103 replies to this topic

[nanashi0110]

It's only been an hour since the game started, but here are my impressions after playing a few times.
If you'd like, please give it a try and share your thoughts!

Positive:
1. Matchmaking is fast!
Very fast. Since I'm T5, I don't usually have to wait long, but it still feels fast enough.

2. The game progresses quickly!
Everyone was so active that I wondered what the 12v12 was all about, and the pace felt just right from start to finish.

3. The meta is completely different and fun!
The 12v12 was full of erLL/PPC porks and LRM supporters, and to be honest, I was a bit disappointed.
The 8v8 was just a brawl. Of course, there were snipers and missile boats, but most of the combat was within 400m.

4. The rewards were good.
I haven't looked into it in detail, but maybe there's a boost? The rewards are better than usual.
And the score is impressive. Maybe because the game is more active overall, I feel like there are more K/DMG/A matches than usual.

Negatives:
1. The difference between teaming up and grouping up is huge.
The difference in teamwork is huge.
Boar and Turtle are extremely lethal.
(This is a Japanese expression. Boar → Bad Light. Turtle → Slow and isolated MECH.)

2. Sometimes it feels like the outcome is already decided at the matchup.
One player is very heavy, the other is very light... I felt like there were more matchups like that than usual.
Maybe the matchmaking balance has been a bit disrupted by the 8v8 format...

That's about it.

Overall, I have a very good impression. The game tempo is good, and there's no stress in matchmaking.
(Compared to 12v12) Other than the difficulty in teamwork and the much higher-than-usual hate for Light, who leaves after 30 seconds, I really like it.

[TheMadTypist]

I haven't experienced the same positives. The queue feels slower than normal for a friday night. The maps are way to big for these team sizes. It takes too long for combat to start, and then it's decided well before it's over, even less of push/pull than 12v12.

I feel like I'm spending less time in combat and more time walking to the fight or waiting for the queue. Game just feels so empty. Needs to go back to smaller maps if this is going to work well.

[Xypherious]

It' awful. 4 games so far, my team was stomped each time. Lights feel even worse to play than usual.

Edited by Xypherious, 08 August 2025 - 03:26 PM.

[Tarl Cabot]

imho, the main issue with 8vs8 is the use of the group queue tonnage instead of utilizing matching mech classes (solo queue) instead of tonnage.

[LordNothing]

i havent played this round but i played the last one. i think what it can do is give pgi/the cauldron more leeway in calibrating the mm. tonnage for example is one of those things where the valve is constantly open at all but peak hours with 12. so there stands a chance that this portion of the mm can actually be useful again.

its an apportionment problem. you have to find an optimal way to distribute a finite resource (the currently available player pool). i always figured this should be an automated system that checks the pool every few hours and if its within certain thresholds configure the game to 8v8 or 12v12, perhaps even 4v4 in the most dire situations.

you cannot simply drag heels and expect there to suddenly be more players and you may be willing to wait 5-10 minutes for an off peak match. but spending more time searching/loading/connecting than playing the game actual really saps the fun out of it. ive had many a session end prematurely because the wait times were getting too long.

[ARMHOLD MUSCLEHOGGER]

I believe that tier 1 should be 4v4, tier 2 6v6, tier 3 8v8 and tier 4 10v10 and tier 5 12v12. IF (notice BIG IF) the population fits that.
If it doesn't, offer the highest population the biggest teams. As the teams get smaller it becomes more and more drastic if a player lacks in skill.

Making the general population all do 8v8 solves one problem while creating many in my opinion. Drop times improved is an inevitable mathematical equation but it also magnifies the weak links in a team and makes it harder to recover from. Even a disco becomes much more serious with smaller teams.

If this is being done to help fix population decline, then address that with a major bump in fun and perks, new maps, maybe a few cool new features to re-invigorate the player base, designed, by the player base and some major players/media streamers who make up a dream team of positive change. Example: Reaching tier 3 shouldn't feel like a punishment. Reaching tier 1 should open up maps and play features only there for the elite to give them a reason NOT to just run through another alternate account to murder tier 5 players.

8v8 is a migraine that comes with an aspirin.

Edited by ARMHOLD MUSCLEHOGGER, 08 August 2025 - 04:47 PM.

[H0bbes78]

Not a fan of 8v8…will sit this out until it’s over.

[Drunk CEO Monologues]

TheMadTypist, on 08 August 2025 - 03:21 PM, said:

I haven't experienced the same positives. The queue feels slower than normal for a friday night. The maps are way to big for these team sizes. It takes too long for combat to start, and then it's decided well before it's over, even less of push/pull than 12v12.

