69 replies to this topic

[HammerMaster]

Spheroid, on 25 February 2018 - 01:01 PM, said:

I oppose Twitter on principle, not as a tool to contact Russ.

It is contributing to the dumbing down of society. People used to read more. Opinions were previously submitted in long form fashion as letters to the editor. Now, even the POTUS tweets insane rants at 3 AM instead of utilizing the staff which he is entitled to.

No one who runs a business should tweet anything. Why did I even take business communications in college if memorandums were not going to be the primary means of communication shortly into this century?

Technology has given us many amazing things in the last twenty years. Calculations per second are massively larger, flat panel screens are a huge improvement over CRTs and digital media has lead to interesting changes in consumption and rental of content.

I don't see how anything connected with social media has improved the human condition. An entire generation of youth is growing up as cyber zombies and civility and discourse are in the toilet as is trust in institutions. The alleged ability connect us all is actually doing the opposite by virtue of its echo chamber effect.

People don't need more social media, they need more interpersonal contact. Also people require quiet time to reflect and recharge their batteries between social functions not to be constantly jacked into the net where corporations, your employer or your friends know what you buy, when you bought it or when you go to the bathroom.

Well said. Huzzah.

[HammerMaster]

Kubernetes, on 27 February 2018 - 01:23 AM, said:

It's an excellent idea. The QP meta always devolves to "do-it-all" builds because of lack of mech choice. Brawlers are never meta because there are too many maps on which they're rendered ineffective. Same with LRMs and Narc support. It's awful to get Alpine or Polar with a brawler, which is why I rarely play one in QP. Give me mech choice and I'll brawl all the time on Mining, HPG, Canyon, etc.

Um sir. Do it all builds IS Battletech.

Back on topic.
A resounding NO!
I said it before. I'll tell you again. En route on the dropship your mech load out can NOT be changed unless your machine has (Prime) in it's name and you are changing to (A). Another missed opportunity by PGI.

Edited by HammerMaster, 28 February 2018 - 02:25 PM.

[BlueStrat]

HammerMaster, on 28 February 2018 - 02:21 PM, said:

En route on the dropship your mech load out can NOT be changed unless your machine has (Prime) in it's name and you are changing to (A). Another missed opportunity by PGI.

So you're telling us that the starship that brought the dropship did not know what system/planet they were traveling to and the dropship loaded up on the starship without knowing the destination as well?

Did they roll six-sided dice to determine the destination, or did they just punch in random coordinates and hope for the best?

Inquiring minds...

[HammerMaster]

BlueStrat, on 28 February 2018 - 03:31 PM, said:

So you're telling us that the starship that brought the dropship did not know what system/planet they were traveling to and the dropship loaded up on the starship without knowing the destination as well?

Did they roll six-sided dice to determine the destination, or did they just punch in random coordinates and hope for the best?

Inquiring minds...

Jumpship sir.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/JumpShip
And yes. Roll dice. It depends.
Do you have the parts? Techs? Equipment? And let's say it doesn't happen on the jumpship. You sure as heck ain't doing while doing a 4G burn inbound on dropship?!

Who else can I offend from Immersion Island?

Edited by HammerMaster, 28 February 2018 - 04:54 PM.

[InspectorG]

Gas Guzzler, on 26 February 2018 - 10:55 AM, said:

This is actually the complete opposite of the truth. ...

It is the lack of knowledge about the map that makes the more mid-range versatile builds so much more popular in quick play.

No, we dont see players farm 'brawl maps' like they do cold/LRM maps do we?

Mid range is more optimal not due to map ignorance but it works sub-optimally at range(brawlers dont work at all, loses out to free trades) and can work in brawls as well. Mid-Range is generally more meta in Solo.

[Y E O N N E]

InspectorG, on 28 February 2018 - 05:32 PM, said:

No, we dont see players farm 'brawl maps' like they do cold/LRM maps do we?

Hard to farm maps that don't exist.

[Anjian]

Many games do this, and they don't exactly suffer for it. These include many of the biggest games in the industry.

Having said that, they also have well designed maps and game modes that limit you from gaming the map with a particular build.

Selection also happens with games that have respawn, particularly those with drop decks or presets. A multi-role deck tends account for all maps, as well allow choices for team synergy (if someone picks tank, you pick mage or damage dealer to create a balanced team) A single multirole deck can't be used to game a map or game mode, since if the optimized mech for the map is destroyed, you have to use the remaining ones in your deck which maybe optimized for another map or game mode, and less favorable to current game.

We have to take account that none of these are in the main Quickplay game mode in the moment.

[RustyBolts]

@Nema. How are you forced to change mechs? You still have the option to stay in your selected mech if you want.

[Khobai]

A well designed map should allow a variety of builds.

Canyon Network is a pretty good example of that. You get brawling, sniping, LRMs, all of it on canyon network.

If people are picking specific maps to abuse specific builds, its obviously a map design problem. PGI needs to make more balanced maps like Canyon Network. Not lopsided maps that favor specific builds over others.

Edited by Khobai, 28 February 2018 - 07:31 PM.

