783 replies to this topic

[Orion Starion]

Rolling Thunder, I agree with you about the abuse. And I've been playing since closed beta. The only real reason I keep coming back is the friends I've made here make the game playable.

I also suffer from a buggy internet connection and a slower older machine so I'm often getting crashed out of games and rush to relogin only to find my mech kept wandering until someone took the easy kill.

But back on topic, I drive LRM boats, partially because of the above and because I cannot brawl worth a damn. But even being in an LRM boat, I try to keep right behind my team and keep an eye on where my LRMs can do some actual good, like driving off the light killers that are going after my scouts. That kind of teamwork is the only way to be successful in this game and it get really hard to do that in PUG matches.

My primary ride is an LRM45 Atlas D-DC. I get alot of abuse for "wasting" an assault mech with that build but it's what I drive. And if I'm in a PUG match and nobody is moving to engage the enemy and letting them do as they wish, I'll push out front with my 2 ML and UAC5. Yea, it's not much firepower, but the times it's pulled the rest of team forward, even though I usually die, it leads to a much greater chance for victory.

[Void Angel]

rolling thunder, on 16 December 2014 - 04:08 AM, said:

As a newbie player,only having played for a month now. One of the thing that concerns me are people using the team chat to abuse other players. I don't have 100% control of my Mech using the keyboard directional controls so I can't always get my Mech to do what is needed,however I am getting better with use.I assume those who have the time to abuse myself or other players are already dead? But it is unacceptable to call other players F****ts {funnily enough a term which gets censored on the forum} because they aren't doing as the spectators wish.
...
The other thing, no matter how fun the game is,it has gliches. It freezes causing me to have to escape the game,close it down & restart the game.It all takes to long which is unacceptable. I closed my game down a couple of days ago to restart it only to find I had no targeting, so I had to restart again. Things like my mouse cursor minimising the screen midfight??? I'm no computer techy but I know that there are loads of stupid reasons why the game may crash so may be a bit more patience from other players is needed? On the whole i'm enjoying my games & MWO in general.

Abusive language and harassing isn't ok - particularly profanity and other unsportsmanlike conduct. If folks are hurling profane abuse at you, feel free to hit the Print Screen button to take a screenshot, and send it to support@mwomercs.com with the title "Harassment Complaint." However, be aware that such abuse isn't the norm at higher Elo levels, or in unit groups. My advice is to turn off All chat by default, and look around for a unit to join on the Community Warfare section of the forums - even a pick-up group on some of the public teamspeaks out there, such as No Guts, No Galaxy (information is bottom center or Comstar's public TS. Any good unit will have their own TS server, and you'll be able to drop with people over voice coms. This will help your skill progression and your level of frustration with harassment in the game.

As for the game glitches, that's not how the game runs for most of us. Try the repair tool, or even a complete reinstall to clear any corrupted files, make sure your hardware drivers are all up to date, and check with the Hardware and Accessories forum to see if there are any optimizations you should use for your current rig - MWO uses an older version of CryEngine 3, and I'm given to understand that certain optimizations aren't included in the build they licensed; in any case the game is a resource hog.

[Void Angel]

PS: An LRM boat Atlas is a waste, though if you're using a UAC stack along with it, you're not boating; your teammates have the right to complain, much as if you were to take a Flamer Hunchback out for a spin. However, if complaints turn to real abuse, that's still not ok, and you should send reports to Support, too. =)

[IraqiWalker]

rolling thunder, on 16 December 2014 - 04:08 AM, said:

