54 replies to this topic

[Darian DelFord]

OK if PGI is serious about trying to make changes to the game that will help elevate it from the cesspool that it has become this is one area that can be easily changed and NEEDS to be changed. Below is a very short video of what I am talking about.

I was after a War Hammer pilot named Center Mass ( He's the one dropping from the cliff). I had taken my time and got where I wanted to get with 96% armor left. Within seconds I was down to 41% with one arm gone, the other one with 1 point left and both side torso's wide open. From an Arty strike that I had no idea was there.

This is the issue, there really is no warning they are coming, they are to easy to drop and there are simply to many available to drop in a single game.

My recommendations would be a MUCH LARGER visual clue that it is coming as well as audio. Like most other games out there, a large AE attack is prefaced with a large Red Circle or something. Audio was hell how about artillery sounds coming in, at least this could give folks a chance to bug out.

Simply put it is way to easy to do this and there is NO drawback at all... and if anyone states the price is the drawback I will snipe your arse ;ppp

[The6thMessenger]

I'd rather they take it out and just give us Long-Toms and Arrow IVs. at least there's dedicated platforms that pay for these artilleries.

[JediPanther]

You got lucky. xl st didn't blow. Probably didn't see the smoke. At least there can only be 24 strikes from a team per match so a grand total of 48 if every one had the nodes for the extra strike. I haven't been in a match where that many were used excluding cw/fw whatever the name is.

I don't have much problems with them as the red smoke seems to be amble time enough that even an atlas can crawl away without much damage. The best time to use a strike is when an enemy has powered down. You can have the smoke right on it and do a lot of damage. Looks like you mostly got caught between the shells or it would have taken out your mech from direct hit.

Edit: watched it again and you went from 99% to 66% to 43% so you did get a shell on part of your mech.

Edited by JediPanther, 07 November 2020 - 09:04 PM.

[Swamp Ass MkII]

Red smoke = run away!

[Nightbird]

Instead of smoke on the ground, which is stupid and doesn't make sense, it should draw a prediction circle or rectangle on the radar. Friendly radar picks up incoming shells or strafing run, and sends you the info. Easy and makes sense. Then, if you get hit (and insta die as a light), it's your fault.

[w0qj]

I hate it when you're using Heat (Thermal) Vision, and you just cannot see the smoke "warning" from the artillery & air strikes.

I wish Heat (Thermal) Vision would indicate such a warning.

[Swamp Ass MkII]

Nightbird, on 07 November 2020 - 09:30 PM, said:

Instead of smoke on the ground, which is stupid and doesn't make sense, it should draw a prediction circle or rectangle on the radar. Friendly radar picks up incoming shells or strafing run, and sends you the info. Easy and makes sense. Then, if you get hit (and insta die as a light), it's your fault.

I like the idea. Can you imagine what would happen in the event of a miss click and dropping an airstrike on friendly team! Insta wipe!!! Yes, I did this earlier this evening, and hit for -490 points... Yeah, don't ask! It was BAD!!!

I would like the idea of being able to drop arties with out a visual for the enemy team. However, I think I like the idea of being able to see enemies arty's inbound. Maybe use something in the sensor tree to detect incoming arty's? That would make sense I thinks...

[Squiggy McPew]

Strikes add in tactical depth by forcing a mass of mechs out of a dug in position or allowing stealthy mechs to drop strikes behind a mass of enemies so they don't notice the smoke. All my lights run two max bonus strikes.

[martian]

Swamp *** MkII, on 07 November 2020 - 10:17 PM, said:

I like the idea. Can you imagine what would happen in the event of a miss click and dropping an airstrike on friendly team! Insta wipe!!! Yes, I did this earlier this evening, and hit for -490 points... Yeah, don't ask! It was BAD!!!

Congratulations!

[Horseman]

Swamp *** MkII, on 07 November 2020 - 10:17 PM, said:

I would like the idea of being able to drop arties with out a visual for the enemy team.

The requirement to have LOS to target location and the visible smoke add interactivity (and some counterplay, IF the team is tactically aware enough to notice the smoke before the strike drops) to something that otherwise would amount to hunkering down in cover and spamming strikes from the battlegrid.

[martian]

Swamp *** MkII, on 07 November 2020 - 10:17 PM, said:

I would like the idea of being able to drop arties with out a visual for the enemy team.

So essentially BattleMechs instead of BattleShips?

Atlas - three grid squares
Griffin - two grid squares
Locust - one grid square

[Vorpal Puppy]

My opinion is either get rid of them all together or make them not this magical support mechanism. Put your team's artillery battery at your Charlie lance spawn - if the enemy destroys it, no more arty strikes. Put that fighter at 1250m - let AC2s & erPPCs be able to shoot it down - if the fighter gets taken out, no more air strikes.

[Willard Phule]

It turns out that if you don't run around zoomed all the time, you actually have more peripheral vision and those smoke clouds become incredibly easy to see.

I know, unzooming is an advanced skill that most don't quite get down until long after they've made T1, but keep practicing. You'll get better at it.

Oh, and by the way, the red smoke is NOT a power up like most would have you believe.

[dario03]

Should cut damage in half. Or reduce it by 75% but double the duration and shell count so it has more area denial.

[Swamp Ass MkII]

martian, on 08 November 2020 - 12:31 AM, said:

Congratulations!

Thanks!

[martian]

Vorpal Puppy, on 08 November 2020 - 10:20 AM, said:

My opinion is either get rid of them all together or make them not this magical support mechanism. Put your team's artillery battery at your Charlie lance spawn - if the enemy destroys it, no more arty strikes.

Simple game model, essentially a textured box. Perhaps the MW5 team could help with some design?

Something like this:

Vorpal Puppy, on 08 November 2020 - 10:20 AM, said:

Put that fighter at 1250m - let AC2s & erPPCs be able to shoot it down - if the fighter gets taken out, no more air strikes.

Yeah. I have always felt disappointed that I can't shoot down enemy fightercraft when piloting a 'Mech in MWO.

Hell, that's what 'Mechs such as Rifleman or JagerMech were designed to do.

[East Indy]

Three minor changes to strikes:

1. Friendlies see a different (colorblind-friendly) colored smoke.
2. Damage is scaled for tonnage.
3. A player's second strike does only 50% damage.

[Monkey Lover]

Only issue i see is that mech should have died if it got hit by a artillery strike.

[R5D4]

Biggest issue I have with it as currently implemented is that it is not applied evenly across the different classes. For a light mech it's crippling if not deadly for everyone else it's a minor inconvenience which you can clearly see by the reactions of the different classes when it's encountered.- Assault, Heavy, Medium stand there and take it, light mechs sh*t a brick and run for the hills.

Either the damage should be applied evenly to all classes or it should be removed imo.

If it does stick around (and is applied more fairly) then I would want to see the changes to alerting mechs as mentioned in this thread. As it is not being able to see the smoke in different vision modes is absurd and relying on PUGS to point out smoke on comms is a recipe for disappointment.

Edited by R5D4, 08 November 2020 - 05:43 PM.

[Darian DelFord]

Lots of good ideas and sarcasm in here... I like it.

Arties and Airs were put into the game to get people moving. They would just clump and play pokey pokey. Strikes were put in to prevent this.


Not that it did anything to curb that behavior. Now they are just used as risk free damage. While I will agree the initial intent of the strikes were good, they actual implantation, as per PGI norms, is seriously flawed.

This is a relatively simple fix, I mean seriously it is, just have to figure out which way to go. The first thing I would recommend would be a maximum number of strikes per team per match. Its a start...

Please keep discussing.