I feel like I'm spending less time in combat and more time walking to the fight or waiting for the queue. Game just feels so empty. Needs to go back to smaller maps if this is going to work well.

Checking steamcharts https://steamcharts.com/app/342200#1m

Player numbers are down about 20% doing a same day comparison to last week, and down 10% from the week before (in case the lootbag event was boosting last week's numbers).

20% fewer players would partially offset the 33% smaller match sizes when it comes to wait times. Tier distribution matters as well. I have personally never enjoyed 8v8.

[Herod]

Awful.

[Mechsniper]

The beach party event is giving our much less MC than previous events. People catch on to things like that quickly and respond. Games overall worse. Que times not that much different for me.

[Mayhem Lewis]

Match experience is garbage. Teams fold incredibly fast after the first 2 kills. As a result, I'm lucky enough to be getting tons of kills yet all the time you can practically smell the dissatisfaction and bad mood each match brings for blue and red teams.

Whoever decided this was a solution needs to be fired, seriously, fired. Or if they are a group of self-regulating non-paid individuals helping make decisions and content? they need to be thanked and dismissed.

[1453 R]

What I'm getting out of most of the hate for 8v8 is "I actually get outflanked and wrecked when I pilot the same hundred-ton mega-bloatboats I always pilot because there's not five other bloatboats surrounding me making it impossible to effectively attack any of us, and I don't like this!"

It is about time that ponderous lack of mobility was actually a detriment in this game, and that the thousand tons of heavy autocannons most people bring to matches every single match stopped being free.

[a 5 year old with an Uzi]

...The faster matchmaking is going to have the unintended side effect of encouraging players to avoid Oceanic. Checking nonlocal servers to get more matches is hardly needed.

[Nikushimi]

Mobile Ordnance Platform, on 08 August 2025 - 06:38 PM, said:

if they want to switch to 8v8 then groups have to go - this is non-debatable its just hard truth

The streamers and their ten viewers would cry non-stop about removal of soup queue from QP. Mean while the smurfs are just stomping around in T5.

[a 5 year old with an Uzi]

Comms are practically nonexistent. Maybe twice I have heard some target calling. No other comms.

Bumped back to T2, already dreading it.

Assault blobs have a MASSIVE influence on a match, good or bad. They continue to constitute the majority of mechs queued. Meds, lights low, I was seeing single digits for both at times and saw mediums hover at 0 for a bit. Assaults rarely dip below 40 percent.

Edit: Comms getting more prevalent so maybe just a fluke.

Edited by a 5 year old with an Uzi, 08 August 2025 - 07:52 PM.

[a 5 year old with an Uzi]

I just saw 90 percent assaults, 10 percent heavies in queue.

What that implies I can only guess at. 10 people queued? Literally everyone and their mother going heavy and heavier?

[LordNothing]

Mechsniper, on 08 August 2025 - 05:19 PM, said:

The beach party event is giving our much less MC than previous events. People catch on to things like that quickly and respond. Games overall worse. Que times not that much different for me.

thats because of the three hero mechs and one legend. keep in mind the legend battlepass comes with 3k mc.

[Nekoshibu]

8v8 matches are quick, but those who aren't grouped are at a disadvantage and the match experience is terrible. I've played 10 times and lost every single time. What's fun about that? I'm not a volunteer to entertain my opponents.

[LordNothing]

a 5 year old with an Uzi, on 08 August 2025 - 06:54 PM, said:

...The faster matchmaking is going to have the unintended side effect of encouraging players to avoid Oceanic. Checking nonlocal servers to get more matches is hardly needed.

thats a system id like to see revamped. what ends up happening is most players opt in everywhere to get the wait times down. and then you end up with everyone with 200+ ping because they are on a non optimal server. instead what should happen is the mm picks a server based on a ping time vote. each client pings each server and reports back to the mm, the mm then sums up everyone ping to each and chooses the server with the lowest value.

[nanashi0110]

Wow... I'm surprised it's getting so much negative feedback. Am I the only one who enjoys it?
I'm a solo player at T5, and I'm doing well with some wins and some losses.

Regarding Group Q, which has been a point of criticism this time...
As was announced, one aspect of 8v8 is COMP, so I think that's why groups are allowed.
Also, I really feel sick saying this, but...
It's impossible to deny group play in this day and age. DBD, OW, Apex, R6S, CoD, BF, LoL, etc...
Even if there are minimal restrictions, the gaming population these days is supported by people playing with friends...