26 replies to this topic

[Lukoi Banacek]

Dawnthieve, on 16 January 2013 - 12:59 PM, said:

this is no solution to the PUG experience, because youre then just not PUGing anymore.

I think that's exactly the solution, is what he's trying to say.

[TVMA Doc]

Josef Nader, on 16 January 2013 - 11:37 AM, said:

The matchmaker seems designed to put all the skill on one team. Not sure what's up with that, but we'll end up with a long string of <100 damage done on one side and 400+ damage on the other. Aside from matches like that happening more often than I feel they should, Pugging is relatively fun. I'm just eager for proper matchmaking so I don't have to watch some poor first timer tripping over his own feet anymore.

I've wondered how the matchmaker manages this as well. It seems almost beyond possibility that the MM could string together so many one-sided games. I have had a few where it comes down to the last few mechs on each team slugging it out, but the vast majority of the time it is one team stomping the other.

The worst that I saw was an 8 vs. 2 game. I'm not even sure why the MM felt that game was ready to launch.

[Kahoumono]

I also PUG exclusively and I generally don't mind premades. The only time its frustrating is when its a premade of ECM lights. They generally roll up the flank and chew down teams mech by mech. They stay close to each other so that even when you have an ecm mech you can't help because they +1 you. The lopsided nature of the victories is because of the attrition nature of the game. When one mech goes down due to disconnects, drops, bugs, rambo'ing then the dominos begin to fall.

[Dawnthieve]

To push this back up one more time I'll throw in one observation I've made. Most PUG games involve 'Mech configs suitable for one purpose: "walking straight at an enemy bursting him down ASAP". The only exception is LRM boats imo. The playstyle has degraded to the above, which isn't surprising. It's simple and it works: I right now finish leveling the K2, and the easiest way to do it seems to be the derp-derpington dual AC20s. Seems like it's a map-size problem to me that sustained damage and keeping an enemy at arm's length isn't viable right now. Agree?

[TheLastUn1corn]

I just hate that there's no matchmaking implemented yet. The last four games I played all ended with a K/D ratio of 0/8 or 8/0. It just seems a little unfair. Also, I'd love to see tonnage based team picking.

Dawnthieve, on 24 January 2013 - 11:46 AM, said:

To push this back up one more time I'll throw in one observation I've made. Most PUG games involve 'Mech configs suitable for one purpose: "walking straight at an enemy bursting him down ASAP". The only exception is LRM boats imo. The playstyle has degraded to the above, which isn't surprising. It's simple and it works: I right now finish leveling the K2, and the easiest way to do it seems to be the derp-derpington dual AC20s. Seems like it's a map-size problem to me that sustained damage and keeping an enemy at arm's length isn't viable right now. Agree?

In my opinion, the problem is, that anything else is just not working very well right now. What would you want to do with, say, a Cataphract other than going more or less straight to the enemy and start firing at him? Of course you'll be at an advantage when you team up and position yourself wisely, but basically everthing goes right down to the mentioned tactic, wheter a team acts this way or a lone wolf.

In theory you could try to flank the enemy, but as your team's main striking force will still engage the enemy face to face, you'll have to wander off on your own, whcih has proven to be very dangerous, especially in slow 'Mechs. Plus you'll need a really long time to even get around your enemy in a heavy or assault.

What else would you want to do? Sniping does not work very well now, at least for me. The only other option I see would be to prepare some kind of ambush, but that would need decent communication, so in PUG it's practically not possible.

Edited by TheLastUn1corn, 24 January 2013 - 12:32 PM.

[Screech]

Should have made the voting public in my opinion, but I digress.

PUGing is fine as long as you play in the off hours US. Can get in a few games in the early evening and then switch out once the farmers start up.

[Strig]

I PUG and I play in pre-mades. I like both most of the time.

When I PUG, I would prefer matches that had only solo players OR equivalent pre-mades on both sides and solo PUGs to fill in the gaps. I don't mind being a solo player with pre-mades on the field, but I prefer it if both sides has a coordinated group so it is a bit more balanced.

It is EXTREMELY rare that my friends and I can field a full 8-man ... this makes us sad as soon as 5 or more of us are online.