22 replies to this topic

[Farrari]

Hey all! So I made an account back in October 2017. I played for maybe a year or two, before putting it down until maybe a month ago when a series of friends got into it and I "dusted off" my account.

I realize this is a hottopic issue and really would prefer not to get into the middle of it, I don't want to add gasoline to the bondfire and would prefer not to go off about "the Gulag", or any of the anger that is surrounding the issue.

But I would hope the devs see this and would like to (as a paying customer) formally request the reversal of PPC changes.

From the start I loved PPC's. My first mech after the cadet bonus was an ERPPC Warhawk. I also bought a x4 Heavy PPC Annihilator, a Catapult K2 (with twin Heavy PPC's), the ERPPC Adder. I even bought a Misery Stalker and ran the x2 Heavy PPC/ AC-20 PPFLD build. Amid others.

I branched out after that, and largely started playing around with heroes I had received at Christmas, some loyalty mechs and the Solaris 7 Pack.

Playing since last week, the cooldown nerf makes Heavy PPC's nearly unplayable and feels like they've invalidated half of my builds (+2 damage for an extension of the CD by 2 seconds), and the cooldown change was a hit across the board for all of the weapons in the class. Furthermore, I believe that brawl weapons were the meta, never PPC's. Specifically MRM's, pulse lasers, Ultra Autocannons, etc. So I disagree with the fundamental reason why this change was "needed".

PPC shots do not sync up with other weapons. The AC-20 fires nearly twice as fast as a Heavy PPC. A 7 second cooldown is nothing short of glacial on it. I'm surprised and a little hurt that PGI would so fundamentally change PPC's in an 8 year old game.

It also feels like I'm going to need to change half of my mech loadouts and skills in response to this change.

I realize that nothing may come from this and I'm not going to make some threat like, "I'll never play again!" but I'd like to ask any PGI employees that may read this board to seriously think about the consequences of leaving this change permanent.

[Gas Guzzler]

Yeah, balance questions aside (whether or not PPCs are balanced, got better, or got worse), I'm not a fan of the change. It just isn't as fun to play the game with them.

[w0qj]

+1
Please roll back this PPC [Edit]and roll back *all* weapon changes, and roll back MASC [/Edit] change.

(Also: Please roll back the entire March 17th 2021 patch.)

[Edit]
Please *keep* below changes:

• The lighting changes on hibernal and caustic (meaning what they were previously) are very welcome. Caustic in particular could be considered urgent, as this is something PGI just broke.
  
• Trial mechs, even if messed up a bit from their original intent, are still better than before as well. PGI should at least go back and fix armor (correctly max out tonnage, and reduce back armor on the mechs that were not properly reduced)
  
• Bolt on falling off changes were also something asked for and not too opposed, as there seems to be a demographic that is in favor of making display optional.

[/Edit]

Edited by w0qj, 20 March 2021 - 09:35 PM.

[Chrome Magnus]

Gas Guzzler, on 20 March 2021 - 07:52 AM, said:

Yeah, balance questions aside (whether or not PPCs are balanced, got better, or got worse), I'm not a fan of the change. It just isn't as fun to play the game with them.

This does sum up my feelings. Overall the outcome feels about neutral (impacts prob vary based on play style/mech) but the extra long cooldown does take away from the fun.

[Vindicated]

w0qj, on 20 March 2021 - 08:30 AM, said:

+1
Please roll back this PPC change.

(Also: Please roll back the entire March 17th 2021 patch.)

Please don't say the ENTIRE patch, just the weapon changes.

• The lighting changes on hibernal and caustic (meaning what they were previously) are very welcome. Caustic in particular could be considered urgent, as this is something PGI just broke.
  
• Trial mechs, even if messed up a bit from their original intent, are still better than before as well. PGI should at least go back and fix armor (correctly max out tonnage, and reduce back armor on the mechs that were not properly reduced)
  
• Bolt on falling off changes were also something asked for and not too opposed, as there seems to be a demographic that is in favor of making display optional.

[w0qj]

OK, agree with you, just roll back all Weapon & MASC changes!

***Please keep below changes:

Vindicated, on 20 March 2021 - 03:23 PM, said:

Please don't say the ENTIRE patch, just the weapon changes.

• The lighting changes on hibernal and caustic (meaning what they were previously) are very welcome. Caustic in particular could be considered urgent, as this is something PGI just broke.
  
• Trial mechs, even if messed up a bit from their original intent, are still better than before as well. PGI should at least go back and fix armor (correctly max out tonnage, and reduce back armor on the mechs that were not properly reduced)
  
• Bolt on falling off changes were also something asked for and not too opposed, as there seems to be a demographic that is in favor of making display optional.

