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I LOVE ANNIHILATORS, on 12 September 2022 - 07:14 PM, said:
The only thing that's broken is your ability to understand how the game works. Here's what I'll do. If I get 3 matches in a row where my teammates decide to mindlessly nascar when the enemy pushes me from the left I'll just hop on a sniping mech and start using you as pug armor. The "git gud" players use you as pug armor because when you decide to NASCAR every time that's the only thing you're good for. Can't be relied on to hold a good position, can't be relied on to deal damage or confront the enemy, so to adapt to these circumstances, I must engage in an independent play style, that allows me to be effective far removed from my stock car racing enthusiasts labeled "teammates".
This.
Its all a bit of a prisoners dilemma, unfortunately. If you try to play correctly and your team doesn't, you often die first. If you play independently of them you'll still lose, but a good player can rank up.
A large amount of maps can be won if your team does pretty much anything other than Nascar. Most teams strategically flub the match within the first 20 seconds. But they get away with it very frequently because the other team also does, so the mass of players don't catch on. And its all that simple really. People play in ways that prevent skilled players from helping them much. Then the skilled players switch to more selfish playstyles. Then regular players whine that they are just farming and not helping them win.
A good example is Hibernal Rift. Team 1 tends to rotate from D4 to C4, then dive into the trench in C3 and rotate into D3 (and die). Team 2 tends to run B4 to C3 to D3, then up through the middle. Why do people do this? Literally just because that's what they see others doing. Its a terrible choice for either side.
If you're on team one and you just sit on the D4 ridge and the other team rotates through the trench and up their ramp into your firing line, you basically automatically win. Similarly, if you stay in C4 until they come through the middle or D4 trench into your firing line, it basically an auto win. And yet 80%+ of games, you will see Team 1 go and jump down into the C3 trench then try to push D3 into the enemy's bulk. Their slower team mates are back in C4 and D4. The enemy's slows may be in C3, but the rest of their forces are literally right around the corner. You gain absolutely nothing from dropping into that trench instead of shooting down into it, and yet people do it anyway! Every match! And you'll have people also go through the center and expose themselves to the enemies in their trench, while the enemies are safe from snipers! Make them come out into your team's fire! And harass them from the trench top until they do.
Similarly from the Team 2 side, if you just straight push B4 to C5 and the enemy is rotating, its basically auto-win. Heck, you can just stand around in B3 or B4 and let them trickle into you. That works fine as long as most of your team hasn't run off to C3. And if you must go through the trench, go further and come up in D3 so you don't get stuck in the low ground.
From both sides, the grand strategy of Hibernal Rift boils down to "Don't rotate and you auto win if they do." And yet people just DO NOT DO THIS. And that is the fundamental problem with the game. Its not some weapon or mech balance issues, or something the Cauldron introduced. The average MWO player fails at very basic map strategy, and so most matches are a mess. Everything else is secondary.
Edited by Heavy Money, 12 September 2022 - 07:35 PM.
