Regarding 3PV:
It is not a competitive advantage. In fact it is a competitive disadvantage due to it hindering aim and making it difficult to determine if your guns clear near by objects. Further in 3PV you have no mini-map and zoom is almost non-existent. A cruel joke to newbies is the fact you have a big ol' camera drone behind and above you telegraphing, "I am a newb and I am over here!"
Regarding pop tarting (the big concern from MW40: Not an issue. I watched the videos and yawned. MWO has a dynamic where on ascent your aim shakes so it is hard to hit on the pop up. Further the game already highlights targetting enemies. Before 3PV you could still line up behind a hill, ascend, and fire on descent. So 3PV may allow in corner cases for you to peak over a hill and get a cheap shot off. But that is only in theory as you have a big honking flashing camera drone flying above you screaming, "I am over here!" I love it when a 3PV player's camera shows up over the crest of a hill as it allows me to line up and blast them in the head/torso.
So there are many, many drawbacks. Over at ARS someone posted videos and I was concerned. Until I saw how so called "hackers" were using 3PV and the people posting the videos didn't even pick up on the fact so-called pop tarters were doing nothing new (and ineffective mind you) because MWO highlights targeted enemies.
It is whining to whine.
One area 3PV does help is field of view. This was another thing I spent some time looking at. Unfortunately for the whiners is that for the wider field of view and peaking over modest cover is (a) the missing element in the picture is the camera drone over your head telegraphing your position and (b) again the dynamic of knowing where people are behind cover is already in the game (i.e. if I see you and NRP is behind a while you will still pop up on NRP's HUD--he can even get your distance, health, mech model, etc).
A huge part of playing the game right actually depends on using these dynamics already in the game. I have been playing an LRM boat and the whole point is to let others target and to sit behind walls and fire at enemies you cannot see but trust are there because they are on your HUD. Peaking over a hill is really just a waste of time in 99% of scenarios--and considering the drone and all you lose (mini-map, crappy zoom, poor aim) it really isn't an issue.
Before the patched in 3PV I could understand the concern of MWO style pop tarting with Gauss but MWO is substantially different from MW4 so it isn't an issue.
Bouncing said:
Remove those things, and the problems that come from them disappear (such as the highly optimised high damage sniper builds). Those specialised builds are supposed to be balanced out and be limited by their heat buildup. Taking that away with Cool Shot allows very extreme builds with no balancing factor to make them less effective.
The pin-point sniper build issue isn't about cool shot. It is about the ability to do 35 pinpoint damage at 1000m+. To put it into perspective 2 x AC/20s weighs 24 tons, takes 20 critical slots, and produce 1.5hps. They dole out 40pts damage every 4 seconds (10dps). Max effective range is 270m and max range is like 600ish.
The
AC/20 is definitely the "best" weapon due to its high pin point accuracy; the down side is weight, crit slots (few can hold it--only a couple can do dual and NONE are Assault class), very limited range, and now the heat penalty for 2 x AC/20 Alpha (which I think is stupid as you run an XL engine just to do 2xAC/20 and have very limited range--effeminately some huge weak spots in a Jag or Cataphract making these very specialized builds--devastating at their role, paper tigers outside of their roles).
Anyways, the "problem" isn't cool shot but the fact **good snipers** can dole out AC/20 damage at very long distances and similar cycle times.
Gauss: Max eff. range ~700m, effective out to 1300m+, 15pt dmg (3.75gps), 0.25hps, 7 crit slots, 15 tons.
PPC: MAx eff. range is ~550m, effective out to ~1000m, 10pt dmg (2.5dps), 2.25hps, 3 crit slots, 7 tons. Diminished effectiveness under 90m.
ER PPC: PPC: MAx eff. range is ~550m, effective out to ~1000m, 10pt dmg (2.5dps), 2.25hps, 3 crit slots, 7 tons.
