Part of that is largely due to the fact that players continue to operate on the mistaken impression that capturing and holding mid will win the match for them.

The Generator is NOT a main objective.

Sure, it's nice to have, and it can allow for near continuous spawning of mechs later, but during the initial rush, I've won many matches purely from building momentum against the other team pushing mammets and attacking their towers early. If a teammate grabs CE tanks, we can get an Oppressor out early and drop a tower while people are still trying to contest mid. If this happens on both lanes simultaneously, you've just put the other team in a VERY bad spot, whether you have mid or not.

This is what people continue to fail to understand, and a large reason everything feels so "decided" early into the match. If all you do is try and fail to capture mid right away, you've made no progress. But if you try and fail to capture mid, but had teams attacking their towers already you've made progress, gained momentum, and are in a position to pressure the enemy offensively. This, THIS, is how you win in Rival Wings.

The generator is NOT a main objective. You can however attack and destroy main objectives - towers and cores - whether you control the generator or not.