38 replies to this topic

[xeromynd]

Making this a sticky would be fantastic.

Here's things that need to be added (some that others have mentioned)

-RGR - Roger that (affirmative)
-TT - Refers to the TableTop game
-MASC - Myomer Accelerator Signal Circuitry. tl:dr -> Turbo Boost for your mech that can damage it.
-FLD - Front loaded damage
-TTK - Time To Kill (Time it takes to kill a target)
-BAP - Beagle Active Probe (Piece of equipment)
-ECM - Electronic Countermeasures (Piece of equipment)
- o7 - Saluting dude (Hey I never knew what it was before I asked)
-CQC - Close Quarters Combat

[TheCaptainJZ]

Cap - Referring to capturing base(s)
e.g. "Lights cap?" or "GUYS GET THE CAPS!" or "NEED CAPS!"

[Rogue Jedi]

3,3,3,3 or 4x3, means 3 Mechs of each weight class, this is a goal of the matchmaker to help make the game more balanced (however as heavy and assault Mechs are far more popular than lights and mediums this is difficult to achieve in a solo match)

2 man, 3man - 12man, refers to the size of a group of players dropping as a group, at current you cannot have an 11man due to the 12 players a team requirement and the fact that groups drop separately from individual players

drop, refers to launching or playing a match. e.g. I have had 5 drops today, or please ready up so we can drop. (a reference to launching a drop ship used to transport a group of Mechs)

ready up, click the ready button

the current official factions
Inner Sphere, the 5 Successor States, ran by the greatest Nobel Houses of the Inner Sphere
DC, can mean disconnect or Draconis Combine (a Japanese themed Inner Sphere faction) depending on context e.g. looks like we have a dc will mean disconnect, while look a dc premade will more likely mean the other team have a lot of players allied to the Draconis Combine
FedCom, the Federated Commonwealth, a faction in the Inner Sphere, alliance between House Davion (the Federated Sons FS) and House Steiner (the Lyrian Commonwealth LC), largest and most powerful of the Inner Sphere factions, Davion is probably the greatest military power while the German themed Steiner is the great financial power of the Inner Sphere
FWL, the Free Worlds League a faction of the Inner Sphere, a semi democratic state, partially controlled by house Marek.
Liao, a Chinese themed noble house who run the Capellian Confederacy, the smallest and least powerful of the Successor States.
there are also many mercenary corporations and smaller states , although the smaller states are usually allied with one of the houses
Clans
CW can refer to community warfare or Clan Wolf
CJF, Clan Jade Falcon
CSJ, Clan Smoke Jaguar
CGB, Clan Ghost Bear
there are, at current (I think) 17 clans total clans, but these are the only ones currently official ingame for now

Mech components
LA, Left Arm,
LL, Left Leg,
LT, Left Torso,
CT, Center torso,
RT, Right Torso,
RL, Right Leg,
RA, Right Arm
Head
RCT would be rear center torso, FLT would be front left torso

cored or Critical Damage means no armor left, any further hits will cause damage to the Mechs internal structure damage and has the chance of destroying weapons and equipment stored within e.g. Atlas C rct cored means the Atlas which displays the letter C above it when targeted has no armor on its rear Center Torso
Legged, a leg has been destroyed reducing a Mech to half speed or 40 maximum (50 with speed retention module), this is usually the most efficient way of destroying most light Mechs, the legs are comparatively easy to hit on most fast Mechs. e.g. sdr J legged, means the Spider with a J above it when targeted has lost a leg, and should be easy to finish off (but do not ignore a legged light I have made many people regret doing so).

edit: spelling and readability

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 19 July 2014 - 03:51 AM.

[Edustaja]

CLAP: Clan active probe; "Should not have gone for the cheapest package, all I got was a Kit Fox with CLAP"

[GTV Zeratul]

A few more:
KDR = Kill Death Ratio, often used to "prove" how good/bad a pilot is. In my opinion this is not true as getting kills is subject to alot of factors in game, the roll you play, does your team focus fire or not etc.

Focus Fire = Multiple teammates attacking one enemy Mech, this is the most effective way to fight.

