9 replies to this topic

[A banana in the tailpipe]

Since coming back to the game this year I've more or less tried to keep a positive attitude while reconnecting with friends, and it is those friends, the dozens of new ones I've made, plus a love for Mechwarrior that ultimately keeps my MWO morale intact. (avoiding these forums helps a lot too) Those who know me understand I range anywhere from gleeful lunatic to raging pillar of salt depending on how how the MM is treating me that night, and especially how much I've had to drink. Teetering on the brink of MWO burnout again after just a few months back I thought the Kodiak would be the last straw, and I was wrong.

Lately I've been a bit more on the salty due to a number of minor issues from having to play in tiers my rusty rear doesn't belong in yet just in order to play with friends, from obnoxious quirks PGI granted to certain mechs that have turned them into P2W gods like the Oxide. I've even gone so far as to recently cancel a pre-order to express my dissatisfaction and "speak with my wallet" as to the current state of the game. With the launch of the Kodiak I was cracking my knuckles and chomping at the bit to write another long scathing review about how power creep, loot crates, and cash grabs were ruining a game that otherwise was making steady progress.

Then, PGI genuinely shocked me. They took a mech that otherwise looked like a total monster on paper, and balanced it pretty well. For all the other botched clan assaults and OP quirks turning MWO into a shooting gallery for IS, the Kodiak is just what the clans needed. A genuine jack of all trades mech that while a little more fragile than an atlas, packs the proper punch and hardpoints to compete without absolutely dominating the field. Inspired by the recent reddit video of "Strength in Numbers" I even made it a priority to get my first kill against a Kodiak with the UMR60L last night and oh man that poor guy took a ribbing in chat for that one.

Needless to say tho, even when the MM gets on my nerves sticking me against comps of ultra tryhards with the same broken meta mechs match after match, sometimes PGI gets it right. This is one of those times. Hell, I don't even own a Kodiak yet, but playing against good units using them was far less of a nightmare than the usual Whammy/Blackknight/Oxide sh*t fest. It was actually fun playing for once, and the first thing I thought to myself is "good job PGI, there's hope for MWO yet."

Keep up the good work

[Moldur]

I think it is in a good place. Some people say "inb4 nerf" others say the CT is too big, but hey, if some people feel it needs buffs, and others think it needs nerfs, isn't that kind of what being balanced is?

[TLBFestus]

Salty as I am, even I'm choking on the number a posts about the Kodiak.

In the past year I have found a method of dealing with ANY OP mech that the game has thrown at me. Try to keep up here while I revel this amazing secret;

I don't play much.


I drop about 2x a week with my buddies and rarely play matches in between those days. It's reflective of the repetitive nature of the game these days that the possibility of seeing or getting a new mech in the game is not all that enticing.

Considering the niche nature of the game I'm impressed (or am I stunned?) that PGI keeps finding ways to convince people to part with money for all this time.

I think every spender in this game reaches a "I'm done" point with this game. Some of us did early, I'm about $150 spent, while others spent (IMHO) insane amounts of money.

I'm curious what the average "burnout time" is for spenders in the game. By that I mean ones that tried the game, and stick around. I'm guessing it's about 18 months, and that seems to be enough time for new players to trickle in and replace the earlier spenders.

Not even the Kodiak, which I think is a very cool looking chassis, can seduce my wallet anymore. I need new game play.

[Narcissistic Martyr]

TLBFestus, on 19 May 2016 - 08:09 AM, said:

Not even the Kodiak, which I think is a very cool looking chassis, can seduce my wallet anymore. I need new game play.

Yeah I'm at the point where the only must have chassis on my list is the valkyrie and nothing else will entice me to give PGI my money unless they make drastic improvements on the gameplay side.

[TLBFestus]

Even then, I'm willing to wait for a chassis to come out for c-bills, and be nerfed, so i can get used to how it's going to be.

[A banana in the tailpipe]

TLBFestus, on 19 May 2016 - 08:09 AM, said:

In the past year I have found a method of dealing with ANY OP mech that the game has thrown at me. Try to keep up here while I revel this amazing secret;

I don't play much.

It's no secret. I took a break between 2014 to 2016 myself.

[Elendil]

I like the Kodiak.
I don't normally like assaults at all, because the hardpoints are spread across the body in weird places and you can't move.

But aside from the arms, the hardpoints are all clustered around the cockpit. And arms just have medium lasers, so it's consistent and easy to keep track of.
It's surprisingly agile, has a decent variety between the variants, reasonable hardpoints, and a nice glaring weakness to work around (from both sides).

All around it's well balanced, interesting, and decently fun.

[Karmen Baric]

Kodiak CT certainly seems to take most of the damage.
First assault ive died to a headshot within the first 5 games ive played in it too, that head CT must be the whole middle cockpit and thats quite large, maybe needs to be decreased a little.

In general the Kodiaks are average at best, except the Spirit Bear which if played well is a decent brawler if really squishy and if compared to my Atlas, the Atlas is hands up better in the same role.

The Kodiak 3 is the saving grace for these mechs, its actually a good assault, one i would play and compare to my Wubshee or Mauler MX90.

[Piney II]

It's nice to see the Clans get a good, more generalized assault mech. The cries of P2W and OP were bound to happen - lots of players are hyper touchy about anything Clan.

To me, the KDK is definitely not OP. Get caught in a bad spot and you will melt quickly - just like any other assault mech. It packs some serious firepower, but at the trade of lots of heat. It's not as tanky as an Atlas, but the added mobility is a fair trade for that.

Hopefully, the hysteria will die down soon as players will see that this mech, while good, is not God mode.

[Steve Pryde]

CT for Kodiak seems ok for me. Most guys just don't twist. Spirit Bear Hero is by far my favorit.