MWLL, how its meant to be played

[Vlaad]

Heres my opinion. Also id like to hear devs opinion on whats fair and not fair in a game sense.

1. Legging is deliberately shooting mech at leg(s) for purpose of knocking it down.  It is the most effective way to stop and disable an enemy mech with very little risk to the shooter. Mech with little or no maneuvering power is as good as dead as the most important thing for a veteran player is to move and distribute damage allover his mech. When immobilized it is pretty much impossible to do that and ejecting in that situation is usually the only option.

VALID. My opinion is that legging is a valid tactic in (although i VERY rarely use that) when all odds are against you. For example I am are pushing forward in my madcat b and i already won a brawl or two and got hit a few time as on opportunity when exposing myself, so my mech is in orange damage level. Of course, most of the time if not all of the time, score chasers, campers and other kinds of parasites infest 200m radius around their base and on top of that these experienced players usually pack disruptive measure (read: PPC/CERPPC) and arrows and it is next to impossible to hit, let alone kill these (and I usually win against chain firing srm maddogs). Then I validate legging as a need rather than sure-win. Basically against campers and when in overwhelming odds its in my opinion a valid tactic. Also I think legging when playing BA is also valid.

INVALID. When legging a disadvantaged opponent both in quantity and quality of asset. Few madcats/novas/mkii-s legging a single medium/lights or a more is simply disgusting altogether and those players should become a valid targets for legging till the end of the match. Legging players in your half of the map/300m from frendly base is also very low. Aggressive players usually rush and they should be killed in regular way not by team legging as they need 5 mins to get to that point.

2. CAMPING Tactic when crawling/standing near your base and newer venturing far from certain points that are safe, usually near base. This usually leads to players being bored and quting the game.

VALID. Defending from overwhelming attack force. Organize, defeat and move to next position. Base camp when enemy with superior force refuses to let you out of the base and spawn camps.

INVALID. Constant action during match. There is just no fun in constantly camperulting from safety of your base happily compressed in a happy bunch of awesomeness catapultness and novacatness. Base camping when already defeated all opposition already is simply numbing the gameplay to the point of player asking themselves "whatahell am I doing now? This is more boring/gay than Avatar compared to Aliens".

3. TEAMPLAY/TEAMSTACKING. Organizing an attack force for whatever reason: defending, attacking, headhunt and so on. Most interesting aspect of mwll and here you can see combined arms warfare of bt world.

VALID. Defending, attacking, headhunting individuals players, taking a point, taking advantageous points. However you spin the coin this is simple it is the most exciting way to play a game - i'm lone wolfing most of the time and i can't deny merits of a good team.

INVALID. Teamstacking for too long against an evidently weaker team, organizing noob-hunt, stacking with far superior assets and force.

4. PLAYER FAIRNESS. Its a personal preference of every individual.

VALID. Join a losing team, communicate, send money to freshmen.

INVALID. Scorechasing, early repairs (i get sick of players who just refuse to die or give a good fight before going down or running to base when being hit with machinegun).

5. SHOOTING ARMS. Disabling weapons on enemy mech (example hgauss on thanny-boy).

VALID. Disadvantaged position.

INVALID. Dueling one on one and crippling your enemy to assure victory, shooting limbs of enemy that is allredy dueling with someone.

6. EXPLOITS. Cash exploits. Laser exploit. Landsharking. Balooning(?).

INVALID ALL THE WAY!

