Spider 5V mastered. First mech mastered with the enhanced stats.
Stats from start to finish:
Win/loss of 50:24, 36:36 kill/death, 151.4 average damage and 739.6 average xp per match. 6h39 minutes played, @5:19 per match.
My impression was that the Spider was a low XP earner because scouting, distracting, and base capping is not well rewarded, but in the end it came in above my overall average of 705 xp. Very fun mech to play despite being substandard to the 5D in almost all respects.
Double XP weekend BTW; get in there and master those mechs!
I think that the reasons MWO doesn’t have more people into it besides the problems you mention here are because what it does get right is the same thing as other games, most notably WoT which does what MWO does right better, and what it fumbles pretty badly is… things that other games get right. One very important example of the latter is PUG games. Its main selling point is customizing and running around in mechs, which it does a not-very-good job of enabling and pretty much gets a pass on only because no one else offers that. Then the whole consumables thing more or less killed any faith I had left in the devs. You guys who do like it are all about dropping in groups to murder PUGs and have no lag, which are respectively turn-offs and regional issues for other people.
MWO has its problems. I do enjoy it a great deal and look forward to the content patches.
I also very rarely am in a group, or at least only a couple of people. The lag of course is frustrating. Glad that War Thunder got the US servers up and running.
I much prefer close matches to one-sided matches, either way. The time I’ve played since they started the ELO implementation seems to have improved that. Less (still some) one sided slaughters and a lot more fun tense matches.
I don’t agree with this. WoT is VERY fun but it is WAY grindier and pretty much requires you to spend money to progress meaningfully. MWO does not have that “you must spend money now” line that you cannot otherwise cross. Also I would say it is a more sophisticated game than WoT.
Then the whole consumables thing more or less killed any faith I had left in the devs.
You have no experience with it, so I’ll tell you right now… I haven’t touched the single consumable at all since it was introduced and it has not hurt my game experience at all. More to the point, taking WoT as an example (since you think it does this better), it unapologetically has consumables that are literally pay to win. Also, gold ammo.
You guys who do like it are all about dropping in groups to murder PUGs and have no lag, which are respectively turn-offs and regional issues for other people.
I play 90% of the time solo and I do just fine. The matchmaking system has pretty much solved the PUG-murdering problem.
Well we’ll agree to disagree on that then. I was thinking mainly about things like gameplay, interesting maps, a useful minimap that does something, easy nonverbal communications, and so on. But I also don’t think MWO is THAT much less grindy than WoT, and the frontloaded grinding literally made half the people I tried the game with quit after a few days. I would be genuinely interested to hear in what ways you think MWO is more sophisticated than WoT now, since other than mech customizing there wasn’t anything that would make me think that when I played.
I gave up on the devs at that point because the original design was so obviously terribly done that I lost any faith in their ability to make good design choices, at least without their whole playerbase yelling at them. While I didn’t like consumables in WoT, I never used any of them, never saw any obviously turn the tide of a match, and beat lots of people who did use them, so I have no idea which ones you think were “literally pay to win”. Also, before they made it cost tankbucks instead of real money gold ammo was something that I literally never saw anyone use in thousands of non-clan games. It was firing real money into the aether, and the damage bonus was pretty clearly not worth it if you weren’t in a clan of tier 10 tanks.
Well it’s nice to hear that that’s changed.
I think that in WoT two equivalently skilled players facing off against each other in equal tanks are at the mercy of random number generator. There is very little of that in MWO, if two players face off in the same mech with the same loadout, the better player will win. Luck and randomness are a much much smaller factor in MWO. There is a great deal of importance not only in the general positioning of your entire team and how you engage, but even what components on your enemies you aim for. Timing is extremely vital not only fire but also in movement. All in all yes I think it is more sophisticated.
and the frontloaded grinding
This was definitely a problem that is now completely rectified, both with the revamped NPE and ELO matchmaking. For example I introduced a friend to the game this week, and within 12 non-premium matches he was fitting out his own K2 with all the bells and whistles. It does not even compare to the endless grind in WoT.
I gave up on the devs at that point because the original design was so obviously terribly done that I lost any faith in their ability to make good design choices, at least without their whole playerbase yelling at them.
I see them as learning quite quickly. It’s unfortunate (and has hurt the game) they didn’t have things worked out well ahead of time, I agree but they have done a good job correcting mistakes overall.
“literally pay to win”
Literally paying real money for an in game advantage. For the record I am basically fine with WoT’s model (I played over 2500 matches in beta and over 6500 in release, and I STILL play it), but MWO is even milder than that. Even if they had implemented their original plan for consumables it would have been milder than how WoT does it. If you were fine with how WoT does it, then there should have been nothing about the proposed system in MWO that would raise an eyebrow. MWO is an amazingly generous F2P game.
