9 replies to this topic

[nimdabew]

Is there any reason why we cannot have a drop deck for the quick play queue? We can have a reduced deck, one that you have 10-20 seconds to choose after the map and game mode are selected, that has 2 or maybe 3 mechs in it. Have a tonnage limit... We have the technology and code already for it in faction play; why is it hard to do the same after the map selection has been made?

2 mech drop deck - 145 tons total (lets you have an assault and medium)

3 mech drop deck - 175 tons total (has a 100t assault, 25 ton light, and a 50 ton medium or some other combination)

This would give a player to at least have the option of semi optomizing which mech they are going to be dropping on a map with instead of just hoping their mech is going to be good.

tl;dr let players choose what mech they want to play before the map actually starts by having a QP drop deck ala CW drop deck.

[Morggo]

I'm assuming the way I read it that you still have a single mech for the match, just now you get the opportunity to pick one from a small deck of mechs during form up.

On one hand, it would be nice to be able to optimize for the drop, one could assume that company command would know in advance the field of battle and makes sense that the company would be optimized for the coming battle....

That said, there is something to be said for the challenge of "making it work" .. meaning in theory a decent pilot should be able to manage with the mech he/she is in regardless of environment, etc.

*shrugs* I'm on the fence, I like a good challenge but there are times I find even myself saying "man I wish I had xxx mech on this drop..."

Reality though... not sure how you could do this as it would remove what balance they try to put into the matchmaking... meaning you could end up very easily with 12 assaults in a drop, or all lights, etc... not that it doesn't happen today in the odd match but it would likely happen far more often. Not sure if that is good or bad.

[Snowbluff]

Maybe if we could save different loadouts for any single variant.

For example, I can have a TBR-S loadout saved with LRMs, once with cannons, and another with more lasers. I select the TBR-S, and hit quick play. When the map is chosen, I chose which of them I use in the map voting screen.

That way the tonnage is the same for team balance, but we can still have options for the maps.

EDIT: We want to keep the drop deck code, I think the decks should only be made out of mechs of the same weight, since the QP balances teams by weight class.

Edited by Snowbluff, 30 March 2016 - 11:20 AM.

[sycocys]

Because everyone would always queue in a light then switch to a heavy.

[Tyler Valentine]

Morggo, on 30 March 2016 - 11:18 AM, said:

I'm assuming the way I read it that you still have a single mech for the match, just now you get the opportunity to pick one from a small deck of mechs during form up.

On one hand, it would be nice to be able to optimize for the drop, one could assume that company command would know in advance the field of battle and makes sense that the company would be optimized for the coming battle....

That said, there is something to be said for the challenge of "making it work" .. meaning in theory a decent pilot should be able to manage with the mech he/she is in regardless of environment, etc.

*shrugs* I'm on the fence, I like a good challenge but there are times I find even myself saying "man I wish I had xxx mech on this drop..."

Reality though... not sure how you could do this as it would remove what balance they try to put into the matchmaking... meaning you could end up very easily with 12 assaults in a drop, or all lights, etc... not that it doesn't happen today in the odd match but it would likely happen far more often. Not sure if that is good or bad.

You've got the right idea. Basically if we could do what the OP suggests it would make the game... well, really easy.

nimdabew, on 30 March 2016 - 11:05 AM, said:

OP

A major part of the challenge of BattleTech (from 80's TT to today) is building your 'mech to work in a variety of environments and combat situations. If anything PGI has strayed too far away from that to please the masses. I'm about to sound like a **** but I really love this game: There are many online shooters that require no thought or compromise, you could go play one of those. A lot of the guys that play this game don't want it to turn into CoD...

[nimdabew]

How exactly does a drop deck mean you queue in a light but drop in a heavy? With a drop deck, you no longer have the 3 light/med/heavy/assault thing we have now, but you just get in line for a game. Some maps its better to be in a light JJ mech, sometimes a medium brawler, sometimes an assault.

