33 replies to this topic

[nehebkau]

Greyhart, on 22 March 2016 - 09:06 AM, said:

There is no good reason not to lock targets. None at all.

If I am in an oxide, huginn, firestarter or cheetah I will remove locks as fast as they automatically engage because I am usually within 20m of my target, shooting their back CT working may arse off to stay behind them and the last thing I want is LRM spam hitting me as much as the enemy. I know where I am hitting them, I know where they are damaged so I don't need paper-doll information. So yes, there is a good reason to not lock targets.

Want another good reason? If I am stalking an enemy I will not lock them because that will usually bring enemy fire on them causing them to behave erratically, specially if its the Missile warning. I want a enemy to feel they are safe and unseen before I attack them.

Edited by nehebkau, 22 March 2016 - 10:40 AM.

[Azalie]

I'm going to weigh in and say that I too will hold off on locking for a few seconds if I'm about to ambush an enemy who is not being engaged by my team at that moment. If people get LRM warnings when they know they should be hidden they tend to check their six.

[Krivvan]

The main reason to lock enemy mechs isn't to get LRM support. If your team had zero LRMs it is still a good idea to target mechs. You target mechs so your know where on an enemy mech to shoot, and also so your allies know where the mech is.

[SplashDown]

Should always lock target to get info!..i mean why shoot a mech in the CT if both his legs have alrdy been opened and easy to kill?...OFC the only way you gonna know that kinda game winning info is with a target lock.

Edited by SplashDown, 22 March 2016 - 11:04 AM.

[Catra Lanis]

It is not only for LRM boats. Your other teammates will benefit from R as well. It tells where the enemy are, how many mechs in some cases and what type.

[Variant1]

Rejarial Galatan, on 21 March 2016 - 10:32 PM, said:

Are people allergic to hitting R for radar locks? I simply do not understand why people insist on shooting at things and NOT hitting R to get a radar lock. It does not help your team to NOT relay a targeting signal. What it DOES do by NOT getting said lock, is let the enemy mechs run around free from most LRM bombardments.

Look, its simple, you spot a mech, hit R, takes half a second at most. Information is absolutely vital to a victory. I dont care if its here on MWO or out in the real world, information is absolutely vital. Why do you think militaries and their command governments spend BILLIONS in cryptogrophy, spy networks <orbital and terrestrial based> and so on and so forth? Why do you think the Germans in WW2 had the enigma machines? Why did the US in WW2 use Navajo code talkers? To control the dissemination of information to those who needed it.

To NOT use such a vital resource is inviting defeat. In the last few matches I have played prior to making this post, the times my team was targeting things saw more victories than the times my team refused to use R to get radar locks. You invite disaster <namely loss here> by NOT letting those who use LRMs rain hell down on your enemy by not using R.

No they are not. I dont know what dimensional rift you went through in the matchmaker but all my games had people hiting the r key as well as the enemy because i could hear the missile warning. Very rarely would an ally not hit the r key is either the enemy had ecm, they were new or they were too concentrating/panicked to hit the button. The bes thing i can do to help you is to not ask for locks at the start of the match, and kindly ask a player to hit the lock if you are spectating them.

[Alistair Winter]

The number of times I've almost legged an assault leg - stripped legs of armour and turned internals orange - and my team proceeds to slowly kill it by utterly destroying its torso... it just beggars belief.

[Variant1]

Alistair Winter, on 22 March 2016 - 11:15 AM, said:

The number of times I've almost legged an assault leg - stripped legs of armour and turned internals orange - and my team proceeds to slowly kill it by utterly destroying its torso... it just beggars belief.

source?

[Lyoto Machida]

nehebkau, on 22 March 2016 - 07:19 AM, said:

Hmm... I am really torn over the issue... As a light, do I support someone who has picked a bad weapon, who will probably end up hitting me with those LRMs as I try to stay behind the mech I am attacking so that they can score some damage? Do I unlock as quickly as I can when it auto locks to keep myself from getting FF damage but risk not doing enough damage to the enemy?

What I have found, is that LRMers will choose the WORST target to use their LRMs on and, usually that is a mech that is in the middle of a brawl with friendly mechs or a mech that is hiding behind a building and not able to be hit by those LRMs. So my personal experience makes me feel not so helpful.

So while I see the OPs point -- There is a part of me that really doesn't want to help LRM mechs who can't get their own locks. I mean, why should I do all the work, take all the risk so that you can press a button? Why should I help you to artificially inflate your PSR? Should I do it because of teamwork? My own desire to win?

<sigh> How about PGI start a NON-LRM public queue and an NON-ECM LRM only queue. I mean players are looking for more of a carebear mode so new queue, no ECM and only LRMs and MGs.

Sucks you have to eat some friendly LRMs because you're hugging the target so hard...such is life in the 31st century.

[Alardus]

I usually dont lock if there's an easy kill to 1v1 and there are LRM spams on my team. Its my kill, not yours.

[Scar Glamour]

I don't lock enemies for LRM boats. I lock them for target info and situational awareness. Those red doritos don't appear on your map by themselves. So if you don't want to get flanked by half the enemy team, the least you can do is return the favor.

Edited by Winterburn, 22 March 2016 - 11:57 AM.

[Luminis]

Variant1, on 22 March 2016 - 11:12 AM, said:

No they are not. I dont know what dimensional rift you went through in the matchmaker but all my games had people hiting the r key as well as the enemy because i could hear the missile warning.

Well, from personal experience, I'd say 90% of players in my matches lock their target(s). However, I think there's a little more to the topic than hitting the "R" key. Even at the lower tiers, people did that fairly well, so I've got a hard time believing the OP is so mad just because people absolutely refuse to hit "R"

Rejarial Galatan, on 21 March 2016 - 10:32 PM, said:

You invite disaster <namely loss here> by NOT letting those who use LRMs rain hell down on your enemy by not using R.

Dunno why, but I got this gut feeling that it's more about people not holding locks for continuous LRM fire than about people not hitting "R". Because, let's be honest, there's a difference.

Edited by Luminis, 22 March 2016 - 12:01 PM.

[Rejarial Galatan]

@Luminis: It is exactly about people not holding locks. I do not give one single rats fart if my team refuses to fire LRMs at what ever enemy mech is targeted. What it IS about is this: Information. Where are they? What is their status? What weapons are they using? What way are they facing?

That list is in order from highest priority to least priority. The fact of the matter is, and its been said time and time again on this thread is: hitting R provides your time with the information they NEED to get a win. That bloody simple. Fire your LRMs or dont fire them, I dont give a rats fart. Just hit the bloody R key to light them up on radar so everyone knows where the enemy is. Information or the lack there of will WIN or LOSE the battle for you. If you cant understand this, then you are helpless and there isnt a thing I can do to help you.

@nehebkau You sir are deserving of a helping of depleted uranium CUAC10 shells to the cockpit. Help your team by sharing information and stop helping the enemy hide.

[Zoid]

Anytime I'm not the last one alive in a bad game, those that still are alive are not locking. Very strong correlation between terribad teams and people not locking targets.