Patch Review: LRMageddon

Welcome to the Gatekeeper's Patch Review, where we don't talk about patches on patch day.  Instead we wait about a week or so and let the changes sink in, so we can give you an honest review.  Today, we publish our first real criticism of PGI.  The LRMageddon has come.

First, original patch notes here.

Ok, so this one is going to be a bit of a rant, but this is how it is now.  First of all, let's get the minor crap out of the way:  Achievements have been implemented.  These are neat, but they are all rudimentary scaling achievements.  For example, there are only about six or eight actual achievements you can get - the other achievements are simply laddered from those.  1 headshot, 5 headshots, 100 headshots, etc.  Bland.

Not only that, but it's obviously not working as intended.  To add to all the other gaffes that PGI perpetrated this push, they told us we were going to get our cadet bonus with the stat reset - they actually sent that statement to thousands of players, and then had to post an inconspicuous retraction of that statement where apparently no one can find it anymore.

Guys...what is happening?  You've been very professional so far, and then this patch came.  Quit working on Disco Balls for our 'mechs and get the game together - or I can tell you there won't be as many folks to buy those thrice-damned Disco Turds and fuzzy little Space Pugs.  I can accurately make this prediction, and I'm not even Nostradamus.

Enough about the weak Achievement system.  Now, the rest of it - the real gripe.  I'm beginning to doubt that any PGI developers are playing MWO.  This last patch, they changed how both the NARC and the LRM work, and it's completely unnecessary.

The NARC change would have been just fine by itself:   it can no longer be blown off (mitigating it's usefulness to only a split second) and it now counters ECM.  That would have been a great addition to the game by itself - if not for the most grievous error that PGI has so far committed - the LRM speed boost.  With very little warning, we all woke up to 175m/s LRM volleys.

It seems that PGI doesn't even use testing anymore and has just decided to use it's player base to "test" their new builds.  Now, chances are you've had a chance to play with the new LRM, and you either like it or you hate it.  The problem is, most people hate it.

Here's an example from the MWO forums, and here's another.  I could spend some time and gather more data about how badly this has affected the community, but I have worked hard to build up the House Liao community so I consider myself (and my Sang-Wei) be leaders in that community.  This isn't conjecture, and you should take my word for it.  Or you can take PGI's.  They've copped to the mistake, but the proposed reduction isn't enough - it's really very minor compared to the speed increase.  Yet, we're hemorrhaging players - and while a population wide culling might force a few Davion pilots to leave and not really touch their community, it could be fatal for House Liao if we don't hang in there.

AMS did a tiny range boost that in no way accounts for the LRM speed increase.  I can't believe that people would spend months barking about LRM balance, and then THIS is how they solve that.  Was that even the problem?

Also, it was a really stupid idea to reset stats at the same time as a major LRM revamp.  The tournament held this past weekend only exacerbated the problems that PGI has created with that!  The tournament ruined everyone's ELO while completely ridiculous and unprecedented LRM-spam dominated the countryside.  Plus, we're pretty sure most of the Liao that placed on the top tiers aren't really Liao - just players from other factions who thought that the tiny Liao faction would be easy to dominate.  They were right - not a single player from our community even placed on the roster - and I had the idea we knew most Liao players already.

Except for the "solo" ones.

Once again, PGI created a "community" event that forced players to drop solo.  Solo.  A community event where you can only participate if you drop solo.

All the solo players can go to hell - you need to cater to the teams.  That's all.  If 84% of the player base drop solo, it's in part because PGI endorses this playstyle above others.  Now all the solo players are spamming LRMs in great batteries, and there's no real game incentive to play as a team (as it should be).  You should reward team play and faction loyalty, not endorse solo play and balance the game toward solo drops.

That's counter-intuitive, asinine and short-sighted.  If you want this game to last, it has to have strong communities.  The House Liao is already small and fractured.  After this push, we're crippled and you keep hitting us while we're down.

Aside from all that, the 'mech tuning this push is superflous.  Locust leg hitboxes are a little smaller (doesn't matter with LRM spam) and Victors and Highlanders lose a little mobility (which also doesn't matter with the LRM spam).

With the NARC and AMS changes, PGI needs to explore the possibility that 120m/s (or at most 140m/s) is best for long-range missiles.  AMS was only useful against small volleys, and in MWO everyone boats.

It seems that PGI's preferred player drops an LRM boat by themselves every time.  That is getting old.  Quit looking at the trends and look at the big picture, or MWO will be a ghost town by this time next year.