342 replies to this topic

[DGTLDaemon]

Bud, I think it's us who should be sending you the gift packs, not the other way around Good job organizing this community effort. You gave us all an incentive to share our builds, and maybe help someone who was more confused about the Skill Tree than ourselves in the process. A while ago I was in a pug match, and a guy on our team went on comms at the beginning of the match and thanked me for posting my mini-guides, saying that he was running a bunch of my builds... And I have to tell you, this was one of the warmest moments I've experienced in my MWO carreer, knowing that my efforts helped someone else. And I probably wouldn't have bothered posting my builds if you didn't nudge me in the right direction So once again, great job, man! It's rare to see someone invest not only their time, but also their own money into the community.

As for what I want... Well, I'm a die-hard Clan player ("dirty Clanner" in your IS parlance ), so I'll take a standard Mad Cat MkII pack, please

[ScrubLord1]

Thanks for putting this together, Bud!

[Gwahlur]

Good initiative this one, gratz to all the winners and props to the OP for starting it.

Sadly I never got around to sharing my builds, I was planning to but I forgot about it :/

[Scyther]

I'd like to thank Bud Crue for putting up the incentive for this and making this thread/ideas happen, and for his commitment to spend his own $$$ to move the game/playerbase forward on the whole skill tree issue.

(Now if only PGI would get the notion that "a spoon full of sugar helps the mega-nerfs go down"... although TBH they've been getting better at it.)

I'd also like to thank the other posters, the readers and commenters, and of course all the little skill nodes that made this possible...

Edited by MadBadger, 08 June 2017 - 03:56 AM.

[Bud Crue]

El Bandito, on 07 June 2017 - 09:36 PM, said:

Yay, I won! This goes well with my 20,000 posts milestone celebration. Thanks, Bud.

I saw that. Congrats!

[Bud Crue]

DGTLDaemon, on 07 June 2017 - 11:42 PM, said:

A while ago I was in a pug match, and a guy on our team went on comms at the beginning of the match and thanked me for posting my mini-guides, saying that he was running a bunch of my builds... And I have to tell you, this was one of the warmest moments I've experienced in my MWO carreer, knowing that my efforts helped someone else.

That is excellent and all I was hoping to do with this.

[cazidin]

Bud Crue, on 07 June 2017 - 06:57 PM, said:

Contest is over. I see no point in waiting until the June patchnotes as I originally stated. Tough nougies if you don't like that.

I think this was a great effort. You all did a magnificent job at alleviating the intense anxiety that a lot of the community was feeling immediately after the skills tree changes went live. Over 15,000 views. That is something. Sure only a handful posted, but a lot of people checked out what you did here and I think it helped give guidance were there had been none before.

Without further ado, the winners on their merits (most likes and comment):

G4LV4TRON
Nightmare1
Scrublord1
Tarogato
El Bandito
Xetelian
CadoAzazel
Agent Orange
Mcgral18
Cazidin

Great job all of you. I thank you, those who grabbed your ideas thank you, and even though they won't...PGI ought to thank you.

Some of you, despite not getting a lot of feedback on your posts really pushed this effort and I want to express my thanks to you as well. To that end, the money I had set aside for another future contest (I was going to do another "what's your bet on the next -but most undeserving- mechs to get nerfed by PGI" contest) will be added here as well. Additional winners at my discretion are:

Wattila and Palfatreos for just a great number and variety of builds and most effort and pushing the diaolog far more than my bitterness would allow.
DGTLDaemon and MadBadger for much the same.
Finally, Jay Jeon Hart for all around enthusiasm and variety of constructive posts.

All winners PM me or post here as to what you want. I will do any single gift store purchase up to $20 bucks for each winner.

To everyone else who participated, I am really glad you posted. I truly thought the game was doomed after all of PGI's NERF THE QUIRKS BS during the PTSs (that they significantly backed off of) and the fact that the skills tree buffed mechs that didn't need buffing. You people talked me down from a metaphorical ledge (and you talked down a few others too based on this thread) and I really appreciate your even handed approach to dealing with all of it. I'd like to think you helped more than just me.

I wish I had more cash so as to give all of you a reward, but I don't and I can't. I hope you take as consolation that what you did do is show PGI and the greater community how to engage with, and even embrace change for good or ill; and to help others develop their own ideas and just help each other get better at the game (especially potential new players). You are all a credit to this community.

Edit:
Winners I have a busy rest of the week, I may not get to sending out your codes until the weekend, but I will do my best to do it as your instructions roll in.

I thought I would've been higher on that list... which, can only mean that everyone else did exceptionally well and that they're guides reached and helped many!

