73 replies to this topic

[sycocys]

A good pilot is someone you wouldn't mind having or would want in your next drop whether you won or lost.

That's the only thing I base it on.

Don't really care about your skill level because that can and usually does improve, but if you are an utter S--thead during the matches it doesn't matter how well you did no one will want to play with you again.

[C E Dwyer]

Vellron2005, on 04 January 2018 - 02:00 AM, said:

A "Good player" has the following:

1) Can build a mech, and knows how to use it to its advantages, and how to compensate it's disadvantages.

2) Can, more often than not, at least take out the same amount of mechs out of a match as he/she puts in.. that means for QP 1 KMDD, and for FP 4 KMDDs. Alternatively, knows how to achieve a goal aimed towards victory (Knows when to cap, when to sacrifice himself for a good UAV, or when to provide distractions, or how to support others)

3) Is not toxic and abusive to other players, and is generally a good sport.

4) When playing in a team, can follow basic orders and focus fire.

5) Knows how to open a siege gate.

6) Does not block others or make the gaming experience worse for others by TK-ing, excessive team damage, meatshielding others, kill stealing and such.

7) Does not discriminate against any weapon or playstyle in the game.

8) Is not more worried about padding own's KDR than having a good time.

9) Can maintain com-discipline

10) Does not prolong the inevitable by hiding and powering down when it's the last living mech in a hopelessly lost game.

PS.

This is a fun thread.. it's interesting to read some people's responses, especially the ones which focus on numbers and scores, and only on the "effectiveness aspect" of the game.. not looking at the bigger picture.. It's obvious different people have skewed perception.. you can be the most effective T1 god and still be a terrible player if you ask me..

But that's just my humble opinion..

If this list is definitive there are no good players in M.W.O

[Nightbird]

There are two types of players in this game, players who have fun, and players who have fun and win.

[4rcs1ne]

A good player is a team player: someone who isn't solely concerned with getting the highest damage or kills, but rather what's best for the team at a given moment such as leading a push, scouting, communicating, etc.

Edited by Matt2496, 04 January 2018 - 09:16 AM.

[Vellron2005]

Nightbird, on 04 January 2018 - 08:59 AM, said:

There are two types of players in this game, players who have fun, and players who have fun and win.

I think it's more like 1) Players who have fun playing and 2) Players who have fun spoiling fun for others.

[Dago Red]

Nightbird, on 04 January 2018 - 08:59 AM, said:

There are two types of players in this game, players who have fun, and players who have fun and win.

Come and now there are at least two more types, players who don't have fun but play anyway and players who don't have fun but do win.

Or even worse players who only have fun if they win and pout if they don't.

[Shifty McSwift]

In my opinion; Their ability/willingness to work with others, and some semblance of reasoning (not nerfing themselves and their team by proxy all day with crap builds etc).

In popular opinion; Accuracy and your ability to use others like your own personal meat shield.

One of these things is not like the other.

[PocketYoda]

In this game?

Its how big their egos are.

[LowSubmarino]

A good player looks sexier while doing dumb **** and failing.

[OrmsbyGore]

MischiefSC, on 30 December 2017 - 12:00 PM, said:

If you consistently drive wins then you're good. Be that by teamwork or fighting skills or whatever.

Winning makes you good. Being good at losing but you do a lot of damage isn't a good player.

OK, that's cheating, you're defining being good as driving wins, with no explanation of what it is that drives wins. Also, I assume that "Winning makes you good" actually means "contributing meaningfully to a team victory makes you good" (or else a DCed player on a winning team might be thought of as better than a 600 damage, 1k and some number of assists medium on the losing team), but again, no explanation of what that means.

Of the traits that good players have in common, the most general are:
communication: letting the team know where you've seen the enemy, letting them know when it's time to wait or push, let them know where reinforcements are needed, etc.
movement/positioning: not just taking advantageous ground/cover and denying it to the enemy, but moving with the team or scouting/harassing as a light, and maximizing your ability to deal damage to the enemy while minimizing their ability to return fire. Also, if you're in close with the enemy, don't face tank, as that may hinder your teammates ability to fire on the enemy. And if you have armor, share it to preserve the team's firepower as long as possible
focus fire: this means not only shooting the same target as your teammates, but trying to hit critical components on possible sl mechs, neutering mechs by destroying their most valuable components - an atlas-s w/o a LT is way less of a threat after all - and by shooting the same target UNTIL IT'S DEAD instead of switching targets all the time.

