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MechWarrior Online - News and Information Thread

Giolon

Member
Well PPCs sure got hit by the nerf bat. They're back to where they were before PGI buffed them about a year ago bc nobody used them as Gauss Rifles were superior in nearly every way. The main differences between now and then are the addition of HSR, PPC EMP effect, and the new Gauss Rifle charging mechanic. It'll be interesting to see what happens now. They might've gone too far, but that's ok with me bc I used PPCs when they were shit before, I'll still use them if they're shit now.
 

Llyranor

Member
I actually found the PPC to be fine during the pre-buff days, but I live next to the servers so I had very low ping. Host state rewind probably fixed a lot of the problems with how 'underpowered' they were back in the day. I think if they just simply go back to those values (tabletop values), people who love PPCs will still use them - you just won't see people abusing them anymore.

I really like the idea of the gauss charging.

Here's the orion Protector

WRS3QFy.jpg

Love the look
 

Giolon

Member
The best thing about today's patch, IMO, is that they finally fixed the Advanced Zoom Module. It's been worthless since the day they put it in b/c it did a digital zoom, so everything was all blurry and blocky and for whatever reason all of the hud/targeting elements were laggy.

Now it actually just does a 4x zoom on the display, and while the PIP part still has some sort of filter over it, there's no longer any lag inside of it.

It's my new favorite module!
 

CTLance

Member
Oh god, they finally fixed the zoom module?

Amazing.

On the other hand, I now fear for my hide as notorious sniper magnet. Heh.
 
Well PPCs sure got hit by the nerf bat. They're back to where they were before PGI buffed them about a year ago bc nobody used them as Gauss Rifles were superior in nearly every way. The main differences between now and then are the addition of HSR, PPC EMP effect, and the new Gauss Rifle charging mechanic. It'll be interesting to see what happens now. They might've gone too far, but that's ok with me bc I used PPCs when they were shit before, I'll still use them if they're shit now.

Haven't had a chance to play since I moved, PC not set up yet.

Do ERPPCs have the same new minimum range that regular PPCs have now? Patch notes aren't explicit.

I don't even use guass and I think the charge mechanic is pretty silly. They are insistent on turning this game on it's head.
 

Giolon

Member
Haven't had a chance to play since I moved, PC not set up yet.

Do ERPPCs have the same new minimum range that regular PPCs have now? Patch notes aren't explicit.

I don't even use guass and I think the charge mechanic is pretty silly. They are insistent on turning this game on it's head.

No. PPCs always had a min range of 90m, but the drop off wasn't immediate. It scaled down the closer you got to 0m. ERPPCs never had Amin range, but the cost is 50% more heat.
 
I don't mind them playing with stuff like adding a small charge up to gauss weapons. They need to play with extra factors of real time gameplay that the TT can't replicate. The TT was not perfect, it had lot of issues too and think its good that they have extra variables they can tweak.

But still 3PV must go :p
 
No. PPCs always had a min range of 90m, but the drop off wasn't immediate. It scaled down the closer you got to 0m. ERPPCs never had Amin range, but the cost is 50% more heat.

Yeah, I was aware of both of these. Min range is probably the wrong term to use, I should have said drop off.

In any case, thanks for the clarification. Only had time to skim while at work. Moving sucks and all that.

I just think that the gauss had decent trade offs already, so the charge is unneeded. But that's just me.
 

Nickiepoo

Member
Guass actually feels like a dedicated sniper weapon now, and with Advanced Zoom working I've been having a lot of fun with the Blackjack.
 

Phades

Member
Well, you are playing a 'beta' right now, and game testing is a pretty complicated thing.

Games stop being beta and start being called live/gold once they begin taking peoples' money.

It is a goddamn simulator about the goddamn Battletech boardgame mechs which make no sense realistically speaking. It ain't about realism, it is about replicating the feel of being a Mechwarrior like Battletech books describe.
And has been finest try so far. Was finest.

