New ECM locust Next Tuesday!

Should have been an ERPPC Quirk (e.g. 50% Heat Production). Would make more sense.. And a good reason for us to pay Cash for a Paperthin Bug

Should have been a Gauss Quirk for the real Laughter! Haha

 

Not going to lie, this would be an insta-buy

 

50% ERPPC heat production is too high though, 25% is where it is at.
50% along with range buff would actually be more useful than most lights in terms of snipery action, consider it being 20 tons only.

 

Whether those pieces of information are accurate or not is besides the point. At the time they were collected they were accurate I would guess. PGI can change anything at any given time.

The claim that it could be trolling could be a reality or it could be they had them that way and allowed the info to leak out to spark dicusssion, guage reaction and fine tune things before the final release. Only PGI knows.

 

Also a valid theory. I thought the whole "Former_Squirrel" person might have been a plant by PGI from the start, a way to release information in a round-about way to gather feedback in a way that the community will feel like they are getting away with something. At the worst, people defend PGI by asking this "Former_Squirrel" to stop. Win/Win. Only loose end is NGNG, which Sean Lang publicly asked the person to stop. This move could have been to add realism, however it debunks the whole conspiracy because NGNG could only lose by doing such a thing, those in the community who were happy to "get away with" the information would now dislike NGNG's opinion on the matter, hurting their reputation, something that I doubt they would ever actively try to do.

Oh well, it's all speculation. I doubt my theory has much validity, but it is always a possibility. You can market in a lot of sneaky ways.

 

Of course Squirrel could just be trolling everyone.....

 

Could, but it doesn't seem likely with the other content he has posted.

 

Lets see if I can put some worry to rest here on the DL - I hear a lot of stuff and im not sure 100% what I can say or not so ill censor myself a bit.

PGI knows who squirrel is - and have asked him to stop multiple times. Contrary to what he [Squirrel] states about if PGI asked him to stop he would, he continues to leak things from the private testing server in unready states. Knowing this I think they started with the Locust adding in random quirks to the mech as placeholders to perhaps discredit him, since he is obviously not listening to their wishes.

It makes sense kinda. The second half is not confirmed at all and just my own theory.

We also know that PGI just hired a bunch of people to work what IGP use to do - this includes marketing. As such squirrel is inadvertently making it really hard for marketing to do its job because now when something gets leaked they have to modify their plan - perhaps not even putting one into action. Now this could be argued as a 50/50 win. People could argue "well Squirrel is helping PGI by getting people talking about the game" - as someone who has a Marketing Major - this is not always the case. The saying "all PR is good PR" is bullshit. Seeing leaking and things does excite me - but also seeing something and then knowing you have to wait 1 - 2 months is never good. You want whats called Rolling PR - you want people to talk and get excited about a week or so before the thing so your timeline becomes like this;

Announcement -> People talk for a week about the announcement -> PR Push (Videos, SS's, etc) -> people talk for a week about new stuff -> Release -> people talk about release for a week -> Review -> people give feedback and you interact for a week-> Step 1; Announcement at beginning of new month.

Thats how you keep hype going and thats how you have leaks like this potentially hurt the cycle.
Oh well - back onto topic.

Whats your guys thoughts on the Locust with ECM and where it sits on the P2W line?

 

So wouldn't an official announcement to discredit the "Squirrel" be called for? I don't mean calling the person out, I mean make an official announcement, from marketing, about the content that has been leaked.

A locust needs to stay hidden to live anyway, popping in and out of cover, making hit-run attacks. ECM really isn't going to change much. The best thing about it will be less "OMG GIT DA COOKIE" actions by the enemy team. Players going out-of-their-way to go after a locust for the kill, even if it meant making a horrible gameplay decision. LRM mechs, who have multiple targets, voluntarily spamming a locust. That sort of stuff. ECM should really help some of the missile frustration in a Locust. Of course BAP and cAP have dramatically changed ECMs effectiveness for close-range mechs so Small Laser and Small Pulse laser builds (even Medium Laser builds) will not benefit very much from ECM if the enemy has BAP or cAP. It would be most effective with an ERLL or ERPPC. Any ballistic weapon for long range is worthless in a Locust though.

So ECM P2W, maybe in comparison to the other Locusts, but it is probably one of the only mechs you can get away with it, unless there is already an ECM version that is purchasable with C-Bills. I wouldn't have a problem with a Hero Raven, Atlas, Cicada, or Commando with ECM because you can already get an ECM variant with C-Bills.

Just my thoughts.

 

hi, I don't think this is P2W because there are other ECM mechs out there for c-bills, and a Locust is still a Locust (squishy). Having an ECM hero is a novelty, but I think the Locust fans will get a variant that will generate more income AND have something they have been asking for a year or so. I think they deserve it...

P2W is when you are not allowed to use a feature without paying for it, or literally paying to get better tools of destruction that your competition. This is something different.

