129 replies to this topic

[Hellbringer]

^dont be {Richard Cameron}.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Konril, on 18 April 2020 - 04:42 PM, said:

But at the same time, accurately coring someone's center torso generates a much lower damage score than someone who chews through the rest of the mech first. Isn't that a bit weird?

You get KMDD which will balance out the MS. You might even get kills or solo kills which will increase the MS and directly influence how useful you've been to your team.

Konril, on 18 April 2020 - 04:42 PM, said:

Personally, I like winning more than I like putting the "I" in "team." So the W/L stat is just much more important to me. In that context, I really am doing better with LRMs than I am with direct fire builds, and I am at least doing well enough to get to Tier 2. So what else should I say?

This is where you contradict yourself. First, you claim that damage alone isn't an indicator to one's usefulness to the team but you stand by LRMs which do what exactly? Damage. LRMs have one of the highest dps in the game. What else you should say? How 'bout admitting that you don't really understand what you're talking about. You're posting numbers without understanding them.

Toast3r, on 18 April 2020 - 09:42 PM, said:

I got 96% last month. So, unfortunately yeah, that's about as good as it gets now.

[VonBruinwald]

Toast3r, on 18 April 2020 - 09:42 PM, said:

Above average matchscore,
Above average K:D
Above average Survival rate
Average K:D

He's certainly not bad, that's for sure.

[Bad Karma 989]

CFC Conky, on 09 April 2020 - 11:38 AM, said:

And no backup weapons!

You used to be able to pull that trick off on the CAT-A1. The missile version made for a very very good tactical LRM launcher some many years ago. Enough tonnage for plenty of shot, six LRM5s for the machine gun feel, and enough space for an engine to get you in and out of trouble quick. I had to learn to play LRMs years and years ago due to a computer that didn't have enough graphics power to let me use the good weapons. Then they crippled the LRMs (or rather, they made them support weapons as they were meant to be) and I was forced to buy a new computer to house the new graphics card I needed to play the game. LOL

EDIT: Oddly, back then, I never asked for anyone to "hold locks". I went and got them myself. Got my *** handed to me a lot but if you're gonna go, then go all the way.

Edited by Bad Karma 989, 19 April 2020 - 04:26 AM.

[Bad Karma 989]

Nearly Dead, on 11 April 2020 - 04:58 AM, said:

Kind of confused by the two narratives.

LRMers are the scum of the earth because they are ineffective and their laziness and cowardice in hiding in the back of the herd causes us to lose matches. They should get a real mech and get in the front line and fight like men so we stop losing.

vs

LRMers are the scum of the earth because LRMs make it easy for lazy cowardly players to stand in the back of the other herd and kill us with impunity. They should get a real mech and get in the front line and fight like men. Where we can kill them and stop losing.

Maybe we need MechWarrior Online Interstellar War of Champions (IWOC) mode. Drop 24 identical laser Catapults with no quirks, no skill nodes, no armor, engine, EW, or weapon options, just whatever paint and decals you want and fight it out purely on skill and determination.

Not a bad idea. (also, nice reference to the IROC, which dates you, MAN you're old. lol)

The problem is that most LRMers just don't know how to use the damned things.

"Max Range?"
"No, they move before the rocks get there."

"Close Range?"
"No, same story only they're moving in on you and you're defenseless. And no, those MLas aren't going to save you. Neither will the two LMGs you put on there to fill the slots."

"Hide, poke out, shoot, hide some more?"
"No, you're not doing anything for most of the match which means it's 12 v. 11 with 65 tons of deadweight. Good news is, you'll probably be the last to die. Bad news, it'll be six of them killing you and you'll have the worst damage of your drop."

"Go it alone and run out there then?"
"No, see #2 above, they scan you, see you're an LRM boat and pick you apart for easy points, especially if you're in something like a CAT-A1, where they just shoot off the ears."

LRMs en masse will only ever work in careful coordination. Anything else is luck these days. Years ago, it was a different story but not anymore. They are a support weapon capable only of H&I fires and lucky kills on stupid opponents. Anyone smart can defeat one fairly easily. And in this game, the way it's played, they're generally mostly the harassment, and not so much the interdiction.

[Scout Derek]

Konril, on 18 April 2020 - 07:27 AM, said:

I really don't have to look far to find a good LRM specialist player. At least according to my stats page, I am one.

[VonBruinwald]

Scout Derek, on 19 April 2020 - 05:10 AM, said:

Above average matchscore,
Above average K:D
Above average Survival rate
Average K:D

He's certainly not bad, that's for sure.

