21 replies to this topic

[luxebo]

Been having less and less fun going upwards in tier, some games are ok but games become stomps way faster, suboptimal/fun builds are just unplayable, and I constantly queue into pro stacks (I don't want to queue into JGX, KDCM, 228, Emp every single game if they decide to drop together for a while). I would like to have fun, but with a lot of my mechs that aren't Annihilator dual HGauss or something with Rotaries/UACs or brainless laser vomit or I guess lights are playable but I don't own a Mist Lynx or Incubus or Wolfhound so I guess they aren't, it's very hard to make anything else I own playable.

My purpose is not to seal club btw (if I wanted to do that I can make a smurf), I simply want to play less optimal mechs and do ok, like Hellspawn, Thunderbolt, Awesome, you name it. Was trying to test Thunderbolts and other patched mechs and I literally demoted from Tier 1 off of that lol because they are so bad, soft-griefing games by doing only 300 or 400 damage a game.

Tldr: Is it ok to (legally) demote myself into Tier 3/4? Or is that bannable? I see people run it into the enemy team consistently anyway doing 10 damage so I guess it's fine?

[pattonesque]

playing sub-optimal mechs is fine. intentionally throwing is a ToS violation I think

especially since if you do it then you gave them a paper trail lol

Edited by pattonesque, 30 August 2021 - 11:06 AM.

[Thorqemada]

It is legal to participate in each match with any Mech you want to play regardless how good it fares as long you try your best.

So to have low matchscores you need to find a Mech that has very little damage potential like i.e. a Spider with 2 ML and maybe try to play the objectives bcs that is usually the least rewarded and lowest scoring way to play a match.

[luxebo]

But is it not just throwing to play something like an Atlas with 2 MGs and no armor or? Or is that "fine" in theory lol

Yeah I might think about running something like Urbanmech or Hellspawn running Streaks to just artifically lower myself down without deliberately throwing.

[Nightbird]

Just play a capping spider. They let that mech into the game, it's not your fault it has trouble with earning 100 MS.

[ScrapIron Prime]

Nightbird, on 30 August 2021 - 11:15 AM, said:

Just play a capping spider. They let that mech into the game, it's not your fault it has trouble with earning 100 MS.

Pretty much. Spider 5V, max jump jets, 2 ERML. Select Conquest all the time, cap a lot, and try your best in firefights. Guaranteed to lower your tier despite your honest best efforts.

https://mech.nav-alp...9a98a028_SDR-5V

#MakeCappingWorthwhile

[Ryokens leap]

Population numbers are so low you will still have to face the T1 metacomps. I solo-yoloed my high T2 account down to T4 and they are still there harvesting Plebes.

[Horseman]

luxebo, on 30 August 2021 - 10:58 AM, said:

Tldr: Is it ok to (legally) demote myself into Tier 3/4? Or is that bannable? I see people run it into the enemy team consistently anyway doing 10 damage so I guess it's fine?

No. If you're doing it on purpose to lower your rating, it's a violation of the COC
https://mwomercs.com/conduct

• Exploiting or manipulating the matchmaking system

Edited by Horseman, 30 August 2021 - 12:15 PM.

[Mal Bolge]

Horseman, on 30 August 2021 - 12:15 PM, said:

• Exploiting or manipulating the matchmaking system

LOL! That is a vague sentence if ever I saw one. It could be interpreted into anything. Teaming up or using discord to gain an advantage. Playing full matches so you're likely to drop with the same people. Playing the same mech over and over. Anything that gains an advantage really. They might instead just write: It's a violation to do whatever we decide at the moment.

That actually explains a lot.

Edited by Mal Nilsum, 30 August 2021 - 12:59 PM.

[luxebo]

Arguably as long as it's not hard griefing (teamkilling, suiciding) I guess it's not bannable? It's too vague to say anything really. Theoretically I'm exploiting the system by playing dual heavy gauss lol, I'm rising tier too fast obviously

I'm not trying to justify/straight up run it down or suicide in games repeatedly, that's obviously a scummy way to do it and ruins games. If I'm trying my best running an Atlas with 2 MGs, 4 Tags, and 2 Narcs, is that fine too? I don't know in my mind that's griefing, but lol.

And in tandem, would that Spider with 2 ML not be considered griefing too is my question... because it practically is griefing... So if we up it a bit and go with something like a 3 MPL Spider with ECM, that ..... ehhhhh I don't know... obviously it's suboptimal but... if exploiting the MM above is "bannable", then wouldn't running a 3 MPL Spider be also bannable? Or the 2 ML Spider? Or we can up it even more and go with a 3 LPPC Spider, or a 2 ER LL Spider... yada yada, obviously these are not great, but in theory by running not-Mist Lynx lights I'm exploiting the MM then?

Edited by luxebo, 30 August 2021 - 01:11 PM.