As a newbie player,only having played for a month now. One of the thing that concerns me are people using the team chat to abuse other players. I don't have 100% control of my Mech using the keyboard directional controls so I can't always get my Mech to do what is needed,however I am getting better with use.I assume those who have the time to abuse myself or other players are already dead? But it is unacceptable to call other players F****ts {funnily enough a term which gets censored on the forum} because they aren't doing as the spectators wish. I have tried several tactics since starting to play,charging in gets you killed. Hanging back gets you killed slower but eventually you still get killed. Stick with the team & try not to end up being targeted by a Stalker. I usually use my Mech {Timberwolf} to bombard the enemy out of line of sight until i'm down to 25% LRM & then get stuck into the fight but I have found that holding back like that all the time allows my team mates to get beaten up which is unacceptable. As I learn to control my Mech better I am able to get stuck into the fight & bombard enemy Mechs involved in fights with team mates. Yes I am learning that Timidity is not a tactic. When my team mates play the same way it all works well but when it doesn't I find the abuse that player pour on other players to be unacceptable {no I don't consider it banter}. The other thing, no matter how fun the game is,it has gliches. It freezes causing me to have to escape the game,close it down & restart the game.It all takes to long which is unacceptable. I closed my game down a couple of days ago to restart it only to find I had no targeting, so I had to restart again. Things like my mouse cursor minimising the screen midfight??? I'm no computer techy but I know that there are loads of stupid reasons why the game may crash so may be a bit more patience from other players is needed? On the whole i'm enjoying my games & MWO in general.

I would honestly recommend going into settings, and switching the view mode to "Full Window" It's in there, and it's better than full screen, or windowed mode. It also makes minimizing mid combat virtually impossible.

As for players being Fu****s, I sincerely apologize. Most of us are not like that, and the ones that do abuse their teammates are either just bad players, or ones that had a good match, and ended up losing.

In neither of those cases is it okay to abuse your teammates. I have personally messed up in chat before, but never did I just attack a teammate, and harass them. The most I ever did was making a passive aggressive comment about what the 8 other mechs on my team were doing, while me and 3 others (all solo players) were facing down 10 enemy mechs, without any back up.

My comments now are restricted to:
"LRMs have a min range of 180 meters, they don't work below that"
"Good job team"
"GG WP All"

and basic instructions to my teammates. I find it makes for a healthier game environment if everyone is either helping, or being civil.

[rolling thunder]

I tend to play at odd hours through a 24 hour cycle so I assume i'm playing with people from other nations who may be aren't as PC as us Westerners,fair enough? I don't mind helpful advise {like the minimum range on LRMs,i did wonder}. It also doesn't really help when I get accidently shot by team mates testing their weapons although in one case a player with a rather memorable name shot me up because{I looked too fresh}. I have now made the game a full window,the problem I've found with that is when the game freezes {occasional} or lags {more than occasional} & I can't do anything.It makes closing down the game difficult. Difficult but I had about 5 games minimise during combat yesterday so I decided to go full window. I am enjoying the game but i'm still learning.If it wasn't for my PC going t*ts up i'd have been playing since the beta stage. WOW got dumped as soon as I realised I could put the game on my ancient PC & the only one in my household who doesn't like that is my Wife.

Edited by rolling thunder, 18 December 2014 - 12:59 AM.

[Void Angel]

Well, as an American gamer I'm embarassed to say that we tend to be more... free... with our anger online, so I doubt it's that. Generally, I've found European gamers to be more polite than their counterparts on this side of the pond. Conversely, certain XBox Live games are infamous for the foul-mouthed abusive British kids who play them online, so it does seem to depend where on the internet you are. Overall, however, the kind of jackass who'll peck you for not having taken damage doesn't make it to the higher tiers of play - or of skill. If you work on building efficient Battlemechs and playing them well, you'll eventually not have to deal with that sort of thing on any kind of a regular basis. I literally cannot remember the last time something like that happened to me.

This is one of the reasons I wrote this guide - to help players who wish to do well, succeed. Along with my other thread, Follow the Fracking Atlas, I like to think I've provided a good basic framework for understanding the tactical aspects of PuG gameplay and moving on to more advanced levels of skill. =)

Edited by Void Angel, 17 December 2014 - 03:52 PM.

[rolling thunder]

I do appreciate the advise & if i'm guilty of anything bad it's not reading all the guides at the moment. I'm willing to take advise but to say I have a bit of a MechWarrior addiction is a bit of an understatement.I find myself constantly playing "Just one more game before bed" rather than reading the guides. Yes i'm still getting caught out on my own by the scouts & end up getting ripped a new heat sink. Yesterday was an odd game day,in the beginning the games folded quite easily & the team got smashed {fair play to the enemy} but then it all changed ending in a hard won fight {I think my Mech was 33% at the end}. For anyone starting out on playing MechWarrior & some of those who don't bother reading the forums I can recommend guides. We all need to learn from others mistakes?

