40 replies to this topic

[Appogee]

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.

Edited by Appogee, 05 March 2016 - 11:59 AM.

[Livewyr]

PSR = XP Bar.

INteresting.

[Appogee]

Livewyr, on 05 March 2016 - 12:01 AM, said:

PSR = XP Bar. Interesting.

Mostly. But - especially in the PUG queue, where the matchmaker is your main enemy - it's entirely possible for your PSR to go down.

For a month, when I started to believe that my PSR would just go up by itself, I started to level all the "bad Mechs" in my hangar. But it went backwards. That's when I realised I had to get serious about my goal, and go all out to achieve it ... so I could put it behind me for good.

Edited by Appogee, 05 March 2016 - 12:07 AM.

[Kodyn]

Livewyr, on 05 March 2016 - 12:01 AM, said:

PSR = XP Bar.

INteresting.

To some extent. There are those that are maxed T1 who truly are the best in the game, then there's guys like me, T2, who have just played an ungodly number of matches, so we level up into the same higher tiers. I can play T2-level games, but not in every mech, and not all the time, I've just logged enough hours that my good games make up for the bad.

So it's somewhat an indicator of player skill, usually though, more of an indicator of time invested.

[Soultraxx]

Congrats on getting to T1. Its a slow old gri d at times.

By the time I reach Tier 1 we'll have CW 6 and full PvE with two additional campaigns.

Edit added.........but LBX's will probably still be sub-par

Edited by Soultraxx, 05 March 2016 - 01:16 AM.

[The Lost Boy]

I was at tier 1. Lost a few matches now Im tier 2. My life had meaning for oh such a fleeting moment.

[p4r4g0n]

Congratulations on achieving your goal.

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

-snip- it was a source of quiet angst that I have been only Tier 2 in the game I love so much.-snip-

Had to laugh at that part. I am betting there are plenty of folks who resemble that remark

[El Bandito]

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

Lots of stuff.

When the PSR game out, I reached T1 from T2 in two weeks with 230 ping in NA servers. Sure, I can perform twice as effective in less than 50 ping latency, but the climb is really not that hard, even in Solo-Q, as long as the mech is not garbage tier.

Grats though. Other aspirants should take your advice. If I want to add and advice, it is this:
Learn to use VOIP. Communication is information. And information is ammunition.

Edited by El Bandito, 05 March 2016 - 02:48 AM.

[Appogee]

El Bandito, on 05 March 2016 - 02:40 AM, said:

When the PSR game out, I reached T1 from T2 in two weeks with 230 ping in NA servers. Sure, I can perform twice as effective in less than 50 ping latency, but the climb is really not that hard, even in Solo-Q, as long as the mech is not garbage tier. Grats though.

You must be a better player than me. Or have played frequently in a large group of good players who helped carry you (no slur implied - I know you're a good player - I'm just observing that a large
successful group will carry all its members up the tiers).

Most of my levelling has been in the PUG queue. I kept getting allocated teams of very inexperienced players who just could not win... and usually didn't seem to care. Often I couldn't make the needed 250 Match Score to stop PSR going backwards (how do you do that when the rest of the team is dead within 5 minutes?).

In the Group Queue, playing with 4 or 5 team mates, I'd sometimes experience entire evenings of being dropped repeatedly against T1 ELH lances or lances comprising small groups of well-known excellent players like Proton ... presumably because the matchmaker had given up on finding them equal opponents. And my PSR would go backwards for the evening.

The last week has been remarkably different. Playing in Oceanic prime time on the Oceanic server at 90 ping, I've had my share of poor quality teams but managed to mostly make 250 in a loss, and usually make 400+ in a Win. I had one excellent night of a group lance helping carry, and another BAU night of my lance getting paired with no-name no-unit lances and being hammered by superior enemy teams over and over.

Not sure what to make of it, but glad the stars finally aligned for me.

Edited by Appogee, 05 March 2016 - 03:01 AM.

[Zolaz]

Playing in PUG queue is kind of like getting Russ and Paul on your team. Guys who think they know what is going on but have no clue. The only difference is that someone does something meta like hit em with a Dragon or with a high alpha and the game changes.

[STEF_]

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 inherently 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. If you are looking to the left now and see a "2" under my name again, that will be because I'm back to just levelling Mechs, and enjoying myself. I expect I'll flip-flop around the cusp of Tier 1 and 2 for a while, not caring about PSR ).

now u must feel the need to fill that bar

[z3a1ot]

I see what you did there!

[Navid A1]

[MadcatX]

@OP Love the thread title!

[Kumakichi]

Tier 5 is more interesting

[Mystere]

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

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.

Congratulations!

Now do this:



and see how far down you can go.

Use a joystick if you must.

Edited by Mystere, 05 March 2016 - 05:53 AM.

[Appogee]

Stefka Kerensky, on 05 March 2016 - 05:34 AM, said:

now u must feel the need to fill that bar

Nup, now I feel the need to ignore that bar

[Tristan Winter]

Well done! Now start levelling your alt accounts to Tier 1, you casual

[Trauglodyte]

Well, you can't ignore it or you'll be reintroduced to Tier 2 Congratulations on tier 1, Appogee. I tell you, I'm doing the grind after a near 2 year hiatus and it hurts every time that I log in. It hurts even worse when I want to try out a new mech - oof! The MM giveth and the MM taketh away but it will not stop me for long!

[Monkey Lover]

Livewyr, on 05 March 2016 - 12:01 AM, said:

PSR = XP Bar.

INteresting.

I know it's nice to say this but it's not 100% true. Low tier players who should be in higher tier will get there but low tier players who can't make the match scores will never move up.

Of course there is nothing wrong with this. Some people are just not as good. Some people have health issues. Other might still be great drop callers or very good support mechs.

There is no reason I can see to focus on tiers at this point.