You read the title. Now for some background. If you don't already know me, I'm Merl. I have the 7th highest MMR account in Hawken (3 in the top 20), and have been playing for just over a year now. Given the recent discussions and changes regarding the pay to win accusations, I decided to run a little experiment.
The premise is simple. I made a new account, and have made no in-game purchases with MC OR HC. I will play TDM only, not purchasing anything. I will record my stats on a match by match basis and post them in the above spreadsheet. The goal is to get to 2600MMR, or in the top 20 accounts according to Shadeness' Leaderboard home.xshade.ca/users/leaderboard/, as fast as possible. Every 10 games I will post a screenshot of my stats page.
The goal of this exercise is to prove that there is absolutely no pay to win, or even grind to win, in Hawken. By reaching such a high level without making a single purchase, there will be absolutely no grounds for the P2W accusations.
This experiment exists only to argue against P2W. It makes no attempt at reconciling balance concerns, or any other concerns for that matter. I am simply stating that in the current iteration of Hawken, P2W is a myth. The results will prove this.
As a by-product, this data will provide insight into how MMR is calculated, and the flaws of the current system.
In regards to the inevitable noob/pub stomping accusations, I have three things to say.
1. It is for science. I take no pleasure in stomping noobs. I do take pleasure in getting good data, and that means playing my best in every game I get in to.
2. The amount of games that I will play before reaching 2000 MMR will be drastically lower than the number after. The time spent in lower level lobbies will be minimized as much as possible. As soon as I get access to the server browser, I will choose the highest games available to me.
3. Whenever I am in a low lobby, I offer advice and try to interact with newer players in a positive manner. I don't want to hurt anybody, and do my best to soothe the pain of getting killed with friendly comments and references to community resources.
*Edit. I define pay to win as the necessity of purchases in order to perform at a high level. The results of this are a hard counter to anyone who claims that definition of pay to win fits Hawken. Many of you have other definitions. That is mine.
If you have any questions or requests for additional stats, just leave a comment.
Good luck out there Pilots, I'll see you on the battlefield.
Edited by Merl61, 07 April 2015 - 12:29 PM.
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