[rolling thunder]

& a new one today. Getting shot up by a team mate. The guy must have been drunk. I made mention about people testing their weapons & hitting me,this guy did it & when I stopped he stopped.Eventually threatening me. I satisfied myself with the idea he must be a kid.He's 52,older than me! My gast has been flabbered.

[YueFei]

rolling thunder, on 28 December 2014 - 06:10 PM, said:

& a new one today. Getting shot up by a team mate. The guy must have been drunk. I made mention about people testing their weapons & hitting me,this guy did it & when I stopped he stopped.Eventually threatening me. I satisfied myself with the idea he must be a kid.He's 52,older than me! My gast has been flabbered.

I have to say that lately my matches have players who are good natured and have a good sense of humor, on both teams.

I've actually had teammates apologize for hitting me with friendly fire, when really it was my own fault for not realizing they had a firing lane and stepping into it. I end up apologizing to them for blocking their shot, everyone laughs, and we work together to have a good game.

One thing I think helps alot when you're trying to communicate with the team in PUGs is to give information, not orders. Tell 'em where you see an enemy is setup, tell teammates when they're NARC'd, let them know that you know they are hurting and you're willing to step in front of them to protect them. But in the end, just relay info, and let the other players on your team make their own decisions.

[Decoy3]

rolling thunder, on 16 December 2014 - 04:08 AM, said:

It freezes causing me to have to escape the game,close it down & restart the game.It all takes to long which is unacceptable.

Try alt-tabbing out and back in. That should work, and get you back into the fight more quickly.

[Void Angel]

Yes, post-modernism has prejudiced a lot of minds against the "arrogance" of telling other people what to do, and it comes out in the oddest ways... but that's another thread.

rolling thunder, on 28 December 2014 - 06:10 PM, said:

& a new one today. Getting shot up by a team mate. The guy must have been drunk. I made mention about people testing their weapons & hitting me,this guy did it & when I stopped he stopped.Eventually threatening me. I satisfied myself with the idea he must be a kid.He's 52,older than me! My gast has been flabbered.

Well, you don't know he's 52 - apparently he said he was 52. I could claim to be the Private Major of the Army of the Potomac, but you'd have no way to verify that over the internet. Really, there's no sense worrying about that sort of thing - it's not an age/maturity thing, but rather an audience/accountability thing. Frustrations coupled with an essentially captive audience and anonymity do bad things to people's social impulse control if they're not very careful with their tempers.

[rolling thunder]

I got the information on his age from his profile but I agree he could be any,age,older,younger? One of the side effects I've found about taking the fight to the enemy is when they fight back. My side have fallen back leaving me on my own??? Without the support behind you I get shot up in short measure. With no verbal communication it means watching my screen to see where my Lance mates are & sometimes,by the time I realise it,i'm on my own. Still ,i'm having some good scraps & my failure to survive is caused by my own choices rather than the lack of control of my Mech.

[Void Angel]

Oh yes, the "Uriah Effect" happens a lot in PuG play; there's reasons for it - I gave an overview of them in the OP under "Vicious Cycle" - but that doesn't make it any less disastrous. The best way to avoid that happening is to do two things: tell them that you're a brawler and you plan on getting stuck in as soon as you see a good opening; and try to develop a feel for how aggressive your team is willing to be. Usually the Uriah Effect occurs just at the point you're going in. Your teammates see all the incoming fire, and instinctively fall back on their conditioning to avoid damage, saying, "wow, that's a lot of fire; I'm not going in there." The fact is that this is precisely the point they want to go in, before the enemy finish shredding you and begin to recycle their weapons and cool back down - but the game doesn't train them to recognize that.

