28 replies to this topic

[Jonathan8883]

In MechWarrior 2, I got through the whole game using large pulse lasers, ER PPCs, and, as I recall, not much else.
In NetMech, with people running on modems ranging from 14.4k (boo) to 56k (high end), lock-on missiles (LRMs and Streaks) were king. Typical rules meant no more than 3 launchers, and no more than 30 points of damage from a missile type. I ran Uac 10, 1 mpulse, 2 LRM15, 1 SSRM6. Gauss rifles were a joke, as were traditional SRMs, and (usually) machine guns. Nobody used small lasers.

I played MW3, but don't remember it. I know I got all the way to Luthien in MW2: Mercs, but don't recall what I used; probably lasers.
In Mech4, I mostly used heavy ballistics (Fafnir/AC20s & large lasers). Light ballistics were not effective in most cases, and I don't recall using missiles very often because they took too long to kill most targets.

I came to MWO about 5 months ago (ignore the join date, old computer wouldn't run it). I have seen every weapon system in use, and being useful, in some capacity. Gauss rifles, ACs from 2 to 20, rotary ACs, machine guns, all sizes and types of lasers, SRMs, SSRMs, MRMs, LRMs, and even these newfangled ATMs - You name a weapons system, and I've seen people use it to good effect. Aside from a few weak variants (RAC2, light gauss), PGI has put together a game that, for the first time out of the MW series, actually makes every weapon type in the game useful, and gives us tons of variety in how we build and play.

Are there balance issues? Sure. This is still a big leap forward from all prior MWs, and feels more like the BattleTech of the novels I grew up reading than any of the prior games.

[Wolfways]

Maybe because MWO is a completely different game to the MW series. As far as I'm aware the MW games were never balanced for pvp, were they?

[Jun Watarase]

Now look at competitive matches or unit vs unit matches in FP and almost every mech in the first 3 waves will be laser vomit, and they will all be the same mechs (BLR/WHM/GRH, EBJ/HBR/MAD-IIC).

[Y E O N N E]

Wolfways, on 03 December 2017 - 03:27 PM, said:

Maybe because MWO is a completely different game to the MW series. As far as I'm aware the MW games were never balanced for pvp, were they?

None of the other MW games were PvP only.

[Wolfways]

Yeonne Greene, on 03 December 2017 - 06:22 PM, said:

None of the other MW games were PvP only.

Yeah that was my point.

Although having said that, it's not like the weapons are balanced in MWO either.

[Y E O N N E]

Wolfways, on 03 December 2017 - 06:46 PM, said:

Yeah that was my point.

Although having said that, it's not like the weapons are balanced in MWO either.

I know. Unfortunate, really.

Edited by Yeonne Greene, 04 December 2017 - 05:16 PM.

[Jonathan8883]

They aren't totally balanced, but almost all of them are useful in at least some circumstances. I enjoy it.

[Tincan Nightmare]

Jonathan8883, on 04 December 2017 - 04:12 PM, said:

They aren't totally balanced, but almost all of them are useful in at least some circumstances. I enjoy it.

PGI did some things pretty smart compared to previous titles, such as giving lasers burn time instead of being hit scan like the other titles. I agree you see more weapons variety as well, though the level of 'useful' can vary greatly.

[Y E O N N E]

Tincan Nightmare, on 04 December 2017 - 04:28 PM, said:

PGI did some things pretty smart compared to previous titles, such as giving lasers burn time instead of being hit scan like the other titles. I agree you see more weapons variety as well, though the level of 'useful' can vary greatly.

They are still hitscan, they just don't deal all damage instantaneously.

[Mazikar]

This game has always been rock paper scissors but at times there is also a I win gun.

[Mcgral18]

Lotharian, on 04 December 2017 - 05:37 PM, said:

This game has always been rock paper scissors but at times there is also a I win gun.

