46 replies to this topic

[BumbleBee]

BrandonKF, on 22 December 2016 - 03:38 PM, said:

I believe that the idea of charging head long into the enemy team isn't the standard of bravery. That would be foolish.

Recklessly charging will get you killed, yes, but making a concerted push at the enemies flank can put them on the defensive. Often victory comes from momentum. The best way to lose in this game is to be too timid.

[The Unstoppable Puggernaut]

I never leave the Mechbay without ECM or Radar Derp. It's absolutely mandatory for me and I always aim to stay near cover. You never know when you'll be the target of a LRMageddon but when it comes, that cover sure comes in handy. Failing that retreat at full speed, it might be a UAV which you cannot see, if you can escape it, you can avoid any further damage (just try to remember if you had back armour).

As for pugs. I always try to get people to rally on an idea if I see no decision is being made or the wrong decision is being made. Just make a subtle suggestion and most times people will pick something over nothing, Any plan is way better than random pugging.

I hope this helps but don't get frustrated. If you are the carrier there's always still more you can do without having to engage. Calling targets (on comms or command wheel), scouting ahead to alert the team of where they are coming etc.

[Clownwarlord]

BrandonKF, on 22 December 2016 - 02:45 PM, said:

It won't be pretty. I get sick of dealing with this game at tier 5 and having losses.

Get good does not apply. I don't even know what sort of matchmaking this game uses for balance. Sure feels like there isn't when you get started and see zero ECM, AMS, and the other team is laser and LRM spam.

Someone clear that up.

Yeah that is still a problem because MM doesn't take in account ECM, or AMS.

BUT!!! You do know there are some mechs you could pilot that have um ECM and AMS. Like Kit Fox has 3 AMS and ECM, there problem solved right no lrm will touch you and if it dos then well ... use cover?

[Lukoi Banacek]

BrandonKF, on 22 December 2016 - 03:34 PM, said:

Sore, yes.

Though if you want to talk about crying like a baby, I suppose you can call it that if you like. I have personally grown tired of grown men taking a competitive attitude and dismissing it as whining.

So you can take that pacifier and shove it up your fourth point of contact.

Hey Airborne, control what you can control. You're significantly below the match score average for the typical season after so many games. That's mostly on you, more so than anything else.

That's not a knock on you, just an observation. If you're concerned about being as competitive as you can be, as others have noted, start with yourself.

Figure what you're doing that's keeping you at below average stats:

- if you think LRM's are always on the other side, what are you doing about that? sticking to cover, using radar deprivation, bringing ECM/AMS.....and as previously noted, STICKING to cover?
- are you positioning yourself where terrain is between you and friendlies (so you're no longer mutually supporting each other)?
- are you target fixating, getting that vision through a straw as you try to run down a kill, so much so that you lose situational awareness of the mini-map?
- what are your builds like?

Get your own stuff in order, you'll find you're not being paired with awful potatoes as much as you think you are know. Right now, you might be the potato, but that's a fixable issue.

RLTW.

[Karl Streiger]

Mole, on 22 December 2016 - 03:13 PM, said:

People seriously need to learn to stop worrying about their team their team their team so damn much and just worry about what they can actually control; themselves. You will drive yourself up a wall in frustration getting angry at PUG players for being useless and it will never ever get better no matter how many blood vessels you rupture in your brain. The only thing you can control in this game is what you do, and how you play. Focus on that, focus on being good at what you do and be happy with the fact that even if you lost, you did good. It makes this game a lot more fun and a lot less infuriating, believe me.

This
As T4 that drop since Monday with T1 and T5 in the same game it is a lottery, but out of 9 defeats yesterday I might say that only one of them was caused by my team - were a better team would have caused victory (or at least when those 3 mechs didn't wander of and died on their own) - ok a second was Alpine Domination but do different story.
So from the remaining 7 defeats - I have made 3 scrub style mistakes - brawling in a sniper, running face to face with a Kdk although I've had PPCs - minimal range, third time I didn't said the team that they should stop snipe at 1500m with advanced zoom and watch the flank because we were overrun, 4 I fumbled with the control of my Ebon and the gauss rifle keept silent when I need it most.

So remain 3 defeats were neither the team, the Gamemode nor my self caused it -
2 were escort missions as attacker so maybe again teamwork that caused defeat.
Anyhow in 50% of your defeats it is partly one or multiple mistakes of your self that caused it

[PhoenixFire55]

BrandonKF, on 22 December 2016 - 02:45 PM, said:

Get good does not apply. I don't even know what sort of matchmaking this game uses for balance. Sure feels like there isn't when you get started and see zero ECM, AMS, and the other team is laser and LRM spam

Sorry but the fact that you think that amount of ECM and AMS is somehow relevant in terms of actually winning the engagement really says it all.

