134 replies to this topic

[Alexander of Macedon]

lazorbeamz, on 17 April 2018 - 03:31 PM, said:

There s very little in this game besides being able to put crosshairs on the opponent and shoot. 1v1 illustrates your ability to do that perfectly. Thats all this game has to it really when in comes down to its core. My opponent killed me even though i did 450 dmg and he did only 250. You know you ve been outplayed. Builds, twisting and aiming is where its at.

So yes S7 will be appropriate skill meter.

Regarding "tactics" perhaps you are just imagining things. There hasnt been a single time when there was useful voice communication ever during my playtime. Everyone just nascars like lambs. Damage numbers is what decides if you win or lose. And 15 v 15 is just an upscaled 1v1.

Bluntly, Solaris isn't a good universal metric of skill outside of performance in a handful of 'mechs in each tier--the ones that can take the most punishment and carry the largest close-range alpha, in most cases.

Almost every skirmisher, sniper, fire support, &c. 'mech is useless, and that includes many 'mechs that play intermediate brawl/skirmish playstyles because they lack the hardpoints or armor to facehug and keep firing.

I tested out a number of different builds and 'mechs. The ones that did high close-range alpha damage (i.e. splatboats), and the LCT-1E on the tight CQC maps, performed very well even on losses. Everything else sucked.

Edited by Alexander of Macedon, 17 April 2018 - 03:51 PM.

[Zergling]

Problem with people saying their performance in Solaris doesn't matter because Solaris doesn't count teamwork, is that puts focus on their W/L stat in QP.
If their W/L in QP is bad on top of that player performing poorly in Solaris, then they are clearly just making excuses.

[oldradagast]

lazorbeamz, on 17 April 2018 - 03:31 PM, said:

So yes S7 will be appropriate skill meter.

Nope. Solaris tests your ability to pilot a handful of viable mechs with grossly distorted meta-driven builds in a tiny arena free of the "burdens" of teamwork, communication, focusing fire, alternative win conditions, scouting, and much of anything more complicated then "point and click" adventures. If that's all the game has ever been to you, that's not my problem. Same with your apparent amazing game experience of "communication never being of value." Whatever.

Will overall good players be good in Solaris, too? Sure. Will poor players probably be poor there, too? Sure. Is Solaris the "true measure of a MWO player?" Hardly. Again, see my "the only measure of a football player is how often he scores field goals" analogy.

But more importantly, who the heck cares who is "the best MWO player ever?"

I'd rather have a mediocre player on my team who has a sense of humor, can call targets, and who actually TRIES to play as a team than 11 tryhards in meta-builds who can't do anything but snidely compare their epeens in a game with giant robots. It is disappointing how many seek to turn everything into a pathological meritocracy, where one can be "the best" at things that don't matter.

Edited by oldradagast, 17 April 2018 - 04:01 PM.

[KodiakGW]

Don’t worry, that mech will be declared OP and shifted to a higher division....

...in 3 months.

Glad the Top...men were able to figure out it belonged in such a low division.

[Khobai]

the real question is why is that mech in the same division as spiders...

if division 7 is for the absolute worst mechs in the game then the spider certainly belongs there. but that vindicator doesnt.

they are on completely different power levels

Edited by Khobai, 17 April 2018 - 04:31 PM.

[ForceUser]

Unit 86, on 17 April 2018 - 03:42 PM, said:

If Vindicator is such a problem for you why don't you just play it yourself?

That would expose the truth, that the guy currently at the top of the leaderboard is just a better player.

[East Indy]

oldradagast, on 17 April 2018 - 04:01 PM, said:

Nope. Solaris tests your ability to pilot a handful of viable mechs with grossly distorted meta-driven builds in a tiny arena free of the "burdens" of teamwork, communication, focusing fire, alternative win conditions, scouting, and much of anything more complicated then "point and click" adventures. If that's all the game has ever been to you, that's not my problem. Same with your apparent amazing game experience of "communication never being of value." Whatever.

I read this and immediately thought of the crowd of guys who hang around outside the Stormwind or Orgrimmar gates for duels 24/7.

[East Indy]

KodiakGW, on 17 April 2018 - 04:11 PM, said:

Don’t worry, that mech will be declared OP and shifted to a higher division....

...in 3 months.

Glad the Top...men were able to figure out it belonged in such a low division.

PGI really should have set out to shift divisions each week for the first month as players min-maxed. Yeah, it's a lot, but the. Whole. Game. Was. Re-branded. So it's not disproportionate effort.

I suppose they still can. *looks at Russ*

[Zergling]

oldradagast, on 17 April 2018 - 04:01 PM, said:

But more importantly, who the heck cares who is "the best MWO player ever?"