[PocketYoda]

I'm not against the PPC/Guass changes i'm against the crazy cool downs, if they had been a bit more liberal with them i think the patch would have been less hated..

Heat sucks yes but those cool downs are crazy too long.

I do think MASC needs serious help now though.

Edited by Samial, 21 March 2021 - 01:41 AM.

[Mazzyplz]

change is ok but the cooldown is a lot. maybe 1 less second and 1 less damage.
i think you overdid it with 2 damage for 2 full seconds more of cooldown

EDIT: or just give the ppc 1 extra damage without any additional cooldown.

Edited by Mazzyplz, 21 March 2021 - 07:55 AM.

[XX Sulla XX]

They should have tested the Gulag changes before pushing out the PPC changes. But yes I hope they roll it back.

[jjm1]

This change is exacerbating the existing boating issue a bit. One PPC builds get worse with more cooldown, twin ppcs are less effected since they already ran hot enough to need time-out periods. If anything, they are now better at the typical pop-tart sniper role but otherwise worse off.

[VaudeVillain]

I'm not a big fan of the PPC changes either. With it being one of the biggest weapons for a Level 1 tech only player, it further reduced my effectiveness. PGI doesn't seem to want people to play any Level 1 tech as the Large Laser never saw a range increase like the IS ER LL and single heat sink's effectiveness/dissipation compared to double heat sinks is less. And by Level 1, I don't mean stock, I mean fully customized with 3025 era tech.

[Alan Hicks]

Some part of PGI staff always ruins everything, you know the ____ and the ____ dude that think they are helping but refuse to leave the company. Maybe they have a dark spell on Russ or something. Who knows what the real situation is...

I was banned twice by expressing MHO here twice so we all must watch the MWO forum police.

A roll back? Keep dreaming. It would be a miracle.

They always do what they want with little toy. The community can then suck it. This is all we got, enjoy it or quit it.

For me, PPC's and Guass are dead, now lets watch what ANOTHER weapon they mess up next...

[feeWAIVER]

Question:
If PPC changes are so "unfun", why is every match still full of PPCs?

[Sorbic]

feeWAIVER, on 22 March 2021 - 07:43 PM, said:

Question:
If PPC changes are so "unfun", why is every match still full of PPCs?

Because the extra damage makes for extra kills. I don't like waiting for the cooldown but the harder hits do have their benefits. Kind of wish they would have approached it like you should a thermostat. Small adjustments. +1 dmg +1 second cooldown or +0.5 on both...

[PocketYoda]

feeWAIVER, on 22 March 2021 - 07:43 PM, said:

Question:
If PPC changes are so "unfun", why is every match still full of PPCs?

Because its only a week or so since the patch dropped, most are still testing them.. Me i've still got a few builds with PPCs but i've pretty much given up on them and standard Gauss, i'm in the process of dumping most of my PPC builds.

[Monkey Lover]

Need to change pccs to like 200 dmg with 5 minute cool down. Then we can add respawns and turn this game into what Russ always wanted.

Edited by Monkey Lover, 22 March 2021 - 10:29 PM.

[Gagis]

feeWAIVER, on 22 March 2021 - 07:43 PM, said:

Question:
If PPC changes are so "unfun", why is every match still full of PPCs?

There's a bug where the cERPPC does a lot more damage than what the patch notes say. Not sure if other parts of the patch are affected or not.

Still boring to wait half the match for the cooldown to pass, but at least there is a bug to take advantage of.

Edited by Gagis, 22 March 2021 - 10:29 PM.

[The Mysterious Fox]

cross map snipers every game now

feeWAIVER, on 22 March 2021 - 07:43 PM, said:

Question:
If PPC changes are so "unfun", why is every match still full of PPCs?

its made an existing problem even worse and yes its less fun but more powerful in its niche.

it was a bad take on the design side

Edited by The Mysterious Fox, 23 March 2021 - 10:49 AM.

[feeWAIVER]

The Mysterious Fox, on 23 March 2021 - 10:47 AM, said:

cross map snipers every game now



its made an existing problem even worse and yes its less fun but more powerful in its niche.

it was a bad take on the design side

Is it less fun because the cooldown is like 1.5 seconds longer after skill tree?
Or is it less fun because more people are shooting you from range?

[Jack Forsythe]

Honestly I agree with the PPC being reverted, but please leave the Light Guass the way it is. Theres a reason to use them now over normal and heavy guass other than range.