[G H O S T]

VonBruinwald, on 19 April 2020 - 05:15 AM, said:

Above average matchscore,
Above average K:D
Above average Survival rate
Average K:D

He's certainly not bad, that's for sure.

not saying...
https://leaderboard....allme+G+H+O+S+T

[Konril]

So Toast3r found my ranking on the leaderboard. As I expected. I know I'm not perfect. But that **** Dire Wolf must have dragged down my rating more than I thought. Maybe next season.

Still, a 6.0 W/L rating is in the top 25 on the leaderboard when sorted by W/L. Toast3r seems to have scored that somehow with an average match score 239, according to that same leaderboard. So what should I say?

[VonBruinwald]

justcallme G H O S T, on 19 April 2020 - 05:30 AM, said:

not saying...
https://leaderboard....allme+G+H+O+S+T

Name change or new account farming T5's?

[Scout Derek]

Konril, on 19 April 2020 - 05:39 AM, said:

So Toast3r found my ranking on the leaderboard. As I expected. I know I'm not perfect. But that **** Dire Wolf must have dragged down my rating more than I thought. Maybe next season.

Still, a 6.0 W/L rating is in the top 25 on the leaderboard when sorted by W/L. Toast3r seems to have scored that somehow with an average match score 239, according to that same leaderboard. So what should I say?

Ever hear of the lesson "Sometimes it's better to say nothing than anything"? That lesson applies here.

VonBruinwald, on 19 April 2020 - 05:15 AM, said:

Above average matchscore,
Above average K:D
Above average Survival rate
Average K:D

He's certainly not bad, that's for sure.

It's actually pretty below average. 1.00 means he's only able to kill one mech for each time he dies. Not where you want to be trying to push your weight around as a good lrm player.

Edited by Scout Derek, 19 April 2020 - 06:03 AM.

[Nearly Dead]

Bad Karma 989, on 19 April 2020 - 04:40 AM, said:

Not a bad idea. (also, nice reference to the IROC, which dates you, MAN you're old. lol)

The problem is that most LRMers just don't know how to use the damned things.

"Max Range?"
"No, they move before the rocks get there."

"Close Range?"
"No, same story only they're moving in on you and you're defenseless. And no, those MLas aren't going to save you. Neither will the two LMGs you put on there to fill the slots."

"Hide, poke out, shoot, hide some more?"
"No, you're not doing anything for most of the match which means it's 12 v. 11 with 65 tons of deadweight. Good news is, you'll probably be the last to die. Bad news, it'll be six of them killing you and you'll have the worst damage of your drop."

"Go it alone and run out there then?"
"No, see #2 above, they scan you, see you're an LRM boat and pick you apart for easy points, especially if you're in something like a CAT-A1, where they just shoot off the ears."

LRMs en masse will only ever work in careful coordination. Anything else is luck these days. Years ago, it was a different story but not anymore. They are a support weapon capable only of H&I fires and lucky kills on stupid opponents. Anyone smart can defeat one fairly easily. And in this game, the way it's played, they're generally mostly the harassment, and not so much the interdiction.

That is kind of what I am finding. If I play my Nova Cat with 6 LRM 15s I can do 1100-1200 damage, but we may still lose because it is so hard to kill off an opponent. Missiles mostly seem to hit the arms and side torsos which are quickly destroyed but then the damage is reduced by 60% when it has to transfer to the center torso because it continues to hit the arms and STs and only 40% is transferred to the adjacent component.

If no one on the team is shooting those mechs, and they have torso mounted weapons, I have worn them down, but they are still in the fight. If I am on my Quarantine with two LRM 15s and decent speed I can do more CT damage from 300 years or so, but I take more damage and drop out sooner, a good match is 600d and that is getting rare. Launch a couple salvos and pretty soon you are public enemy #1 and at 300 it doesn't take long for a couple of mechs to close to <190 and then it is popguns against their main weapons. With the complete lack of team coordination right now no one is going to help you, they have their hands full just shooting the red diamonds in front of them.

What I do find is that if I am on my Kit Fox with a streak-4 and Light Tag AND there are LRMers on our team I can kill many more mechs than I can alone IF the LRMers and watching for tags. I can attack a mech in the back of their herd and pretty soon it is getting LRMs on it and with my MGs and lasers hitting with the missiles, it goes down fast. I got 4 kills that way on Polar one night. Whoever was LRMing was on the ball and we cleaned house. Calling the target as "tagging Alpha" doesn't seem to help much, if the LRMer is on the ball they don't seem to need it, if they are not they are too busy staying locked on whatever they are shooting at. Sadly, I replace my Streaks and tag with a couple of heavier lasers because people stopped helping and the tag laser was just dead weight.


