God I love blocking people. It's probably not the greatest thing in the whole world, but it feels good.
"Oh you accidentally around the wrong corner Mr. Atlas and now you'd like to leave? Well that is unfortunate because this space behind you is just very comfortable for me right now."
God I love blocking people. It's probably not the greatest thing in the whole world, but it feels good.
"Oh you accidentally around the wrong corner Mr. Atlas and now you'd like to leave? Well that is unfortunate because this space behind you is just very comfortable for me right now."
Tactical doorstop
+3
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
I played like shit. I lost my skill, and the new mouse is still awkward in my hand which isn't helping matters at all.
Sorely tempted to plug the old one back in, but I've almost completely worn through the mouse buttons.
Just remember that it's never how you play that counts.
It's whether or not you manage to play without screaming homophobic slurs into VOIP because you're mad about being bad that counts.
(Dear lord I haven't played F2P multiplayer for so long that I forgot to Mute All. A mistake like that will never go unpunished)
Speaking of VOIP rage - Does PGI 'care' about complaints of that nature? I had a guy start off a match by running his mech WAY out ahead, get lit up by LRMs, and then literally run head first into active friendly fire (and then literally head first into said friendly mechs) Screaming the whole way about how we've already lost cause of *insert frothing homophobic, sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, deranged violent threats* that included him shouting at a couple specific people about coming to their home and killing their family and violating their pets. It was both horrible and amazingly eloquent for what was otherwise a stress induced heart attack waiting to happen.
On another note - I need to start screen-capping (or remember to use my shadowplay, now that I set it up) my more brutal victories. Got my 6pack Jenner IIC all unlocked, so it's time to start filling in the module slots. I also need to find a medium chassis that will let me mount the 6pack and ecm. Make it a smidge easier on myself to get behind their heftys and start squishing them.
AND WAR-STORY TIME!
Dropped into the water on Forest Colony and looped around to that little back pass after another of our lights suicide-UAV'd right in the middle of their deathball. Rolled up behind them and found a catapult WAY out of position, just mindlessly dumping LRMS. Ragerockets Alpha right into his little butt-joint, take a step back and get ready to dance - but he doesn't even twitch. So, second load and dead 'Pult.
A stalker another 50m ahead or so, starts to turn on me. I assume he saw his buddy go down and is gonna remove my face. So I do the dance trying to stay out of his line of sight and either it worked, or I wasn't worth his time, and he goes back to mindless LRMing too. So again, slide in behind him and alpha his ass off. Again, no reaction to me at all. So another volley and another kill. So, I lock up my next victim, an atlas, and this time he's actually ALIVE and I have to work to stay behind him. He is still way out of position though, so it was an 'easy' kill - but this time, a riflemen (Legend Killer) swings around looking for me as the atlas goes down.
So I pull a Lonestar and power down semi-hidden in the tree roots. This guy is wandering all over my ass and doesn't see me. I could not believe it. Best part, as he goes back to the firing line, he's got his back to me at close range - so I squish him quick and finally get caught pants-down by a Locust and Firestarter. I'm still horrible at knocking down other lights with the 6pack if they're actively fighting me.
At the end of all this - someone on my team complains 'If we don't push up we're gonna lose this!" and another person goes "Psh, we're up 5-0, let them come to us and mow them down. Whoever got in behind them and did work already won this for us as long as we don't get sloppy".
So much epeen expansion, I might need custom cockpit glass. (He said from Tier 5 still)
Redspo0n on
"Hey, want a Skull Servent? He's Evil." XFIRE:redspo0n (Yep, Zero in there) XBL: Pinkspo0n
*blows imaginary smoke off of the end of his finger gun barrels*
...Now, I'm not saying that I'm the biggest deal that was ever dealt out, but if anyone should happen to know of an eSports franchise that just happens to be scouting out some hot young new talent--
:bigfrown:
OKAY WELL NOT MUCH ELSE TO SEE HERE FOLKS YOU CAN MOVE ALONG NOW
I HAVE TO GET GOING
LOTS OF BIG IMPORTANT PHONE CALLS TO TAKE YOU KNOW
Speaking of VOIP rage - Does PGI 'care' about complaints of that nature? I had a guy start off a match by running his mech WAY out ahead, get lit up by LRMs, and then literally run head first into active friendly fire (and then literally head first into said friendly mechs) Screaming the whole way about how we've already lost cause of *insert frothing homophobic, sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, deranged violent threats* that included him shouting at a couple specific people about coming to their home and killing their family and violating their pets. It was both horrible and amazingly eloquent for what was otherwise a stress induced heart attack waiting to happen.
Bring up the scoreboard and left-click the player. You'll have a report option on the little menu.
I use it all the damn time to report AFKers and Padre.
+4
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
It's okay, for every single one of these sickrad image #1s you see any of us post there's like, 5-10 of those little #2s we're all going to keep in our screenshot folders away from prying eyes
Opinions on viability of Archer 5W as SRM6-boated face-smasher? Thinking up-engine, stack of SRM6s, AMS to mitigate crossing the battlelines.. Maybe a smaller LRM load so you can still engage the 'everything else' outside your smashing range and look like a traditional LRMer as you lumber into smashing range...
Also, is my understanding correct that 'Medium Laser cooldown' quirk applies to both MLas and MPL? Cause I could dig a Tempest carrying some MPLs and Streaks >.>
Am I already planning to ruin this thing before it's even out?