Hey if anything is P2W in MWO, it was the first clan package. You paid and got extremely OP mechs and basically owned everything until the DW / TW / SCR etc became available for c-bills.

I don't mind not having ECM on my lights, in fact I don't like the ECM variants. ECM has lost its viability imho with the BAP buff. Also EVERY mech above 50t should have AMS anyway

ECM is for snipers

 

PTW for any locust would involve some insane quirks. As it is, the players out there have adapted really well to ECM blankets and with the new and improved BAP out there ECM is just a nice feature instead of a zomg I have to have that sort of thing.

 

PTW for a Locust would be a 500% increase to damage. I know plenty of people can get a decent screenshot, but, that is not typical. They are just ragdolls... I like the idea of another ECM mech, especially a light, but, PTW? Reallllllly? It's still a bug that can be killed in 3 seconds with consistent fire...

 

An official statement would be great I think personally. I mean im all for datamining - I use to datamine a lot for other games and early MWO - but it should only be allowed on Public servers and public packets IMO. I think a statement about this would be in the best interest of everyone.

Also this - I think the only mech they could of gotten away with giving ECM for a hero only was the locust and the flea (if we ever get one), anything else would be instant forum burning. I think the only other mechs they could of done ECM for were the hero spider, commando and Raven which would of been fine too since c-bill variants are available but that ship has come and said - unless they do a second run of hero mechs for those chassis.

 

Give me a ECM Blackjack... Then we'll talk about PTW.

 

Only missile hardpoints in the arms

 

As long as I have two energy hardpoints in the ST, I'd still take it!

 

We are getting the King Crab at the same time, right?

I think the models are definitely for real, only variable is the specs of the two mech.
I do think that PGI is actually hapy about these leaks, if they are not intentional to start with. This would allow for an unofficial channel to release data, spark interest, and to make any changes without getting complains. Also, any fine tunes of the mech can be done depending on the generall discussions.

If anything, a 75 ton ECM heavy... with ballistics on each side torso and maybe JJ.
But a 75 ton ECM with a bit of hardpoints for some PPC is good also. (Black knight?)

 

I haven't ever seen ECM as overly powerful but I rely a lot on my eyes.

It's an advantage in the pug game for its use against LRM's, but in a world of Tagging, Narcing and PPC's it has multiple direct counters that any experienced player will use. As you gain that experience you rely less on crutches like ECM.

Its advantage in the group/competitive environment is that it stops the other side from identifying the weakest most damaged mechs.

It always amuses me that people rail about it being OP and in the same breath state they don't carry AMS because it gives their location away.... hint ECM = Enemy Contact Module.....

The deathknell for me were the simultaneous changes to BAP and the reduction of quirks to allow the carrying of ECM.

Heres a direct example:

AS7-D-DC
Additional Structure (RT&LT) +11
AC/20 Velocity +5%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +5%

AS7-S
Additional Structure (RT&LT) +11
AC/20 Velocity +7.5%
Ballistic Weapon Velocity +7.5%
SRM/4 Cooldown +7.5%
Missile Weapon Cooldown +7.5%
Laser Duration -10%

The ability to carry ECM literally costs you +5% AC/20 velocity, +15% SRM 4 cooldown and -10% Laser Duration. Or in other words, the S is more likely to hit (and before) the DDC, fires its SRM batteries significantly more frequently and can use its lasers better in snap firing.

Coincidentally, if anyone near is carrying BAP the ECM isn't even going to be anything other than dead weight. Our lance always has a BAP somewhere.....

 

So in answer to your question Cattra Kell.... (as I forgot to answer)....

No a quirk gelded locust is not overpowered...

 

First of all, thank you for your statement. Though this might as well be a marketing trick.

Maybe I'm just too naive or to old to old to be bothered by such punks as this squirrel guy (Maybe he's just nuts.... kadoosh!), but.... if he's driving PGI nuts (aaaand I did it again) with his behaviour... why not remove him from the roster? (I know a lot of guys that would solve this for money... or just for the thrill.... ) )
Why does he even have access to this information? Even if it's a hoax or a false track full of bread crumbs that make your tummy hurt....
Kick this guy out for good....

ECM on a Locust.... Well.... considering the recent BAP changes the use of ECM has changed a lot. ECM Mechs are reduced to long- and midrange support. Brawlers like the DDC.. well with them ECM is just dead weight. (Although the benefit of still getting some protection while closing in is still a viable option) So I don't really mind if the Locust get's one, it will be reduced to stay away often at longrange instead of anklebiting.
BUT... having Heroes that have unique skins and bonusses or even a slight advantage hardpoint-wise is one thing... having a Hero that can carry certain equipment the usual variants can't... even if in this case it's not sich a big improvement (considering that the loadout-tonnage is very limited on the Locust), this is the first step into PTW.