Some Feedback (incl Credit System idea)

[Albain]

There -SHOULD- be a penalty for dying, it will make people actually stop and THINK instead of just "hurr! I gonna run at line of mechs and die nao! hurr hurr I r so skilled!". Anything that can be done to promote tactical and more strategic gameplay will be great.

Amen brother.

[Clownmite]

Hey by the way, am I the only one who's noticed an issue with the PPC Raven?

I was playing it on Marshes last night and it seemed like the PPC doesn't fire where the crosshair is pointed...

PPC Raven is almost always my early game choice, and I haven't had any issues with the PPCs.


Anyway, if we could set respawn times to be longer, like a minute +, that might help with the respawning problem - there's a light penalty for dying (being forced to watch other people play for a minute) and you can't just rush back onto the battlefield with a bigger or better mech.

[Stalker]

If you want a penalty for dying, play no-respawn.

[Skunker]

Hey by the way, am I the only one who's noticed an issue with the PPC Raven?

I was playing it on Marshes last night and it seemed like the PPC doesn't fire where the crosshair is pointed...

Seems to be an issue on all PPC equipped mechs for me. I dunno about not hitting the general vicinity of my crosshair but they do tend to be rather inaccurate weapons.

[xInVicTuSx]

Let me put it this way.
I am usually the guy to run in and deal as much damage as I can and press the line when i think its needed.
The difference? I DONT die... and I'm punished for it. From thousands of hours of BF2 64man servers I learned how to survive in the chaos.
But here is the thing, my instinct is to eject at the last second and skirmish if i can a bit in Ba before returning to base.
This hardly happens in some rounds because I go back and repair all the time.
Most of my deaths are in fact thinking I can make it out back out of a battle and back to base in a crippled mech before enemy reinforcements arrive then being sniped in the back.
Even then I usually die because I hit the eject button a split second too late.
So in trying (and many times succeeding) to get a high KD ratio(surviving chaos is what makes the game fun to me) and as much damage as I can I find I am punished for success to a certain point.

For instance, I take an Uller out or a Owens, I get about 30k worth of damage and help my team destroy the first round of enemies.
Then, I usually return for repairs if I'm not missing a limb, by this time I almost have enough for a medium mech, I return to the field and many of the enemies are now fielding mediums.
At this point I will usually either punch out of said light mech as i'm getting pounded by mediums and heavy tanks or return crippled and scrape up the money to get a medium.
Now I return to the field with a Bushwhacker or Shadowcat... and lo and behold, everyone has a madcat on the other team because they got decent scores but we won each skirmish previous so while they died we lived and their dieing caused them to get more money as base rank than we got from damage points.

This happens almost every round, by not dieing I get behind everyone else in equipment and I often glance at my rank (usually around the top three unless its a bad round) to see that IF I died I would have 80k or 90K at my disposal. But getting myself stupidly killed to get it is WRONG and burns my SOUL, it takes the fun out of the game to be honest.
Mech turn in for some extra cash I think will help me keep up so that is a good plan the devs are going for. Thing is, in my experience in BF2 and games like it, you died ALOT even if you were really good most of the time, but no one died ON PURPOSE.

Yet on the other hand I realize that if the battle swings one way early, then that could affect the entire round, stacking the battle in one sides favor and making it ultimately boring for both sides. Just like in any sport, a blow out is fun every so often, but MOST people imo would agree that close games are much more exciting. So I'm afraid on one hand to change the current system as it sort of reflects each side pouring more and more reinforcements in as the conflict grows from skirmish to battle. In fact, I would support the system almost as is(with some turn in system in place) for theater of war mode because you are punished for losing objectives but still receive reinforcements (in the form of more cbills for your new rank).
For Solaris however, some adjustment needs to be made but the devs should be very careful and not listen to too many whines because many games I've played in lately have been close, and I want that to continue. 

[=KH=Dimachaerus]

This is the reason I rape face with a vulture prime, I use my head when I play, I use cover, I use passive radar, I watch enemy movements, and I try to work (when there is anything resembling cohesion) with my team. Try it, and I think you'll be surprised.

<3 Vulture Prime

PS: You don't really have to use passive radar mode, the Vulture has ECM on board!

However, passive + ECM = super sneaky vulture of DOOOOOOM!

[Inconsiderable]

Hey by the way, am I the only one who's noticed an issue with the PPC Raven?

I was playing it on Marshes last night and it seemed like the PPC doesn't fire where the crosshair is pointed...

PPC Raven is almost always my early game choice, and I haven't had any issues with the PPCs.

Same here, I always start in PPC Raven and it always worked just fine for me.

[...] that short range attacks are basically suicidal no matter how they are carried out [...]

Unless you consider "taking one with me" at best to be success, respawn will develop into what it always does, [...]

