66 replies to this topic

[1453 R]

Ehhh...fair enough. I'll admit, I also just find UltraSuperHyperMegaSpecialized play extremely boring. "This 'Mech is designed to engage enemies in the 45~65-ton weight bracket at distances between 253 and 297 meters for precisely 7.83 seconds per engagement; any other engagement is an absolute disaster and renders my 'Mech utterly useless."

It's like...why do people find that sort of thing desireable? I get that extreme specialization leads to very strong chances of victory within that specialization, but it just strikes me as so incredibly boring to constantly produce 'Mechs that are completely incapable of any sort of tactical flexibility. Crap like the Twelve LBX-10 Annihilator that moves eight whole KPH and are completely and utterly incapable of engaging anything except other HypahDreadnaughts in a Domination match because they're so incredibly sluggish and immobile that even Timber Wolves and Linebackers can easily escape their firing arcs make me wonder why "Specialization" is a thing to the degree people keep espousing in comp. Like, is it really, truly possible for comp players to make that walking crime against common sense functional?

[Quicksilver Aberration]

1453 R, on 04 June 2024 - 11:00 AM, said:

Ehhh...fair enough. I'll admit, I also just find UltraSuperHyperMegaSpecialized play extremely boring. "This 'Mech is designed to engage enemies in the 45~65-ton weight bracket at distances between 253 and 297 meters for precisely 7.83 seconds per engagement; any other engagement is an absolute disaster and renders my 'Mech utterly useless."

It's like...why do people find that sort of thing desireable?

To be clear, you typically aren't specializing that far such that a mech is only useful for that narrow engagement window. No plan survives contact with the enemy which is why knowing progressions and mid-rounding are so important. For example the big extreme range assault is the 6 ERLL/7 ERML Stone Rhino because you have the 6 ERLL for extreme range but you can still pressure or punish a blind push with the added 7 ERML thanks to cERML's great range (and is cheap to add, 7 tons and 7 slots isn't much for a 100 ton beast). Typically the higher in tiers you go the more dominant MASC is. Not to say the occasional turtle mech isn't a thing, you just generally want at most 2 and even that's sort of risky. Somehow comp has gone right back to the good ol BESM.

Edited by Quicksilver Aberration, 04 June 2024 - 11:30 AM.

[Gasboy]

1453 R, on 04 June 2024 - 11:00 AM, said:

Ehhh...fair enough. I'll admit, I also just find UltraSuperHyperMegaSpecialized play extremely boring. "This 'Mech is designed to engage enemies in the 45~65-ton weight bracket at distances between 253 and 297 meters for precisely 7.83 seconds per engagement; any other engagement is an absolute disaster and renders my 'Mech utterly useless."

As Quick already said, no one is that specialized. It's more "at what range bracket do you wish to engage?"

Quote

It's like...why do people find that sort of thing desireable?

It obviously doesn't go well in QP, mostly due to how armor is balanced, and potentially not enough ammo, but in comp the mech only part of the experience. Teamwork is all encompassing, if you do not work together, you will (very likely) lose. Strategy and tactics are also extremely important.

Quote

I get that extreme specialization leads to very strong chances of victory within that specialization, but it just strikes me as so incredibly boring to constantly produce 'Mechs that are completely incapable of any sort of tactical flexibility. Crap like the Twelve LBX-10 Annihilator that moves eight whole KPH and are completely and utterly incapable of engaging anything except other HypahDreadnaughts in a Domination match because they're so incredibly sluggish and immobile that even Timber Wolves and Linebackers can easily escape their firing arcs make me wonder why "Specialization" is a thing to the degree people keep espousing in comp. Like, is it really, truly possible for comp players to make that walking crime against common sense functional?

The Annie you describe would probably not ever get used. The comp group I'm a part of use the Annie to hold a place, typically the Theta cap point, to play the cap game. She'e very tough, and three of them will ruin the other team's day completely if they blunder into those guns. At other times, Annie is a sacrificial goat, absorbing the other team's fire so that the rest of our team can surround the other and take them out with focused fire.

It's all about efficiency of fire. If you are the first one singled out, you will die in moments. If you are lucky you get one alpha out. If you're lucky. In that singular moment, would you rather have weapons where cooldown and rate of fire line up, or not?

[foamyesque]

1453 R, on 04 June 2024 - 08:20 AM, said:

Each team consists of ten assault-weight LRM bloatboats and two actual semi-competent players desperately trying to do the job of twelve people instead, because "POLAR HAS NO COVER LRMS OP". Never mind that Polar has gobs of cover and lock-on missiles are honestly difficult to use well there due to the sheer abundance of Trench Warfare.

Polar hasn't been a LRM-friendly map ever since the rework, which is, what, two+ years in the rearview mirror at this point? If someone still thinks that's the play they deserve the losses they have coming.

[martian]

foamyesque, on 04 June 2024 - 05:46 PM, said:

Polar hasn't been a LRM-friendly map ever since the rework, which is, what, two+ years in the rearview mirror at this point? If someone still thinks that's the play they deserve the losses they have coming.

The central area of the map has been reworked to be less LRM-friendly than it used to be, but those outer areas are still quite LRM-friendly.