it sounds like there are alot of issues and not just with the new mercs game.
i dont have mercs yet, got to wait till the 15th

and i will probably buy it simply becuse its mechy. and now, i got to see what all the hubbub is about so i can cast my own opinion on it hehe.
about the general mw4 games overall. i am kinda split. i do enjoy the game as it stands. even with the problems involved. but then again, there are things that sorta offend me about it as well.
the most important factor that i can think of reflects my mentality probably revolves around mw2, the game that i was weened on. mainly netmech 95 being that was what i played the most of. keep in mind that during my WHOLE mw2 stint as a pilot. i mainly played in just one league. the mech 3 league. now of course we had pilots and units with all sorts of mentality as to how the game was played. but from my stand point during that time it seemed to me that it was a good thing to try to avoid legging or anything that gave you a very large advatage over your oponent. yea i know, this sounds strange if you are playing a strict war simulation. however to those of us who seemed to be drawn to this mental state, it made the game much more enjoyable to play. the main reasons is that when you face an oponent the there were few factors that dictated the outcome. one being your mech selection. and the other is PURE skill. the pilot skill involved realy surounded the ability to guage lag shots and leading the mechs involved. the other guage was the ability to move within this small lag window in such a way as to confuse your oponent. yea this sounds like bug manipulation in a way, but realy it wasnt, thats becuse it was in the game, and it was consistant threwout the game as well. in fact part of the whole fun of mw2 was the lag and lag shooting in my opinion. then mw3 came out, a game i REALY enjoyed. but for a few things like if you blow a leg the whole mech dies and some heat things if i recall right. but other then that it was a good game IMO. but all of a sudden something started happening. BOATS! and alot of em. mean nasty bugers that you wouldnt stand a chance against. there were times i admit that i was inclined to use boats. generaly if i KNEW the other team was going to as well. but i noticed with that game the idea and mentality to face your oponent with pure skill was being outdated by a new one, the mentality to the more firepower the better, and take advantage of anything you can to win.
well with mw4 there now seems to be alot of things that upset me about the game, even though i DO enjoy it. one is the lag mechs. yea they ARE lag mechs. the game simply does NOT represent these mechs locations accuratly enough to be real. now in mw2 it was the same, but it did that to any mech you piloted. not just a select few. you should not have to aim you shots so they land 2 mechs lead in FRONT of your target! its rediculous. i very rarely pilot these mechs simply becuse of this reason. i feel that since it is known that these mechs are buggy like this it seems i would be cheating myself and my foe a good match becuse i was taking an unfair advantage of a flaw. i do pilot one now and then, generaly in responce to other lagger mechs and i simply get fed up lol.
when the game first came out i had my nasty LRM20 vulture. it as a killer and chained just right it was realy hard to beat. but do to the fact that i was not even allowing my foe to target me, let alone get a shot off to see how skillfull they may be was an unfair advantage yet again. so that mech went into the storage bay. and is used seldom now. the same thing happened to the 6 ERmadcat and the 7 ER novacat. so now i seldom chain fire. and i seldom use all one weapon boats. almost every mech config i have used in the last year has some sort of mix. yes, some of these mechs are very deadly, but i allow my mechs weapons to recharge as they will and that is the closest i get to chain fire now days. now when i face a foe. even if im at a disadvantage due to my mentality about the game, i feel proud of my skills in defeating them, if i lose, then i try to find some tactic or something that will allow me to destroy them rather then giving in to the 'must win' mentality and takeing a more deadly mech. or one that i can manipulate ot take away the skill factor of the other player.
i guess in the long run, my enjoyment of this game is pitting my skill against my foes skill in a mech and they config they use. i try to desighn mechs that allow they to use their skill against me, rather then to take their skill away to overcome them. so when i face someone its general my aim vs your aim, my timeing vs your timeing, my weapons setup vs your weapons setup, my manouvers vs your manouvers. on a fair basis.
for me this seems right. and please forgive me feather if i am putting words in your mouth. i feel this is the stand point where ppl like feather and i come from. and why when we see such things that go against it it puts our feathers in a ruffle.
sorry for the awfully long post, ( its a curse! i cant stop it !!) i just thought a good basis for understanding might be called for as to why some ppl have a problem with 'zoners'. that term came about becuse the mentality of win at all costs was first seen from ppl on the zone and zone match, but when we played the game on kali in our group the mentality of pitting yourself fairly against your foe predominated.
ok enough babbling..... uhg :::grabs fingers pulls away from keyboard, takes mouse and clicks submit::::