I play usually only short range mechs with passive radar and right now my experience is very different.
First.. at the start of the game I go with the PPC Raven, just because its the early choice I like most. I tend to get a couple of kills with it and either die or return once I can buy a Madcat C directly. But honestly.. once its Star Colonel 70.000 I dont really care if I die in that Raven. I want my new toy, so I dont care anymore. Anyway, after the Raven I either go Puma with PPC/Lasers if I did perform badly because hes basicly like the Raven, just better. After this its Oro /w Flamer or Mad Cat /w Flamer. Both close combat specialists in the game. The idea is to find the frontline, go passive.. prowl around and use terrain to get close. Then jump out and cause PANIC, CHAOS and DEATH.
Whatever you hit first will prolly die quickly if they didnt expect you. Everything else will either go panic mode once you turn your weapons on them or try to fight you. As popular LRM spammers cannot really hurt you and low tonnage mechs die like flies... you wreck havoc for some seconds. At this point your side did notice what happens and will move forward and/or provide fire support.
Worst case scenario is Awesome or Lasertank close to the frontline but still like 600-800m away. You couldnt see them, once you engage they can easily aim at you at optimal range and quickly melt your mech into oblivion. Best case scenario is terrain that you can use for some cover.
But back to the battle. You did jump out of hiding, closed the ranged quickly and did blast your weapons at the target which causes heavy damage and takes out small or injured mechs before you open up with the flamers. First target down, lots of chaos, your side starts to provide fire support (best case, btw. Very often I am completely alone doing it). Next target is the one closest to you. Any laser user like tanks or Awesomes near you have highest priority. Laser cause tons of hit, so do your flamers. Screw your worst enemy completely once you close the distance. Worst case after you get within 100 range: You die and they are injured AND out of coolant.
Usually I simply kill 3-4 mechs and go back repair. Too much heavy tonnage or the dreaded lasertanks at midrange usually kill me. But I did easily take on ATLAS variants with several support tanks/mechs and did win those battles. Keep moving (hey devs, madcat is missing 30 mph, that would help ALOT), try to get terrain between you and other combatants beside the target, or just use your target as damage shield. Keep hammering them with LBX/SRM while spamming flamers.
Usually the most dangerous enemy are the surviving BAs of the mechs you killed. You WILL take damage, you WILL be badly hurt most of the time. You killed 4 mechs and now 4 BAs chase and fight you? Not even the flamers will help you. I try to clear out BAs while fighting the mechs, but a smart BA user just makes you waste time and flamer power while the remaining mechs fapp you over.
And dont forget to hit "R" alot. Turn on, check enemy positions, get SRM lock, fire and turn off again. Passive radar is vital in most situations.

Also I dont eject alot, because I try to learn my limits. Often I can still pull of a win when my instincts tell me to get the fapp out of this half dead mech. (Also less BA time means more Mad Cat C Flamer time and more points)

Not only does is this way of playing work, it is very effective and reaps decent k:d every time. Usually it also catapults me to KN easily and keeps me their until someone shows his aerospace skills. The game I did play yesterday was already going on for 20 minutes with KN on the field when I joined. I found his atlas with my raven, died and was still at 20.000. Second try I did score a PPC kill on some small mech and another 2 BA kills after ejecting out of my raven. Died again, did by Oro and then started flamer action. First I did take out the Atlas, then two more mechs with this powerful little zippo tank. Died, rolled out as Madcat C and after around 17 Minutes after I joined a server that was running for 20 minutes without me I was already KN with far best K:D, too. And I am not a great mechwarrior player, I use mouse and keyboard ... reason I do fine is because close combat mech works.

So no, they are not always suicidal if actually you know what you are doing. Running straight ahead into superior firepower is suicide indeed. Kill one and die is basicly not "success", but "worst case scenario". Average is around 2:1 kd because your team will often take the kills you worked for and people can and will eject alot. At least your flamers allow you to smoke BAs to get some additional easy kills. But it doesnt really matter who gets the last hit, as you get score and rank anyway even if you do not make the killing shot.

Problem I see is that it only works with Madcat C (and Oro) right now as other Mechs do not have flamer advantages. Flamer allow you to screw with their visions (they miss ALOT because they cannot see shit) and to overheat them and thereby reducing their firepower. Without those two advantages.. might be a different story. You would need ALOT of firepower to quickly take out targets. Might still be possible but I doubt it is without the mechlab.
When Mad Cat gets the missing +50% speed (right now its not only "slightly changed" but its uniqueness completely removed... its supposed to be a FAST heavy mech) .. oh dear it will be glorious. Instead of crawling into 100m range you will charge at them in no time and take even less damage as people will miss more.

Anyway. Try it, its fun. Prolly alot more fun than LRM spamming.

[Stalker]

I play usually only short range mechs with passive radar and right now my experience is very different.

That is because the playerbase is still on the learning curve and has not yet settled down to a set pattern.  Exactly the same thing occured in MechWarrior4.  Initially there was a lot of varied play as people got to know the equipment and tactics of the game.  Once they did, suicide runs like you describe were made virtually worthless as everyone was ready for it and had the awareness and skills to beat down on a lone mech with ease.  As a result, short range combat almost ceased in respawn games in favor of the much more effective long range attacks.

Don't confuse your experiences today for what tactical evolution will produce tomorrow.