1xGauss + 2xPPC is 35 damage. At on point. The pro's over AC/20s is
a) more builds can support this
b) huge range advantage
c) no PPC ammo required so you never fear running out of juice
d) takes a LOT fewer crit slots
e) 2xAC/20 w/ Ammo weighs more than 1xGauss+Ammo+2xPPC
f) Gauss ammo does not explode.
Downside? Heat. But when at 600m+ you have plenty of time to hide and dump heat. Gauss low hitpoints (3) is a down side but then again AC/20's take up a lot of crit slots making them just as prone for damage.
2xGauss is is trickier as it weighs more than 2xAC/20 (XL engines are a must have) and does 33% less damage. With the extra 2 ton cost you have to cut ammo (diminishing Gauss effectiveness) for a laser OR go all in on Gauss. This makes it a tricky proposition and MUST be played within the role it was designed for. The 3hp on Gauss also made your arms ticking time bombs.
2xPPC weighs in at 14 tons. To compare 1xAC/20 WITHOUT ammo is 14 tons. PPC take no ammo. Take only 6 crit slots and fit most rigs. The problem is they produced 9 (PPC) and 12 (ER PPC) heat. That was not a lot of discharges, even on the best cooled mech. Damage per second is actually pretty low with these. And the Alpha is only 20.
In all I thought these "specialty" builds were well designed with a LOT of limitations.
e.g. I have a lowly Medium Blackjack with a 40 pt alpha (8 x Medium Lasers). These cost a total of 8 tons and have a range of 270-540 meters.
My LRM boat has 1620 (9 tons) of LRM ammo. That is over 40 shots on my LRM20 with Artemis. When those hit they dish out 40+ damage -- and the loser on the other end can be 1000m away and never see me because I am cowering behind some wall.
My 3x AC/5 build (with 2 MLs) has a 25 alpha and the AC's can run forever at 10dps -- with a range of 620m (1000+). This thing weighs 24 tons for ACs (4 less than Dual AC/20, 6 less than Dual Gauss, 5 less than 2PPC/Gauss) so it has a better engine, more armor, AMS, etc.
Heck I have a Centerion with an AC/20 + 2xMLas (30 Alpha) that goes 106kph (!!!) and a Jenner with Jump Jets and 6xMLasers (30 alpha) and goes 151kph (!!!). I had a Splatcat with 4xSRM6 (48pt alpha for 12 tons of hardware not including ammo) and 2 ER Large Lasers (18pt dmg).
The point is I think PGI has missed the boat listening to the whiners on their forums. The other forums I post on where people play MWO all say the same thing: Avoid the PGI forums. It is full of hardcore game whiners who want well designed rigs played right nerfed + all the "Table Top" fanatics that want every element of the game to be TT true and faithful.
The fact is there are a lot of builds that work great. The nerfing of sniper weapons is silly IMO. A couple patches back it was LRMs with the nerf. The problem is, imo, the game rewards focused fire. If 2 or 3 players can use power weapons WELL and target a shoulder on an XL rig the thing goes BOOM in seconds.
Welcome to Mech Sim 101. As MWO requires some skill it means the pray and spray weapons like LBX, SRM, MGs, and smaller lasers can't compete as well. Those weapons may need a buff in total damage. The problem is right now PGI is has been buffing those for more focused damage. e.g. the LBX is now "tighter" but that isn't the problem. They were already great LIGHT killers. But even tighter the spread is too much to focus fire. There is no reason to use LBX over AC/10 unless you are making a Light killer. The solution isn't to nerf the AC/10--the solution should be, imo, to buffer the SRM and LBX total damage. Keep the spread high but instead of 12 and 11 damage, respectively, make it 17 and 15. These would then become very similar to the LRMs: weapons to soften up enemies.
That said the game plays fine. It is true clans can rule but I have not had many issues like that.
