Things in MWO that make you wince...

For me, scout includes bringing ECM. And staying with the assaults so that they aren't harassed while trying to get to the fight.

Yes, that means the Hellbringer is technically a scout to me. Bring radar deprivation, and you can keep an eye on the edges of the group, and step back out of trouble if it finds you.

And for the longest time in this game, I've used Q to find where the assaults are starting, and I try to move in their general direction, or at least meet up with them part way. The only time I don't is when they're doing something completely idiotic.

 

I'd say ECM is necessary but not sufficient to be a scout.
Scout:

• v. To spy on or explore carefully in order to obtain information; reconnoiter.
• v. To observe and evaluate (a talented person), as for possible hiring.
• v. To search as a scout: scout around for some gossip.

First and third definitions apply here. If you're with the main group, you're not obtaining any extra information, so you're not a scout. If you're dead because you didn't bring ECM, you're not a scout. If you're only giving info the group already has because of game design, you're not a scout. So that pretty much leaves NARCers as the only true scouts in MWO. It's VERY different in tabletop.

 

There are times when scouting is good, but you have to know what you're doing. For instance, I would trust Epikt to scout, and to a lesser extent myself, but a vast majority of light pilots simply to not understand what they should be doing as a scout, and die as a result.

There was a guy last week (won't name and shame him, but GOD I want to) who I ran into about 17 or 18 matches in a row, and he was a constant bitcher. Every time he died, it was the team's fault...never mind that he walked far out in front of the group and isolated himself, or that he didn't know how to torso twist in a DRG-1N, but I eventually got sick of him. He kept justifying me doing better than him on the fact that I was in a Hellbringer, not a DRG-1N, so I switched to mine and started schooling him that way too. Getting an average 300-500 more damage and 3-5 more kills per match. He was on the other team several times, 3 of which I caught him from behind with my 1N and killed him before he could even turn around. And every time, I just said the same thing: "And let the bitching commence."

And it did...about how it was his team's fault that he died again, because he was out MUCH further than them, and he got back shot as a result.

/facepalm

 

What .... "viridian bog" has huge visibility and mentioned in the same category as Alpine? Sir your sarcasm is indeed refined.

I can't see that one unless you're wall hacking which too many blatantly do ... like the "gentleman" in the very well known Steiner unit I was ghosting last night.... was amusing to watch in a way as they were so blatant. Hey I'm going to move totally away from the group and cross 850m of space, going around 2 raised areas on Virindian to go straight to the location of the shut down Mist Lynx.... then go straight in another direction another 700-750m and do the same for a shut down JM6 with no ammo.

Thats what killed scouting for me in this game after playing competitively for a while and seeing some of the tools people were using. I still call out target locations and its gratifying when people respond but mostly its an exercise in frustration. Why bother if people don't even use the intel. At least in group people react as you're exchanging information via voice.

 

The problem with Alpine isn't so much the size as it is the visibility. I've always wondered what would happen if a nice, strong wind would be blowing through at times, reducing visibility massively (IE, Frozen City type blizzards). You can always see where people are moving from the other side of the map, which is kind of annoying. On the same vein, I've always thought that some tunnels under Sniper Hill would vastly improve that map. But that's another argument

 

Strangely I don't really see ECM as a scout tool. Its useful to not flash up in range but too often its just a glaring warning to the enemy that an enemy is close. No scout should be in the open anyway or sitting still for long so what are you using it for (genuine question btw not sarcasm)?

My Jenners and fast small profile mediums I scout with and none of those have ECM. That said my Pirates bane does but that is an exception for me and their role is to pick out LRM boats and snipers behind the enemy line as well. The Raven 3L does but its role is also to support our heavier forces and encourage their mechs to stay in cover. The Kitfox etc I don't see as a scout as they're so awfully slow. You meet their skirmish line or lights and you don't have the ability to disengage. ECM for me has always been most useful covering the blob or snipers but there the Hellbringer and Raven 3L rule the roost (IMO).