There have always been
"I Lose guns"


Outright inferior options
They've been increasing in recent times.
#PGIplzno

[Carbon Guardian]

problem with weapon balance in MWO is PGI trying to balance ballistics vs lasers vs Missiles and not ballistics vs ballistics, lasers vs lasers, and missiles vs missiles. Heat and ammo should balance all 3 out against each other not pin point damage. When any game makes a shotgun LBX do pin point damage from 400m after quirks and basically pin point before quirks means the balance team is not doing their job.

[Willard Phule]

Dunno what to tell you, man. I played all of the above, too. MW3 had, by far, the most playability of all of them with regard to online PVP play.

MW4 brought in the "hardpoint" concept, but at least they were sized. And "omnipods" were open to putting anything in them, unlike this travesty. And although the maps were limited, it at least had a publisher that gave enough of a damn to keep it updated for a long, long time. Then, the community kept it going. Somehow, I don't see that happening here.

I'd much rather see MW3 get updated to a modern graphics engine. It played WAY better than MW:O.

[OmniFail]

I have seen zero LRM 5s in the last 2 years.

[Y E O N N E]

I've seen LRM5s. They pop up about as often as MRM10s and ATM3s...which is not very.

[Gagis]

MWO currently has the best weapon and tech base balance it has had in most of its history.

Only burr being that clan pulse lasers are a bit below the curve right now, but that's a relatively small concern when it comes to balance.

[Y E O N N E]

Gagis, on 15 November 2020 - 01:48 PM, said:

MWO currently has the best weapon and tech base balance it has had in most of its history.

Only burr being that clan pulse lasers are a bit below the curve right now, but that's a relatively small concern when it comes to balance.

It's also the blandest it has ever been since right before Clan weapons were added.

[Spheroid]

Willard Phule, on 15 November 2020 - 06:31 AM, said:

I'd much rather see MW3 get updated to a modern graphics engine. It played WAY better than MW:O.

Did you conveniently forget that Mechwarrior 3 and 4 had no concept of weapon duration and that laser alphas were instantly delivered with pinpoint precision via hitscan? That was a garbage setup that only appeared to work via widespread lagshield and the primitive internet infrastructure of peer-to-peer hosting it used.

[VonBruinwald]

Gagis, on 15 November 2020 - 01:48 PM, said:

Only burr being that clan pulse lasers are a bit below the curve right now, but that's a relatively small concern when it comes to balance.

I see your cLPL and lower you the IS Snub PPC.

Miss Greene, on 15 November 2020 - 01:56 PM, said:

It's also the blandest it has ever been since right before Clan weapons were added.

Clan tech is OP by nature, should never have mixed IS and Clan tech in a PvP game.

Spheroid, on 15 November 2020 - 02:26 PM, said:

Did you conveniently forget that Mechwarrior 3 and 4 had no concept of weapon duration and that laser alphas were instantly delivered with pinpoint precision via hitscan?

Well, MekTek did add the LCPL - Large Continuous Pulse Laser, was great fun running around in a flea with that.

Edited by VonBruinwald, 15 November 2020 - 02:36 PM.

[Willard Phule]

Spheroid, on 15 November 2020 - 02:26 PM, said:

Did you conveniently forget that Mechwarrior 3 and 4 had no concept of weapon duration and that laser alphas were instantly delivered with pinpoint precision via hitscan? That was a garbage setup that only appeared to work via widespread lagshield and the primitive internet infrastructure of peer-to-peer hosting it used.

It STILL worked better than this garbage, overall. Again, one would assume when updating to a more modern engine, an update would use whatever hit registration said engine has, but whatever.

Beyond that, it didn't use any "publisher based" interpretations of how BT operated. No "fixed" this that or the other. Omnipods were calculated based on "available tonnage" in pod space. "Hard points" were an absurd concept. Was it balanced? Hell no, but it wasn't an easy game to master, either.

On top of that, it had a "lobby system" where people opened up their own drop based on the map they chose, number of players involved, environmental settings, even to the point they could turn heat and ammo off, just for grins. Here? We get the current iteration of FP and this toilet bowl they call QP.