"Hey, want a Skull Servent? He's Evil." XFIRE:redspo0n (Yep, Zero in there) XBL: Pinkspo0n
0
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
It's okay, for every single one of these sickrad image #1s you see any of us post there's like, 5-10 of those little #2s we're all going to keep in our screenshot folders away from prying eyes
Hoooo yeah. For every match last night where I had 4-5 kills and 400-600 damage, I had a 120 damage faceplant.
The Group Queue mistress giveth, and taketh away, in equal measure.
It's okay, for every single one of these sickrad image #1s you see any of us post there's like, 5-10 of those little #2s we're all going to keep in our screenshot folders away from prying eyes
the good matches where you blunder into the enemy and are lucky to break 100 damage...
It's okay, for every single one of these sickrad image #1s you see any of us post there's like, 5-10 of those little #2s we're all going to keep in our screenshot folders away from prying eyes
the good matches where you blunder into the enemy and are lucky to break 100 damage...
i totally dont have any of those...
nope...
...
I love when 'blunder' into the enemy was semi-intentional too. "Ok, using a sneaky murderous light.. so I'm gonna slip around over here right into the..." *explody expletives because their entire assault lance is looking right at you instead of the rest of the battle line*
So.. I guess I'm gonna just tab out now until they hand out my 14xp..
"Hey, want a Skull Servent? He's Evil." XFIRE:redspo0n (Yep, Zero in there) XBL: Pinkspo0n
All five of those kills were follow-target-rearcore kills. What a damn mess.
AND LOOK AT THAT TONNAGE DISPARITY! I mean, fuuuuuck.
textbook example to put in PGI's book of balance.
Just to put it on the record:
Our team: 535 tons.
Their team: 855 tons.
320 ton disparity. I mean, wow.
You're in the group queue; tonnage balance is done on a per group basis and not by the queue. So you guys had an Orion II-C, a Thunderbolt, and a Cheetah in your group. Out of 270 available tons you used 170 tons. Any weight disparity began self inflicted.
Opinions on viability of Archer 5W as SRM6-boated face-smasher? Thinking up-engine, stack of SRM6s, AMS to mitigate crossing the battlelines.. Maybe a smaller LRM load so you can still engage the 'everything else' outside your smashing range and look like a traditional LRMer as you lumber into smashing range...
Also, is my understanding correct that 'Medium Laser cooldown' quirk applies to both MLas and MPL? Cause I could dig a Tempest carrying some MPLs and Streaks >.>
Am I already planning to ruin this thing before it's even out?
Just put as many SRMs on the 5W as you can fit. Don't dilute the punch with LRMs, and IS streaks are garbage so never use those. Don't bother with AMS either; if you can't advance to brawling range under cover it's probably better to wait for them to come to you. You don't want to be caught in the open regardless of what weapons the enemy is using.
AMS is pretty marginal in general. I only ever use it if I have a spare 1.5 tons after I have everything else I need for a given build. Which is almost never, and SRM brawlers in particular need every spare ton they can manage for weapons, ammo, and heatsinks.
Medium Laser quirks do not apply to MPLs, only regular MLs.
Reading the posts of the new and returning players is my favorite thing. The pure excitement from surviving matches are breaking X damage remind me that the game is actually fun as hell if you can drag yourself out of the negative mindset.
It also reminds me that all of us bittervets are, in fact, babbies.
Everything: Konphujun(#1458)
+9
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
You're in the group queue; tonnage balance is done on a per group basis and not by the queue. So you guys had an Orion II-C, a Thunderbolt, and a Cheetah in your group. Out of 270 available tons you used 170 tons. Any weight disparity began self inflicted.
Began, certainly. We were absolutely 100t underweight going in as a trio. But it's not like the matchmaker wasn't culpable here. It absolutely tries to weight-match teams after searching for groups of required size (remember, it has weight-biasing in its match construction routine after it figures out what group sizes it has to work with), and it fucking utterly failed in this match.
Maybe we got lined up as a 3-9 group (and thus weight-constrained) team against a 3-3-3-3. But looking at the scoreboard and recalling the match, it seems to me like we landed on a 3-3-3-3, and the other team was a 3-3-?. Probably a 3-3-3-3, or a 3-3-6. Hard to tell with all the lone wolves on their team.
Whatever the case, the Matchmaker did a shit job of balancing those lineups. Especially if it was picking from a bunch of 3-man groups! If both teams were 3-3-3-3, the Matchmaker could have easily swapped two heavier trios for two lighter trios, and the whole matchup would have been better balanced from the outset.
you guys had a whole lance of Cheetahs. Tonnage disparity was made up for that alone.
Look at the results. Two of those Cheetahs barely performed at a level that could be considered competent. We had a Jenner IIc that didn't break 250 damage. Our heavies (Elvenshae, Padre, and a pug) didn't even have time or position to perform well, because they got immediately focus-fired by their fatass team.
Regardless, we won, but certainly not because the Matchmaker had anything to do about it. Even on the winning side though, this was not a good match. I literally said out loud at the end "What the fuck just happened?". Our group was slightly above competent, and the other team was arguably pants-on-head (too spread out, not positioned well, focused too much on our heavies, etc.).
0
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
Life's a bitch in the Solo Queue when it's 60% Heavies. I'd be curious to see what the other team had, and if the Matchmaker was able to balance that out.
Presumably, since the Solo Queue is 60% Heavies, it had no problems in that regard.
Matchmaking doesn't consider weight, as far as I have been able to tell. It seems to work as:
Solo Queue:
Matches on a weight category basis, so if your team has 3 lights, and the other team will have 3 lights. It doesn't matter if you have 3 Locusts and they have 3 Jenner IIC's. This can lead to a maximum disparity of 180 tons (15 per player).
