5 replies to this topic

[Spheroid]

In order to get the full CW experience one side must have a strong enough bias that promotes the slider moving through all modes in a cycle.

However the tug of war system is terrible in this regard. Can't we go back to the circle ring and have the battles be random segments? The number of types even matches well (Attack, Defend, Counterattack x2, skirmish, conquest, assault) = 7

I mean we are playing for eight worlds. Why would all the battles be in the same mode across hundreds of light years to the minute?

The main goal of balancing is to prevent stomps, but the tug of war will fall victim to any balancing attempt.

The only good things CW4.1 brought were new modes and lesser match waits. However those good things could have been kept while keeping disparate fronts and factions. All that was required was faction attack bucket merging, NOT a unified front!

A bi-factional balancing attempt will always fail, however under the old system even if I.S. vs. Clan was on average neutral the small factional differences on specific fronts are what made things interesting depending on how well certain factions fought or where certain mercs were that week. Now it is just bland farming.

Edited by Spheroid, 30 December 2016 - 08:55 AM.

[Natural Predator]

i cant take any IS pilot serious right now when they have affirmative action well fare weight in their drop decks. You can drop 4 heavies in your drop deck.

[Spheroid]

@Ragnar. I am not making any anti-Clan statement. As I am a merc I have option of playing either side. This topic is about how the tug of war system fails either tech base.

You can't really have good matches, diverse modes and a dynamic star map. Its too much to ask. I am advocating for the return of the ring system, that is all.

Edited by Spheroid, 30 December 2016 - 09:41 AM.

[FallingAce]

Some people just can't see past their test tubes.

Ragnar Baron Leiningen, on 30 December 2016 - 08:57 AM, said:

i cant take any IS pilot serious right now when they have affirmative action well fare weight in their drop decks. You can drop 4 heavies in your drop deck.

Make the 50th thread about balance and you get 5 pages of the same crap.

Other people actually look at the big picture.

Unfortunately threads like this one won't make it past the first page and threads like this one https://mwomercs.com...ve-planet-tags/ don't get a single response.

[Mystere]

Spheroid, on 30 December 2016 - 09:04 AM, said:

@Ragnar. I am not making any anti-Clan statement. As I am a merc I have option of playing either side. This topic is about how the tug of war system fails either tech base.

You can't really have good matches, diverse modes and a dynamic star map. Its too much to ask. I am advocating for the return of the ring system, that is all.

Forget the old ring system, move forward and use this instead. In other words, have a campaign system that has more depth than merely counting numbers to determine the planet owner.

Edited by Mystere, 30 December 2016 - 04:33 PM.

[BearFlag]

Spheroid, on 30 December 2016 - 08:54 AM, said:

In order to get the full CW experience one side must have a strong enough bias that promotes the slider moving through all modes in a cycle.

However the tug of war system is terrible in this regard. Can't we go back to the circle ring and have the battles be random segments? The number of types even matches well (Attack, Defend, Counterattack x2, skirmish, conquest, assault) = 7

I mean we are playing for eight worlds. Why would all the battles be in the same mode across hundreds of light years to the minute?

The main goal of balancing is to prevent stomps, but the tug of war will fall victim to any balancing attempt.

The only good things CW4.1 brought were new modes and lesser match waits. However those good things could have been kept while keeping disparate fronts and factions. All that was required was faction attack bucket merging, NOT a unified front!

A bi-factional balancing attempt will always fail, however under the old system even if I.S. vs. Clan was on average neutral the small factional differences on specific fronts are what made things interesting depending on how well certain factions fought or where certain mercs were that week. Now it is just bland farming.

Having phases has been suggested a hundred times and is not a bad idea. But when you apply this detail (campaign phases) to a higher abstraction (tug of war bar), it is pretty pointless. When they took our buckets away, they also took our planets. Now you have a blob of eight "planets" fought over through "tug of war". Indeed, if match results were close you could be stuck in Skirmish for 8 hours.

While consolidating the war to IS/Clan may have been needed, the one bucket "solution" was not. As you said, making the attack queues visible would have done it (players gravitate to the action). This would have left some meaning to faction. It would have left it to the players to force action on one the ten planets.

As Mystere pointed out, greater immersion and detail, not greater abstraction and simplicity is needed for a phase system or a geographical tie in. Like Mystere, I offered a way to do this without overtaxing PGI with something like this:

http://www.blackdeserttome.com/map/

Instead, a schematic representation could keep things simple for PGI's sake while allowing parts of the planet to be in different "phases".

https://mwomercs.com...ittle-too-late/

Edited by BearFlag, 30 December 2016 - 05:41 PM.