[Fusea]

So as a returning player, I want to say thanks for the guides. I want to get back into playing on my lrm boat Catapult, but I am so very rusty. I will say I don't fall for the Uriah effect. My role on the field is to get my missiles to your target for maximum effect, allowing you to win your brawl and move on to the next. I have never shied away from following the brawlers (at a clever distance, I have lrms after all). On the field, indirect fire is useful, but direct fire is better (shorter flight time and less chance to hug the high ground to avoid the missiles, and I get to pew pew pew with my lasers!). If I get shot doing that, It's all part of the job. Ideally, I should end the match with live brawlers, no reloads, and 1 point of armor on each location.

[Void Angel]

I'm glad you found them helpful! I've tried to keep them general enough that they avoid being simply commentaries on the metagame.

You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that at least one PuG LRM user out there actually knows how to use the weapon system. I've seen way too many Atlases plinking away with their launchers from 900m out. =)

[Rift87]

Void,

As a player getting into MWO for the first time ( I have played since the original PC game and would love to try Table Top ) I would like to thank you for your advice on team tactics. I have always piloted a light mech and will endeavor to take your advice to heart. Thanks again.

[Void Angel]

You're welcome! I'm simply gratified that you took the time to read through the thread. Welcome to MWO, and don't be afraid to fire off any questions you may have on the New Player Help forums - we've got a good group of people who haunt those forums to help you out.

[YueFei]

Void Angel, on 30 December 2014 - 05:22 PM, said:

Oh yes, the "Uriah Effect" happens a lot in PuG play; there's reasons for it - I gave an overview of them in the OP under "Vicious Cycle" - but that doesn't make it any less disastrous. The best way to avoid that happening is to do two things: tell them that you're a brawler and you plan on getting stuck in as soon as you see a good opening; and try to develop a feel for how aggressive your team is willing to be. Usually the Uriah Effect occurs just at the point you're going in. Your teammates see all the incoming fire, and instinctively fall back on their conditioning to avoid damage, saying, "wow, that's a lot of fire; I'm not going in there." The fact is that this is precisely the point they want to go in, before the enemy finish shredding you and begin to recycle their weapons and cool back down - but the game doesn't train them to recognize that.

It helps to play with the mentality of getting psyched up to get some PAYBACK whenever you see a teammate get hit.

It doesn't hurt to have an escape route for yourself in case your teammate has overextended and gets himself blown to bits, but while he's catching bullets you may as well get some retribution for him.

It's a great feeling to take point, take shots, get hit by the enemy, and then see your teammates surge angrily ahead of you to go shoot the SOB who hit you.

[Karl Streiger]

Void Angel, on 30 December 2014 - 05:22 PM, said:

Oh yes, the "Uriah Effect" happens a lot in PuG play; there's reasons for it - I gave an overview of them in the OP under "Vicious Cycle" - but that doesn't make it any less disastrous. The best way to avoid that happening is to do two things: tell them that you're a brawler and you plan on getting stuck in as soon as you see a good opening; and try to develop a feel for how aggressive your team is willing to be. Usually the Uriah Effect occurs just at the point you're going in. Your teammates see all the incoming fire, and instinctively fall back on their conditioning to avoid damage, saying, "wow, that's a lot of fire; I'm not going in there." The fact is that this is precisely the point they want to go in, before the enemy finish shredding you and begin to recycle their weapons and cool back down - but the game doesn't train them to recognize that.

first time i read about this "effect" but hey its exactly what happens - with a bunch of solo gamers
and you can use it for defense as well - sometimes you can keep a overwhelming number of enemy's at bay - simple by firing at all of them - for example the worse Atlas K with 2 ERPPCs and a Gauss - you can hit 3 targets in quick succession - and because all 3 individual "feel" the hit they may fall back - leaving the 4th for an Alpha Strike. ( i realized this mechanic first in MWO - where i could hold any position with my Hetzer vs overwhelming numbers of foes)
That won't work when you face a team - when they say we go in - and call your Mech a prime - they will stay on target - incoming fire is distracting but they have the "order" to kill you - that override the "Flight Mechanism"

Edited by Karl Streiger, 07 January 2015 - 12:57 AM.

[Void Angel]

Oh, I made up the term on the spot. =) Feel free to steal it, though!