33 replies to this topic

[Alistair Winter]

I was going through the list of mechs available in the game, wondering about which mechs I rarely see on the battlefield. The answer is: none. Actually, I tend to see every mech in just about every game I play. A while back, no one was using the Awesome mech, and now it's in pretty much every game. One game today featured 4 Awesomes on our team.

Of course, part of it is the fact that people get tired of piloting the same mech, and they want to try out different mechs or even "collect them all". And a lot of people are grinding through underpowered variants just to get their favourite variant to Master.

Still, I do think that PGI has done a relatively good job making sure that all mechs are being used. Admittedly, some mechs are more popular than others, and some mechs are OP, but it seems like a lot of people are learning how to use the mechs that were less popular before. And certainly, the community deserves some praise for this, because there's a lot of good guides on the forum for people who go "Damn, I just bought this mech and I'm getting my butt kicked!"

Once a few variants have been nerfed and others have been buffed, it'll be smooth sailing. I hope the game stays balanced in this regard, when future mechs are released.

Edited by Alistair Winter, 30 January 2013 - 07:43 AM.

[Khell DarkWolf]

You'll see variety in Pug matches,

but the sad truth is.

Once Community warfare comes and in the current competitive state, alot of the "variety" is null and gone because the other mechs just don't come up to par with what works in competitive groups.

[Mercules]

Khell DarkWolf, on 30 January 2013 - 07:48 AM, said:

You'll see variety in Pug matches,

but the sad truth is.

Once Community warfare comes and in the current competitive state, alot of the "variety" is null and gone because the other mechs just don't come up to par with what works in competitive groups.

While there is some small grain of truth in this, it is only true other factors don't change. The ELO might change things, if they were to add a BV, that would change things, and even weight restrictions would change up some things.

Battle Value would go a LONG way to correcting balance between mechs. A completely tricked out and upgraded Jenner with a high ELO pilot should be worth a stock Dragon with a low ELO pilot in BV. Right now the poor pilot in the unaltered Dragon gets matche up by a tweaked Gauss-Cat, 6x6-Cat, or even a Hero 'phract with 5 UACs.

Even so the mechs are all viable and in the proper pilot's hands a well designed Dragon is equal to a Gauss-cat.

[Ngamok]

Khell DarkWolf, on 30 January 2013 - 07:48 AM, said:

You'll see variety in Pug matches,

but the sad truth is.

Once Community warfare comes and in the current competitive state, alot of the "variety" is null and gone because the other mechs just don't come up to par with what works in competitive groups.

Exactly. The varoety is out there, but when teams come along, there won't be Awesomes, it will be Atlas or Stalker for the Assault (with current mechs). I feel the Heavy Mechs are pretty well balanced between the dakka Cataphratcs and the Missle Catapults to the fast Dragons getting behind slower mechs within their weight class. The Mediums, the only one atm that is weak and will never be taken is the Cicada. It's a nice hit and run mech but a Jenner is better than the laser variant and the raven 3L is better than the 3M. Lights, well, only the ECM varaints will probably be taken. No one will run a Raven 2X or 4X. And no one will run a light to hunt the opposing team lights. That will be done by the Dragons or Centurions since they get good speed.

[Cole Allard]

really?

When we play in 8man teams, there is 0 choice on what mechs to take.

Raven
Atlas DDC
Muromets/k2 cat

[Ngamok]

Cole Allard, on 30 January 2013 - 07:59 AM, said:

really?

When we play in 8man teams, there is 0 choice on what mechs to take.

Raven
Atlas DDC
Muromets/k2 cat

You forgot the A1 SRM6 boat if your team brawls it out on some maps.

[Voridan Atreides]

Really? I just mainly see ECM mechs and hardly anything else......

[Alistair Winter]

Well, to go through the list:

Spider: The ECM Spider is pretty nice. If PGI makes levels where the jump jets are more useful, I can see this being used more.
Raven: The ECM Raven is obviously doing well.
Jenner: Jenner laserboats are doing fine
Commando: SSRM Commandos are a nightmare.

Hunchback: The laserboat is pretty effective and I've seen people do alright with the AC20.
Centurion: Can be very deadly, IMO.
Cicada: These are doing very well, with and without ECM. I have to disagree with you, Ngamok. I see a lot of people stacking up kills with big engines, medium lasers and good aim.