[Wattila]

Yay. It has been an interesting thread for sure, and just participating in the discussion has been a great help in trying to make a sense of the skill tree.

Also, thanks to Bud Crue for organizing the contest, turned out to be a lot of fun.

[Bud Crue]

cazidin, on 08 June 2017 - 05:59 AM, said:

I thought I would've been higher on that list... which, can only mean that everyone else did exceptionally well and that they're guides reached and helped many!

Ya did fine. I didn't go hunting in to your linked posts. Ya had enough to make the top ten here, It was enough and you helped. Congrats.

[Deathlike]

I still hate the skill tree. Full stop.

[Bud Crue]

Deathlike, on 08 June 2017 - 08:54 AM, said:

I still hate the skill tree. Full stop.

I am indifferent to most of the actual skills of the skills tree. I am not good enough to notice a .75% or 3% change in anything. I do hate the fact that as such, I am essentially forced to min max the thing to get any noticeable use out of it. Then I hat it even more when I have to go into that god awful UI and use it. Then it always pops into my head that I am going to have to do this over and over and over everytime PGI gets a whim to change underlying mechanics or in the near future as they have promised. Knowing that and the fact that they are going to charge me for the pleasure makes me hate it even more.

I love this game. I hate some parts of it.

[Onimusha shin]

Congrats to all winners. Pity it sorta came down to a popularity contest kinda feel. It seemed hard to really carry out a debate here compared to Reddit.

P.S. I've cracked the meta of the Skills Maze. Take a look here.

[cazidin]

Onimusha shin, on 08 June 2017 - 09:23 AM, said:

Congrats to all winners. Pity it sorta came down to a popularity contest kinda feel. It seemed hard to really carry out a debate here compared to Reddit.

P.S. I've cracked the meta of the Skills Maze. Take a look here.

His guide is excellent.

[Nightmare1]

Deathlike, on 08 June 2017 - 08:54 AM, said:

I still hate the skill tree. Full stop.

Haters gonna hate...

[Agent 0range]

Loads of grsat info in here. Thanks to everyone who liked my builds and I hope this has helped people get to grips with the skills

[Willothius]

Holy sh*t! Lots of science to science things up here!

[Bud Crue]

Willothius, on 12 June 2017 - 05:22 AM, said:

Holy sh*t! Lots of science to science things up here!

Yes. A lot of folks put in a lot of effort. The broad based guides are a great start (imo) for new and returning players to approach the skills tree.

[Gaden Phoenix]

Sorry if it was answered before. But why a lot of builds don't put points in Armor?

[Nightmare1]

Gaden Phoenix, on 08 August 2017 - 05:07 PM, said:

Sorry if it was answered before. But why a lot of builds don't put points in Armor?

Very low rates of return. You get just a couple of points extra usually, so it's not really worth the node investment.

Look at it this way: If you have an Assault with 100 points of armor on your CT, and you buy three nodes of Armor enhancement, then you only get 4.2% bonus armor. That's basically an extra 4.2 points of armor on that CT. You spend 3 whole nodes to get so little armor that it won't even fully negate a Medium Laser. Add to that the amount of intermediary nodes you have to purchase just to open paths to the Armor nodes, and it becomes a rather wasteful skill to pursue.

It's better to spend those nodes on other skills with higher returns. The Weapon tree, for example, has small percentage nodes, but there's very little waste on your paths to them. As a result, your overall investment yields better returns.

Check out this video for some further examples and discussion:

[Wattila]

Nightmare1, on 08 August 2017 - 05:26 PM, said:

Very low rates of return. You get just a couple of points extra usually, so it's not really worth the node investment.

Look at it this way: If you have an Assault with 100 points of armor on your CT, and you buy three nodes of Armor enhancement, then you only get 4.2% bonus armor. That's basically an extra 4.2 points of armor on that CT. You spend 3 whole nodes to get so little armor that it won't even fully negate a Medium Laser. Add to that the amount of intermediary nodes you have to purchase just to open paths to the Armor nodes, and it becomes a rather wasteful skill to pursue.

It's better to spend those nodes on other skills with higher returns. The Weapon tree, for example, has small percentage nodes, but there's very little waste on your paths to them. As a result, your overall investment yields better returns.

Check out this video for some further examples and discussion:

Full survival tree is roughly 15% armor and 30% structure on a heavy, and just the left side is about 12% or so (depends on exact tonnage). Everyone maxes armor on torsos, yet it's deemed acceptable to effectively reduce armor by skipping the survival tree (would you take armor off your mech for a little extra agility or range?). That being said, firepower and survival are both important, the other trees are secondary.