88 replies to this topic

[Astrocanis]

Is it worth giving a try? I am in a unit with a bunch of really great guys. And we never play together. So, no group queue, nor any FP. They are Davion, so I declared for Davion, but have multiple accounts, most of which are factionless.

I'm a fair player. I have streaks of "great" followed by pits of despair. QP is getting to be ridiculous - it seems like the games are always 12-2 or so (with a very few exceptions) and you either are part of the 12, or part of the 2. I rarely feel like I can make a difference. You might be on a team with an LRM Atlas and no other assaults, or packed on a team with fairly fast assaults and a lot of lights or mediums.

And don't get me started with teams like last night with 3 Annis and a Fafnir. The game was practically over before they got to the fight.

Help.

[Eisenhorne]

I like faction play, but you need to find a group in order to actually have fun with it.

FP is often similarly stompy, except you can choose to be on the stomping side if you just get a group together. I think my Smoke Jaguar record from the last event is like 85-5 or something like that, most of my games were with a group of 5-12 of other guys I know who also play a lot of Faction Play.

Solo FP is basiclally super hard mode. Some very good players can carry a team to victory, but it usually requires you to kill at least 1/4 of the enemy team by yourself (12 kills, 3k + damage). If you can't pull that kind of weight (most players can't) then I wouldn't recommend solo FP. So find a group. Search the unit recruiting forums here, find teamspeaks, jump on, look for groups, and join one.

Edited by Eisenhorne, 11 September 2018 - 09:57 AM.

[K O Z A K]

you should definitely give it a go, you can try to risk it solo, but it would be closer to lottery like QP, and even if you kill 12 mechs solo and do 3k+ you will often lose, but you'll have lots of fun doing it (unless you're one of those guys that think every drop is the world cup finals). As Eisen said you can control the "lottery" factor by joining up with other team minded players, if you work together this will drastically increase your chance of winning and you might make some new friends, for the vast majority of drops a group of 3-5 is plenty to have lots of fun and shoot robots together, and mostly win, you don't really need 12 except when you're facing a supergroup or another 12 man. Just don't give up, encourage your pugs to not give up, losing wave 1 even 12:0 does NOT mean the match is over unlike in QP where mostly once one side starts rolling the other it's a matter of minutes at most until it's over. In FP I've had many drops where after losing wave 1 my team clawed out a victory, and vice versa

[Spheroid]

Are you looking for a new unit? It sounds like it.

[Davegt27]

well you never know until you try

just try it

[Elad]

Its worth trying, but you really need to have proper decks set up to really enjoy it. You will need at least a long range deck and a mid-range deck. There are several google docs floating around with FP builds (Magic Pain Glove and DenAirwalker are the two that spring to mind) to give you some ideas and I'm sure people here would help with suggestions/tweaks if you post up proposed decks/builds that you plan to use.

[Eisenhorne]

Elad, on 11 September 2018 - 12:31 PM, said:

Its worth trying, but you really need to have proper decks set up to really enjoy it. You will need at least a long range deck and a mid-range deck. There are several google docs floating around with FP builds (Magic Pain Glove and DenAirwalker are the two that spring to mind) to give you some ideas and I'm sure people here would help with suggestions/tweaks if you post up proposed decks/builds that you plan to use.

Yea... in addition, the decks are often made up of mechs you'd never take to quick play. My long range deck, for example, has 2 Battlemaster BLR-1G in it with XL350 engines and 6 ER Large Lasers. Not good at fighting anything close range, but at 800-1000 meters, it's probably the best mech in the game. FP allows you to have a very large range of specialized mechs that you only take in certain game modes on certain maps.

[Davegt27]

dude don't post your loadouts

the try hards will just give you hell (that includes PGI)

[Elad]

When I'm solo dropping as IS, my ranged deck had 3 mechs with erll and the last mech is a light or med (usually with mpls or srms); my generalist deck has 3-4 heavies that go at least 70kph with ll/erml; and my deck for hot maps has 4 heavies that go at least 70kph with lb10s (and either srms or mls for secondary weapons).

Edited by Elad, 11 September 2018 - 12:53 PM.

[Eisenhorne]

Davegt27, on 11 September 2018 - 12:50 PM, said:

dude don't post your loadouts

the try hards will just give you hell (that includes PGI)

If you're talking to me... I'm one of the try hards.

If you're talking to Astrocanis... posting your loadouts to get feedback makes sense if you're having trouble in faction play. If you're failing to do at least 1,000-1,500 damage over 4 mechs on a regular basis in faction play, then getting some help in regards to exactly what to bring would be a good idea. If you're doing that well or better, then obviously what you're doing is working for you, so keep doing it. Unless you're just sitting in the back using your team as meatshields while you fire LRM's at 800+ meters... in which case stop doing that because it's not helping.

[Nightbird]

FP is much harder than QP. You need to optimize your mechs, your teams, and your tactics to a far greater degree than QP if you want to win regularly. Most people don't want to, and spend most of their time complaining about try hards and losing... which only leads to more losing. If you're the former, FP is the best part of MWO. If the latter, QP is better.

