91 replies to this topic

[DJMarine]

Matchmaking receives a lot of flack, the assumption is that due to pug teams it's too difficult to find balanced and competitive matches when solo queuing. Those for-premades argue that solo players are just complaining because they're bad players.

However, the core issue is not about wins or losses, it's the amount of steam rolls that happen in general, which are currently far too frequent. Even being on the winning side of a 8-0 win, isn't fun and makes the game less enjoyable. I've recorded the stats of 14 of my games, and here are the results in order:


8-0 L (conquest)
8-0 L (conquest)
7-2 W (lost a scout early, not a close or challenging match)
8-1 W (and short one on our team)
7-3 L (on paper this may not look like a bad match, but two of our kills came from trapping 2 lights/scouts that over-extended. Once their mediums and heavies showed our team was rolled very quickly)
8-4 W (competitive match)
8-1 W
8-1 W
8-7 L
8-7 L
8-4 W

9 out of 14 matches were complete steam rolls/blowouts without one of the sides being able to pose a remote challenge. Is this a result of premades? I'm not sure, in some cases maybe. But, I'm starting to think it's a case of luck and how the gameplay is in general. Because there's not a lot of tactical fighting involved atm, in a typical pub at least, most games are won on pure firepower. Once that first mech or two goes down that team is at a huge disadvantage and seems likely to just completely collapse from there.

So personally the more I play I don't think the bad match making can be patched with ELO and balancing premades, I think the gameplay also needs to be addressed to foster more balanced, competitive, and tactical play. Am I off the mark, or would others agree?

On a positive note, it seems like the matches are becoming more equal as I go along, will have to play more to see if that's an actual trend occurring, or coincidence. Keep in mind these are far from my first 14 games, I've been playing for awhile.

YES IT IS BETA, and yes people will still form their initial impressions and opinions of the game right now, as is. The devs went into open beta at this point due to wanting an influx of more players, and also more money. To accomplish that the game needs to be good today.

Edited by JayTac, 05 January 2013 - 08:12 PM.

[GalaxyBluestar]

what do you expect when the game is basically stick together focus fire who ever does that best wins. no one does cap, and working towards that people call you a coward or a griefer. outsmarting the enemy is shunned and everyone is really loving the trench pew pew warfare. it won't change that's what teamgames are about. g*ngb*ngs period.

[xRaeder]

I've been saying this since CB. You should all know by now what my proposed solution to these problems are.

Edited by xRaeder, 05 January 2013 - 11:26 PM.

[TygerLily]

I think the game has an inevitible tipping point. One one side loses 3 or so mechs then it's hard to come back from that. By the time 4 are lost they are outnumbered 2 to 1 which is a big deal in this game. Usually those first losses are either unwary scouts or lone wolfs that over extend.

[NocturnalBeast]

I personally do not see very many steamroll games and I play both pug and premade games. Granted, if one side is disorganized and the other is focused, it will be a steamroll. Best you can do is urge your pug team mates to stick together and try to focus targets. Bad scouts always die early, the ones that now how to check out the enemy and then fall back to the group tend to live.

And yes, you may just have had the misfortune of being pitted against a 8-man sync drops more often than not.

[DJMarine]

GalaxyBluestar, on 05 January 2013 - 08:04 PM, said:

what do you expect when the game is basically stick together focus fire who ever does that best wins. no one does cap, and working towards that people call you a coward or a griefer. outsmarting the enemy is shunned and everyone is really loving the trench pew pew warfare. it won't change that's what teamgames are about. g*ngb*ngs period.

I thought MW was supposed to be different...

xRaeder, on 05 January 2013 - 08:07 PM, said:

I've been saying this since CB. You should all know by now what my proposed solution to these problems is.

hammer it home, especially for those like myself who don't frequent the forums a lot.

[MadPanda]

There is nothing to separate the good from the bad. You are going to have to wait for the Phase 3.

[DJMarine]

quasihuman, on 05 January 2013 - 08:11 PM, said:

I personally do not see very many steamroll games and I play both pug and premade games. Granted, if one side is disorganized and the other is focused, it will be a steamroll. Best you can do is urge your pug team mates to stick together and try to focus targets. Bad scouts always die early, the ones that now how to check out the enemy and then fall back to the group tend to live.

And yes, you may just have had the misfortune of being pitted against a 8-man sync drops more often than not.

I guess the big question then is what should this game boil down to? In terms of being successful. Should it simply be a matter of getting everyone on the same page and firing at the same targets, or should there be more depth than that? I would like to see more than that, and right now I don't think there's really a way to truly outsmart the other team. It doesn't really feel like the thinking man's shooter imo.