(Module slots were a bit of a stretch already but i figured i'd tolerate them, third person is something else).
Had they implemented the module system into a legacy game mechanic from table top (targeting computer) while not giving us as much "free" hud stuff like hit location damage reporting (AKA knowing which section to shoot and targeting it specifically simulating the effect), It would have made more sense. Too many people are comfortable with it now and complained a lot when ECM went live, so meh. Then there is also the issue on information sharing and another unusued support equipment item not implemented being the c3 computer and other communication array equipment to fill in non-gun tonnage, but folks like their current builds too much.

Armlock and no radar, 3rd person is pretty useless anyway (especially with seismic), so I don't really care if there'll be a separate mode or not anyway, any 3PSer fighting me will be at a disadvantage :D
Seismic needs to and die in a fire though seriously. From concept to implementation, the thing makes no sense especially when they implemented the UAV and its mechanics at the same time.

My reaction: wait, wat.
More mechs... but only if you buy something else first?
Are they cash-strapped, greedy, or stupid?
It just gives reason to believe that the accountants/publishers are at the steering wheel now and the actual development team is riding in the back seat.

I don't even use guass and I think the charge mechanic is pretty silly. They are insistent on turning this game on it's head.
This is a core mech design issue. There will always be more usable and viable energy slots available to mount PPCs. Of which, people exploited the heat scale (as occured in just about every iteration of the game), while combining it with an inherently OP weapon the gauss rifle (which has similar firing properties) to maximize the effect. The charge up mechanic will make pop sniping slightly harder and moves to offset (slightly) the primary alpha hit builds. However, in order to truly move away from brief exposure -> maximum damage potential builds with unlimited operating duration, they will need to re-work PPC mechanics away from the pure ballistic mechanic and into something that more closely resembles lasers or a hybrid laser/ballistic (beam out about half, with a variable push to fire/release for the remainder) model and give the weapon a more unique feel instead of the current unlimited (better pojectile speed) AC 10 issue. The heat build during shot dissipation over time will also help with management given the current heat scale mechanics as well.


-------------

Sidenote

Translating poor chance to hit into can't deal damage is going to come back to bite them in the ass.
 
Tried using the new Gauss, can see it working well if you have you have yourself setup to fire the Gauss on it's own.

But trying to fire that when it's tied to other weapons is a bit of a pain. Which i guess that's what they were going for.
 

This is an excellent, excellent post, which I agree with pretty much unanimously. Especially the point about PPCs. The role they need to fit could be tund for the better.

Don't really trust PGI to be the ones to determine that sort of balance though, not with how some of these other ideas have been rolled out.
 

TransTrender

Gold Member
When playing solo it feels soo futile to use a light or medium mech.
Basically in a light or med I have to roll with the death ball in order to stay alive, and even worse as a light, just to do some meaningful damage.
 

El'Kharn

Member
The light mechs arent really supposed to be straight up damage dealers and as for mediums well, the current game environment doesn't suit straight up brawling either. Hit and run attacks and supporting the heavy's and assaults are more their thing at the moment imo.
 

teepo

Member
tonnage limits with the combination of a dropship/lobby mode are ultimately what will determine whether i spend an additional few hundred hours on the game or not (mc included).

i love my mediums and light mechs too much to not pilot them and since the switch to 12v12, pubbing has becoming abysmal.
 

Lime

Member
Holy shit at this information regarding the launch:

  • UI2.0 isn't going to be there.
  • Community Warfare isn't going to be there.
  • DX11 isn't going to be there.

Founder info:

Bryan talks about new player numbers and player retention rates Retained more than 50% of original Founders, who still play at least monthly. "Most" of them have bought into Phoenix.

Clan balancing

Bryan talks a bit about PGI's approach to Clan Tech balance and how to avoid a mass exodus to the Clans because of superior everything Clantech won't follow the lolOP model from tabletop/lore; PGI doesn't want to obsolete IS mechs with the release of clantech.
 

CTLance

Member
Ah-yup, that is about what I expected from this "launch".

Obligatory imagery:
I can't even begin to put into words how glad I am that I only joined the circus this late. If I had been a kickstarter I would be inconsolable. The closed beta with R&R and collisions (and all those naive hopes and dreams) sounds like it was a blast. To see that game defiled and getting worse and worse with nearly every iteration... horrifying thought.
 
Ho.

Lee.

Shit.