Also I think gold ammo gives a truly significant advanatge in WoT. I just think that most people don’t want to fire real money at each other when there is nothing at stake.
Well I am not entirely sure what happened but since the last patch I have gone from winning @60% of my matches to losing @70%, which feels a bit like the bad old pre-ELO days. As a result I have a very bad impression of the Jenner which I have decided to work up while I wait for the Highlander next week.
Particularly bad for the Jenner it seems that streaks have gone back to the old behaviour of continually hitting the center torso (or maybe the Jenner CT hitbox is just huge?) in any case, forget it a jenner cannot beat a raven 3L or commando 2D head to head (though I can sometimes leg them before the get me). On the other hand I must say it is fun to core heavy and assault mechs through the rear armour with 6 medium lasers…
After I am done the Jenner the only mech I will not yet have mastered will be the Cicada. 3577 matches and counting!
meeper
1929
I’m experiencing pretty much the opposite. I recently started working through the Cicadas and since the patch, I’ve won 75% of my matches across the variants I’ve purchased. It was my first mech lighter than a catapult and I’m absolutely loving it. I can’t imagine going back to a Stalker now.
Finished the basics on my 3 Highlanders. In my 732 I racked up a personal best of 7 kills 1 assist. Current build is Gauss, 2xERPPC, 3xSSRM2, 325XL, no jumpjets. The 732 is my third highlander; I started with the 733C, then got the 733P… those I have standard engines on, but I noticed I very very rarely lost my side torsos, while the center torso is like a barn door. For this reason I think that an XL engine is not a huge drawback on the Highlander. Also because of the giant center torso, the ideal loadout are long cooldown weapons which allow you to torso twist and maneuver to spread damage between shots; this is a good idea anyway but is a vital habit to cultivate as a highlander pilot.
The 732, 733, and 733C are basically oversized CTF-3Ds with some missile options. They are pretty good poptarters, which is definitely a tough tactic to counteract. I’m not so great at poptarting which is why I ripped to jumpjets out of my 732, though I retain 2 on my 733C and P.
My 733C runs with AC/20, 2xLL, 2xSRM6+artemis, 1xSSRM2 with 2 jumpjets and 275 standard, for a jump capable atlas style brawler. 733P I went 4xLL, 3xSSRM2 with 300 standard which has been very effective, but I can see how a 4xPPC poptart build would be pretty obnoxious. I may go to 325 XL engines on these also when I push for elite.
Game is continually improving, getting less glitchy and crashy as time passes. HUD/minimap bugs are still an issue but they are more a nuisance than a crippling problem, and the devs have said they are very high priority to fix (but problematic to track down). Looking forward to the May content!
At the time you posted this a month and a half ago, I couldn’t think of one either, and indeed couldn’t until just now over lunch, when I was messing around with Cicada designs for my first foray into that chassis. I present my only mech loadout to date that’s better with single heat sinks.
Although, to be fair, it’s not so much that it’s better with SHSes as that it’s impossible with DHSes. Two UAC/5s demand both endo-steel and ferro-fibrous armor, and since the remaining seven slots have to hold not just heat sinks but also ammo, it’s impossible to fit DHSes in.
I’m unconvinced it’s actually a useful fit for ammunition reasons, but it is an instance where single heat sinks are handy, and I thought it was interesting.
http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/73536-weapon-balancing/page__pid__1812228#entry1812228
For those of you who hate ECM this should be some welcome news. In addition to further nerfs, BAP will 100% counter ECM within 150m. Machine-gun damage also doubled and optimal range extended to 120m.
pg1
1933
I’ve been traveling for a extended period of time so I haven’t played much recently. I am back home now. The time away put some perspective on how I see MWO. I honestly have started to lose faith in PGI, the recent LRM issue (this is what the, 4th time LRMs have been grossly overpowered since open beta?) just shows they continue to repeat problems and not learn. LRMs have been hot fixed multiple times for being way too strong.
PGI’s balancing feels driven by metrics and forum whine. They even nuked the general forum because I guess they couldn’t handle their player base expressing themselves. Now the forum is segmented so much it’s near unusable. I don’t see much of a vision or any long term plan in the balance changes they are making. Most of their balancing seems reactionary and changes occur at random practically. I do think they are making good technical progress but gameplay remains iffy. The game is very fun as a casual game but if you strive to take it more seriously or play at a very high level it breaks down. It reminds me of Tribes Ascend in that way, T:A is great as a casual game but it just breaks down for competition. That’s why Quake always has a special place for me, it was great fun to goof around in and play casually but you could also take it 100% seriously and have great competition in it. Great games offer more options as your skill level rises but in MWO you have less options the better you get.
