87 replies to this topic

[Valiant Warsmith]

Please flush the Polar Highlands map to the forgotten dumpster that Alpine Peaks currently resides.

It is a terrible map that DOES NOT accommodate all play styles, thus it is a failure of map design.

[Brom96]

It is relatively open, cold map, with terrain that suits the maneuver, both physical and fire, and offers quite a few cover options.

If you are dying due to the LRM barrage, please shoot down the UAV or the actual spotter that is in your rear area.

Ans trust me, using LRMs on that area is not more effective then in other non urban maps. There is cover (if I can hide Nightstar there, so others can, too), and the amount of ecm and ams nowadays eats away large proportion of the missles enemy shoots at you or just prevents them from locking.

If you are referring to sheer size of it, I would say we need more maps that size.

But, lets be honest, polar and alpine both get far rarely voted compared to the brawler's favorites, like canyon or hibernal.

[BoredOuttaMeNut]

Yeah I feel like DCing every time I get dragged into this featureless garbage.

[Tarl Cabot]

imho, one of the the main issue is due to the middle of the map not continuing with broken up terrain. Second issue is lack of AMS and not pushing the LRM boats, especially when said boats are primarily IS and not Clan.

[FupDup]

Brom96, on 02 May 2021 - 02:59 AM, said:

It is relatively open, cold map, with terrain that suits the maneuver, both physical and fire, and offers quite a few cover options.

If you are dying due to the LRM barrage, please shoot down the UAV or the actual spotter that is in your rear area.

Ans trust me, using LRMs on that area is not more effective then in other non urban maps. There is cover (if I can hide Nightstar there, so others can, too), and the amount of ecm and ams nowadays eats away large proportion of the missles enemy shoots at you or just prevents them from locking.

If you are referring to sheer size of it, I would say we need more maps that size.

But, lets be honest, polar and alpine both get far rarely voted compared to the brawler's favorites, like canyon or hibernal.

It's not merely an LRM issue but a general long-range issue. Even with a mid-ranged setup like MRMs I often have to wait quite a while before the two teams get close enough for me to start doing meaningful stuff (I can tickle at almost 800m with IS ER Mediums but that's not really doing much).

[Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie]

yeah, in a mid to closerange build, you have to bite your time A LOT on polar.

yes, you can brawl on polar
yes, it takes FOREVER till the time is right to do so
both combined make for an absolutely playable, but not enjoyable, time.

overall, the map is rather dull and would profit from 'more 3D' quite a bit.

Edited by Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie, 02 May 2021 - 09:28 AM.

[Brom96]

I understand the issue, but then I also play it with machinegun urbie. Just position yourself right. Of course, that depends on the build you use the most. If you do not have range, you would need mobility to make up for it.

Of course, the team will most probably go with nascar... So...

In the end, the teams are within 200m of each other.

What really is nice is that more often nowadays I see the game around refinery which does turn in nascar, but is more fun and in closer range then going in the center.

[pbiggz]

Could the valleys on polar be a bit deeper? Yes.

Could the time of day maybe be evening or night so the sun doesnt melt my eyes? Yes.


Is it a bad map? No, its not. All of you are just addicted to medium pulse laser brawlers and you cry when gauss and LRM mechs get their day. LRMs arent even good they are just a feelbad and you don't like playing to avoid them.

[Brom96]

As for 3d... Perhaps, but apart from that center where everyone goes on Skirmish (for whatever reason), there are a lot of such features, ravines and hills and ice outcrops.

It is much more visible during the conquest (this being one of the rare maps that actually allows you to play that mod properly) and the battles on the cap points Tetha and Epsilon. Epsilon encounters being reminiscent of Scouting in FP.

[pbiggz]

Brom96, on 02 May 2021 - 09:32 AM, said:

As for 3d... Perhaps, but apart from that center where everyone goes on Skirmish (for whatever reason), there are a lot of such features, ravines and hills and ice outcrops.

It is much more visible during the conquest (this being one of the rare maps that actually allows you to play that mod properly) and the battles on the cap points Tetha and Epsilon. Epsilon encounters being reminiscent of Scouting in FP.

Its not bad, it could be a bit easier to break locks, but really its mostly the eye melting time of day and the prevalence of brawlers.

[Brom96]

Completely agree with you.

[Heavy Money]

Polar is a good map. You are correct that its skewed towards long range mechs. This is to balance out other maps that are skewed towards close range, like Solaris City.

If you're having trouble on polar in a ~250m range build, then your complaints are valid, but its intended. If you're having trouble in longer range builds, the problem is you. Get to know the terrain better and you'll find there's lots of ways to close distance and maneuver.

There has also already been talk of adding more cover to it now that we have a map dev.

[Fae Puka]

Alpine Peaks is an unappreciated gem of a QP map - plenty of off central fighting zone, varied range . . just a nice map.

[Surefoot]

Heavy Money, on 02 May 2021 - 09:43 AM, said:

If you're having trouble on polar in a ~250m range build, then your complaints are valid, but its intended. If you're having trouble in longer range builds, the problem is you. Get to know the terrain better and you'll find there's lots of ways to close distance and maneuver.

