Pierce Rossignol, on 15 December 2012 - 11:43 AM, said:
I'll say it again. And again. And again.
ECM only highlights the lack of skill of players who apparently thought that left-clicking their way to victory made them good pilots. If you can't win without LRM spam, you don't play very well. Similarly, if you can't - or won't - communicate and coordinate with others on your team, you don't play very well. This is a team game. If you won't play the game the way it was designed to be played, then you have no right to complain.
ECM marks the first time that the Atlas is truly the most feared mech on the field. As an Atlas pilot, I can't wait for a netcode fix and the reinstatement of knockdowns so that we can get busy rightfully crumpling the cockpits of inferior pilots who count on lagshield and the suspension of all laws of physics to sustain them in a battle against an opponent three times their size packing ten times the ordnance.
As for ECM, it allows the Atlas to make it to the fight without half of the mech hanging off due to LRM spam. A fresh Atlas is scary. As it should be.
I've been piloting Atlases almost exclusively since the beginning, working on my patience and my piloting skills, waiting for the day when something like ECM -- and the eventual netcode fixes, and knockdowns, and collision damage -- make the Atlas once again, rightfully, the scariest thing on the field. There is no reason -- NONE -- that a Jenner or Commando should stay in the vicinity of an Atlas, nor should any but the craziest and most competent pilots be able to. An alpha strike from an Atlas at point blank range should blow a Commando off its feet and send it skidding away. A Jenner tangling with an Atlas should resemble a Pug fighting a Bullmastiff, and should last about as long. Your best bet against the Atlas, as a scout, should be to run like a rabbit and come back with friends and fire support. That day is coming. The days of "Forward-Back-Forward-Back-Really-Fast-So-He-Can't-Hit-Me-Even-Point-Blank" are ending. I'm grinding my teeth in anticipation. I will grin and smite you like the fist of an angry god.
Back to ECM.
The main reason ECM works so well is that teams with ECM tend to stay in a tight formation. A team of mechs is really hard to counter. That's the whole point of the game.
And on LRM's, I want to point out that ECM doesn't negate LRMs. I run a pair of 20's on my Founder's Atlas sometimes, and coordinate with a Light pilot to TAG or disrupt ECM mechs, at which point I hammer them with their own weight in warheads from several hundred yards before engaging. Which is how big mechs are supposed to work.
So I'm sorry that your cheats don't work anymore. ECM is fine. It makes the game hard. Cope.
You know, I totally agree with your sentiments in regards to an Atlas and its place on the battlefield. An Atlas, an assault mech, should be feared and light mechs have no place playing hookey with it in close proximity. I feel you frustration when it comes to squirrels running rampant taking advantage of bag netcode and zero collisions to leverage more than their fair share of utility out their tiny little mech chassis.
And, ECM has a place in the game. It is a part of Battletech after all and so should be. Anything that promotes greater usage of teamwork and tactics is a welcome addition.
Now put yourself in my shoes.
I live in Australia, and suffer a 250-300 ping. Light mechs are never where they appear to be. I prefer direct fire lasers for their ability to concentrate fire on a specific location, but a lockable weapon at least gives me some threat potential versus the lagshield. I also have a young family and sporadic free time, not condusive to joining a clan or commiting to 2 hours on teamspeak. So I pug games and for the most part enjoy having an impact on my makeshift sides performance.
You play an Atlas exclusive, I play a Founders Catapult. I want speed and manoeuvrability with decent armour with a fairly threatening damage potential.
In Closed Beta, I played all the chassis, many variations of weaponry to find the loudout that suited my playstyle and gave me most fun. Eventually I settled on a 4xMed Pulse Laser, 2x SSRM2 fastcat with jumpjets, BAP, full armour and 21 double heatsinks. Went for the sensor modules to have fast targeting and max sensor range for tactical awareness.
I could rush into the fray from an exposed front, grab a large amount of attention away from multiple enemies, take a beating but normally escape back into friendlies all the while dragging my pursuers into killzones driving them crazy wanting to get that elusive killshot on me. It's high risk, high reward stuff that could on occasion single handedly turn the tide of a match.
Introduce ECM.
Lights are now invulnerable against me, limiting viable targets to about half the normal drop, since there are now so many Ravens and Commandos. With the other heavies, I no longer get target data so and have to rely on the poor visual feedback for where and what sections of a mech might be damaged. With the current state of the netcode, even if I appear to be striking a mech I no longer can assess if there was in fact any damage dealt or where.
The game in its current state is pretty much defunct. Dropping now in my Founders Catapult is tantamount to simply 'making up the numbers'. It encourages players to join the cookie cutter brigade of ECM (which in my case means COM-2D with 3xSSRM2 + TAG to have a chance of hitting the multitudinous light brigade) or not giving a damn and grinding c-bills mindlessly with a cheap low repair cost loss.
However you look at it, from my perspective the game quality suffers. At the moment it isn't worth the time and if it isn't fixed soon there is no point in playing. There are three other avid Battletech fan friends of mine who have been following my experience and impressions of the game to decide if they should play.
Suffice it to say, things are not looking good.
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