The other thing I’m concerned about is mechs. I haven’t bought a new mech in months. I don’t see the point. Why grind out new mechs which offer nothing over the ones I already have? I admit to being interested in the Highlander but mechs such as the Blackjack seem pointless. What can a Blackjack do that I can’t already do with my HBKs or CN9s? Part of this may just be fatigue on my part with MWO but I can’t see the catch in most new mechs for players already with a decent fleet of mechs in their hanger. There’s no unique or compelling designs with most of them. I think the only way for them to make new mechs truly compelling is to give them unique properties beyond their 3D model, hard point lay out and weight.
Game modes also need a huge improvement in my view. Conquest mode was a failure. I rarely play it since it takes longer than Assault (so less XP/CBills in the same time) and it honestly is 95% the same as Assault mode anyways. We need randomized map elements, missions (like old MW games) and new modes of play like FFA, CTF, etc. Technical progress they’ve made on MWO is quite impressive but gameplay is lagging way behind. Stuff like UI 2.0 looks cool but I can already build my mechs fine. What is missing is a reason for me to keep playing.
http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/117379-i-think-im-bored-with-this-game/ - thread on the official forums with similar thoughts
I couldn’t disagree more, Conquest is my preferred game mode and the blackjack fills a nice niche and is quite effective to boot. The BJ-1X is superior to the hunchback 4SP for example, mounting 1 less laser but with superior weapon positions and substantially better maneuverability. The BJ-1 with a gauss or AC/20 and a brace or two of medium lasers and jumpjets is quite effective.
BTW mechs do have unique properties outside their weight + hardpoint layout. Speed and jumpjet capability are obvious ones, then there is torso twist range and speed, arm flexibility, and general maneuverability stats. If that doesn’t grab you, I am not sure how you enjoyed MW:LL.
I agree they should add more game modes, and they definitely will, but it says a lot that your first suggested game mode is FFA, as if that has been interesting in any game ever (and especially a terrible fit for mechwarrior) and your other is CTF a game mode that is basically Assault with a very gentle twist. I think if the borrowed the attack-defend and centre base control game modes from world of tanks that would be a good start. Random map elements is a lot to ask for and would probably drive the player base into frothing rage anyway. Missions I don’t expect we will see anytime except in the context of objective based game modes (escort, capture, destroy etc).
Anyway you have become a pessimist while I see a strong trend of improvement and variety in the game; PGI struggles with balance but their wild pendulum swings become gentler with time; this LRM overbuff was nothing like the LRMageddon of old, and swiftly recognized and fixed. Do I lament the slow pace towards actual community warfare? Of course! But this game still holds great enjoyment for me… There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your shots hit home components explode off your target in showers of fire and debris, and then watching is smoking just topple over dead…
pg1
1935
Huh, the BJ-1X doesn’t even any missile points but it is faster. I don’t see how it’s superior to a HBK-4SP. I don’t see the BJ-1 as being that great, it’s a medium first of all so it is already near unusable if you want to play at your best. The only medium I play anymore is the CN9-A with 3xSRM6. If I wanted ballistics in arms I’d go for a Jager mech. I honestly have zero interest in the Blackjack.
I know they have slight differences but they are all pretty similar. Every single mech in the game has huge issues aiming up and down on steep cliffs or mountains for instance. I’d also like to see major differences which enforce role warfare. I’ve never played MW:LL, perhaps you have me confused with someone else?
FFA is one of my favorite game modes of all time, just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean others don’t. I’ll grant you it might suck in MWO but I think I’d enjoy it a lot. The fact you compare CTF to Assault also makes me say, WTF!? CTF is completely different than Assault. It’d depend on how they set it up of course but usually in CTF you need runners, defense, midfield and offense. It’s a completely different dynamic and saying it’s the same as one life survival 8v8 TDM is completely wrong. They do need to make progress on the gameplay front and hopefully before CW (if that is ever coming, 12v12 is late now too).
I’m not a pessimist, I’m just bored and tired by how slow progress is regarding gameplay. Maybe they’ll get there eventually but who knows when. In the mean time I’m not going to be playing much MWO or spending MC. My unit who sometimes used to have 10+ people on is a shadow of it’s former activity. I’ve got ~1850 matches played in total, what are you up to now? 3000? 4000? More? The only way I’ll likely hit 2000 matches played is if there are big changes on the gameplay front.
Apologies, 4P I meant.
FFA is one of my favorite game modes of all time, just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean others don’t. I’ll grant you it might suck in MWO but I think I’d enjoy it a lot. The fact you compare CTF to Assault also makes me say, WTF!? CTF is completely different than Assault. It’d depend on how they set it up of course but usually in CTF you need runners, defense, midfield and offense. It’s a completely different dynamic and saying it’s the same as one life survival 8v8 TDM is completely wrong. They do need to make progress on the gameplay front and hopefully before CW (if that is ever coming, 12v12 is late now too).