Group Queue:
Matches based on fulfilling group size requirements only. This means that you could have six times two mans versus a twelve man, for a maximum disparity of 600 tons. Weight balance is done by the weight restrictions on the group, as a twelve man should be much more coordinated.
Community Warfare Queue:
Matches based on fulfilling group size requirements only. Weight balance comes from maximum drop deck size.
0
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
Matchmaking doesn't consider weight, as far as I have been able to tell. It seems to work as:
Solo Queue:
Matches on a weight category basis, so if your team has 3 lights, and the other team will have 3 lights. It doesn't matter if you have 3 Locusts and they have 3 Jenner IIC's. This can lead to a maximum disparity of 180 tons (15 per player).
Group Queue:
Matches based on fulfilling group size requirements only. This means that you could have six times two mans versus a twelve man, for a maximum disparity of 600 tons. Weight balance is done by the weight restrictions on the group, as a twelve man should be much more coordinated.
Community Warfare Queue:
Matches based on fulfilling group size requirements only. Weight balance comes from maximum drop deck size.
As I can't stand to not know the official line, I went digging through the old patch notes and roadmap posts. It turns out you're right. From Russ's October roadmap post, where he describes the new tonnage/group size change for the Group Queue:
Here are some points I want you to keep in mind when providing feedback there.
The point here is to allow the matchmaker to run with some simpler metrics; therefore the MM will not be adding up tonnage or looking at the composition of the groups. It is the groups responsibility to utilize the tonnage as they see fit. This is important because if the MM finds the perfect set of players to play against each other we do not want to have to reject that match for any reason. The goal is to make sure they fight for the best quality match. Therefore we have to be smart about our min/max tonnage settings.
So, I stand corrected. However, it still seems to me a pretty brain-dead decision to totally ignore group comp, once you've lined up enough groups to fill the teams. Again, if both teams are composed of a bunch of 3-man groups, it feels to me like simple check & swap of groups between teams could balance that out. Granted, this won't always work due to the disparate sizes of groups floating around in the queue. But some consideration for group comp would be nice.
Matchmaking doesn't consider weight, as far as I have been able to tell. It seems to work as:
Solo Queue:
Matches on a weight category basis, so if your team has 3 lights, and the other team will have 3 lights. It doesn't matter if you have 3 Locusts and they have 3 Jenner IIC's. This can lead to a maximum disparity of 180 tons (15 per player).
Group Queue:
Matches based on fulfilling group size requirements only. This means that you could have six times two mans versus a twelve man, for a maximum disparity of 600 tons. Weight balance is done by the weight restrictions on the group, as a twelve man should be much more coordinated.
Community Warfare Queue:
Matches based on fulfilling group size requirements only. Weight balance comes from maximum drop deck size.
As I can't stand to not know the official line, I went digging through the old patch notes and roadmap posts. It turns out you're right. From Russ's October roadmap post, where he describes the new tonnage/group size change for the Group Queue:
Here are some points I want you to keep in mind when providing feedback there.
The point here is to allow the matchmaker to run with some simpler metrics; therefore the MM will not be adding up tonnage or looking at the composition of the groups. It is the groups responsibility to utilize the tonnage as they see fit. This is important because if the MM finds the perfect set of players to play against each other we do not want to have to reject that match for any reason. The goal is to make sure they fight for the best quality match. Therefore we have to be smart about our min/max tonnage settings.
So, I stand corrected. However, it still seems to me a pretty brain-dead decision to totally ignore group comp, once you've lined up enough groups to fill the teams. Again, if both teams are composed of a bunch of 3-man groups, it feels to me like simple check & swap of groups between teams could balance that out. Granted, this won't always work due to the disparate sizes of groups floating around in the queue. But some consideration for group comp would be nice.
It probably does a second check to balance on PSR if anything instead of tonnage.
*blows imaginary smoke off of the end of his finger gun barrels*
...Now, I'm not saying that I'm the biggest deal that was ever dealt out, but if anyone should happen to know of an eSports franchise that just happens to be scouting out some hot young new talent--
:bigfrown:
OKAY WELL NOT MUCH ELSE TO SEE HERE FOLKS YOU CAN MOVE ALONG NOW
I HAVE TO GET GOING
LOTS OF BIG IMPORTANT PHONE CALLS TO TAKE YOU KNOW
As I can't stand to not know the official line, I went digging through the old patch notes and roadmap posts. It turns out you're right. From Russ's October roadmap post, where he describes the new tonnage/group size change for the Group Queue:
Here are some points I want you to keep in mind when providing feedback there.
The point here is to allow the matchmaker to run with some simpler metrics; therefore the MM will not be adding up tonnage or looking at the composition of the groups. It is the groups responsibility to utilize the tonnage as they see fit. This is important because if the MM finds the perfect set of players to play against each other we do not want to have to reject that match for any reason. The goal is to make sure they fight for the best quality match. Therefore we have to be smart about our min/max tonnage settings.
So, I stand corrected. However, it still seems to me a pretty brain-dead decision to totally ignore group comp, once you've lined up enough groups to fill the teams. Again, if both teams are composed of a bunch of 3-man groups, it feels to me like simple check & swap of groups between teams could balance that out. Granted, this won't always work due to the disparate sizes of groups floating around in the queue. But some consideration for group comp would be nice.
It probably does a second check to balance on PSR if anything instead of tonnage.