Also, good Pilots press R and then spot target on the command wheel whenever possible (obviously a stealthy light may not want to reveal that they are spotting until the whole team is ready to act, but that's a very specific case).

While I'm at it, good pilots don't put LRM's on assaults, especially not 100 tonners.

I think it's fair to say that those are the minimum basic characteristics of good play that any casual player should brush up on without having to dedicate time and effort to serious comp play, where mech optimization is obviously super important.

Obviously each of those categories involves in-depth analysis and tons of training to master, but just being mindful of certain basic concepts can improve one's play considerably. I believe Kanajashi made a great beginner's guide some time back, a Google search should prove fruitful.

Edited for presentation and to add some things

Edited by OrmsbyGore, 05 January 2018 - 09:53 AM.

[Lykaon]

Possessing a broad understanding of how a match is unfolding and the capacity to see an opertunity and seize that moment.

Or the ability to recognize this ability in others and follow in support of a winning action.

Nearly ever match is determined by a moment when someone recognizes and advantage and leverages that advantage to win.

Far to often I see a team fail to seize and advantage and adopt a "wait and see" strategy when they should have simply lunged at the exposed belly before the enemy can rectify their poor positioning.

[Lykaon]

I just had this scenario happen.

Team dead I was second to last down so I observe our last mech a Spider 5D with ER lrg laser ECM combo.

He's waaaay the hell out from where the fight was happening probably saw the writing on the wall and got out of dodge.

But, here is what happens next. I see him get spotted by an enemy mech a Wolverine 6K with 2 lrg lasers 2 er mediums and a big engine (it's fast but It's hard to tell if XL or LFE). The wolverine has no torso armor on any torso segment and yellow/orange internal structure in the torso areas.

Our spider sees this mech and an urbie with bearly a scratch on it and a centurion with light torso armor damage. The Urbie and cent seem clueless as to where he is but the Wolvie's deffinatley got his number and is on is tail.

Now pretend you are the Spider pilot and select a target.... I will wait....




OK ready?

If you picked the Centurion then you did precisely what my team mate did. I figured he didn't see the Wolverine was a wreck and that it was still in pursuit so I told him he should switch to the wolverine.My tone was quite neutral and non offensive.

He gets super bitchy about it saying stuff like "well you shouldn't have died" "you must suck at this game" and "check my score I'm a pro (to paraphrase)"

So the Wolverine catches up to him and the urbie and cent get lost somehow and can't find him so now he switches to the wolverine (that was taking pop shots on him the whole time he was messing up the Cent's paint job). And fires three consecutive hits on the wolvies left side and arm....???

So I point out this is a 6K with all it's weapons save one in the right arm, So aim right torso that has no armor on it.

He gets even more but hurt over this.

BUT...when he actually did what I was recommending (priority the wolverine and shoot off the right side) he wins the fight.

yet somehow he was an expert and I was wrong? I get being annoyed by "backseat" driving but there comes a point where you need to pay attention and stop making bad choices and if someone notices you're a F-up and corrects you then taking this sound advise and applying it improves your future performances.

And about that "check out my super awesome score" remark I was piloting a bearly skilled cougar and my score within 20 points of his (he was higher by like 17) we both were in excess of 500 damage. So overall If I sucked at this game then he must also suck right? scores under 10% of each other should indicate similar performances?

So I guess another trait that makes a good mechwarrior is accept help and don't be such an "expert" as to ignore and ridicule sound advise.

[Nightbird]

Vellron2005, on 05 January 2018 - 01:58 AM, said:

I think it's more like 1) Players who have fun playing and 2) Players who have fun spoiling fun for others.

If you want to play against players who will let you win, you can find them in any single player game. In any multiplayer game, you have to earn wins.