Ah you are proposing respawns I suppose… in which case CTF would be quite different yes, but also the gameplay would be cheapened dramatically. I’d rather kills and deaths be more meaningful than your typical unreal tournament game. In any case you have no end of FPS to choose from that give you what you want. If you have a thing specifically for robots then there is Hawken.
I think this is a fundamental difference of philosophy. You want what uncounted games already give you. I want a good, immersive, tactical experience specifically in the battletech universe, something only a tiny handful of games can give me, only one of which is currently being developed.
What I see with MWO is that tactical foundation is being built and solidified and I hope that something lasting will be built on that foundation.
I’ve got ~1850 matches played in total, what are you up to now? 3000? 4000? More? The only way I’ll likely hit 2000 matches played is if there are big changes on the gameplay front.
~3600 and the game is still very fun for me. Mind you I have over 6500 World of Tanks games played, not counting beta where surely it was over 3000, so possibly I like this game format a great deal more than you do. Perhaps most significantly I really enjoy the pug experience in both games.
_scout
1937
I’m a very casual gamer lately but I keep coming back to a few PuG rounds every evening, cause I like the game. I do know I’m missing out on the deeper tactics when playing with dedicated group or even just with voice, but I just lack the time and motivation, cause the game isn’t that deep.
So with that said, something I am personally missing is an “repair and re-arm within the field”. I’ve seen a lot of good PuGs, where a tactical retreat would certainly increase “in-game deepth”.
When you got 4 or 5 already heavy damaged mechs, the option to repair and re-arm would make the games IMHO more interesting.
Sure you would have to power down, can be only at the base, only done “a limited amount of munnition/armor” per round but it would also give a reason to defend your base more.
I think on a larger map with more involved objectives, on-battlefield repairs could be very interesting. Limit to things that could “reasonably” done like armour repair and ammo reloads.
Right now with the small map size, small teams and short matches it probably would not add much.
Got a whole bunch of seat time in my BJ-1X. With a 295XL engine and a top speed of 106, packing 6 arm mounted medium lasers and 2 torso mounted medium pulse so far it has been a menace on the battlefield. Blackjacks seem to make small targets, I am quite confident going one on one vs any of the 50 ton mechs, and lights are not a big menace; lacking jump jets and fairly limited torso twist are the main drawbacks. Also got some matches in on my BJ-3, twin PPC poptarter (a tactic which seems to have fallen out of fashion this week) and got so good results.
Overall the blackjack is a surprisingly survivable mech, which I credit to its narrow, centurion-like torso. I had many matches where by rights I should died but kept on ticking til the end held together by sticky tape and prolific cursing.
pg1
1939
My group who hasn’t played regularly in a long time made a rally and tried to get 25 wins for the 3050 Holo but we just lost interest the second night. This is despite our record having many more wins than losses (think we went like 16-3 or something). We are just am bored to tears by the upper Elo meta of poptart dominance. Generally every match I play has between 4-8 poptarts on each team along with other various sniper builds like Stalkers mixed in. It’s no fun at all as all you do is jump snipe or peek all game long. There’s almost no brawling or LRMs. Canyon is very tedious with such heavy jump sniping teams.
I’ve had real issues as of late with ping consistency and hit registration. My ping used to be 50ms but now it more like 100ms (I live in Chicago not far at all from the servers!). The ping isn’t even the main issue however, it’s the spiking and constant flux which annoys me to no end and makes shooting very hard. My ping jumps all over the place non-stop. I’ve noticed that many people ping higher now and it’s very rare to see a team not have some players pinging over 100ms. Looking at old screenshots for comparison there’s been a huge increase (myself and many team mates are up ~50ms on average). Higher pings and sniping isn’t a good mix in MWO as I find jump sniping to be by far the most ping sensitive way to play. I can’t shoot people in the air anymore it seems where a few months back I had no problem doing so.
After being away for ~2 months then playing a little I’m going to shelve this again for the time being. I’ll keep watching it for changes but it’s just lost the magic for me. I suspect part of it Elo based, maybe high Elo games just aren’t that fun. It’s not bad when there are just a couple snipers but when the majority of players are snipers I’d rather play something else.
Yeah in my bracket for whatever reason there just haven’t been that many poptarts, people pilot a really diverse array of mechs and it’s a lot of fun! Just goes to show that people taking a game too seriously can leech the fun out of it I guess.
I imagine the meta will change up when they add reticle shake or whatever anti poptart mechanic they are considering. Supposed to be soon I think?