[Kubernetes]

Davegt27, on 11 September 2018 - 12:50 PM, said:

dude don't post your loadouts

the try hards will just give you hell (that includes PGI)

Absolutely. When trying something new it's always advisable to ignore advice about best practices from experienced folks. Instead, stumble about haphazardly and get ravaged over and over, let your enjoyment of the game plummet to tear-inducing levels, then blame the "try-hards" for your woes while repeating the potato-mantra "I'm just trying to have fun!" It's far better to suck and have ready-made excuses than to actually try to get better. Trying is too hard!

[Eisenhorne]

Kubernetes, on 11 September 2018 - 02:00 PM, said:

Absolutely. When trying something new it's always advisable to ignore advice about best practices from experienced folks. Instead, stumble about haphazardly and get ravaged over and over, let your enjoyment of the game plummet to tear-inducing levels, then blame the "try-hards" for your woes while repeating the potato-mantra "I'm just trying to have fun!" It's far better to suck and have ready-made excuses than to actually try to get better. Trying is too hard!

This would be far funnier if it wasn't so accurate.

[Elad]

This thread is worth looking through if you want ideas for mechs/deck building, it even has some of my decks in it. My personal experience is that the FP "tryhards" were more than generous with their time (and patience) when I was just getting into Faction Play.

[TWIAFU]

Astrocanis, on 11 September 2018 - 09:40 AM, said:

Is it worth giving a try? I am in a unit with a bunch of really great guys. And we never play together. So, no group queue, nor any FP. They are Davion, so I declared for Davion, but have multiple accounts, most of which are factionless.

I'm a fair player. I have streaks of "great" followed by pits of despair. QP is getting to be ridiculous - it seems like the games are always 12-2 or so (with a very few exceptions) and you either are part of the 12, or part of the 2. I rarely feel like I can make a difference. You might be on a team with an LRM Atlas and no other assaults, or packed on a team with fairly fast assaults and a lot of lights or mediums.

And don't get me started with teams like last night with 3 Annis and a Fafnir. The game was practically over before they got to the fight.

Help.

Best advice, get on TS.

Look for a channel with players and join it. Wait for a break in chatter and ask if they have room.

Even better, if you know players that do CW, find out what TS Hub they use and go there.

If you are honest about giving CW a serious try, do NOT try it without being on comms and being in a group. CW is a whole new game when you play in a group, as intended, and on comms.

It could be bumpy at the start. Going to take a little bit for the group to gel but once you do, wow, what an experience. CW as intended is fantastic.

Once you find a group of players to drop with, stick with them.

FRR TS Hub is rather active.

Comstar has come back online as well.

You have taken the first step, asking for some advice. Take the next step and follow it, you will not regret it.

[Astrocanis]

Thanks for your help. Still trying to decide if my ability to contain anger is up to the task. =P

[Davegt27]

Eisenhorne, on 11 September 2018 - 01:16 PM, said:

If you're talking to me... I'm one of the try hards.

If you're talking to Astrocanis... posting your loadouts to get feedback makes sense if you're having trouble in faction play. If you're failing to do at least 1,000-1,500 damage over 4 mechs on a regular basis in faction play, then getting some help in regards to exactly what to bring would be a good idea. If you're doing that well or better, then obviously what you're doing is working for you, so keep doing it. Unless you're just sitting in the back using your team as meatshields while you fire LRM's at 800+ meters... in which case stop doing that because it's not helping.

yes I was talking to you

sorry to offend you carry on

[Eisenhorne]

Wasn't offended Dave

[Appogee]

Kubernetes, on 11 September 2018 - 02:00 PM, said:

Absolutely. When trying something new it's always advisable to ignore advice about best practices from experienced folks. Instead, stumble about haphazardly and get ravaged over and over, let your enjoyment of the game plummet to tear-inducing levels, then blame the "try-hards" for your woes while repeating the potato-mantra "I'm just trying to have fun!" It's far better to suck and have ready-made excuses than to actually try to get better. Trying is too hard!

I hereby award you Best Post of the Month.

[TWIAFU]

Astrocanis, on 11 September 2018 - 04:23 PM, said:

Thanks for your help. Still trying to decide if my ability to contain anger is up to the task. =P

Dropping with a group/friends it is easy to 'contain anger' as you are learning from each other.

Sure, crap hits the fan, things go sideways in a drop, but it what you and your group learn from those experiences that make the next drop better. You drop, you learn, you apply what you learned to further drops. If you are lucky enough to be surrounded by good people/pilots you are able to bounce idea's off each other and share what you have seen in drops so same 'mistakes' are not made. It is a fantastic process once you have it going.

"containing anger' is not an issue IMO. It is the ability to provide and receive honest feedback. If you can see that the feedback is not meant in malice but in effort to help each other be better pilots you will be ahead of the game.