Russ's post for the October roadmap definitely states PSR is considered. Which, hooray, great, I'm totally down with. This just makes me a little more infuriated about that match, then. If both teams are comprised of nothing but PSR 3 players (a stretch to assume, I grant you), then there's even less reason not to try and shuffle the teams to even things out. Now if the matchmaker is also trying to balance a bunch of little groups, with a bunch of disparate PSR tier values... then I guess I have to relent, without knowing the actual numbers behind how it did its math.
Not knowing is kind of infuriating to me. But whatever, Matchmaking is hard, it's a stupid complicated game, and I should stop focusing on that and get back to STOMP STOMP PEW PEW DAKKA DAKKA joy.
Tangentially related: It just struck me that the PSR Tiers can be directly relatable to BattleTech Pilot skill ranks. So when I fill out a BattleTech record sheet for me, I suppose I'm Piloting 3 / Gunnery 3 (at least on my Clan account, sitting on the bottom of PSR 3)! I would also accept Piloting 2 / Gunnery 4, as my maneuvering is better than my aim. Solidly a regular pilot, nothing spectacular; seems about right.
Matchmaking doesn't consider weight, as far as I have been able to tell. It seems to work as:
Solo Queue:
Matches on a weight category basis, so if your team has 3 lights, and the other team will have 3 lights. It doesn't matter if you have 3 Locusts and they have 3 Jenner IIC's. This can lead to a maximum disparity of 180 tons (15 per player).
Group Queue:
Matches based on fulfilling group size requirements only. This means that you could have six times two mans versus a twelve man, for a maximum disparity of 600 tons. Weight balance is done by the weight restrictions on the group, as a twelve man should be much more coordinated.
Community Warfare Queue:
Matches based on fulfilling group size requirements only. Weight balance comes from maximum drop deck size.
As I can't stand to not know the official line, I went digging through the old patch notes and roadmap posts. It turns out you're right. From Russ's October roadmap post, where he describes the new tonnage/group size change for the Group Queue:
Here are some points I want you to keep in mind when providing feedback there.
The point here is to allow the matchmaker to run with some simpler metrics; therefore the MM will not be adding up tonnage or looking at the composition of the groups. It is the groups responsibility to utilize the tonnage as they see fit. This is important because if the MM finds the perfect set of players to play against each other we do not want to have to reject that match for any reason. The goal is to make sure they fight for the best quality match. Therefore we have to be smart about our min/max tonnage settings.
So, I stand corrected. However, it still seems to me a pretty brain-dead decision to totally ignore group comp, once you've lined up enough groups to fill the teams. Again, if both teams are composed of a bunch of 3-man groups, it feels to me like simple check & swap of groups between teams could balance that out. Granted, this won't always work due to the disparate sizes of groups floating around in the queue. But some consideration for group comp would be nice.
To give credit to PGI for once, tonnage isn't nearly as closely correlated with combat effectiveness in MWO as it has been in past Mechwarrior games. I would rather have an Arctic Cheetah or Blackjack on my team than a Dragon or a Summoner. It's not the worst move to just let each group roll in whatever they think is the most fun/effective regardless of drop weight.
It's okay, for every single one of these sickrad image #1s you see any of us post there's like, 5-10 of those little #2s we're all going to keep in our screenshot folders away from prying eyes
The great thing was that those matches were back to back.
Match #1 felt soooo good. Like, I'm sure if I posted it to the YouTubes and a vet MWO player watched it, they'd say, "Pffft. Mediocre!", but for me that was some finest hour stuff.
I ran around the map perimeter right up against a ridge line, came out behind some missile lobbers & opened up on them, then just started bobbing and weaving and never really stopped. At one point I literally ran circles around a Dire Wolf and watched his own teammates light him up while trying to hit me.
My team was mostly able to just flank right into their big guns because they were busy trying to shoot that little pesky damn Jenner.
I was all pumped for Match #2 thinking I would do exactly the same thing. Then I just disrespected a ridge line in my hurry to be Mr. Badass all over again and crested it to see a really big gun line. I think I maybe could have bailed myself out still, but I decided to try a pro MLG zig zag run towards the gun line instead. I think the result speaks for itself.
I do love that MWO's time to kill is significant, so you have plenty of room to think about your mistakes and what you can do differently when you get blown away. Sometimes bullshit does just happen, but you can just tell in 90% of situations not only that you made an error that cost you your chassis but what that error was.
It's okay, for every single one of these sickrad image #1s you see any of us post there's like, 5-10 of those little #2s we're all going to keep in our screenshot folders away from prying eyes
The great thing was that those matches were back to back.
Match #1 felt soooo good. Like, I'm sure if I posted it to the YouTubes and a vet MWO player watched it, they'd say, "Pffft. Mediocre!", but for me that was some finest hour stuff.
I ran around the map perimeter right up against a ridge line, came out behind some missile lobbers & opened up on them, then just started bobbing and weaving and never really stopped. At one point I literally ran circles around a Dire Wolf and watched his own teammates light him up while trying to hit me.
My team was mostly able to just flank right into their big guns because they were busy trying to shoot that little pesky damn Jenner.
I was all pumped for Match #2 thinking I would do exactly the same thing. Then I just disrespected a ridge line in my hurry to be Mr. Badass all over again and crested it to see a really big gun line. I think I maybe could have bailed myself out still, but I decided to try a pro MLG zig zag run towards the gun line instead. I think the result speaks for itself.
