Lefty Lucy, on 05 December 2012 - 11:09 AM, said:
The thing is, there is an actual competitive game mode now. Whether or not that game mode had some class or weight-based limitations would be better for balance is largely inconsequential to said competition. Ideally I'd like to see game balance be good enough that medium mechs have a place (the oft-touted "role warfare"). Barring that, some sort of incentive to play them other than in-game economics *would* be nice.
However, in the here-and-now, if you really want competition, you have to step up and play to the current metagame. I'd love to be able to usefully use some of my wacky builds in 8 v 8. However, I find that the thrill of good competition beats the desire to use less useful mechs, so I strap on my ECM suite and play better.
I agree with you, Ive had a blast running my 9M in these very tense matches.
But 8v8 premade matches is nothing new to me, I was part of plenty back in CB, and they were way more balanced and the oft toted role warfare was working like a charm.
All they have to do is bring class matching back and we are golden. Tonnage limits would be ideal, along with a mechcommander style lobby showing your teammates, the mech they have selected, and a bar showing your total tonnage. You could even have LEAGUES for each tonnage limit. Lovely separate metagames to enjoy!
BASICALLY I'm saying I like everything but they F'ed up the meta by removing weight balance. I know people hate TT comparisons but there is a reason Battletech matches are balanced on a Value system, not all mechs are created equal.
Edited by LordBraxton, 05 December 2012 - 11:35 AM.