I'd rather see mechs that aren't going to hide all game (ECM) and mechs that dedicate all their tonnage to something useful (i.e. weapons and speed) instead of something that doesn't even save them from what it is supposed to save them from (especially considering that certain something is argubly the worst weapon system in game).

[BrandonKF]

BumbleBee, on 23 December 2016 - 12:22 AM, said:

Recklessly charging will get you killed, yes, but making a concerted push at the enemies flank can put them on the defensive. Often victory comes from momentum. The best way to lose in this game is to be too timid.

Sometimes. Other times, like the one match that didn't crash on me this night, I did alright by being timid at the start.

The Unstoppable Puggernaut, on 23 December 2016 - 01:31 AM, said:

I never leave the Mechbay without ECM or Radar Derp. It's absolutely mandatory for me and I always aim to stay near cover. You never know when you'll be the target of a LRMageddon but when it comes, that cover sure comes in handy. Failing that retreat at full speed, it might be a UAV which you cannot see, if you can escape it, you can avoid any further damage (just try to remember if you had back armour).

As for pugs. I always try to get people to rally on an idea if I see no decision is being made or the wrong decision is being made. Just make a subtle suggestion and most times people will pick something over nothing, Any plan is way better than random pugging.

I hope this helps but don't get frustrated. If you are the carrier there's always still more you can do without having to engage. Calling targets (on comms or command wheel), scouting ahead to alert the team of where they are coming etc.

Don't have VOIP, my service would lag badly and I'd crash even more often.

Clownwarlord, on 23 December 2016 - 01:45 AM, said:

Yeah that is still a problem because MM doesn't take in account ECM, or AMS.

BUT!!! You do know there are some mechs you could pilot that have um ECM and AMS. Like Kit Fox has 3 AMS and ECM, there problem solved right no lrm will touch you and if it dos then well ... use cover?

Lights make my comp crash more often due to changes in speed and textures. Intel HD4400 GPU, it doesn't keep up as well at high speed.

Lukoi Banacek, on 23 December 2016 - 02:00 AM, said:

Hey Airborne, control what you can control. You're significantly below the match score average for the typical season after so many games. That's mostly on you, more so than anything else.

That's not a knock on you, just an observation. If you're concerned about being as competitive as you can be, as others have noted, start with yourself.

Figure what you're doing that's keeping you at below average stats:

- if you think LRM's are always on the other side, what are you doing about that? sticking to cover, using radar deprivation, bringing ECM/AMS.....and as previously noted, STICKING to cover?
- are you positioning yourself where terrain is between you and friendlies (so you're no longer mutually supporting each other)?
- are you target fixating, getting that vision through a straw as you try to run down a kill, so much so that you lose situational awareness of the mini-map?
- what are your builds like?

Get your own stuff in order, you'll find you're not being paired with awful potatoes as much as you think you are know. Right now, you might be the potato, but that's a fixable issue.

RLTW.

That's tanker, not Airborne.

I'm aware of what my scores are, and I don't know how they look compared to the rest, because I'm not paying to win. I'm playing to win. I try out different builds on relatively few Mechs, because quite frankly, I don't have the money.

Radar Deprivation I only just bought, and it's still going to cost me an arm and a leg to get for one Mech, let alone seven.

Edited by BrandonKF, 23 December 2016 - 07:21 PM.

[BrandonKF]

PhoenixFire55, on 23 December 2016 - 04:23 AM, said:

Sorry but the fact that you think that amount of ECM and AMS is somehow relevant in terms of actually winning the engagement really says it all.

I'd rather see mechs that aren't going to hide all game (ECM) and mechs that dedicate all their tonnage to something useful (i.e. weapons and speed) instead of something that doesn't even save them from what it is supposed to save them from (especially considering that certain something is argubly the worst weapon system in game).

Does it matter?

I believe the answer would be a resounding f***ing YES. It does. The only difference is that in higher tiers, as I understand it, LRMs aren't used as much because most folks just stick to cover all the time. Damned if I know how you operate there, but damned if I could really know or care, all I know is that LRMs in this game are used quite often, and as I have been told, you deal with it.

How? Well, either use cover (which may or may not work, depending on where you are), or find a way to avoid being seen (ECM), or use AMS to nullify some of the incoming.

[Y E O N N E]

BrandonKF, on 23 December 2016 - 07:18 PM, said:

How? Well, either use cover (which may or may not work, depending on where you are), or find a way to avoid being seen (ECM), or use AMS to nullify some of the incoming.

Or get down their throats, or have superior direct fire flying in their direction....

[Lukoi Banacek]

BrandonKF, on 23 December 2016 - 07:15 PM, said:

That's tanker, not Airborne.