[VeeOt Dragon]

honestly i just say play some oddball builds and if you your PSR goes down it goes down.

try my annoyance Urbie UM-R63 (3 LPPC, 3 MG (1 1/2t ammo), AMS (1/2t ammo) running an LE-170, 4 DHS with Endo and LFF (full armor -3 pts each leg))

if you strip the AMS and a DHS you can run an LE-180 instead or even just strip the AMS for more MG ammo

the Annoyance Urbie does well enough that you wont be a detriment to the team but its not optimal. boy does it piss folks off though especially when you chain fire the LPPC. makes people think something nastier is shooting regular PPCs at em. ii have had people actually run away from it when they are almost fresh. its a hoot.


i understand how you feel though with Tier 1 meta try hards. back before the PSR change i was up into high Tier 2 and it sucked. honestly i had more fun back in my Tier 4 or 5 days. lots of odd and interesting builds, people actually using coms and listening to calls, even people using tactics other than endless nascar. once i got out of Tier 3 the game just sort of lost all the fun. after the PSR change i am sitting solidly in Tier 3. you still get the meta cry babies but that is to be expected with such a low population. i have never been one for meta so i don't think i will ever have to worry about rocketing up to Tier 1 any time soon.

Edited by VeeOt Dragon, 30 August 2021 - 01:37 PM.

[Gagis]

Please don't intentionally sabotage your team. It is very unfair to your teammates.

[Bud Crue]

luxebo, on 30 August 2021 - 01:05 PM, said:

I'm not trying to justify/straight up run it down or suicide in games repeatedly, that's obviously a scummy way to do it and ruins games. If I'm trying my best running an Atlas with 2 MGs, 4 Tags, and 2 Narcs, is that fine too? I don't know in my mind that's griefing, but lol.

You can run whatever you want, and many have run even worse builds than that, but if enough people report you for playing obviously subpar builds, there is a chance PGI might take action against you. If you build poorly and play poorly but aren't intentionally throwing the match or griefing others, you probably aren't going to draw a ban. But why risk it? Folks giving you the advice about playing a capping Spider are doing so to illustrate that there is at least one specific mech that PGI has provided, which when run in the manner that PGI has specifically designed it for, will in all likelihood result in PSR down arrows more often than not. Thus, there is no reason to even consider bringing intentionally poorly built things so as to drop tier, but which might get your fellow players to report you, when there is a perfectly PGI provided vehicle to do so without such a risk.

[luxebo]

I guess... I just don't see how the Atlas build I mentioned vs the "PGI allowed" 2 ML Spider is any different though lol, they might as well be the same thing lol, wouldn't I accumulate reports doing some 2 ML Spider running around doing nothing all game (ok "capping yes" yeah those caps man that'll totally get em in domination)?

But I digress, yeah I'll just run some weirder (but still reasonable) builds and see how that goes

[Eatit]

Imagine being the poor sod at PGI whose job it is to look into such reported abuse. Anyone with a modicum of sense would completely ignore such reporting. How on earth would it be possible to determine if someone was intentionally trying to lower their match score.

Took a flea stood still too long and got one shotted from across the map by a sweaty tryhard veins protruding from his fivehead. Oh man no damage and PSR goes down on a win. If this were to be punished as not trying hard enough... there wouldn't be a light pilot left in the game.

There are 2 maybe 3 PGI employees working on this game. Do you think PGI is paying someone to look through your match scores to determine if you are sweaty enough?

YOU DO YOU and ignore anyone that tells you that you aren't good enough. They are most likely projecting.


*edited for typo

Edited by Eatit, 30 August 2021 - 02:11 PM.

[Gagis]

Its really not hard at all to spot consistent long-term patterns of bad sportsmanship. Games don't need watertight laws.

[luxebo]

Eatit, on 30 August 2021 - 02:10 PM, said:

There are 2 maybe 3 PGI employees working on this game. Do you think PGI is paying someone to look through your match scores to determine if you are sweaty enough?

[redacted]

So who knows maybe my one game of Adder Prime trial with 500 damage doing most damage on my team (yes my PSR went down somehow on this game) might be reportable idk lol

Edited by Ekson Valdez, 30 August 2021 - 10:55 PM.

[Bud Crue]

luxebo, on 30 August 2021 - 03:06 PM, said:

[redacted]

Moderation and getting banned for behavior is a totally different issue than dropping tier. If you are so desperate to play in low tiers then create an alt and play like crap (this thread has made it clear how) and stay low. Otherwise, frankly, just avoid high alpha, high dps builds; don't use AMS or consumables and emphasize mixed builds to the extent possible.

Edited by Ekson Valdez, 30 August 2021 - 10:57 PM.
quote clean-up

[Kiiyor]

luxebo, on 30 August 2021 - 11:11 AM, said:

But is it not just throwing to play something like an Atlas with 2 MGs and no armor or? Or is that "fine" in theory lol

Yeah I might think about running something like Urbanmech or Hellspawn running Streaks to just artifically lower myself down without deliberately throwing.

Yeah, that may be taking it too far.

Though I have, in fact, run a 9 TAG partyback in the past, so who am I to judge...

Just drop in the Awesome for a while.

[luxebo]

Lol I'm actually testing the Awesome currently, it's ... surprisingly good! It's not a bad mech so far or maybe I'm getting lucky. The Hellspawn sorta surprised me too.

I think this problem is solved, it is "fair game" so to speak to play suboptimal mechs and incidentally decrease PSR based on playing suboptimal mechs, but it is not ok to directly grief games pretty much. I think that is the full answer then (and I think this is fair).