[Cujo]

The way I see it, anything that makes the enemy die faster or become combat ineffective is perfectly valid in my view, if I can shoot it, then why would it ever be invalid except for some RP purposes that would be player dependent.  Sure it sucks to have your mech legged, but I see no problem with it.  You're going to get differing views based on IS and Clan.  exploits are exploits,  some get fixed, some are easily monitored, they're all cheap.  Camping sucks, but that's a tough one, all we can really do is give the camped a small fighting chance and alternate spawn sites if the map allows it.  Teamstacking is all server admin monitorable, there's nothing that can really be done to stop that.  Teamplay is, well, what we're going for.  If people go back to repair alot, then press the attack forward, they've got 1 less player on the firing line, could always leg them or use fast attacks to run down the large mechs going back for repairs.  Shoot off arms, they have weapons in them, completely valid targets.  If I come upon 2 guys fighting I'm not gunna stand there, something's gunna die and it benefits me to have it be the enemy.  I'm an IS warrior all the way, if it's red, it's dead, and in any way works fastest.  You can whine and moan about being legged, but it I'm completely empathetic to that cause, I'll shoot you in the leg if I feel it'll take your mech out of the fight faster.  And I'll fight from the ground without a leg if I have to.

[=KoS= Saber15]

I agree with most of these except #5 and some funny exploits/bugs for #6 (Like the Long Tom Tank that drives at 300+ KPH)

I go for the arms/main gun on any mech that mounts most of its firepower in that spot; the left arm on crashcats, the arms on Lokis, Hollander's roflhuge gun. If  the hardpoint is already damaged, I try to blast it off.

Legging can be pretty lame, but it's justifiable. I always go for the legs when fight Novacats, and sometimes I go for the legs as battlearmor when the mech has a hard to land on head. I'm guilty of legging just because it's hilarious to watch (shadow cats tumbling wildly to the ground after trying to poptart against me), and legging some lights, like the Owens B which has a tiny torso and huge legs.

[Frostiken]

1. Legging I'll leg people when outmatched or they're using a cheese variant, mostly missile boats, maybe Novacats.

2. CAMPING Never valid. Very few situations in the game demand that you sit on your ass. Missile weapons are ultimate cheese and my god Arrow IV needs a huge nerf.

Defending from overwhelming attack force.

The best defense is a good offense. Thinking that you're being overwhelmed so you should hide in your base is what causes massive stalemates.

3. TEAMPLAY/TEAMSTACKING. Clan-stacking aside (go scrim in a private server), in any other game if one team is working together and the other isn't, the onus is on the other team to learn to play or deservedly lose. I don't understand constantly swapping teams to 'even the scores'. They don't always have to be matches won within 100 points of each other.

Here's what I often see: I'm on a team with a few other decent players. We're communicating status and targets, forming up into groups, and most importantly, pushing the frontline of the battle with appropriate mechs. Now, the other team is a bunch of decent players but they're not communicating and getting totally pushed back. Their first instinct is to turtle up - it's something they can do that doesn't really require working with others. So you end up with lots of missile and Arrow IV spam. So this goes on for a bit, and because the other team is a pack of retards, we're now 1000 points up on them or something ridiculous. So one of our decent players changes team.

Now all we see is a bunch of missile boats, and our ex-teammate being the only one on the frontline getting roflstomped by us. This happens to me when I (used to) change teams to even it up - I don't anymore because leaving a good team to join a shitty one just promises to ruin the next forty minutes of my life. Trying to corral a pack of obstinate idiots into getting into Warhammers and the like, stack up in groups, and call targets is a lesson in futility. Last night I was on a team and *every time I looked at the map* there was a stack of three or four mechs inside, or just outside the hangar. Our entire offensive consisted of one medium and two light mechs. Nothing I said would get them to leave the hangar so I eventually just ended up belittling them until the round ended, and made sure to join the team with the fewest of my ex-teammates on it as possible. A team who absolutely sucks but works together is way more fun than a team of good players who ignore everyone but their targets. Don't confuse your team's point lead and constant domination as a perceived skill stack, it could just as easily be the other team not working together.

That so many people aren't willing to work together is this game's greatest failing. If only in-game voice chat worked, that would do wonders.

4. PLAYER FAIRNESS My favourite is when a couple of enemy mechs try to dogpile you and when you fight back they run away. Yes, I'm talking about you Bushwacker pilot from Frostbite who was more than happy to RAC me while I fought an Owens, and as soon as I turned my attention to you, you turn around and fled back to your turrets.

