Angelwolf, on 18 June 2020 - 05:31 AM, said:
I think this point is kind of negated by the fact that MWO supports VOIP in-game.
Sure, pre-made groups have an advantage in that they're likely friends that they play with a lot - but voice? No different as the ability is in-game anyway. Organisation, teamwork and communications help and I've played a few pug games where this has happened and the outcome has been great.
Most game players in 2020 will have a headset, but not all will choose to use it. That's the difference, I think.
Many newbies will start the game thinking it's something similar to arcadey fps' but the truth is MWO is far more tactical. Communication is key and I think that solo players do have an obligation to really encourage teamwork to newer players as well as older players that have lost their way.
I found that the presence of premade groups reduced the amount of comms in use in the general team chat. Not saying that C&C happened that much in solo queue, in the games I played in Feb and March it might have been 20-25%, but it was happening more than it did after the merge. Lots of premades only talk to each other.
If there are 12 people on a team, and 4 of them only talk to each other, that means the pool of players from which to draw someone willing and able to take charge and coordinate efforts is now 8.
And the premade group may or may not cooperate with them, or they may just do their own thing and ignore the team. Which is mostly what turned me off on the game and why I quit playing a couple of weeks ago. Pre merge, I was playing 10 games, winning some, losing some and maybe one in four or five a leader stepped up and I felt like I was supporting an actual team effort. Now maybe one game in ten I feel like part of a functioning team, the rest of the time the game is silent and decided by a unit on one side or the other; carried during a stomp by a unit or being stomped by one.
Often I would play well, be doing good damage and then a group of 4 light and medium mechs would get around to me and it would be my turn to die and I would see the final score screen and big surprise, 2-12.
I think the merge is creating a game where it is either join a unit and drop with a group, or go away. I also think it is going to kill the game because for every solo player who joins a unit, three or four will drift away from the game.