YO!! Where my Brawlers at? :P

[Gouty]

I must admit, I'm not much of a brawler, I'll pick one up if it is necessary, or I am feeling experimental.  But its hardly my forté.

However, saying that, I just got out of a game on TC Mirage, where at one point I spawned in one of the forward bases with a single 'mech hanger, noticed a medium 'mech on my BA radar (so very close) thought I'd better buy something close range quickly, didn't really give it much thought, just thought I'd better be quick, and could afford any asset.  Ended up choosing a Mauler C (2xUAC20, 2xMRM20s and some flamers) it was the first time I'd used it and I was not disappointed!  The guy in the bushwaker must have had a nasty surprise walking into what he thought was an empty base, quickly dispatched him, then went on to take out many more assets (which is unusual for me)

Then, I remembered an article I read many moons ago when I started playing (early this year): Leeko's Mauler C Guide - good reading.  Needless to say, when the situation next arises, I will be taking the "Gunslinger" out for a spin again.

[Nemo]

Is there anyone here that used to be a pub zombie and got out? Maybe they could enlighten us.

Assume you are newish and know nothing about MWLL. You are forced to go by the description in the buy page and your own experience (if any) from previous MW games. None of the descriptions give armor values or approximations. The focus is on dakka and equipment. Even the dakka listings don't give ranges, and the weapon ranges that are given in game aren't exactly gospel either. So, look what starting assets have the most entries and/or biggest guns, purchase. /charge hay guyz, im doin it riiht, riiht?

No! Stop charging into point blank range with ppc osis and lrms mechs!

Very well, yonder hilltop beckons. This, of course, assumes the hilltop overlooks anything of value. Theres no substitute for knowing the maps inside out. Also, MWLL lights are slower and more heavily armored than lights in earlier incarnations. They play differently, its harder to hide in the lag with these.

There is your answer to the question why there is so much camping and sniping going on. It requires way too much effort.

Further, one is drastically more demanding on your framerate/hardware than the other. Camping is nice, even, steady, both in action and frames per second. Consider, would rather play cat and mouse as the mouse (counter camping), or whack-a-mole as the mole? And in every game you ever play you will see the same thing: spawn, if no enemies move forward, when enemies found shoot, if enemy dead && you alive move forward, else spawn, else shoot. Falling back, flanking, holding advantageous ground, forget about it. Draw a line from one spawn to the other through the path of least resistance, draw a dot on the midpoint of your line. Stick a signpost in the ground, "Fight is here!" and walk away. It'll still be right 30 minutes on.

[AlfalphaCat]

I use an Osiris Prime constantly and do well with it.
I also start the round with harassers and do well much of the time.
Sniper mechs are fine as long as you gain ground.


But really, I don't know why people don't try new things...
I even hear vets say that they never tried something or other till they got their ass kicked with it.
Really? I omnomnomed all the new variants the week they were released.
It doesn't help that some of the hardest to use assets (Osiris, Harasser, Owens Prime, LBX Partisan) are in the starting ranks.
I can only guess that people's fps are so poor that they can do nothing else.

Is there anyone here that used to be a pub zombie and got out? Maybe they could enlighten us.

Well let me just quote this for truth.  I was a pub zomb, I guess, but I never liked being overrun or out sniped then either. 

Nemo, I really don't know if you had a point with that post.  I think it has very little to do with newberts, or slacktards, just that ppl refuse to be aggressive because of some misconstrued notion of effectiveness.

JUST KEEP SHOOTING IT TILL IT DIES!!

where did I put my pom poms!?  Oh, there they are!

BE AGGRESSIVE! BE<BE<AGGRESSIVE!!

It might just bring a smile to your face.

EDIT: Gouty, not talking about assault 'Mechs, as they are usually horrible at brawling.  Due mainly to their speed and maneuverability, but on some maps they do fit that role.  I am talking about bringing the fight to the campers and/or snipe blobs.  It really is quite doable, but not when your pals just hold back and let you get shot to hell, only to get shot to hell themselves a bit later. 

Do people think that they might get the much coveted 'kill' if they let someone else do some damage and then they can just mop up after the chargetard dies?  

[IG142]

I can only guess that people's fps are so poor that they can do nothing else.

I can testify that before my computer upgrade, in any sort of large 20-30 player match I was often effectively limited to sniping. In brawls my framerates were just too horrible to aim effectively, plus my torso twist slowed down (pretty sure this was confirmed as a bug back then). My worst nightmare was a Shadowcat running laterally past my crosshair faster than I could physically track it.

Even at long range framerates were too finicky for most projectile weapons, so I mostly used LRMs and lasers. I still tried to avoid boating as much as possible, which is part of the reason I was drawn to mechs like the Catapult, Vulture, and Madcat Primes, which mixed those two weapon systems without over-specializing.

I did still use brawlers and everything else, but only when circumstances permitted. In small servers I could mix it up with the Osiris prime all day in duels and small brawls, but as soon as people started filtering in I generally had to ease back into more supportive roles. (Also: no ASF. I gave up using them seriously in 0.1 because they just never play well with low framerates)

So yeah, performance has a huge impact on gameplay. It feels good not being restricted like that anymore...

[Nemo]

Nemo, I really don't know if you had a point with that post.  I think it has very little to do with newberts, or slacktards, just that ppl refuse to be aggressive because of some misconstrued notion of effectiveness.

At 2 am? Not much, or well. People questioned why new folks run into melee with ppc osis, or default to camping. There isn't enough information to judge relative worth of various models just from the buy screen. We all know this, the wiki exists for a reason...  and its often wrong as well. The engine is demanding on hardware limiting many peoples performance at close range. Brawling requires a high level of coordination to do effectively rather than mindlessly, camping/sniping does not. Brawling becomes less and less viable as more people join the game. And willfully throwing oneself into a meat grinder is often not fun for people when other, effective options exist. And missiles and erLL/ppcs are all certainly effective. If the team is getting beat at sniping, snipe better (says the man with piss poor aim).

Consider another point of view. If the team is LRMing and las sniping with one or two people charging up constantly, and failing, its tantamount to feeding. Much better to be a master baiter in such a circumstance, drawing the enemy out.

[Knightcrawler]

And missiles and erLL/ppcs are all certainly effective.

Only if the other team is even more anemic.

Consider another point of view. If the team is LRMing and las sniping with one or two people charging up constantly, and failing, its tantamount to feeding. Much better to be a master baiter in such a circumstance, drawing the enemy out.

Depends on the game type. If it's ticket-based, you're right. If it's point-based, the charging lone brawler can do enough damage to make it worthwhile. And this is with people of equal skill.