I'm aware of what my scores are, and I don't know how they look compared to the rest, because I'm not paying to win. I'm playing to win. I try out different builds on relatively few Mechs, because quite frankly, I don't have the money.

Radar Deprivation I only just bought, and it's still going to cost me an arm and a leg to get for one Mech, let alone seven.

Ah my mistake tread-head. You used a reference that applies specifically to the Airborne, so I guess I assumed you must be something other than a leg.

As I said, if you're PLAYING TO WIN, as I said, take what I wrote to heart. Nothing up there has anything to do with "paying to win." That you didn't know how you were performing, really isn't the issue. It's helpful to know it and know you can look it up yourself. But fixing it is on you.

Edited by Lukoi Banacek, 23 December 2016 - 08:42 PM.

[BrandonKF]

Lukoi Banacek, on 23 December 2016 - 08:41 PM, said:

Ah my mistake tread-head. You used a reference that applies specifically to the Airborne, so I guess I assumed you must be something other than a leg.

As I said, if you're PLAYING TO WIN, as I said, take what I wrote to heart. Nothing up there has anything to do with "paying to win." That you didn't know how you were performing, really isn't the issue. It's helpful to know it and know you can look it up yourself. But fixing it is on you.

That's a big negative, red legger.

You boys aren't the only ones who need points of contact anymore. Climbing around, three points of contact maintained at all times. Your fourth point is the safest of course, depending on where you are.

As for fixing it, quite frankly, fixing it implies something's broken. If I'm going to compare my stats with others who want to talk about KD ratios, well then, I'm not really in it to win, I'm in it to make my stats look good. That's not going to pass muster with me.

[Tristan Winter]

If you identify as a competitive player (or attack helicopter), then go join a unit with a competitive team and play in the group queue.

Your options are basically: 1- Do something proactive. 2- Try to convince PGI to make things better. 3- Do nothing.

Solo queue exists only to break your will. It's the seventh level of hell in Dante's Inferno.

[El Bandito]

BrandonKF, on 23 December 2016 - 07:15 PM, said:

Radar Deprivation I only just bought, and it's still going to cost me an arm and a leg to get for one Mech, let alone seven.

Good news is that new skill tree will be here on February. There will be no need to buy so many Raderp modules, as those will be gone.

[DrxAbstract]

El Bandito, on 23 December 2016 - 10:38 PM, said:

Good news is that new skill tree will be here on February. There will be no need to buy so many Raderp modules, as those will be gone.

Bad news is in order to get it once again you'll actually have to sacrifice other equally useful options... Same with Seismic. Unlike now where there isnt a decision to make - You either have the C-Bills to buy it or you don't.

[Lukoi Banacek]

BrandonKF, on 23 December 2016 - 10:21 PM, said:

That's a big negative, red legger.

You boys aren't the only ones who need points of contact anymore. Climbing around, three points of contact maintained at all times. Your fourth point is the safest of course, depending on where you are.

As for fixing it, quite frankly, fixing it implies something's broken. If I'm going to compare my stats with others who want to talk about KD ratios, well then, I'm not really in it to win, I'm in it to make my stats look good. That's not going to pass muster with me.

Red legs are Artillery man. And the only reason ya need your fourth point of contact is for pulling great threads like this one out. You wanna co-opt a term from the Airborne, at least figure out how to use it a bit better.

KDR, WLR, Average Match score are all indicators of how well you contribute to the winning of your team. Go look at any of the players from DIV A MRBC teams, or Empyreal the recent winners of MWOWC, etc etc. If you look at players with a reasonably sized sample (say 50 matches or so in a month/season), you'll see most if not all of them contribute significantly and that's why they win as often as they do. It's a teamwork game, but that doesn't mean you might not be a weak link in the chain.

If after coming to this forum to cry about the MM, when there's clearly a series of indicators staring you right in the face that you are the common denominator of your perceived team problem, then you should expect to get called out for it.

What doesn't pass muster here is you being stubbornly oblivious to your contribution to your troubles. If you honestly feel like ECM/AMS are somehow the issue, I don't know what else to tell you. You clearly don't yet understand enough about how this game works. Look at the previous tips, do an honest self-assessment and see where you're lacking. Those are areas you can improve on and I bet you'll find that ECM/AMS are the least of the issues you need to worry about in tier 5.

[MechaBattler]

You gotta play like your Liao, the enemy team are all Clanners, and your own team are all Davions out to screw you somehow.

Pug life is about judging how your team is reacting as much as how the enemy team is.

[Lukoi Banacek]

DrxAbstract, on 23 December 2016 - 10:58 PM, said:

Bad news is in order to get it once again you'll actually have to sacrifice other equally useful options... Same with Seismic. Unlike now where there isnt a decision to make - You either have the C-Bills to buy it or you don't.