Edited by JayTac, 05 January 2013 - 08:20 PM.

[Renthrak]

JayTac, on 05 January 2013 - 08:17 PM, said:

I guess the big question then is what should this game boil down to? In terms of being successful.

This, right here, is the core of the issue. It seems to me that PGI is mainly focusing on getting the basic gameplay to function properly before bringing real strategy into the matches. The end-goal is community warfare, where the result of a match (win or lose) has ramifications beyond the players' k/d ratios. That should completely overturn the current priorities.

[Drake Morgan]

If they don't fix the ECM/Commando/Streak gimmick, there will never be any other strategy. They need to address certain issues first before the game can progress. Maybe it's just my dumb luck, but I've faced several pre-mades that were nothing but lights, mostly commandos, with streaks and ECM. That's what folks will play for now, because that is what wins matches most of the time. Frustrating

Edited by Drake Morgan, 05 January 2013 - 08:42 PM.

[GalaxyBluestar]

JayTac, on 05 January 2013 - 08:13 PM, said:

I thought MW was supposed to be different...

i wish it was, really hoped conquest would change player attitudes. it hasn't, caps are useless cause it means the turttle blob picks off individuals so unless they ignore caps and you got enough you'll lose so everyone plays it like assault, and everyone yells at you for capping in assault. the game is more shallow now than ever and people like it that way, recon? too boring and i can't catch em escaping with info. defense? they destroy base before we can touch them bad game mode. MW has been reduced to a shooting gallery because anything more sophisticated gets in the way of fighting. "that's what we're all here to do right?" this will never be a real mechwarrior game.

[Kaspirikay]

This is why we need solaris arenas

[buhatkj]

in general this last week or two what I've seen is whoever either has the most ECM or uses it best wins. This game has become go ECM or go home. The only atlas you see is the d-dc anymore....

Feels way OP to me.

[GioAvanti]

GalaxyBluestar, on 05 January 2013 - 08:04 PM, said:

what do you expect when the game is basically stick together focus fire who ever does that best wins. no one does cap, and working towards that people call you a coward or a griefer. outsmarting the enemy is shunned and everyone is really loving the trench pew pew warfare. it won't change that's what teamgames are about. g*ngb*ngs period.

Yes because running into the enemy base under ECM takes skill...

*rolls eyes*

[Sears]

Steam rolls have been there since CB. It's mainly the blob mechanic and focus fire and the snowball effect. So really there needs to be a threat to the blog mechanic and hopefully something like artillery narrage, orbital strikes and some of the other things mentioned in early dev blogs will make it in. Hopefully it will push players back into lances rather than just blobbing up.

Edited by Sears, 05 January 2013 - 09:45 PM.

[TB Freelancer]

quasihuman, on 05 January 2013 - 08:11 PM, said:

And yes, you may just have had the misfortune of being pitted against a 8-man sync drops more often than not.

The vast majority of the time its simply two unrelated 4 mans as opposed to a syn-drop. I've seen more true sync-drops than I would have liked to, but most of the time its just two 4 mans on one side while the other gets totally screwed...

...honestly I can't believe PGI would have allowed the match maker to put more than 4 premade players on a single side in matches mixed with pugs. It was a bewilderingly stupid maneuver.

While I'm certain Elo won't do much good since it applies absolutely no value to being in a group, to having prior knowledge of what your teammates will be running or to coms. Still, I will wait and see what happens once its released and see how it affects things before drawing any conclusions.

From that point on I'll be mixing my time between playing solo and for the first time since one single night after the wipe, I'll be playing in groups mixed with pugs. Something I've been waiting a long time to do.

[GalaxyBluestar]

GioAvanti, on 05 January 2013 - 09:44 PM, said:

Yes because running into the enemy base under ECM takes skill...

*rolls eyes*

look what we have here another cap is op pew pewer. don't let those nasty tactics keep you awake at night then pray for the devs to pander to you're shooting gallery by taking those hindering bases away. defence clearly overwhelms you.

[Zylo]

Sears, on 05 January 2013 - 09:44 PM, said:

Steam rolls have been there since CB. It's mainly the blob mechanic and focus fire and the snowball effect. So really there needs to be a threat to the blog mechanic and hopefully something like artillery narrage, orbital strikes and some of the other things mentioned in early dev blogs will make it in. Hopefully it will push players back into lances rather than just blobbing up.

Collision knockdowns were actually a counter to the very tight blob formations as being knocked down presented an easy target for enemy snipers.

[Corvus Antaka]

Another reason respawning would be a good idea. No respawn rolling gets old fast, and very frustrating.

[Teralitha]

9 out of 14 doesnt exactly make your case......