IROC was a thing just the other year, wasn't it? Damn. Time flies. I was a fan of A. J. Foyt in Indy racing.

As a driver, not an owner.

[VonBruinwald]

Scout Derek, on 19 April 2020 - 06:04 AM, said:

It's actually pretty below average. 1.00 means he's only able to kill one mech for each time he dies. Not where you want to be trying to push your weight around as a good lrm player.

Every player should want to be above 1.0, unfortunately that's not possible. K:D is a zero-sum game, at 1.0 you're breaking even.

I suppose technically it's possible for everyone to be in a positive, it depends how they count matches like this:

[FRAGTAST1C]

VonBruinwald, on 19 April 2020 - 06:25 AM, said:

How the hell are you alive when the enemy team has won by securing 12 kills?!

[Sniper09121986]

FRAGTAST1C, on 19 April 2020 - 07:17 AM, said:

How the hell are you alive when the enemy team has won by securing 12 kills?!

Does TK count in that column? They have Phatnir, Pay2Strike and HBR, and TK is a real possibility with either of these.

[VonBruinwald]

FRAGTAST1C, on 19 April 2020 - 07:17 AM, said:

How the hell are you alive when the enemy team has won by securing 12 kills?!

How do you lose a skirmish without being killed....

[Sniper09121986]

VonBruinwald, on 19 April 2020 - 11:43 AM, said:

How do you lose a skirmish without being killed....

They all ran out of bounds looking for you?

[FRAGTAST1C]

VonBruinwald, on 19 April 2020 - 11:43 AM, said:

How do you lose a skirmish without being killed....

If you go out-of-bounds, you still show up as "Dead" in the end-game stats, no? I mean, your team lost, hence why there's a "Defeat" label on top of the screen, the kill count is 12-3 but you're still alive.

[Konril]

Wow, I didn't even know about Jarl's list before now.

But there is a bit more context I need to explain before reading too much into my early history. The big LRM patch (https://mwomercs.com...41980-19mar2019) happened 2019 March 19. I have been an LRM fan since the initial launch 2013 September. But before this patch even I wouldn't have called either the LRM system good or myself good for being a fan of them. My overall stats are still what I would consider "average." But slightly above average W/L and below average K/D. That is in spite the LRM system itself at the time being so bad that the veterans almost all gave up on it and it got the nickname "King of Tier 5."

Since that patch my own Tier rating has seen a rapid advance from Tier 4 to Tier 2. My performance in ballistic and energy based mechs hasn't changed a bit. My W/L performance in my bad but fun to play LRM based mechs has seen a very big improvement. What should that be telling me? I have also seen a just as dramatic improvement in the W/L rate of light and lighter medium mechs. Should that also be telling me something?

The case with comparing Toast3r's public stats to mine actually feels kind of silly to me. Even if briefly, getting to the top 25 of the leaderboard sorted by W/L is something to really be proud of. Getting to that top 25 without stopping at bare minimum of matches to show up on the leaderboard is something else to be proud of. But it feels like people are trying to tell me I'm feeble just because I don't have an Olympic weightlifting medal.

I may have to give up for now on calling myself "good." But really, I don't feel like a bad player at all. With the stat system being what it is and because this is a pure player vs. player game, I at least have the proof needed to call myself above average.

I'm actually a generalist that has noticed that I've recently become a lot better using LRMs than other weapons. The public stats have no way of showing that, which means I have no way of showing it except copy-pasting from my mech stat page. Oh well, maybe next season.

I get it, the lot of you are venting. Actually, I'm venting too.

There has been a formula around since the beginning that can nearly guarantee wins. Get Discord, get a guild or posse, call and focus targets, laugh as the clueless PUGs scatter and cry. This formula is so powerful it doesn't matter if you're in an Awesome mounting small lasers. And I still feel like kicking myself for not bookmarking that video at the time. (The video was years ago and Youtube doesn't know that Awesome is the name of a mech and not just an adjective.)

[General Solo]

FRAGTAST1C, on 19 April 2020 - 07:17 AM, said:

How the hell are you alive when the enemy team has won by securing 12 kills?!

Yeah I have had that happen to me too.
Even my weapons still work (The ones remaining) while I'm lying on the ground overheating at 100% till the end of the game.
Can't aim them weapons, but you can shoot the ground when dead.

Not very common, only happened once or twice so far when my hit reg was really bad and gotta reboot my mobile phone.

Sometimes I see dead mechs with targeting boxes still working for a minutes or two after death of that mech.

Edited by OZHomerOZ, 25 April 2020 - 11:21 AM.