Catapult: Obviously doing more than ok
Cataphract: Ballistic point heaven. Seems to be doing fine.
Dragon: Not too sure about this one, I rarely see the top player on any team using a Dragon.

Atlas: Doing fine, although most pros favour the ECM.
Stalker: Doing fine.
Awesome: I've seen a lot of players wreak havoc with the AWS recently. Especially with 4 SRM6 + Artemis, or just a bunch of ML's.

[Tennex]

its alright. but only the best mechs in a chassis has ECM.

its already the most expensive, best mech, why add ECM to them

Edited by Tennex, 30 January 2013 - 08:07 AM.

[Alistair Winter]

Cole Allard, on 30 January 2013 - 07:59 AM, said:

really?

When we play in 8man teams, there is 0 choice on what mechs to take.

Raven
Atlas DDC
Muromets/k2 cat

Well, I see a lot of people do fine with other mechs than those. Some people will always grind the mech that is currently most OP, but fortunately that's only a relatively small group of players.

[Bilbo]

Alistair Winter, on 30 January 2013 - 07:42 AM, said:

I was going through the list of mechs available in the game, wondering about which mechs I rarely see on the battlefield. The answer is: none. Actually, I tend to see every mech in just about every game I play. A while back, no one was using the Awesome mech, and now it's in pretty much every game. One game today featured 4 Awesomes on our team.

Of course, part of it is the fact that people get tired of piloting the same mech, and they want to try out different mechs or even "collect them all". And a lot of people are grinding through underpowered variants just to get their favourite variant to Master.

Still, I do think that PGI has done a relatively good job making sure that all mechs are being used. Admittedly, some mechs are more popular than others, and some mechs are OP, but it seems like a lot of people are learning how to use the mechs that were less popular before. And certainly, the community deserves some praise for this, because there's a lot of good guides on the forum for people who go "Damn, I just bought this mech and I'm getting my butt kicked!"

Once a few variants have been nerfed and others have been buffed, it'll be smooth sailing. I hope the game stays balanced in this regard, when future mechs are released.

You are seeing the Awesome now because it is a trial mech. It's been a rare bird since they limited engine size.

[Voridan Atreides]

I mainly see the:

Commando COM-2D
Spider SDR-5D
Raven RVN-3L
Cicada CDA-3M
Atlas AS7-D-DC

[Ngamok]

Alistair Winter, on 30 January 2013 - 08:09 AM, said:

Well, I see a lot of people do fine with other mechs than those. Some people will always grind the mech that is currently most OP, but fortunately that's only a relatively small group of players.

We're not talking about PuGs, He said in 8 mans you won't see the others.

[Butane9000]

Just fyi, one of the reasons you're seeing Awesomes a lot more is because the Awesome AWS-8V is currently the trial mech for the assault class. That being said I really do enjoy my Awesomes and was* looking forward to a Awesome hero mech but sadly that dream kinda fizzled.

* - It's just a reskinned 8V, not really worth the $24.00

[Cole Allard]

Alistair Winter, on 30 January 2013 - 08:09 AM, said:

Well, I see a lot of people do fine with other mechs than those. Some people will always grind the mech that is currently most OP, but fortunately that's only a relatively small group of players.

<Insert buzzer sound for wrong answer>

ohh, sorry, candidat has zero points!

Nay friend,

the reason why those 3 are a must are simple and has nothing to do with grinding. (No one in an active 8man Clan/team is ever grinding, you get the skill in training alone...or you do it off the teamplay). Anyway, the reason why those mechs are on the roster is:

if your clan hits X number of players, and you dont have all people available at all time, you have to make sure everyone can drop right away in a teamplayable mech. The choices of those mechs are actually reaaaaaally smal.

Edited by Cole Allard, 30 January 2013 - 08:15 AM.

[Cole Allard]

Butane9000, on 30 January 2013 - 08:14 AM, said:

Just fyi, one of the reasons you're seeing Awesomes a lot more is because the Awesome AWS-8V is currently the trial mech for the assault class. That being said I really do enjoy my Awesomes and was* looking forward to a Awesome hero mech but sadly that dream kinda fizzled.