5. SHOOTING ARMS I will happily hack the weapons off of anything with a Gauss rifle. Shadowcat C, Gaussdogs, Kit Fox As, and Hollanders. Played a game the other day where I think I blew off like 9 or 10 gauss rifles by the end of the match.

6. EXPLOITS What the hell is ballooning? Flying Aero when you know you're experiencing packetloss or have a ping over 100 is bullshit too.

[Frostiken]

Sure it sucks to have your mech legged, but I see no problem with it.

The problem I have with legging is that the most precise, longest-ranged weapons also all happen to be the highest-damage ones. Lasering the legs off of a mech who can't even see you is so easy and effective it's borderline game-breaking.

[=KoS= Saber15]

6. EXPLOITS What the hell is ballooning? Flying Aero when you know you're experiencing packetloss or have a ping over 100 is bullshit too.

Ballooning is flying a LRM Hawkmoth at the max altitude directly above your target, dropping down to get a lock and firing, then flying back up past the effective range of anti-air weapons. Rinse and repeat

It's not an exploit, but it's pretty annoying.

[Frostiken]

That's what I thought. But how is that an exploit?

[7.[WD]Ragor]

That's what I thought. But how is that an exploit?

Ballooning is simply lame but not an exploit IMO.
That way a Vtol takes far less skill (close to zero skill, just stick to the 'tactic') to be piloted score efficent.

[AlfalphaCat]

My question, WTF is "Laser exploit"?  I agree with a lot of the OP, but I am with Cujo on this, IS all the way, none of this silly zuckabrakin dueling bullshit.  If my buddy is "dueling" someone, and I don't help him win the fight, now that's what I call dishonorable.  Say goodbye to that arm, leg, head whatever.

Actually getting cockpitted by lasers all the time is what pissed me off.  Kinda why I shy away from heavies and assualts as my Mechs of choice.  I'm not saying this is an invalid tactic, just too common and too easy with laser boats.   

To me, this mod is surprisingly devoid of major exploits, and if you want to play the game in a certain way, that you find valid, by all means.  It really does bring some spice to PUGs when everyone doesn't make the same choices in every matter.

have fun out there kids...

[Incubus 24-7]

...*snip*..
That so many people aren't willing to work together is this game's greatest failing. If only in-game voice chat worked, that would do wonders.

...*snip*

that's really a good point, piloting a mech is not so easy, that u can type mesage to your team, when u need it the most that is when u are shot at and u need your team to help u out. voice chat would be great.

I haven't checked out wars that much, is the voicechat better?

other than that I agree with all of your points frost.

[7.[WD]Ragor]

My question, WTF is "Laser exploit"?
(...)

As soon the reticule is on the target Lasers ALWAYS hit. No matter if the firing weapons are behind cover. The beam gets invisble (stuck at obstacle) but target still recieves full damage.

-> Place a laserboat in good cover and aim through a small gap with the reticule, deal full  damage (with invisible beams) -> exploit.

Do it on our server and you get a warning when someone of us discovers it. 2nd warning = ban.

AFAIK TLL does the same.

[(TLL)KitLightning]

My question, WTF is "Laser exploit"?

Cutting through terrain or objects with the Laser is an exploit, this is inherited from Crysis where you will see that too. On some servers (Crysis/MWLL) this approach will get the client banned if not seized.

I haven't checked out wars that much, is the voicechat better?

Not in my experience

Do it on our server and you get a warning when someone of us discovers it. 2nd warning = ban.

AFAIK TLL does the same.

Yes! Though we have three warnings and then a BAN will be issued.

[Frostiken]

Huh. I've done that a few times but never knew it was actually doing damage.

[~SJ~ Wolf]

Huh. I've done that a few times but never knew it was actually doing damage.

I wont name names but there is an untagged vet player who enjoys using the invisible beams of death to pad a ridiculous KDR.

[-AAA-]

I'll name names...CptMoore.   

He's one of those guy's that I've warned at least two times about this, and while he does stop for a bit, I have a feeling he just waits until there are no TLL'ers on to start doing it again.