In faction play then ok I can select my long range drop deck and play that long range game. But in QP it's pretty much like when you forget your umbrella it rains: trying to play a 250m brawler, end up on Polar.. ok then get an ultra long range sniper, and get Mining or Solaris. Everytime. Being able to select a chassis after the map vote has happened would maybe limit the amount of complaints...

[pbiggz]

MummyPig, on 02 May 2021 - 10:15 AM, said:

Alpine Peaks is an unappreciated gem of a QP map - plenty of off central fighting zone, varied range . . just a nice map.

Alpine dies for the gamemodes' sins. There are tons of places to fight on that map, but in a match that will last 5 minutes at best, with objectives all focused around the center, those places are wasted.

Terra Therma has the same problem. Everyone's favourite old nascar caldera is actually on that map, its just off to the side now. Its an excellent map with lots of places to fight, but the gamemodes incentivize rushing the center and toilet bowling for 5 minutes until one team comes out ontop.

[Fae Puka]

pbiggz, on 02 May 2021 - 10:35 AM, said:

Alpine dies for the game modes' sins. There are tons of places to fight on that map, but in a match that will last 5 minutes at best, with objectives all focused around the center, those places are wasted.

Terra Therma has the same problem. Everyone's favourite old nascar caldera is actually on that map, its just off to the side now. Its an excellent map with lots of places to fight, but the game modes incentivize rushing the center and toilet bowling for 5 minutes until one team comes out on top.

In other words then, it's the players' lemming mentality that is causing the problem - not the map.

[Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie]

pbiggz, on 02 May 2021 - 10:35 AM, said:

Alpine dies for the gamemodes' sins. There are tons of places to fight on that map, but in a match that will last 5 minutes at best, with objectives all focused around the center, those places are wasted.

Terra Therma has the same problem. Everyone's favourite old nascar caldera is actually on that map, its just off to the side now. Its an excellent map with lots of places to fight, but the gamemodes incentivize rushing the center and toilet bowling for 5 minutes until one team comes out ontop.

MummyPig, on 02 May 2021 - 10:54 AM, said:

In other words then, it's the players' lemming mentality that is causing the problem - not the map.

and polar isn't any different. in FP you can 'work' that map for some very unusual stuff aside from the boring sniperfest.
same COULD be done in QP, only said lemming-behavior makes the mainfight happen in the same place all over.

on the lemming-mentality itself: yeah, you could blame the players for it; you could ALSO say the devs should know better and work on a system that encourages variety - easily done with different drop-points for example. but nah..
and hence, every map gets only a fraction of usage (usually the center). a pity, since even the smaller maps like mining could be played VERY differently, if only players OR devs would try to.

Edited by Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie, 02 May 2021 - 11:13 AM.

[pbiggz]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Urbie, on 02 May 2021 - 11:13 AM, said:

and polar isn't any different. in FP you can 'work' that map for some very unusual stuff aside from the boring sniperfest.
same COULD be done in QP, only said lemming-behavior makes the mainfight happen in the same place all over.

on the lemming-mentality itself: yeah, you could blame the players for it; you could ALSO say the devs should know better and work on a system that encourages variety - easily done with different drop-points for example. but nah..
and hence, every map gets only a fraction of usage (usually the center). a pity, since even the smaller maps like mining could be played VERY differently, if only players OR devs would try to.

Respawns and rotating objective locations.

[Heavy Money]

Surefoot, on 02 May 2021 - 10:16 AM, said:

In faction play then ok I can select my long range drop deck and play that long range game. But in QP it's pretty much like when you forget your umbrella it rains: trying to play a 250m brawler, end up on Polar.. ok then get an ultra long range sniper, and get Mining or Solaris. Everytime. Being able to select a chassis after the map vote has happened would maybe limit the amount of complaints...

Drop decks would remove the individual annoyance of dropping as the wrong loadout for the map, but it would likely cause the new and worse problem of everyone always playing the same sorts of things. Polar would always be all LRMs and Snipers. Solaris would be all brawlers, etc. This would greatly decrease match variety and make the game worse.

Its better to have to sometimes put up with being a loadout a map is skewed against. You already have the choice to play mid ranged or mixed loadouts that do not mind being on any given map. If you choose to specialize, you gain power in some circumstances and lose it in others. This is perfectly fair.

[pbiggz]

Heavy Money, on 02 May 2021 - 12:04 PM, said:

Drop decks would remove the individual annoyance of dropping as the wrong loadout for the map, but it would likely cause the new and worse problem of everyone always playing the same sorts of things. Polar would always be all LRMs and Snipers. Solaris would be all brawlers, etc. This would greatly decrease match variety and make the game worse.

Thats not a problem. Different kinds of builds on different maps is a good thing. I think this is a case of us not having had a nice thing for so long that everyone is scared of what having nice things might actually be like.

Heavy Money, on 02 May 2021 - 12:04 PM, said:

Its better to have to sometimes put up with being a loadout a map is skewed against. You already have the choice to play mid ranged or mixed loadouts that do not mind being on any given map. If you choose to specialize, you gain power in some circumstances and lose it in others. This is perfectly fair.

Not really. Its a feelbad every time.