[InspectorG]

Yeonne Greene, on 28 February 2018 - 05:46 PM, said:

Hard to farm maps that don't exist.

Canyon, HPG, Grim, are the more 'brawl friendly' maps...

But yes, we have no 1500m x 1500m maps that drop team hot into a brawl.

[Y E O N N E]

InspectorG, on 28 February 2018 - 07:43 PM, said:

Canyon, HPG, Grim, are the more 'brawl friendly' maps...

But yes, we have no 1500m x 1500m maps that drop team hot into a brawl.

Thing is though, two of those maps are farmed hardcore and the third, Canyon, would be farmed more if it actually showed up in the vote more often.

[InspectorG]

Yeonne Greene, on 28 February 2018 - 07:47 PM, said:

Thing is though, two of those maps are farmed hardcore and the third, Canyon, would be farmed more if it actually showed up in the vote more often.

Farmed not just for the brawling though. I rarely see HPG or Canyon. I farm votes just to counter Forest Colon(kills my FPS).

[Y E O N N E]

I see HPG in spades every time I drop. HPG, Grim Plexus, and Frozen City are the most common votes; Polar Highlands, Canyon Network, and Mining Collective are pretty close seconds, it's really what's in the vote.

The maps that don't get chosen much are Caustic, Forest, and Therma. Crimson and River are more common than those, but notably less common than the first two sets I listed.

[Foxfire]

Honestly wouldn't mind seeing something based on your drop deck for QP.

Nothing like getting stuck on a short ranged knife fighter for maps like Polar Highland, for example.

[BlueStrat]

HammerMaster, on 28 February 2018 - 03:43 PM, said:

And yes. Roll dice. It depends.

So a jumpship just jumps to a random system chosen totally by chance? And the dropship that paid to hitch a ride has no way of knowing what system or planet they'll drop on?

That might fly on a tabletop game with dice and miniatures, but not for a PC combat simulator game with human pilots that have an innate sense of balance and fairness which affects their willingness to play the game, period, and further, to enjoy the experience enough to pay money. It's one thing as a tabletop commander to send imaginary pilots to almost certain death, it's quite another to get online gamers to do it to themselves just because RNGesus and TT lore.

Edited by BlueStrat, 28 February 2018 - 08:58 PM.

[The GaussFather]

Spheroid, on 25 February 2018 - 01:01 PM, said:

I oppose Twitter on principle, not as a tool to contact Russ.

It is contributing to the dumbing down of society. People used to read more. Opinions were previously submitted in long form fashion as letters to the editor. Now, even the POTUS tweets insane rants at 3 AM instead of utilizing the staff which he is entitled to.

No one who runs a business should tweet anything. Why did I even take business communications in college if memorandums were not going to be the primary means of communication shortly into this century?

Technology has given us many amazing things in the last twenty years. Calculations per second are massively larger, flat panel screens are a huge improvement over CRTs and digital media has lead to interesting changes in consumption and rental of content.

I don't see how anything connected with social media has improved the human condition. An entire generation of youth is growing up as cyber zombies and civility and discourse are in the toilet as is trust in institutions. The alleged ability connect us all is actually doing the opposite by virtue of its echo chamber effect.

People don't need more social media, they need more interpersonal contact. Also people require quiet time to reflect and recharge their batteries between social functions not to be constantly jacked into the net where corporations, your employer or your friends know what you buy, when you bought it or when you go to the bathroom.

Can I copy this awesome rant and post it on Facebook?? I agree with everything you just said Brother!

[DerHuhnTeufel]

Antares102, on 25 February 2018 - 12:01 PM, said:

You demand change from PGI but refuse to "change" yourself. Ironic isnt it? El Bandito gave you the tool to make your voice heard. PGI doesnt give a flying rubber duck about the forums. You could also just stand up walk to the next wall and talk to it. Would have the same effect as the forums in terms of change.

God forbid they use their official forums for feedback.

[Nema Nabojiv]

RustyBolts, on 28 February 2018 - 07:22 PM, said:

@Nema. How are you forced to change mechs? You still have the option to stay in your selected mech if you want.

You can stick to your brawling orion on polar, or your lurmboat on mining collective, but if you dont want to be useless you\ll have to choose a mech more suited for the map.
Everyone will do so, and we'll have a meta developed for each map and taking something other than this map's meta will usually mean you gonna lose.

Just go into FP and see how it works.

Edited by Nema Nabojiv, 01 March 2018 - 03:40 AM.

[RustyBolts]

@Nema, I know how faction play works and the ability to choose your mechs based on map is one of the only good things about it. Even in faction play, people drop in their preferred mechs instead of the meta.

[Variant1]

Im sorry but no, this would be a bad idea. It would mean everyone would make mechs to fit that map which defeats the point of having a loadout. Random is what keeps things fresh and forces people to adapt. Id much rather prefer we got random maps instead maybe even random modes as well, that way people wouldnt be able to vote for cold maps.
Which is another problem: we have too many cold maps, we need more hot ones so that loadouts are less heat intesive