Varying Difficulty on Servers?

[Liberius]

TLL server can get really hard when people on Team speak start team stacking

Yeh, but the TLL people are also pretty good about balancing the teams. They don't mind playing against one another, from what I've seen.

[~SJ~ Blhurr]

This begs the question why are there so few (read one) squads running the beta?  There's always a TLL playing but rarely other squads.  It seems like two squads could just decide to play on a public one day and let PUGgers fill in the slots.  That would be fun.

[Snowball]

So so far, it seems like player level is pretty equal across the board; difficulties seem to arise not in terms of a playerbase being harder, but rather server-side problems (ping, admins, etc.).  That's pretty good to know, but also pretty disappointing that players have frustrating games that has nothing to do with the actual game.

As far as TLL stacking teams, it happens sometimes, mostly because people drop and and active players don't notice.  Not really their fault, as they normally do a very good job of keeping teams balanced.  Personally, I love playing with or against anyone from TLL, as they're very competent players who normally don't resort to cheap/distasteful tactics.

For the newer players, communication is key.  Ask for help and advice, and the vast majority of the player base will respond.  If there's players in the game who seem to be doing extremely well, figure out what they're doing and why it works.  What Mechs are they using?  Where do you normally see them?  What weapons do they favor?  Don't get discouraged, as this game has a fairly steep leaning curve compared to other games, but there's a wealth of knowledge out there for newer players to help them improve.

[4204ME]

TLL has a public TS3 server for players to comunicate. At any given time there is somebody on there. If your feeling as though your the lone dog getting kicked around by the organised pack on TLL servers you probably are. The good news is that your are more than welcome to join the TS3 and mount an organised OPFOR.

[MatthewPryde]

Aww why? I love squads, it's like a little collection of $'s same in most fps titles.

[whitedrake 1FSAC]

I'm personally getting much better ..   I'm keeping up in the upper ranks of my team even while dealing with 2 kids *one which plays just to shoot at me..* and a wife   *who doesn't play ,, only zuma..*

one of the biggest problems is crashes at the moment.   even with deleting shader files, i'm getting an avg of 60 mins..

it's worse when my son is playing too.. if he or I crash, then we both get kicked or crash.

i believe same isp.

[~SJ~ Blhurr]

I'm personally getting much better ..   I'm keeping up in the upper ranks of my team even while dealing with 2 kids *one which plays just to shoot at me..* and a wife   *who doesn't play ,, only zuma..*

one of the biggest problems is crashes at the moment.   even with deleting shader files, i'm getting an avg of 60 mins..

it's worse when my son is playing too.. if he or I crash, then we both get kicked or crash.

i believe same isp.

I've noticed this the last week or so and I average about an hour too before crashing (TLL tx).  The worst is that the server isn't remembering me and I have to start from scratch even if I immediately restart crysis and join the same team, same server.  I've been messing with CCC and OCing so I thought it was just me.  Sucks to crash and have to start from square one.

[Buzz_Litebeer]

Other than my small group I have seen only 2 people that I would consider play the game in an optimum way.

Maverick Original and Snowball (oddly the starter of this thread).

If you ever want to test yourself join a game against Smallies, Buzz_Litebeer, Nateious.

The problem, from a clan perspective, is that this game isn't mature enough in the player base to have good team play right now, I don't mean on servers, but as competitive players.

Right now the best strategy I have found is for 1-2 people working together to play the game sort of like a flock of birds.  You have the best pilot/most robust mech go first into a fray, and engage with one or two shots, then he falls back as he takes hit, and then the two/three teamworking mechs fall back while engaging an enemy that is pursuing them in a (generally staggered) formation.

This leads to very high kills to deaths ratio's.

But it also depends on the server greatly.  The competition on the US TX server was much higher than it is on the 1st federated suns server, but I attribute a LOT of the difficulty I had on the server due to the fact that I couldn't hear anything except my own lasers, this includes background noises.  the only sounds registering were when I knocked someones arm off (that tick noise) and missile locks.

I almost died several times just from getting hit by snowball and not realizing it until I looked at my armor to see it was gone. 

My buddy died several times that is because he was getting frustrated and was charging in.

The main thing is that normally when I play a game this much I try to write up a "best practices" gaming guide for it, but the gameplay is so disjointed per situation that there is no wrote formula you can apply, that if everyone on your team followed it, would allow for consistent victory on the team level.

I think the only consistent one is to keep your head down, engage at range, and run if you take damage and force the enemy to fight on your own terms.

It is a bit more dynamic than Mech4, where the mechs weren't maneuverable enough to engage in the same tactics, and it isn't like mech3 at all, in mech3 the most brazen balls in your enemies face moves were the most successful.

It is turning out to be a good mechwarrior game.

[MaverickOriginal]

"If you ever want to test yourself join a game against Smallies, Buzz_Litebeer, Nateious." -Buzz_Litebeer
I cringe, celebrate, and then get focused when against you guys.
(Also with Cod, Snowball, [GRNET] NYR, CyberVyper, {RW}Raven, ShotgunSpiff, NOLOCKON, ProfaneArbiter, Nitro_R, squaresphere, Blhurr)

"Right now the best strategy I have found is for 1-2 people working together to play the game sort of like a flock of birds.  You have the best pilot/most robust mech go first into a fray, and engage with one or two shots, then he falls back as he takes hit, and then the two/three teamworking mechs fall back while engaging an enemy that is pursuing them in a (generally staggered) formation." -Buzz_Litebeer
^^^This. except maybe a few more players. It's very important to have each of the "ROLES" filled in a game.
Brawler: distraction, go for the backside, and get out once you have their attention
Scout/NARC: shoot at the opposing light mechs brawling with your brawlers, slow them down (don't completely leg), and NARC targets of opportunity (things that are slow, including tanks)
Sniper: your primary job is to annihilate light/ medium mechs brawling on the front lines. secondary, knock arms off opposing heavy/assault mechs.
LRM Support: your job is to continually scatter mechs so they are not where they want to be. secondary, when a NARC is called. your job is to finish something as fast as you can fire.
Atlas-type brawler: get in, do damage, soak up damage, and get out before you pop.

"It is turning out to be a good mechwarrior game."  -Buzz_Litebeer
oh hell yes

[~SJ~ Blhurr]

Hehe thanks for the shout out but I'm definitely in a lower league than those guys.  Whenever I see Snowball connected to server, and some of those other guys, I get out a pen and notepad and start taking notes.  I'm only getting in 5-10 hours a week lately and that makes it hard to get better.  I kind of make it a point now to actually switch to the weaker team.  Learn a lot from playing against good players.

Yes it's a brilliant mechwarrior game.  Makes me want to buy a better machine.

[whitedrake 1FSAC]

I'm certanly not telling you all what i'm doing better, right now... then i'd be giving up what Little advantage i have gained..


I really love playing with the names I recognized over and over..  and it is really nice to play with em one match and against them the next..

such a blast!