I'd rather have a mediocre player on my team who has a sense of humor, can call targets, and who actually TRIES to play as a team than 11 tryhards in meta-builds who can't do anything but snidely compare their epeens in a game with giant robots. It is disappointing how many seek to turn everything into a pathological meritocracy, where one can be "the best" at things that don't matter.

You're projecting, heavily.

[Kha ak]

The Problem I have is just:

Oh look hes in a 50 ton medium mech, because you know those mechs exist, lets give him 90-100 ton assaults to fight EVERY TIME (that meaning so far out of 12 Battles, 10 have been against Assaults out of which 2 have been wins for me).

Good Job PGI, you've already shown completely incompetent to actually implement something that's fun for Pilots of any Mech.
God damn, im impressed by the stupidity at times.

Inbound for: >git gud, l2p

Edited by Kha ak, 17 April 2018 - 04:38 PM.

[Red Shrike]

ForceUser, on 17 April 2018 - 04:30 PM, said:

That would expose the truth, that the guy currently at the top of the leaderboard is just a better player.

Well, I'm secretly trying to sink to the bottom of the leaderboard. Get me as far away from meta builds and meta playstyles as possible. I just want exciting close call 1v1s with whatever mech I happen to feel like.

[Unit 86]

Sounds like poor excuse. "I'm really a top tier player I'm just playing bad on purpose to have low SR". Yeah. Sure. Kappa.

Edited by Unit 86, 17 April 2018 - 04:45 PM.

[Red Shrike]

Unit 86, on 17 April 2018 - 04:45 PM, said:

Sounds like poor excuse. "I'm really a top tier player I'm just playing bad on purpose to have low SR". Yeah. Sure. Kappa.

I never said I was any good. (Not quite a complete moron either)

In any case, I hope that I'll sink or float to a rating that is becoming of my gameplay and mech builds.

[oldradagast]

Zergling, on 17 April 2018 - 04:35 PM, said:

You're projecting, heavily.

Nope. I know I'm not great, and I am fine with that because it is a game and in no way relevant to my actual, meaningful successes in life. That said, I stand by the facts that one's skill in Solaris does not come anywhere near measuring one's overall skill in this game. More QP and FP games are lost to lousy map awareness, lack of focus fire, and poor communication than not slapping enough meta on your latest dueling mech.

As for the rest, the reality is this is a GAME. It's not some demented life analogy, nor does it need to be a preening ground for epeen strokers who so badly need to "prove" how much better they are than everyone else. Nobody cares except them and - sadly - PGI, who is again wasting what limited resources they have creating another game mode to appeal to the lovers of toxic meritocracies. We did this already. It was called Faction Play. It failed because - surprise! - most people in ANY hobby or sport aren't that good at it and aren't interesting in being stomp-fodder for the elite.

So, big shock - nothing has been learned, more limited resources are being wasted, and the same try-hards who loved the FP game mode are drooling over this one. And they will kill it the exact same way they did Faction Play. Unfortunately, that may be enough to send what's left of this game off the cliff, and that's what would actually disappoint me, particularly given how painfully obvious this outcome was.

Edited by oldradagast, 17 April 2018 - 05:34 PM.

[Banshee2X]

Wow! People crying already what a surprise!

[Alex Morgaine]

*grabs basetech [L] Mechs for funsies

[oldradagast]

Alex Morgaine, on 17 April 2018 - 05:38 PM, said:

*grabs basetech [L] Mechs for funsies

I'm surprised stock build mode wasn't an option. Admittedly, it would end up with its own meta of a handful of viable mechs very quickly, and it would further sub-divide an already absurd number of buckets (in one game mode of out of 3), but it would be in-theme. Oh, well.

[Imperialus]

The appeal for me is the Div 5-6 mechs. It's all the weird, awkward ugly duckling mechs with crap hardpoints, low alpha capability, and other flaws that keep them from being super appealing, even in quickplay, but when they are matched against other mechs of a similar calibre I expect they'll be a ton of fun.

Plus I love my PHX.

[Grus]

Bombast, on 17 April 2018 - 12:52 PM, said:

What, you mean Solaris is nothing but cheese?

Who could have possibly predicted this turn of events?

*Cough* do you remember the cheese posts i made *cough*

[Chados]

I’m glad they released Solaris, because now those who need to play that way can play in the arena and leave the battlefield to those who prefer working as part of a group. In this universe I always have been a soldier, not a gladiator. I’ll watch S7 matches when that’s possible but I doubt I’ll play, the type of mech required isn’t my cup of tea (high focused tournament 1v1 brawlers) and tactics that work in a group deathmatch translate poorly to a 1v1/2v2 contest.

The strength of old Multiplayer Online Battletech was that it had S7 for the gladiator types and war for the rest of us. MWO is close to that; if FW was cooperative PvE in lance-sized drops, it would be MPBT. I’m interested to see where the planned FW revamp goes.