Tonnage per mech doesn't matter as much since being able to only choose your drop deck before the match would make you choose mechs based on ability, not so much dropping as much as you can. Keeping the total deck tonnage low would make a player choose "Do I want a 100t assault and a 30 ton light, or a 80 ton assault and a 50 ton medium based on how hot/cold the map is, or maneuverability requirements, or jump capabilities..." A pair of 60 ton mechs with overlapping abilities might not be as good of an idea as a heavier 75 ton and a lighter medium with differing abilities, but both covering specific types of battle fields they can be fighting on.

The different mechs would then allow mechs to be more specialized than being in a "must cover all bases" type of mech. No really sane person would say a Nova would be better in Terra Therma over a dakka whale, and the same could be same for the two mechs in frozen city. I would rather have a high heat laser build in frozen city over a dakka whle with little heat build up.

I also really like the different config being chosen for a specific mech too. There are some mechs that I would not take if I knew I was fighting in a specific map. A good example of this is being able to change your drop deck before a CW drop because of where a team will be fighting.

[dario03]

I'm sure the could do it, they just don't want to. Its not a technical problem its a design decision. There was the MM stuff but probably more importantly they actually don't want everybody being optimized for the map. In other words to get more varied gameplay they want you to sometimes end up on Alpine in a brawler, they want there to be a erll mech in a otherwise all brawl team on viridian. They don't want a team to be all brawlers of heavies and assaults camping underneath the HPG in domination and they don't want a all erll team on alpine skirmish.

Edited by dario03, 30 March 2016 - 01:08 PM.

[sycocys]

nimdabew, on 30 March 2016 - 12:55 PM, said:

Some maps its better to be in a light JJ mech, sometimes a medium brawler, sometimes an assault.

Have you even played this game before?

[Revis Volek]

nimdabew, on 30 March 2016 - 12:55 PM, said:

How exactly does a drop deck mean you queue in a light but drop in a heavy? With a drop deck, you no longer have the 3 light/med/heavy/assault thing we have now, but you just get in line for a game. Some maps its better to be in a light JJ mech, sometimes a medium brawler, sometimes an assault.

Tonnage per mech doesn't matter as much since being able to only choose your drop deck before the match would make you choose mechs based on ability, not so much dropping as much as you can. Keeping the total deck tonnage low would make a player choose "Do I want a 100t assault and a 30 ton light, or a 80 ton assault and a 50 ton medium based on how hot/cold the map is, or maneuverability requirements, or jump capabilities..." A pair of 60 ton mechs with overlapping abilities might not be as good of an idea as a heavier 75 ton and a lighter medium with differing abilities, but both covering specific types of battle fields they can be fighting on.

The different mechs would then allow mechs to be more specialized than being in a "must cover all bases" type of mech. No really sane person would say a Nova would be better in Terra Therma over a dakka whale, and the same could be same for the two mechs in frozen city. I would rather have a high heat laser build in frozen city over a dakka whle with little heat build up.

I also really like the different config being chosen for a specific mech too. There are some mechs that I would not take if I knew I was fighting in a specific map. A good example of this is being able to change your drop deck before a CW drop because of where a team will be fighting.

You know how when you hover over the PLAY NOW button it tells you the Class % in queue, Light are ALWAYS under 10% of the field.

So what I would do is jump into the MM with a light, then once i find a game i would switch to a heavy, thus killing the MM attempts at making a BALANCED match.


This would never work as the MATCH would be able to be made until AFTER you selected your mechs, so that pretty bass ackwards if you ask me.

MM needs to know tonnages and such BEFORE it start putting people into the game, not the other way around.

[Snowbluff]

Revis Volek, on 30 March 2016 - 01:58 PM, said:

MM needs to know tonnages and such BEFORE it start putting people into the game, not the other way around.

Ergo, the QP dropship should only be filled with mechs of the same weight.