[Lykaon]

Vellron2005, on 05 January 2018 - 01:58 AM, said:

I think it's more like 1) Players who have fun playing and 2) Players who have fun spoiling fun for others.

If what you mean by this is players who put forth some effort to secure a victory are to blame for the loss experienced by the opposing side then... I just don't know how you see any justification in vilifying those who win on purpose over those who win by the simple virtue of sucking less than their opponents.

[LordNothing]

i think the big thing is you have to play outside your comfort zone. im very comfortable brawling in an assault or lone wolfing it in a light. i suck at trading and long range combat (unless its my 8x cac2 dire for some reason). so for like a week i did nothing but long range trading builds to work on that skill. if there is a class you really cant handle (my weakest is mediums), you need to get in that class and figure out why. so many players are comfortable in qp, not wanting to abandon the safety net that is the matchmaker (which is a placebo most of the time). i just find myself playing a lot of fp games instead. weapons too, when i started i avoided ppcs, gauss rifles, etc and i had way too many lerm and streak boats. slowly moved into laser and ballistic weapons. i was also weary of high alpha laser vomit builds because of the difficulty of heat management, again i pushed those limits and now have more skill in that area. if you find yourself leaning on something too much, try something else.

[ANOM O MECH]

MischiefSC, on 30 December 2017 - 12:00 PM, said:

Winning.

How good are that winning matches.

If you consistently drive wins then you're good. Be that by teamwork or fighting skills or whatever.

Winning makes you good. Being good at losing but you do a lot of damage isn't a good player.

A couple of really exceptional players told me a couple of things.

Survival. Knowing how to keep yourself alive as long as possible and getting good at using the terrain, other mechs (friendly or otherwise), buildings, etc. Knowing the map well enough to know where to go when in trouble. Just being able to stay alive to give yourself an opportunity to win.

Heat. We are limited by it. Part of being good is riding that heat and firing as much as you are able to while staying within your threshold.

These couple of things are something I am always looking at and trying to improve.

[ANOM O MECH]

VonBruinwald, on 30 December 2017 - 12:31 PM, said:

A good player is one who imparts "fun" on others:

Whether that be by streams, banter, drop calling, builds (both practical and impractical) or influencing the battlefield in a way that provides a welcome challenge to others is neither here or there.

Conversely a bad player is one who is one who is solely focused on their own sense of fun; Pug stomping, criticising/insulting other players, aggressive meta-gaming and seeking to detract enjoyment from others via mechanic exploitation lies within their territory.


Real men prefer the thrill of battle to the euphoria from winning.

Thank God the real men who actually fight wars aren't silly and don't think foolish things like using the best tactics available to win is somehow a bad thing and amoral.

Imagine if this brand of idiot thinking was around during WWII?

We'd all be speaking german, and the world would have a lot fewer people on it.

Edited by tker 669, 07 January 2018 - 12:00 AM.

[ANOM O MECH]

TechChris, on 31 December 2017 - 01:49 AM, said:

Well.......

According to most ForumWarriors, it's based entirely on you K/D stat and/or W/L stat and/or Leaderboard Rank!!! Whichever suits them at any given times or works to "facilitate" whatever "point" there trying to make.

Like those same stats that show you are much, much better than most (like me for sure) people that play this game?

Are you saying that those stats over 2204 matches are wrong and you are actually not a really good player?

Leaderboard rank, hell I am with you there as I am in the top 20 in heavies by match score in season 18 but the sample size is too small and the account was in tier four at the time. So yeah, that crap can be completely meaningless.

Honestly though, you wouldn't say a player who has excellent numbers across the board isn't a decent player, would you?

[gooddragon2]

For me:
+Decent aim
+Some map awareness
+Decent build brought to battle (not 4 tags, nor 8 heavy large lasers, though many different builds can work)
+Some heat level awareness
+Some tactical knowledge (knowing when to hold 'em, knowing when to fold 'em, knowing when to walk away, knowing when to run...)
+Communication

Improvements in those increase how good a player is imo.

[arcana75]

In my opinion a good pilot is someone who scores average 250-300 match score in all weight classes, and has 20-25% usage statistics across all weight classes.