I do love that MWO's time to kill is significant, so you have plenty of room to think about your mistakes and what you can do differently when you get blown away. Sometimes bullshit does just happen, but you can just tell in 90% of situations not only that you made an error that cost you your chassis but what that error was.
So a Timberwolf, Jag and a Hunchback walk into a Hyperpulse Generator...
So just as everyone is powering up, my kid starts screaming cause he lost his bottle. I got assist him and get a late start. I come back and head in. Notice my minimap is basicly showing my whole team off to my left with the baddies spread around a bit, but mostly lined up on them... and I'm behind them all. So I do what ever dirty Rage-rocket IIC pilot does, and casually stroll to the top of the tower, and nuke an Ebon Jag, a Timberwolf and a Hunchback Solo, then pass around some hurt to whatever was nearby - only to get REALLY bravecocky hardcore stupid and go nose-to-nose with a laservomit *something* (I realized it wasn't a Nova, since there wasn't one in the match) (who got called out by one of our fatties as 'sneaking up' on them)
It might not be balanced, but it's fun as hell, even on the bad match were you just get squished.
It's okay, for every single one of these sickrad image #1s you see any of us post there's like, 5-10 of those little #2s we're all going to keep in our screenshot folders away from prying eyes
The great thing was that those matches were back to back.
Match #1 felt soooo good. Like, I'm sure if I posted it to the YouTubes and a vet MWO player watched it, they'd say, "Pffft. Mediocre!", but for me that was some finest hour stuff.
I ran around the map perimeter right up against a ridge line, came out behind some missile lobbers & opened up on them, then just started bobbing and weaving and never really stopped. At one point I literally ran circles around a Dire Wolf and watched his own teammates light him up while trying to hit me.
My team was mostly able to just flank right into their big guns because they were busy trying to shoot that little pesky damn Jenner.
I was all pumped for Match #2 thinking I would do exactly the same thing. Then I just disrespected a ridge line in my hurry to be Mr. Badass all over again and crested it to see a really big gun line. I think I maybe could have bailed myself out still, but I decided to try a pro MLG zig zag run towards the gun line instead. I think the result speaks for itself.
I do love that MWO's time to kill is significant, so you have plenty of room to think about your mistakes and what you can do differently when you get blown away. Sometimes bullshit does just happen, but you can just tell in 90% of situations not only that you made an error that cost you your chassis but what that error was.
Wall of unsolicited light mech advice incoming:
You can really only get away with squirreling around in the middle of a group of enemies if they're bad. Decent players will nip off your legs pretty quickly if you stay in the open where they can see you, no matter how much juking you do, especially if they're any reasonable distance away from you. Speed is only a good defense at very close range, where apparent relative motion is high.
The safest play for lights is to never commit to a situation where you'll be a primary target. Going all-in on isolated assaults can work if you can pull off the butt-hug, but even then a good assault pilot will have a number of tricks to try and peel you off/deny you back shots so it can be touch and go. Most of the time you want to get in one or two hits from an unexpected direction, bail as soon as someone looks at you, and come back for another shot after the enemy has given up the chase.
All that being said, a lot of players are pretty bad, and sometimes you can get away with risky moves in spectacular fashion. It's super-fun when that happens so don't be dissuaded from trying occasionally.
The other thing is that playing safe isn't always the best play to win. You have to pay attention to the flow of the battle and know when a big risk is worth it. Are you charging into the enemy team's front when your team is still 1200m away? That is dumb. Are you charging into their rear when your team is starting a push from the front? That's a reasonable time to risk your mech for a big tactical gain; even if you don't do much damage you can turn half the enemy team away from the main fight for a critical window of time (but remember to weigh the likelihood of a PUG team having the collective brains to capitalize on the situation).
Or maybe there's an enemy with a red CT you know you can down with one shot; might be worth popping out to try for the kill even if he's got a couple of buddies nearby. Evaluate how much armor you have left vs. how quickly you can finish off the target and get away vs. how useful to your team it would be to kill him right now. A really fast, seat-of-the-pants cost-benefit analysis basically.
All weight classes require these kinds of judgment calls, but it's perhaps the most starkly illustrated in lights since you're so fragile yet can basically choose your fights at will. If you fuck up in a light, you will probably get immediate feedback on it in the form of being made dead.
With slower classes it's more subtle; more durability means you have a bit more margin for error in a given firefight but you need to be even better at anticipating the flow of the battle since you don't have the speed to react. So you could find yourself at the end of the match having won a duel or two but losing because you were out of position in the overall fight. That's harder to parse apart in hindsight; it becomes easier to look at the numbers on the scoreboard and blame your team for the loss even if you basically won the battle but lost the war with your own actions.
So a Timberwolf, Jag and a Hunchback walk into a Hyperpulse Generator...
So just as everyone is powering up, my kid starts screaming cause he lost his bottle. I got assist him and get a late start. I come back and head in. Notice my minimap is basicly showing my whole team off to my left with the baddies spread around a bit, but mostly lined up on them... and I'm behind them all. So I do what ever dirty Rage-rocket IIC pilot does, and casually stroll to the top of the tower, and nuke an Ebon Jag, a Timberwolf and a Hunchback Solo, then pass around some hurt to whatever was nearby - only to get REALLY bravecocky hardcore stupid and go nose-to-nose with a laservomit *something* (I realized it wasn't a Nova, since there wasn't one in the match) (who got called out by one of our fatties as 'sneaking up' on them)
It might not be balanced, but it's fun as hell, even on the bad match were you just get squished.
