5 replies to this topic

[Lightfoot]

Solaris 7 was doomed by no long range maps. Gameplay became stagnant with only a few mechs able to contend. You add some long range maps, that creates doubt, challenge, and a game mode where anything can happen. Instead you get dumped onto a tiny map primarily filled with boated SRMs and LBX-20. Not always, but to be sure almost always. Variety makes or breaks a game who's main weakness is repitition.

Also, no way to respond to players who say your peripherals suck or you paintjob is an eyesore. I use a joystick and often get slammed for it. What I want to do is call them out on it. Say, "Go ahead, make my day!" meet me in Solaris in 10 minutes. Add that.

Edited by Lightfoot, 20 February 2021 - 02:28 PM.

[Rosarius]

Firstly, there is a lot more variety in viable mech loadouts than your post is suggesting except for division 1 which is overrepresented by LONG RANGE AC2 boating annihiliators. Here is a Google sheet displaying the top 10 of each division's leaderboards for Season 10 for reference https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing

Secondly, out of the five available Solaris maps only one (Ishiyama Caves) is a death sentence for a long ranged mech and even then there are a few positions you can take to help evens the odds. Boreal Reach is a long, narrow map with sparse cover to punish shorter ranged mechs. Steiner Coliseum is the largest Solaris map that a long range mech can abuse with the correct positioning. The Factory might seem claustrophobic, but there are a few positions with very long lines that a long ranged mech can use to whittle down mechs before they can get close. The Jungle is a mid ranged map but like Factory has a few positions that a long ranged mech should stick to. MWO is a "thinking man's first person shooter", so start thinking how to win!

Lastly... using a joystick in a first person shooter is a pretty big handicap. I guess you should let me know what time and in what division you want to face off against me

EDIT

I'll agree that it would be nice if there were more maps for the game mode, but a quick look at the roadmap tells me that this is WAY down low on their priority list, if it is even on it at all.

Edited by Rosarius, 23 February 2021 - 12:56 AM.

[Lightfoot]

I do fine with a joystick. Joystick will always pilot a mech better than mouse and keyboard if given analog axis's which MWO does now. Hrrrm, been a while, I think I was in the top 30 for one of these new mechs when it was released. Anyway, just saying joystick is not as difficult as you assume.

Solaris 7 maps are all teeny weeny size. All the short range opponent needs to do is reach the map center, then your long range mech has to go to a circular path around the edge which means it is retreating by one third or less of it's maximum speed relative to the mech approaching from map center. There is no escape to long range.

Solaris 7 is about how well two players can compete in mechs. It is not about two mechs in a stadium which is a point of some confusion. We got the Solaris 7 that is two mechs in a stadium. It is certainly not a venue designed to see how well two players can design, field, and compete in mechs. We never got that, so we don't know if Solaris 7 could be a lot of fun or not.

[Rosarius]

Lightfoot, on 24 May 2021 - 03:52 PM, said:

I do fine with a joystick. Joystick will always pilot a mech better than mouse and keyboard if given analog axis's which MWO does now. Hrrrm, been a while, I think I was in the top 30 for one of these new mechs when it was released. Anyway, just saying joystick is not as difficult as you assume.

This may or may not be true for you and the opponents that you face at your tier level, but a mouse is objectively better for a first person shooter such as MWO. It allows for a much finer level of control. If joysticks were the meta, all the top performing players and wannabe try hards such as myself would run them

Lightfoot, on 24 May 2021 - 03:52 PM, said:

Solaris 7 maps are all teeny weeny size. All the short range opponent needs to do is reach the map center, then your long range mech has to go to a circular path around the edge which means it is retreating by one third or less of it's maximum speed relative to the mech approaching from map center. There is no escape to long range.

Solaris 7 is about how well two players can compete in mechs. It is not about two mechs in a stadium which is a point of some confusion. We got the Solaris 7 that is two mechs in a stadium. It is certainly not a venue designed to see how well two players can design, field, and compete in mechs. We never got that, so we don't know if Solaris 7 could be a lot of fun or not.

Solaris maps *need* to be smaller (or don't need to be as big as QP maps, take your pick) due to the fact that a maximum of four players are going to be in it. As it currently stands, two mechs can run around in caves for +5 minutes and not spot each other once in this time, imagine what it would be like on a map such as alpine peaks or terra therma?

A player should always play to their strengths. A short range mech should use whatever they can to close distance while preserving their armour, no matter how large the map is. A long range mech should position themselves to have good firing lines to maximise their damage output before their opponents can touch them. I hate to break it to you, but you could make the maps infinity large and this is still how it would be played out.

I don't know what Solaris you have been playing (if at all) but it is about "how well two players can design, field, and compete in mechs". Now more than ever after the recent game balances in fact. Bring a build that makes sense in the context of a 1v1, play to its strengths and you will go far!

Also, I'm not sure if you dodged it intentionally or not, but you implied that you would challenge anyone who badmouthed your use of a joystick to a Solaris match yet did not challenge be when I spoke against joysticks. My offer for a duel is still open, is yours?

[Lightfoot]

I quit playing Solaris because it quickly devolved into players bringing boated short range weapons and racing to leg their opponent first. What counters that is some longer range maps to force non-boated builds to not be a handicap and bring some strategic variety to Solaris 7. A minimum 2K radius from map center might be all that is needed. Add 4 new maps with 2k to 3k minimum radius and you would see a lot of variety in matches. I would feel challenged and come back.

Legging contests (current Solaris 7) highlight the major flaw/exploit between conceptual Mech combat and the reality of what happens in-game. You just have to lower the odds that a purely legger build will be successful. You don't see that much legging on normal maps. Usually only when it becomes the shorter way to defeat a crippled mech.

Anyhow, this is my solution. It's too bad that making new maps in MWO is such a large undertaking. I made 6 or 7 maps for the MechWarrior community for MechWarrior 4, but I gather the CryEngine is a good deal more complex.

Edited by Lightfoot, 30 August 2021 - 12:53 PM.

[Fae Puka]

No long term viability for this mode, just go back over PGI's reference to S7 being dead . . .