It seems the topic shifted more towards how to balance lights and heavies rather than if rams should be a part of the game. On that note, ramming definitely isn't what upsets the balance. As stated, the balance is most dependent on dodging ability and the varying power/regeneration time of special weapons. Other things like ram damage, AA energy, map layout, staggering ability etc. all factor in but far less.
†Adonael wrote on 03/21/18 at 13:07:19:
In a furball in TMX, be it deathmatch or team death match the ony time a small car like that shines is taking hits on distracted opposition. And how they factored in the tyoe of vehicle in TMX, more so than they used to, made Reaper an heavy target for easy kills.
The argument of skill does come into play, but if you removed that factor, I can almost grantee with equally skilled players Reaper would always loose. Thus every time you play as reaper you are always playing a heavy disadvantage.
Sorry, but this is just an overgeneralization that is untrue in most cases. I'll assume you're talking about rooms with equally-skilled players, since the topic of balance is moot with varying levels of skill. In regards to DM, solely focusing on lightweights (especially as a heavy) is not a good strategy.
First, they have the speed an mobility to pick their own fights, so it's usually better to wait for them to bring the fight to you. Second, there's a limited number of weapons and specials in the game that are considerably effective against skilled lightweights, and you'll have to lengthen your weapon routes going far off the beaten path rather than fighting heavier vehicles which are vulnerable to a wider range of weapons. Third, lightweights have more survivability being able to control health and potentially shield more (if you're Kamikaze or lighter).
Lightweights are actually stronger in DM than TDM because they often get more free reign, among other reasons (especially their lack of points yield if targeting them with carnage scoring rules). The only real good motivation to single out lightweights in DM is if you're way behind in points and want to throw a Hail Mary hoping to expend as little inventory as possible for a full-health kill, or if the lightweight is building a killstreak and need to send them back to the respawn screen to nullify their bonuses for each kill.
As for TDM, lightweights thrive in 1v1 scenarios but it's more difficult to get these types of isolated situations against teams that are well in-sync. A lightweight's biggest weakness is being outnumbered since when fire is coming from multiple directions it's a lot harder to drive at angles necessary to avoid otherwise consistently-dodgeable weapons, and it's easier to get staggered and be unable to make a getaway. As a result, lightweights tend to function best in a supportive role rather than leading the offensive charge.
In a 1v1 situation where a Reaper is facing a Warthog (the lightest vs. the heaviest) I would much rather be playing as the Reaper. Consider that as Grimm in TMBO, it takes four specials to kill a heavy from full health. In TM 2012, two specials is all it takes. Warthog's specials are next to useless against Reaper and it can be a struggle as Warthog to even directly face a Reaper to get a reticle lock due to its turning speed.
With all that said, in no way am I trying to say that TM 2012's balance, or the way they achieved it is admirable. All I'm saying is, the gap in balance between lightweights and heavies is really overblown because of the perceptions that were developed just weeks after launch.
Malefactor wrote on 03/21/18 at 20:18:19:
Either way, it’s frickin’ hard as admitted by every dev team that’s tried, and it’s apparentl in every version of Twisted Metal because the big cars have ruled in every version. Especially TMX.
It's a minor thing, but heavies don't outright rule the game. Shadow, Outlaw and Junkyard Dog are generally the three vehicles that occupy the top tier. Most people would call Shadow and Outlaw midweights based on their size, armour class and the fact they deal as much ram damage as most midweights, but myself and other veterans identify those two uniquely as mid-heavies. JYD is typically considered a heavy but often plays more like vehicles in midweight classes due in part to its mobility.
Again, it's minor since technically Axel rules TMBO and a couple midweights could be considered in the top tier of TM2 online, so it's not like TM 2012 is unique in the regard. It's true that in all three games heavies are mostly situated in the upper half of the roster. TMHO is a bit of an exception, but since playing like a pussy was that game's bread and butter and the top vehicles were mostly ones with specials that were easy to abuse through walls/objects, it doesn't really matter since it was practically broken in the first place.
Malefactor wrote on 03/21/18 at 20:18:19:
Adonael hit many of the issues on the head above, but to get to bare basics, a ram is a weapon. What’s more, it’s an infinite weapon. Unlike other weapons in the game, it is not based on regeneration or pick up abilities.
This NECESSARILY means the cars with a more powerful ram, an infinite weapon, will have a substantial advantage in combat.
Ram isn't infinite when you factor in turbo, and add in turbo dash which depletes half of your turbo each use (and is practically a necessity to use in order to ram a skilled player). But really, that doesn't even matter because it completely ignores the point that, once again, you'll rarely ever get rammed if you're decent at playing lightweights. It's like saying if heavies had the sole ability to use the infinite machine guns, then heavies would somehow have a massive advantage over lightweights. It doesn't matter because you'll hardly ever deal any substantial damage.
I get that during the initial month or two when nobody was skilled and lag was often a struggle, the game could feel like bumper cars. Especially on smaller maps, it was easy to wrack up a lot points just by picking a heavy, maintaining speed and nicking clueless players who chose lightweights. But once again, who cares? What we should be concerned about is the end product and how the game plays against skilled players. Stripping elements of combat from the game to try and fix a balancing issue doesn't make sense, especially when ramming isn't even the thing throwing off the balance in the first place.