This is actually a pretty good example of that decision-making process I was talking about. Sometimes you're literally better off not touching any buttons for the first few minutes of a match if it keeps you from throwing your mech away before the time is ripe. Wait for the enemies to be engaged and distracted in a peek-and-poke fight with your firing line and then go shoot butts. True for any mech, but you have the speed to get into trouble really early in a light if you don't exercise some self-control.
Posts
All five of those kills were follow-target-rearcore kills. What a damn mess.
AND LOOK AT THAT TONNAGE DISPARITY! I mean, fuuuuuck.
textbook example to put in PGI's book of balance.
I won one!
I even survived until the end and did 200+ damage in my trial Jenner!
Where do I get my MLG contract?
Just to put it on the record:
Our team: 535 tons.
Their team: 855 tons.
320 ton disparity. I mean, wow.
How can you check the tonnage difference?
For now, just by looking at the screenshot and adding up the weights of the mechs on either side.
Yup, did the math by hand. Took a few minutes, too. And then a few minutes staring in disbelief.
"Oh you accidentally around the wrong corner Mr. Atlas and now you'd like to leave? Well that is unfortunate because this space behind you is just very comfortable for me right now."
Tactical doorstop
Thanks to @PILL @Buttcleft and @Elvenshae for the matches tonight! Good Oosik company is the best.
I played like shit. I lost my skill, and the new mouse is still awkward in my hand which isn't helping matters at all.
Sorely tempted to plug the old one back in, but I've almost completely worn through the mouse buttons.
Just remember that it's never how you play that counts.
It's whether or not you manage to play without screaming homophobic slurs into VOIP because you're mad about being bad that counts.
(Dear lord I haven't played F2P multiplayer for so long that I forgot to Mute All. A mistake like that will never go unpunished)
I think I got the basics done on the DDC sometime long ago; I wish they let you see the skill trees of mechs you don't currently own
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Speaking of VOIP rage - Does PGI 'care' about complaints of that nature? I had a guy start off a match by running his mech WAY out ahead, get lit up by LRMs, and then literally run head first into active friendly fire (and then literally head first into said friendly mechs) Screaming the whole way about how we've already lost cause of *insert frothing homophobic, sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, deranged violent threats* that included him shouting at a couple specific people about coming to their home and killing their family and violating their pets. It was both horrible and amazingly eloquent for what was otherwise a stress induced heart attack waiting to happen.
On another note - I need to start screen-capping (or remember to use my shadowplay, now that I set it up) my more brutal victories. Got my 6pack Jenner IIC all unlocked, so it's time to start filling in the module slots. I also need to find a medium chassis that will let me mount the 6pack and ecm. Make it a smidge easier on myself to get behind their heftys and start squishing them.
AND WAR-STORY TIME!
Dropped into the water on Forest Colony and looped around to that little back pass after another of our lights suicide-UAV'd right in the middle of their deathball. Rolled up behind them and found a catapult WAY out of position, just mindlessly dumping LRMS. Ragerockets Alpha right into his little butt-joint, take a step back and get ready to dance - but he doesn't even twitch. So, second load and dead 'Pult.
A stalker another 50m ahead or so, starts to turn on me. I assume he saw his buddy go down and is gonna remove my face. So I do the dance trying to stay out of his line of sight and either it worked, or I wasn't worth his time, and he goes back to mindless LRMing too. So again, slide in behind him and alpha his ass off. Again, no reaction to me at all. So another volley and another kill. So, I lock up my next victim, an atlas, and this time he's actually ALIVE and I have to work to stay behind him. He is still way out of position though, so it was an 'easy' kill - but this time, a riflemen (Legend Killer) swings around looking for me as the atlas goes down.
So I pull a Lonestar and power down semi-hidden in the tree roots. This guy is wandering all over my ass and doesn't see me. I could not believe it. Best part, as he goes back to the firing line, he's got his back to me at close range - so I squish him quick and finally get caught pants-down by a Locust and Firestarter. I'm still horrible at knocking down other lights with the 6pack if they're actively fighting me.
At the end of all this - someone on my team complains 'If we don't push up we're gonna lose this!" and another person goes "Psh, we're up 5-0, let them come to us and mow them down. Whoever got in behind them and did work already won this for us as long as we don't get sloppy".
So much epeen expansion, I might need custom cockpit glass. (He said from Tier 5 still)
XFIRE:redspo0n (Yep, Zero in there) XBL: Pinkspo0n
8-)
*blows imaginary smoke off of the end of his finger gun barrels*
...Now, I'm not saying that I'm the biggest deal that was ever dealt out, but if anyone should happen to know of an eSports franchise that just happens to be scouting out some hot young new talent--
:bigfrown:
OKAY WELL NOT MUCH ELSE TO SEE HERE FOLKS YOU CAN MOVE ALONG NOW
I HAVE TO GET GOING
LOTS OF BIG IMPORTANT PHONE CALLS TO TAKE YOU KNOW
Bring up the scoreboard and left-click the player. You'll have a report option on the little menu.
I use it all the damn time to report AFKers and Padre.
Also, is my understanding correct that 'Medium Laser cooldown' quirk applies to both MLas and MPL? Cause I could dig a Tempest carrying some MPLs and Streaks >.>
Am I already planning to ruin this thing before it's even out?
XFIRE:redspo0n (Yep, Zero in there) XBL: Pinkspo0n
Hoooo yeah. For every match last night where I had 4-5 kills and 400-600 damage, I had a 120 damage faceplant.