Coincidentally my view might come from the fact that a lot of my regular brawlers and skirmishers carry cAP or BAP so I really don't care about ECM. From my perspective peoples ECM usage is literally just a cowardice tool to protect themselves in most cases - we've all been in teams where the heavies and assaults are w/o ECM cover and getting rained on while the lights are off showboating.

 

Except people that adjust their settings to "improve visibility" would be entirely unaffected while those that don't would have a worse experience.

 

Easy fix, make it mandatory on all graphic levels. Fuck 'em!

 

Amen, but for that you need to make it server side really and I'm not sure how practical that would be.

 

Hack, even the Wi Song (whatever it is called) Mechlab thing have better interface!

The thing is, there are many online and offline battletech designer programs out there and PGI decides to make one that is amongst the worst. Don't tell me they are trying to cox people into using thise shit stockbuilds (FUCK SHS)

 

what makes me wince is the absolutely horrible UI.

Everything takes forever, and if PGI asked me about my ideas how to improve this, I'd give them a list.

Having to click dozens of "you sure?" and "Your change has been made" buttons all the time is one of these things, having every single fucking Engine listed next to each other instead of a clear dropdown menu is another.

Also, SHS.

Why are they even in the game. They could just add the upgrade price tag to the stock mech price and it would be OK, but having SHS in the game just makes people actually use those shit builds. Yes I know there are like 2 or 3 exotic exceptions to this.

Friendly fire. It makes me wince. I mean, it should be penalized. If you ask me about how to do this, look at World of Tanks.

HitReg makes me wince too. It's becoming more obvious that PGI needs to invest in new servers with huge cojones. Because HitReg works better or worse according to server load spikes and there's a clear and obvious correlation.....

The player community is cool most of the time. I mean, compare that to WoT where you get insulted every 5 minutes and you HAVE to disable general chat if you don't want to engage in pre-teen kiddie trash talk.

 

Unfortunately PGI doesn't have the luxury or producing a game with graphic fidelity enforced across the platforms. A good deal of the systems people are playing on are 3+ years old and running at full capacity for MWO already; force them to see things like storms and draw distances that are all the same and you will have people simply quit and move on. Less potential revenue.

At some point a business has to sell its soul and say "We are in the business of making money".

 

Michael, most movies that are considered classics today also were driven by financial interests.. as long as there are a few true artists involved, one can always sneak in some good ideas and in the end we get a compromise that makes everyone happy

Ridley Scott had producers walk around his sets for ALIEN every day, peeking over his shoulder and pushing him to the limits

What I'm saying is that PGI needs to hire Ridley Scott as map designer

seriously, That Iglesias guy who does the mech design.. good man, much creativity, so many awesome!

 

I was going to say... we'll save that line for posterity to quote it back but instead...

I'm not convinced that the demographics are that strong as the vast majority of people who run their graphics tweaked way down and in fact amend their files are mysteriously "competitive" players. In fact EVERY one I know is one. Yes there might be someone sitting in (pick random "emerging" country) but lets be honest the quality of their internet is going to have a vastly larger effect on their performance.

We're not talking people with old comps we're talking people removing features so they can get a longer draw distance etc and therefore an advantage over their opponents.

Coincidentally my MWO machine is a first gen i7-2600K overclocked Sandy Bridge (dodgy south bridge FTL) that isn't even produced anymore. That said the graphics is much more modern but still several years old (yeah I know I'm being vague but I'm making a point!).

PS: Of course then we get to laptops which shoots apart my argument ... opps!

 

While I would like the idea - have you seen the amount Ridley Scott earns a year?

Hint - his personal net worth was up to $140m last I checked.

 

Being honest.... I'd think you were weird.

 

Preaching to the choir.

 

My cpu is a first gen i7 2600k as well lol but I'm running 16gb ram and 780 Ti. Bling being.

 

A thing of beauty weren't they overclocked.