We don't know yet how it's really going to work out.

You may well be able to go down the "sensory" branch to get Radar and Seismic on all of your mechs, cover a couple of weapon slots etc, just as we have now. We don't know what the caps are, how many points we're allowed etc yet. Just placeholders.

I think the unfortunate part is though is that it likely shifts the grind from c-bills (buying multiple copies of unlocked modules) to needing more xp, gxp to unlock them across multiple mechs. Worse still, space-poor folks cannot move modules mech to mech anymore under this system.

[Shiroi Tsuki]

BrandonKF, on 22 December 2016 - 02:45 PM, said:

It won't be pretty. I get sick of dealing with this game at tier 5 and having losses.

Get good does not apply. I don't even know what sort of matchmaking this game uses for balance. Sure feels like there isn't when you get started and see zero ECM, AMS, and the other team is laser and LRM spam.

Someone clear that up.

Here's a few suggestions OP

• Quit picking Polar
  
• Don't rely on AMS and ECM alone, rely on physically dodging them and cover. Cover is almost always your friend when it comes to LRMs.
  
• Close in the distance when you have the chance. LRMs can't do bat shizzles below 180m.
  
• Learn to be a part of the team, but at the same time, learn how to be self sustainable.
  
• Invest on better builds
  
• Try different play styles
  
• Try different strategies
  
• When you're Narc'd find cover ASAP (It says above the mode you're in; NORM/THERM/NIGHT)
  
• When you're tagged, break LOS

[DrxAbstract]

Lukoi Banacek, on 23 December 2016 - 11:10 PM, said:

We don't know yet how it's really going to work out.

You may well be able to go down the "sensory" branch to get Radar and Seismic on all of your mechs, cover a couple of weapon slots etc, just as we have now. We don't know what the caps are, how many points we're allowed etc yet. Just placeholders.

I think the unfortunate part is though is that it likely shifts the grind from c-bills (buying multiple copies of unlocked modules) to needing more xp, gxp to unlock them across multiple mechs. Worse still, space-poor folks cannot move modules mech to mech anymore under this system.

True, we don't know precisely how large the trees are, how high the cap is or the respective depths within those trees the most favorable skills will rest... However, as previous iterations of the exact same type of skill tree layout used in numerous other games have demonstrated, you can easily and assuredly conclude that:

1. You will not be able to 'max out' all of the trees, typically no more than 1 or 2 with some spillover into others.
2. 'Critical' skills will be preceded by less-than-favorable skills, which leads to...
3. The sacrificing of multiple skill points that would collectively grant a favorable bonus in order to reach one of equal, greater or 'essential' benefit, which results in...
4. Critical decision making and cost vs. benefit analysis within the parameters of the design goal.

And I don't really see the downside of moving away from the C-Bill oriented Module system, which is by comparison extremely confined and unimaginative, to one that relies on another passively-earned resource (XP/GXP) that has no other outlying demands for expenditures. It shifts some of the weight from an otherwise heavily utilized resource to one that is equally available yet underutilized... Helping the 'space poor'.

The only thing it doesn't allow is seamlessly switching from one chassis to another for New Mechs and New Players until an effort of an undetermined amount is made. That's only temporary because after crossing that threshold it will be easier to switch between established Mechs... Which I, personally, prefer.

The only legitimate downsides I see with the new skill system are:

1. It will create a sizable performance gap between established players and new ones - Something PGI has previously expressed a distaste for. This is assuming, though, that the current reward system remains exactly as it is--It may not.

2. It will widen the gap between the Mechs that perform well versus those that do not. This is, again, assuming every chassis begins at the same baseline. PGI has already stated, though, that this will be a consideration in the development process... That doesn't mean they'll actually do anything about it, or that what they do implement has any measurable effect... Which I'm not holding my breath for.

[The Lobsters]

OP, honest to god, so many of your niggles are mitigated in group drops. Solo queue is frustrating whichever tier you drop at. Join a group man! Check these forums for groups you might like and send one of their members a friend invite. I'd say send me one but I'm offline till the holidays end.

Some groups insist that you are vocal on comms, but many are cool with you just listening if that's all your connection allows. You can chat between matches and save the bandwidth during the games.

Even just using the LFG will bring you better quality matches and teams. They at least want to get organised.

When you are dropping regularly, say with a couple of assault pilots you know are always going to form up and push, you can invest your time in playing a certain mech or playstyle. In solo queue you have to come dressed for all weathers.



Ed. also, bandwide or bandthin, turning off your voip in this game is like turning off your HUD!

Edited by The Lobsters, 24 December 2016 - 03:50 AM.