* - It's just a reskinned 8V, not really worth the $24.00

I am a smoker. (ok, not talking about bad habits here) but if I can afford my cigs every day, I can afford a battlemech whenever I want to. <---- just talking for me and about how I see it for me.

[Mercules]

Mechs are balanced. Matchmaker isn't. Matchmaker is changing though.

[Fate 6]

Alistair Winter, on 30 January 2013 - 07:42 AM, said:

I was going through the list of mechs available in the game, wondering about which mechs I rarely see on the battlefield. The answer is: none. Actually, I tend to see every mech in just about every game I play. A while back, no one was using the Awesome mech, and now it's in pretty much every game. One game today featured 4 Awesomes on our team.

Of course, part of it is the fact that people get tired of piloting the same mech, and they want to try out different mechs or even "collect them all". And a lot of people are grinding through underpowered variants just to get their favourite variant to Master.

Still, I do think that PGI has done a relatively good job making sure that all mechs are being used. Admittedly, some mechs are more popular than others, and some mechs are OP, but it seems like a lot of people are learning how to use the mechs that were less popular before. And certainly, the community deserves some praise for this, because there's a lot of good guides on the forum for people who go "Damn, I just bought this mech and I'm getting my butt kicked!"

Once a few variants have been nerfed and others have been buffed, it'll be smooth sailing. I hope the game stays balanced in this regard, when future mechs are released.

I thought you said they were balanced....

Edited by Fate 6, 30 January 2013 - 08:22 AM.

[Ngamok]

Cole Allard, on 30 January 2013 - 08:17 AM, said:

I am a smoker. (ok, not talking about bad habits here) but if I can afford my cigs every day, I can afford a battlemech whenever I want to. <---- just talking for me and about how I see it for me.

Whenever I smoke, each smoke costs me $3+

[Alistair Winter]

Bilbo, on 30 January 2013 - 08:11 AM, said:

You are seeing the Awesome now because it is a trial mech. It's been a rare bird since they limited engine size.

That certainly explains why I'm seeing more Awesome 8V's. But not 8R, 8T and 9M.

Voridan Atreides, on 30 January 2013 - 08:11 AM, said:

I mainly see the:
Commando COM-2D
Spider SDR-5D
Raven RVN-3L
Cicada CDA-3M
Atlas AS7-D-DC

We're playing very different games then. I never play a match without seeing any medium mechs or heavy mechs. Very rarely is the Atlas the only assault mech on the map.

Ngamok, on 30 January 2013 - 08:13 AM, said:

We're not talking about PuGs, He said in 8 mans you won't see the others.

Well, this thread is about the game in its entirety, so my point is that while 8 man teams tend to have less variety, that only applies to a small percentage of people playing the game. The point about community warfare potentially changing this is valid, however.

Butane9000, on 30 January 2013 - 08:14 AM, said:

Just fyi, one of the reasons you're seeing Awesomes a lot more is because the Awesome AWS-8V is currently the trial mech for the assault class. That being said I really do enjoy my Awesomes and was* looking forward to a Awesome hero mech but sadly that dream kinda fizzled.
* - It's just a reskinned 8V, not really worth the $24.00

Well, see above in regards to the trial mech. Concerning the Hero mech, I have to agree that it's too similar to other AWSes.

Cole Allard, on 30 January 2013 - 08:14 AM, said:

<Insert buzzer sound for wrong answer>
ohh, sorry, candidat has zero points!
Nay friend,
the reason why those 3 are a must are simple and has nothing to do with grinding. (No one in an active 8man Clan/team is ever grinding, you get the skill in training alone...or you do it off the teamplay). Anyway, the reason why those mechs are on the roster is:
if your clan hits X number of players, and you dont have all people available at all time, you have to make sure everyone can drop right away in a teamplayable mech. The choices of those mechs are actually reaaaaaally smal.

Is there a buzzer for irrelevant posts?

I know that 8 player groups are a different story all together. But I didn't make this thread specifically to talk about them, so I'm confused why certain people in this thread get hung up on that.
Me: "99% of matches feature a lot of variety"
You: "Nope, you're wrong, because 1% of matches have no variety".

Unless the game is perfectly balanced, the pr0 games will always gravitate towards the most OP mech. But since all mechs have at least one variant that is good, you will see that most matches feature a lot of variety in terms of mechs.

Disclaimer: The 99% statistic is not meant to be taken literally.