And the game is definitely not arcade. World of Tanks is Arcade. MWO requires you to assemble the best mech with various trade offs. Be a jack of all trades master of none or a specialist. Just some examples of the depth:
Engines: Affect speed and torso twist (slow mechs stuck at turning, too). STD engines weigh a ton more than XL but they take up only 6 slots. On small mechs this means you lose valuable space for weapons. XL are lighter but take up 2x the crit slots and a torso explosion = instant death as the engine is IN the torso as well (i.e. you can "core" and XL mech with taking out a shoulder, not just the center torso which is HUGE when attacking from behind).
ECM. Can both jam R locks but it can also be used as an active targeter: enter enemy ECM umbrella and broadcast the closest enemy.
Rocket Bay Flaps. Want to speed up your rocket fire rate? Open up the bay doors. The down side? You are at a higher risk of ammo explosion if someone shoots an open bay.
LRM. You have to know the weapon doesn't work under 180m or over 1000m (reverse: you see an LRM boat back up BEHIND 1000m or rush close to get under 180m and eat his lunch). You need to know that your target lock decay when they go out of sight but also you can fire behind cover. You need to choose between the extra tonnage of Artemis (e.g. LRM5s are really cost effective at 2 tons, but with Artemis 4x would be 12 tons the same weight as LRM10s but which would then produce less heat).
I could go on and on, but the point is this is a sim. On the field it does require the ability to aim and "think" but you have to plan a head and then use your mech right. Running the tip of the spear in your Medium Blackjack is dump. Pot shooting the Atlas in the right shoulder with all the ballistics (e.g. Gauss, AC/20) hoping for a crit explosion is the sort of focused attention of detail you don't find in Battlefield. You need to know that the Jagermech and Blackjack have big shoulders--so if you see a large ballistic model you can be sure he has thinned armor and XL engines so SLAM those shoulders for a fast engine explosition. See that Catapult? Knock off those large side pod arms and then go for the legs (the nose has a large HP and the torso section has a small profile).
If this game is arcade then I am definitely too old for gaming--and would hate to see a real sim. And don't get me on the Cbill economy and the trick of getting the right engines (spend $4m on the wrong engine? Ohhh that will cost you 50 rounds of Cbills.)
Besides the mech lab and match making the problems with the game are quite different from the Hardcore/TT fans think.
Casuals is an issue. The mechlab is brutal (Smurfy is waaaay better). 3PV doesn't help. Proper ingame tutorial would help. Being able to select a map--or preference list for each mech build--so you don't end up on Alpine in your dual AC/20 build would be nice. A proper tutorial. Some 2v2 action would be nice. A proper thorough tutorial. Being able to do MP training grounds would be nice. Better player introduction--maybe via a tutorial / PVE mode.
Other issues are map selection, the closed nature of the "MMO," and the economy stinks ($30 for some mechs? Get real PGI. $60, the cost of a real full game, should net you 12-15 mechs AT LEAST). They nickle and dime errrr 5 spot and 15 spot you to death. But the core game is really good. It is like a really great mod (like DC) with all the same problems: promising features they want and then cannot complete, saying they won't do something and then later decide it is the best option (and being dumb enough that during open development sharing the design process unlike a normal game where people never hear of this stuff to begin with), no good tutorial/training, constant influx of new toys that break balance, clans who roll the PUGs, inability to get new content out of the door to satisfy active gamers but too brutal of a curve to really catch a lot of new gamers.
It will be interesting to see how PGI fixes these things. I have bought about $35 worth of stuff. I have gotten my value worth. What I buy going forward depends on how they nerf stuff to appease the trolls as well as if they can fix their stupid economy. I may get the Phoenix pack and if the issues persist be happy with what I have, sell off some of the Phoenix variants after eliting so I have a ton of free bays and Cbills to test drive every mech. That should be 100+ hours of fun. And if the game falls apart, meh, pretty good return on value for me but I would leave after that if they keep bleeding the community with stupid price models.
