your PSR requires the team you are on to win matches. If you score <250 match score in a loss, your PSR will go backwards. The matchmaker often allocates a higher tier player to a team of lower tier players and pretends this creates an "average team". As a result, I lost about half my matches in the PUG queue due to indifferent teams that cower behind rocks as the enemy advances. When you win, you need to win BIG ... >400 match score, achieving the maximum PSR increase.

2. A small group of friends in the group queue is your fastest route to Tier 1. While the matchmaker will regularly make you cannon fodder for groups of the best players who always group together, at least players in the group queue are generally trying to win the match. That's in marked contrast to the PUG queue, where I belatedly concluded that many players just don't care whether the team wins or loses, and either ignore or resent any attempt to coordinate a team victory.

3. Ping matters. My ping is usually between 150 (Euro server) and 250 (NA server). But for the past week, my ISP rerouted traffic to Singapore and I've enjoyed a ping of only 90 to the Oceanic server. I've noted my Match Scores have been consistently +30%, presumably due to better hitreg, and I cruised through the last 10% of my PSR 2 bar, consistently recording Match Scores in the 500-700 range. Ping makes a big difference, and I fantasize about how wonderful it must be to play with a ping of <50.

4. Mech matters. I tried many many different Mechs and loadouts, in search of one that would consistently achieve >250 Match Score in a loss. While no Mech is foolproof, I've concluded you're best-served by a Mech which:
* is fast, so you don't get NASCARed to death by the PUGs.
* is heavily armored, so you can live long enough to do the required damage.
* has a high alpha, as killing blows score increased component damage.
* is levelled. Levelling Mechs made my PSR go backwards at times.
My fastest progress was achieved in BLR 2C and Banshee 3Ms with large XL engines, or Ebon Jags and Timbies. Arctic Cheetahs were also very strong, though less consistent.

5. Strikes help. The additional damage from a well placed arty strike otten tips you over the 400 Match Score needed to achieve a maximum PSR increase (or the 250 Match Score needed to avoid a PSR decrease). Is it a cheap crutch...? Yes. But desperate PUG mismatches call for desperate measures.

---

My final piece of advice is - don't do what I did. Don't set a personal goal around PSR! At times, it made my favourite hobby feel more of a chore than a leisure pursuit. Any personal goal that inherently relies on a team of indifferent strangers to succeed - as the PSR system does - is a recipe for stress and angst. It took all my perseverance, stubbornness and pride to see me through.

My gift to myself, on the achievement of this personal goal, is to not set any further PSR goals. I'm now back to levelling Mechs, and generally enjoying myself.

Congrats man.


We need MOAR targets in Tier 1.

[RestosIII]

Congrats man, I'll (sadly) catch up with you eventually.

[mariomanz28]

I've noticed it's very hard for the tier progress bar to go down, even in solo queue.

Since getting into T2 both my W/L ratio and KDR is falling significantly despite the fact that my progress keeps going up and up and up. At this point I'm losing waaay more matches than I win. Usually in a single play session for me I may see at most 5 wins in a few hours of play while having 10-15 loses. It really makes one question the validity of the system if I can still climb up higher despite doing worse than I ever have in the game.

[Accused]

My progress bar has stopped

Seriously, I should be a Tier 2 compared to some of the peeps I drop with. Until the day comes when PGI introduces Tier 0 and I can properly get my *** kicked, I'll be stuck with a positive kdr : w/l ratio.

Edited by Accused, 06 March 2016 - 07:16 PM.

[ShiftySWP and the Pleated Pants]

Grats OP. Just got T1 myself on Friday.

I was on a very similar quest for positive K/D, W/L, and T1 as you. I empathize greatly man!

I was a bit anxious my first drop in the tier thinking I would be smashed hard. However, I have found it not much difference from T2. Maybe a bit more advanced gameplay but there are still some /facepalm players in the T1 PUG queue.

Regardless, I know exactly how you feel right now.... time to enjoy the drops mate. /cheers

[Appogee]

cazidin, on 06 March 2016 - 11:02 AM, said:

Star Trek:Enterprise has forever ruined that song for me.

Really? I thought the opening titles for Enterprise were awesome ... I teared up everytime I saw them, thinking about how braves those early astronauts and flight pioneers were.

[Appogee]

ShiftySWP, on 06 March 2016 - 07:27 PM, said:

I was a bit anxious my first drop in the tier thinking I would be smashed hard. However, I have found it not much difference from T2. Maybe a bit more advanced gameplay but there are still some /facepalm players in the T1 PUG queue.

Heh, I didn't play for a day after reaching Tier 1 because I was anxious I'd lose it again.

But when I finally manned up, I had a series of wins and build a handy buffer.

I haven't seen any difference in matches, and I don't expect to. At the time of the day I play, the matchmaker just gives up and shovels people together from across all the tiers. In fact, the constant 'carry harder' requirement is one reason it took me so long to get to Tier 1 in the first place

[Aiden Skye]

Lucky you OP. Haven't played solo / group queue since some time before PSR went live. Guess I'm screwed to be forever in the underhive of tier 2.

[Ace Selin]

W A R K H A N, on 06 March 2016 - 08:30 PM, said:

Lucky you OP. Haven't played solo / group queue since some time before PSR went live. Guess I'm screwed to be forever in the underhive of tier 2.