The Group Queue mistress giveth, and taketh away, in equal measure.
you guys had a whole lance of Cheetahs. Tonnage disparity was made up for that alone.
the good matches where you blunder into the enemy and are lucky to break 100 damage...
i totally dont have any of those...
nope...
...
I love when 'blunder' into the enemy was semi-intentional too. "Ok, using a sneaky murderous light.. so I'm gonna slip around over here right into the..." *explody expletives because their entire assault lance is looking right at you instead of the rest of the battle line*
So.. I guess I'm gonna just tab out now until they hand out my 14xp..
XFIRE:redspo0n (Yep, Zero in there) XBL: Pinkspo0n
You're in the group queue; tonnage balance is done on a per group basis and not by the queue. So you guys had an Orion II-C, a Thunderbolt, and a Cheetah in your group. Out of 270 available tons you used 170 tons. Any weight disparity began self inflicted.
Plus 2 Jenner IIc Os! I say that is even and maybe overpowered to your side.
Steam: betsuni7
In other scenes,
hooooooowwwwwwwww
Just put as many SRMs on the 5W as you can fit. Don't dilute the punch with LRMs, and IS streaks are garbage so never use those. Don't bother with AMS either; if you can't advance to brawling range under cover it's probably better to wait for them to come to you. You don't want to be caught in the open regardless of what weapons the enemy is using.
AMS is pretty marginal in general. I only ever use it if I have a spare 1.5 tons after I have everything else I need for a given build. Which is almost never, and SRM brawlers in particular need every spare ton they can manage for weapons, ammo, and heatsinks.
Medium Laser quirks do not apply to MPLs, only regular MLs.
It also reminds me that all of us bittervets are, in fact, babbies.
Began, certainly. We were absolutely 100t underweight going in as a trio. But it's not like the matchmaker wasn't culpable here. It absolutely tries to weight-match teams after searching for groups of required size (remember, it has weight-biasing in its match construction routine after it figures out what group sizes it has to work with), and it fucking utterly failed in this match.
Maybe we got lined up as a 3-9 group (and thus weight-constrained) team against a 3-3-3-3. But looking at the scoreboard and recalling the match, it seems to me like we landed on a 3-3-3-3, and the other team was a 3-3-?. Probably a 3-3-3-3, or a 3-3-6. Hard to tell with all the lone wolves on their team.
Whatever the case, the Matchmaker did a shit job of balancing those lineups. Especially if it was picking from a bunch of 3-man groups! If both teams were 3-3-3-3, the Matchmaker could have easily swapped two heavier trios for two lighter trios, and the whole matchup would have been better balanced from the outset.
Look at the results. Two of those Cheetahs barely performed at a level that could be considered competent. We had a Jenner IIc that didn't break 250 damage. Our heavies (Elvenshae, Padre, and a pug) didn't even have time or position to perform well, because they got immediately focus-fired by their fatass team.
Regardless, we won, but certainly not because the Matchmaker had anything to do about it. Even on the winning side though, this was not a good match. I literally said out loud at the end "What the fuck just happened?". Our group was slightly above competent, and the other team was arguably pants-on-head (too spread out, not positioned well, focused too much on our heavies, etc.).
Life's a bitch in the Solo Queue when it's 60% Heavies. I'd be curious to see what the other team had, and if the Matchmaker was able to balance that out.
Presumably, since the Solo Queue is 60% Heavies, it had no problems in that regard.
Solo Queue:
Matches on a weight category basis, so if your team has 3 lights, and the other team will have 3 lights. It doesn't matter if you have 3 Locusts and they have 3 Jenner IIC's. This can lead to a maximum disparity of 180 tons (15 per player).
Group Queue:
Matches based on fulfilling group size requirements only. This means that you could have six times two mans versus a twelve man, for a maximum disparity of 600 tons. Weight balance is done by the weight restrictions on the group, as a twelve man should be much more coordinated.
Community Warfare Queue:
Matches based on fulfilling group size requirements only. Weight balance comes from maximum drop deck size.
As I can't stand to not know the official line, I went digging through the old patch notes and roadmap posts. It turns out you're right. From Russ's October roadmap post, where he describes the new tonnage/group size change for the Group Queue:
So, I stand corrected. However, it still seems to me a pretty brain-dead decision to totally ignore group comp, once you've lined up enough groups to fill the teams. Again, if both teams are composed of a bunch of 3-man groups, it feels to me like simple check & swap of groups between teams could balance that out. Granted, this won't always work due to the disparate sizes of groups floating around in the queue. But some consideration for group comp would be nice.
It probably does a second check to balance on PSR if anything instead of tonnage.
MWO: Adamski
@The Ender
With a name like that you seem like you'd be more comfortable shooting porn than shooting mechs.
Russ's post for the October roadmap definitely states PSR is considered. Which, hooray, great, I'm totally down with. This just makes me a little more infuriated about that match, then. If both teams are comprised of nothing but PSR 3 players (a stretch to assume, I grant you), then there's even less reason not to try and shuffle the teams to even things out. Now if the matchmaker is also trying to balance a bunch of little groups, with a bunch of disparate PSR tier values... then I guess I have to relent, without knowing the actual numbers behind how it did its math.
Not knowing is kind of infuriating to me. But whatever, Matchmaking is hard, it's a stupid complicated game, and I should stop focusing on that and get back to STOMP STOMP PEW PEW DAKKA DAKKA joy.
