10 replies to this topic

[Willowleaf]

Right, so. Anyone else noticed this trend of Assault 'Mech pilots just... not doing their job description and assuming Light pilots tank for them? I had a rather verbal altercation with someone playing an Assault 'Mech in Domination. It goes like this.

Player: "Well, you ran in blind, and are now complaining you didn't get fire support."

Me: "...I was holding off a Marauder, a Pirate's Bane, and a Timber Wolf, keeping in the circle. Our Alpha Lance got wrecked because none of you big guys moved."

Player: "Boohoo. That's what you get for running in blind."

Me: "...and who, exactly are your eyes, don't have a lot of armor and use speed instead?"

Player: "You still ran in blind. You expect us to do the same?"

Me: "We're going to have to agree to disagree."

Just please, think of the Light pilots who are risking their lives with little to no armor, being your eyes, getting shot at and mugged by Heavy and Assault 'Mechs whilst dancing with a scout lance. Don't hug a wall and hide behind more armor. Please help. And don't be such a $@%@ about how we do our jobs and you're hiding behind mom or dad.

Signed,
Someone who really appreciates Light pilots when running the rare Heavy and packs sensor packages and scouts so others can get their "Woo, most damage done!" ***** on.

--

Alpha, in this game, seriously, was two people holding off their Assaults, Heavies, Lights and Mediums. Post scriptum.

Edited by Wintercycle, 17 December 2016 - 08:39 PM.

[Kimberm1911]

I'm an assault pilot, but I feel your pain. I think that a lot of people don't really know how to play assault mechs. You are the armor of your team. In the current meta, heavies carry as much firepower as you do, so your job is to absorb fire so that your team can really bring the hurt on the opponents. However, some assault pilots don't understand that, and are content to hide in the back of the line, until they are swarmed by 4 mechs. Overall I think it's partly the meta, everyone is running Gauss PPCs, and partly that the player base is a bit passive generally speaking. Aggression really does turn the tide in your favor. I try to lead by example, and be in the front of the line, but often I just end up dying early on, and suffer the added punishment of watching my team get clobbered one by one. That is not to say that I don't make mistakes, or sit in the back sometimes, but I try.

I appreciate lights, because they can distract other enemy lights long enough for me to get a bead on them with my AC 20. Thank you light mechs who support the frontline assaults. Y'all are the best.

[Willowleaf]

...I really want to hug you right now. x)

[Autologus]

When I play domination I rush to the circle then get on coms and tell everyone to get into the circle that I will not hold it as a 25 ton mech, as soon as the shooting starts I am going to bug out and let them have it. Now the assaults and heavies have a choice to make, I did my part.

[Tesunie]

FYI: On Domination, you don't actually have to be in the circle. It is the most reliable manner to stop the enemy clock (and run you own down if they are not there). All you really need to do is hit an enemy who is in the circle, and they can not capture the point.

Still, not much of an excuse for assault mechs to hide constantly (taking and using cover is different from hiding), but as a team you all don't have to rush that circle, if you can keep the pressure on the enemy team instead.

[Darian DelFord]

The current mentality of assault mechs in quick play


Bring LRM's

That tells you how intelligent they are.

I use assaults as my lure. I will drag a mech to LOS an assault.... and hopefully he gets distracted by the heavier mech so I can do my job. Sometimes it works... some times it does not

Remember this adage for MWO

The lower your tonnage the smarter the player.

[Jay Leon Hart]

Autologus, on 18 December 2016 - 06:38 AM, said:

When I play domination I rush to the circle then get on coms and tell everyone to get into the circle that I will not hold it as a 25 ton mech, as soon as the shooting starts I am going to bug out and let them have it. Now the assaults and heavies have a choice to make, I did my part.

I've had to start doing this in Lights and Mediums, then my team complains "We lost and didn't even get any kills. This game type sucks!" No, you suck, don't blame the game mode.

[Fox With A Shotgun]

Most assault pilots want to live forever. That's why they're IN the darned things; so that they can just use PPC-Gauss builds or boat LRMs, while feeling fairly secure behind a fat amount of armour.

Generally speaking, I just make note of which fat mech pilots refuse to move up with the rest of the group. Those that do will do without light protection; if they will not serve the team by staying alive and dealing damage, then they will serve the team by dying as bait for the enemy light wolfpack. Either way, if they're not going to move to the enemy, then you bring the enemy to them. Just fall back and they won't have a choice.

Edited by Fox With A Shotgun, 19 December 2016 - 05:12 PM.

[Void Angel]

There's a joke for MWO.

Question: "How do you engage the reverse gear on an Assault 'Mech?"

Answer: "Shoot it with a Medium Laser."

The reason is that many Assault pilots have learned the wrong lessons from their battlefield experiences. Instead of figuring out that their toughness and firepower must be used to project combat power and restrict enemy movements, they've found that there's a lot of firepower out there, and they feel like they're too slow to get out of the way. So they hide behind the team, only exposing themselves to the bare minimum degree necessary for them to do damage to something.

Now, to an extent they're right - you have to be cautious with most Assaults, because that low mobility means that mistakes in positioning are hard to recover from. But they've drawn the wrong conclusions from the mistakes they've made along those lines; the way the game trains the unthoughtful with operant conditioning is largely to blame.

From a conditioning standpoint, players are rewarded and punished instantly for choices made in long-distance combat. When you fire your Gauss Rifle at an enemy, you either hit or miss right away; if you expose yourself to too much enemy firepower, you know right then that you've taken a lot of damage. The rewards for vital activities like sharing armor, moving close for the brawl, etc, are deferred - but the punishments are often instant (or much closer in time.) Delayed feedback for any learning is less effective than immediate feedback. If I got tapped on the head for screwing up what I'm doing, I'll learn faster than if I get slapped in the face for the same thing at the end of the day.

All of this inadvertently trains players to instinctively avoid damage and never expose themselves to any unknown sight line. This has obvious negative impacts on Domination, as you've seen; it's also generally bad in all game modes - and it's downright crippling in Escort. But I've found that at least puzzling out why people are engaging in these counterproductive practices helps my blood pressure, if nothing else.

If you're interested, check out the forum guides I've linked in my signature - I suspect you might enjoy them. =)

[Stf Sgt Marblez]

Good joke void, I spilled my mountain dew lol. Being a fairly bad KGC pilot (stats should explian it well enough) it is a bit frustrating that the awesome, banshee and stalker piolts (some of them not all) would rather sit behind a night gyr or black knight instead of pushing with me. But people will be people, and sometimes they just dont listen, also read the timidity is not a tactic write up, good stuff right there, that should be pinned tbh

[Void Angel]

Hey, Marblez - I saw you in a match yesterday. I'm glad both my humor and the guide were helpful to you. If you want, you can report the topic (just like complaining) and ask that it be stickied - it just seemed inappropriate to report it myself, or suggest it to people.