LOL 90%+ of my MWO time is spent in CW too.

Edited by Ace Selin, 06 March 2016 - 11:42 PM.

[Mycrus]

Appogee, on 04 March 2016 - 11:55 PM, said:

Mechwarrior has been a favourite part of my life for more than 30 years.

So, even though we've since worked out that the PSR system is as much XP bar as it is an indicator of player skill, it was a source of quiet angst that I have been only Tier 2 in the game I love so much. A man has his pride, and I'm not ready to be relegated to a Solahma Unit just yet.

So I set myself the goal of reaching Tier 1. And in the following brief video, I'm commemorating what, for me, feels like a life milestone. Perhaps you might enjoy it, too.



I want to thank you all... the Comrades-in-Arms who stepped up and secured victories, and the Foes who fell.

---

For those wishing to undertake a similar quest, here's what I learned on the &quot;long road, getting from tier to tier&quot;.

1. Winning matches matters. Driving up your PSR requires the team you are on to win matches. If you score &lt;250 match score in a loss, your PSR will go backwards. The matchmaker often allocates a higher tier player to a team of lower tier players and pretends this creates an &quot;average team&quot;. As a result, I lost about half my matches in the PUG queue due to indifferent teams that cower behind rocks as the enemy advances. When you win, you need to win BIG ... &gt;400 match score, achieving the maximum PSR increase.

2. A small group of friends in the group queue is your fastest route to Tier 1. While the matchmaker will regularly make you cannon fodder for groups of the best players who always group together, at least players in the group queue are generally trying to win the match. That's in marked contrast to the PUG queue, where I belatedly concluded that many players just don't care whether the team wins or loses, and either ignore or resent any attempt to coordinate a team victory.

3. Ping matters. My ping is usually between 150 (Euro server) and 250 (NA server). But for the past week, my ISP rerouted traffic to Singapore and I've enjoyed a ping of only 90 to the Oceanic server. I've noted my Match Scores have been consistently +30%, presumably due to better hitreg, and I cruised through the last 10% of my PSR 2 bar, consistently recording Match Scores in the 500-700 range. Ping makes a big difference, and I fantasize about how wonderful it must be to play with a ping of &lt;50.

4. Mech matters. I tried many many different Mechs and loadouts, in search of one that would consistently achieve &gt;250 Match Score in a loss. While no Mech is foolproof, I've concluded you're best-served by a Mech which:
* is fast, so you don't get NASCARed to death by the PUGs.
* is heavily armored, so you can live long enough to do the required damage.
* has a high alpha, as killing blows score increased component damage.
* is levelled. Levelling Mechs made my PSR go backwards at times.
My fastest progress was achieved in BLR 2C and Banshee 3Ms with large XL engines, or Ebon Jags and Timbies. Arctic Cheetahs were also very strong, though less consistent.

5. Strikes help. The additional damage from a well placed arty strike otten tips you over the 400 Match Score needed to achieve a maximum PSR increase (or the 250 Match Score needed to avoid a PSR decrease). Is it a cheap crutch...? Yes. But desperate PUG mismatches call for desperate measures.

---

My final piece of advice is - don't do what I did. Don't set a personal goal around PSR! At times, it made my favourite hobby feel more of a chore than a leisure pursuit. Any personal goal that inherently relies on a team of indifferent strangers to succeed - as the PSR system does - is a recipe for stress and angst. It took all my perseverance, stubbornness and pride to see me through.

My gift to myself, on the achievement of this personal goal, is to not set any further PSR goals. I'm now back to levelling Mechs, and generally enjoying myself.

Ping plays a huge difference... your dmg actually registering has big consequences for your match score...

When i had 270ms ping i can barely eek out 300dmg matches with 500 dmg matches being memorable...

At 5 ms ping... 500 dmg is the norm with 900 dmg now being memorable

My psr continues to rise but my minimally viable 4 drops per week or means the xp bar fills ever so slowly... (btw, im typically in direct fire levelling mechs, playing pugs)

[adamts01]

Great video

[Appogee]

adamts01, on 07 March 2016 - 12:33 AM, said:

Great video

Thanks for appreciating it. Making Tier 1 felt like a real personal milestone*, so I invested a bit of time creating a meaningful commemorative video





* Yeah, I know, Tier increase is at least partly just a matter of playing a lot of matches. So I shouldn't get carried away about what it does and doesn't mean. But few things in my life recently have made me as happy as seeing that Tier 1 rating pop up on the home screen

[PyckenZot]

I feel your pain brother. Once I reached the "2" on the PSR bar, I set the goal of reaching T1 as soon as possible as well. Yet my tool was less subtle. KTO-GB with 5 LRM/5.

PSR above all is a damage done meter, so I had to ensure I could get as much damage on target as possible. A steady stream of LRMs did that for me (averaging 600-900 per drop).

Now back to leveling my Jenner II-Cs

[CDLord HHGD]

Side Note:

I really hope I'm not the only one who read that title to the tune of:

[JC Daxion]

Enterprise theme song, or just a coincidence?

[Bluttrunken]

Halfway through Tier 2. How's the air up there?