Yeah, Closed Beta was the best this game has ever been. It's shocking and sad, but it's the truth. A few niggles, of course, but god damn. It was night and day a better experience.
 
Not much of a launch and given the continuing balance issues they're still going to be patching all the time.

I like this game but they do seem to be going about a lot of things the wrong way.
 
Balance issues will never go away despite what folks think of PGI. The previous MW games always had big balance issues, the table top has it, and it's a constant in online games. And with them constantly adding in new mechs, gear, and other features, the balance is always going to be an ongoing thing.
 
I always knew it would end up like this.

No SP campaign (killer, grave digger deal for me)
Pay 2 Win
No realistic graphics (mechs looks like toys, it dont have the grim dark future look as Mech2Mercs)
 
I haven't played in months and occasionally check this thread to see if there's anything new and fun and exciting to draw me back... always leave with a big NOPE, but never a bigger NOPE than this one.
 

No_Style

Member
Underwhelming launch. I may drop in for a round or two tonight though. Hope to see some of you online!

I was hoping for the new UI at the very least.
 

Discobird

Member
I may still drop in for a round here or there but the whole 3PV fiasco soured me on the game. It's just hard to feel enthusiastic for the game's future when PGI/IGP have bungled their community relations so badly.

That said the balance does seem to be getting somewhat better so I'm keeping an eye on every patch day.
 

Giolon

Member
is this a joke?

I can only assume it's a troll. There's a lot of complaints you can level at MWO, but Pay 2 Win isn't one of them. The only things that exist for real money only are: Hero mech variants (not necessarily better, in fact some worse), paint, mech bays (slots for more mechs), and cockpit decorations. Yes you can shortcut some grind for cash also, but everything related to power and performance you can get without spending a dime.

Also, I don't know if he's looked at the actual game recently or is only looking at things like the promotional shots of the Protector (which does have a awful plasticky default color scheme), but PGI has spent the last 6 months putting so many grain and desaturation filters on all the levels going for that gritty, realistic feel I actually miss the bright, sunny Forst a Colony days of closed beta.

I am also disappointed at the lack of content and balance changes that are going in today for launch. I can only guess that they may be holding some stuff back for the next patch or two so all if the theoretical new players that join at launch will think "Wow they added all this new stuff! This is great!" At the least, we're now 1 month out from the Project Phoenix mechs.

For all people want to complain about the convoluted Ghost Heat system, it has worked to bring a little more weapon diversity to the field than "Stack all the PPCs!" It's also increased the time engagements last since people can't individually blow throw all of someone's CT armor in a single volley anymore (in general).

All that said, I'm still having fun with MWO. I play it several days a week for a couple hours. I bought the Ilya Muromets on sale last week and I've been having a blast (pun intended) with my triple LB-10X AC build. I've gotta start putting in some good time on my Raven to practice for the launch tournament though.
 

teepo

Member
the last few times i logged in, i found the abundance of uac5's coring my mech within seconds to be worse than the ppc meta but that could also be due to me having a shorter fuse when dealing with pgi/igp.
 

Giolon

Member
the last few times i logged in, i found the abundance of uac5's coring my mech within seconds to be worse than the ppc meta but that could also be due to me having a shorter fuse when dealing with pgi/igp.

They had been a bit over buffed in recent patches so with PPCs and gauss getting knocked down a peg, those rose to the top. They were nerfed today (slower firing rate, increased jamming chance). It's still way better than it was during the PPC stalker months.

As someone else said before, balance is never going to be perfect. Something will always be the best - as long as they keep adjusting to get things closer it'll be fine. Anyone remember LRMgeddon? That was my favorite, lol.
 

shuri

Banned
I always knew it would end up like this.

No SP campaign (killer, grave digger deal for me)
Pay 2 Win
No realistic graphics (mechs looks like toys, it dont have the grim dark future look as Mech2Mercs)
Did you even play th---- ahh forget it, don't ever come back to this thread.

On another note, I think that balancing weapons in a mechgame is a very complicated thing since you can customize your loadouts. It's hard to find the perfect balance, and it's all about constant tweaks. Let's not forget the horrors of Chromehounds and the mega exploitative mechs it brought us.

I have still nightmares.
 
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