Tangentially related: It just struck me that the PSR Tiers can be directly relatable to BattleTech Pilot skill ranks. So when I fill out a BattleTech record sheet for me, I suppose I'm Piloting 3 / Gunnery 3 (at least on my Clan account, sitting on the bottom of PSR 3)! I would also accept Piloting 2 / Gunnery 4, as my maneuvering is better than my aim. Solidly a regular pilot, nothing spectacular; seems about right.
To give credit to PGI for once, tonnage isn't nearly as closely correlated with combat effectiveness in MWO as it has been in past Mechwarrior games. I would rather have an Arctic Cheetah or Blackjack on my team than a Dragon or a Summoner. It's not the worst move to just let each group roll in whatever they think is the most fun/effective regardless of drop weight.
The great thing was that those matches were back to back.
Match #1 felt soooo good. Like, I'm sure if I posted it to the YouTubes and a vet MWO player watched it, they'd say, "Pffft. Mediocre!", but for me that was some finest hour stuff.
I ran around the map perimeter right up against a ridge line, came out behind some missile lobbers & opened up on them, then just started bobbing and weaving and never really stopped. At one point I literally ran circles around a Dire Wolf and watched his own teammates light him up while trying to hit me.
My team was mostly able to just flank right into their big guns because they were busy trying to shoot that little pesky damn Jenner.
I was all pumped for Match #2 thinking I would do exactly the same thing. Then I just disrespected a ridge line in my hurry to be Mr. Badass all over again and crested it to see a really big gun line. I think I maybe could have bailed myself out still, but I decided to try a pro MLG zig zag run towards the gun line instead. I think the result speaks for itself.
I do love that MWO's time to kill is significant, so you have plenty of room to think about your mistakes and what you can do differently when you get blown away. Sometimes bullshit does just happen, but you can just tell in 90% of situations not only that you made an error that cost you your chassis but what that error was.
I wanted a name that sounded like it could plausibly come from the SatAM cartoon.
I didn't know there was a SatAM cartoon called Ron Jeremy & Friends.
So a Timberwolf, Jag and a Hunchback walk into a Hyperpulse Generator...
So just as everyone is powering up, my kid starts screaming cause he lost his bottle. I got assist him and get a late start. I come back and head in. Notice my minimap is basicly showing my whole team off to my left with the baddies spread around a bit, but mostly lined up on them... and I'm behind them all. So I do what ever dirty Rage-rocket IIC pilot does, and casually stroll to the top of the tower, and nuke an Ebon Jag, a Timberwolf and a Hunchback Solo, then pass around some hurt to whatever was nearby - only to get REALLY brave cocky hardcore stupid and go nose-to-nose with a laservomit *something* (I realized it wasn't a Nova, since there wasn't one in the match) (who got called out by one of our fatties as 'sneaking up' on them)
It might not be balanced, but it's fun as hell, even on the bad match were you just get squished.
XFIRE:redspo0n (Yep, Zero in there) XBL: Pinkspo0n
Wall of unsolicited light mech advice incoming:
You can really only get away with squirreling around in the middle of a group of enemies if they're bad. Decent players will nip off your legs pretty quickly if you stay in the open where they can see you, no matter how much juking you do, especially if they're any reasonable distance away from you. Speed is only a good defense at very close range, where apparent relative motion is high.
The safest play for lights is to never commit to a situation where you'll be a primary target. Going all-in on isolated assaults can work if you can pull off the butt-hug, but even then a good assault pilot will have a number of tricks to try and peel you off/deny you back shots so it can be touch and go. Most of the time you want to get in one or two hits from an unexpected direction, bail as soon as someone looks at you, and come back for another shot after the enemy has given up the chase.
All that being said, a lot of players are pretty bad, and sometimes you can get away with risky moves in spectacular fashion. It's super-fun when that happens so don't be dissuaded from trying occasionally.
The other thing is that playing safe isn't always the best play to win. You have to pay attention to the flow of the battle and know when a big risk is worth it. Are you charging into the enemy team's front when your team is still 1200m away? That is dumb. Are you charging into their rear when your team is starting a push from the front? That's a reasonable time to risk your mech for a big tactical gain; even if you don't do much damage you can turn half the enemy team away from the main fight for a critical window of time (but remember to weigh the likelihood of a PUG team having the collective brains to capitalize on the situation).
Or maybe there's an enemy with a red CT you know you can down with one shot; might be worth popping out to try for the kill even if he's got a couple of buddies nearby. Evaluate how much armor you have left vs. how quickly you can finish off the target and get away vs. how useful to your team it would be to kill him right now. A really fast, seat-of-the-pants cost-benefit analysis basically.
All weight classes require these kinds of judgment calls, but it's perhaps the most starkly illustrated in lights since you're so fragile yet can basically choose your fights at will. If you fuck up in a light, you will probably get immediate feedback on it in the form of being made dead.
With slower classes it's more subtle; more durability means you have a bit more margin for error in a given firefight but you need to be even better at anticipating the flow of the battle since you don't have the speed to react. So you could find yourself at the end of the match having won a duel or two but losing because you were out of position in the overall fight. That's harder to parse apart in hindsight; it becomes easier to look at the numbers on the scoreboard and blame your team for the loss even if you basically won the battle but lost the war with your own actions.
Edit:
This is actually a pretty good example of that decision-making process I was talking about. Sometimes you're literally better off not touching any buttons for the first few minutes of a match if it keeps you from throwing your mech away before the time is ripe. Wait for the enemies to be engaged and distracted in a peek-and-poke fight with your firing line and then go shoot butts. True for any mech, but you have the speed to get into trouble really early in a light if you don't exercise some self-control.