Sable, on 26 August 2016 - 07:57 PM, said:
a pattern of... no imagination? tunnel vision?? stuck on the old while the new meta will leave you behind?
It's naive to think that the PTS will foster mixed builds. Online games have pretty much always been about min/max. Just because ED shakes up the game, it does not mean that there will not be a meta. As my videos show, energy weapons, particularly lasers, remain at the top of the heap when it comes to effectiveness. ED was supposed to fix that, but it didn't. Instead, it only gimped ballistics and PPCs even more, and made the laser vomit meta even more powerful.
WibbsScrapMerc, on 27 August 2016 - 03:10 AM, said:
Phase 2 saw over-nerfing of PPC's (base stats should not have been hit) and I frankly would not implement the changes to gauss yet for live (rebalance that outlier later as its own problem- keep charge mechanic and familiar stats for now to reduce culture shock. Give it a modest ED penalty so 2 combined is not THAT much hotter than currently).
Culture shock? They're just resetting it to the way it used to be, albeit, with a longer cooldown.
WibbsScrapMerc, on 27 August 2016 - 03:10 AM, said:
Sadly, the conservative fearmongering is drowning out all reasonable feedback (which is allowed to be negative- just reasoned). No wonder Russ uses feedback from a few more reliable sources. Only have yourselves to blame.
Reliable sources? That's a laugh. Russ is not known for making good decisions, and Twitter is not something most people would consider to be "reliable." The fact that Russ can't conduct a proper Townhall without being drunk, or even use his own forums, just illustrates his lack of engagement or respect for the MWO community.
WibbsScrapMerc, on 27 August 2016 - 03:10 AM, said:
Very hard to take someone's analysis seriously when they declare that if ED is implemented they will walk (without actually having any set values for ED yet)- that it is the end of times, that individualised ED values to weapons will be incomprehensible (we have that with heat already, duh) etc etc.
I don't think that it's the "If ED is implemented I'll walk!" so much as it's the "If ED is implemented as it currently is, I'll walk!" mentality. Besides, when each successive PTS build is worse than the previous one, how is someone supposed to keep their hopes up?
Tiantara, on 27 August 2016 - 04:45 AM, said:
- Funny thing that I'm nearly live on PTS with some pause for work, some stuff, and freelance job... And nearly always see 0% population in queue. Hardly I collect pilots in F.List to make Private Battles in real situation, not by shooting dummy mech on test ground. Doing that is one part. Use build in real battle - another. Here your enemy can preserve useful for him range of fire and you don't even scratch him by LPL. By mixing weapon in so called "non-meta" builds you can softer enemy armor before he come closer.
There are some good things in this statement, but overall, it remains naive. You can't fight in small group engagements and expect that to be reflective of larger combat. For example, in the video I posted previously, I tested against dummy Mechs and then did 1v1 combat with a friend. While these two scenarios give me a good idea of how the Mech will perform in a general setting, I have to look beyond these tests to understand how it will function in a 12v12 engagement.
Simply put, if you extrapolate the PTS experiences to 12v12, it becomes clear very quickly that mixed loadouts will remain statistically small. In fact, they will become less visible, I would say, simply because the PTS in its current build rewards min/maxing even more than the current, live game build does. Watch the video again, and notice how little my energy-based meta Mechs are affected. They build heat so slowly, and dissipate it so quickly, that they can maintain an almost steady rate of fire with only the occasional break for cooling off. Compare that to the mixed builds I ran. Those Mechs were hotter and at a greater disadvantage because they were not optimized like the metas.
Basically, you are free, right not, to run whatever you want and be successful, although you will be handicapped slightly. In the PTS build though, you cannot necessarily run what you want, because PGI's ED system will penalize you so thoroughly, that your TTK will be too short to do anything. It forces you to run the meta instead of what you might enjoy.
Case in point, my brawler Quickdraw will have to be made into a sniper or mid-range skirmisher instead, since brawling in the PTS is effectively dead. PGI is so hapless, that they recognized the fact that brawling weapons like the AC/20 need buffs, but then announced higher energy value for it instead, further penalizing an already marginalized weapon system. What's worse, is that they were not even consistent across the board between the four different types of AC/20s that are in game.
PGI really has no clue regarding how to make an effective ED system.
WibbsScrapMerc, on 27 August 2016 - 03:10 AM, said:
I see many test in Test grounds and even thoughts from people who make decision based on video, not actual game. But a few really 8 vs 8 battle. And even so - most to them based only on desire to check: are their build still meta and OP or not. But not in way of searching for new tactic, new builds on mech they newer use before. With all give freedom on PTS players lock themselves into the chains. Why? I have no answer for that question.
Because that's reality. Min/max is how online games play out, and MWO is no exception. Laser vomit and energy weapons remain the best way to achieve min/maxing, so that's what we will be seeing a lot of from now on. Builds that do not effectively min/max will be further marginalized due to the new energy system.
Besides, how effective things will be in large groups is all a function of math. It's very common to have six Mechs focus on one target. If you are generous and assume only a 30-point alpha from each Mech, then that is still 180 points of damage that can be pinpointed onto a single component; enough to kill most Mechs outright. TTK will remain low in large groups simply because large groups know how to coordinate. It's naive to think that large groups will throw away such an advantage simply because the non-meta builds got nerfed again.
Spleenslitta, on 27 August 2016 - 05:56 AM, said:
There are looads of other ideas that works too. Unfortunatly i have so little faith in PGI at this point that i have very little belief that they even look at their feedback forums.
Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want. All i know is that Russ never posts anything here on the forums but instead takes all his feedback on freakin' Twitter.
When he reads stuff on Twitter and types his replies it takes the same amount of time if he did it here.
Bingo.
jjyn, on 27 August 2016 - 06:19 AM, said:
I like your style, very open but yet see the problem and what the issue is about. But why i really answerred too this one is that self-destruct animation right after 38 minute mark in nerfdom was the best I have seen from PGI. Now that needs too be added too the game.Salute and keep up the good fight.
*Chuckle* Thanks!