Stick = A Mech with both it's arms and side torso's blown off thus leaving it weapon less. Sometimes used for a pure ballistic/missle Mech thats out of ammo.

Zombie = See Stick but has a very limited amount of weapons left in the head or center torso.

[Koniving]

Some Clanner lingo in use.

Spoiler

"Jag Base this is Jag 12, I'm going on scope for the reported radar signature. Nothing on scope Jag base."
"Anything on Thermal, Jag 12?"
"Neg, Base."
"Aff Check, well set waypoint home."
"Aff, Base. Setting Nav. ....Base! Picking up heat sig! Cannot get lock!" (he means origin or position)."
Instantly loses his arm.
"Kodiak, Base! Kodiak!"
"Jag 12, Jag 12! Hold your position. Repeat, hold your position. Reinforcements are En Route."
"Neg base. I need units NOW!" *Looks up.* "FREEBIRTH!" (It's a Clanner insult.)

Some navigational and body part lingo in use.

Spoiler

"This is HQ to any available units. We have mechs down at Nav Gamma (Charlie for IS). Bravo Cadet reports 4 subjects on site. Bandits are hostile. Repeat, bandits are hostile."
(Sounds like a training outpost was being hit by Clan Exiles).
"HQ, this is Alpha Assault. I'm on my way, bearing 025."
(Heading 25 degrees clockwise of North; there's an indicator at the top of your hud for this actually. 045 is North East, 90 is East, etc.)
Computer voice: "ETA, 34 seconds."
"Alpha Assault, this is Bravo Cadet! I've got bandits all over me, would you get down here?!"
"Sit tight Bravo 3, I've got visual."
(Bravo 3 and Bravo Cadet seem to be the same person; cadet to note he's inexperienced or unranked, and 3 would be his position in a five point star, meaning he either got sidetracked and did a new player mistake of getting isolated or Bravo Star is down. A Star is the Clan version of a Lance which is comprised of 5 mechs).
"I've got a bad hip actuator now. My targeting system is damaged. I'm in bad shape."
(Bit of tabletop fun: A mech with a damaged hip actuator has a nearly impossible time standing up if they fell over when it got damaged. They're essentially immobile and very easy to knock over. The only thing worse is a damaged gyro. It is the equivalent of a sniper wounding one person to use as bait.)
Computer voice: "Enemy detected."
"3, 2 of them. Be on the line!" (Be at the ready or heads up.)
"Roger, I've got them."
(This is actually a misstep from lore. Clans do not use contractions. It would be "I have got them" or more likely "I have them." In full it'd probably be "Aff, I have them.")
A wild Summoner appears!
Computer: Targeting.
2 ER PPCs are fired.
(While this overlooks basic battletech possibilities, it still falls in line with advanced battletech, where the heatsinks would be taxed to the point that he cannot fire anything but machine guns for a long time even if ER PPCs had a good firing rate).
"He's got a lock on me, he's got a lock on me!"
The mech collapses. Bravo Cadet is knocked out.
Computer: "Warning, ammunition level: critical."
Computer: "Maximum depleted." (Might have said ammunition but it sounds like maximum).
"Alpha Assault, this is HQ. What is your situation?"
Cockpit shot by an LB-10x.
"Alpha Assault, this is HQ. What is your situation? Please comply."

[Darth Futuza]

"I've got a bad hip actuator now."

I could never figure what he said here, now it makes so much more sense. Someone needs to remake this in Canyon with some mechs sometime.

[Void Angel]

"My hip actuator's out," is what he actually said.

[Sandpit]

Wow, there's a lot more acronyms than even I remembered lol nice list guys

[Koniving]

Void Angel, on 19 July 2014 - 08:43 AM, said:

"My hip actuator's out," is what he actually said.

Listening to it again with 'out'..
"I've got hip actuators out, my targeting system's damaged... I'm in bad shape."

Could be implied be blew both of them. Ouch.

[Darth Futuza]

Koniving, on 19 July 2014 - 08:58 AM, said:

Could be implied be blew both of them. Ouch.

Damn rookies. Fall damage got buffed.

[Void Angel]

It's hard to define that first word, because there's commo squawk overlaid onto the audio.

[Void Angel]

It could be "ah, my hip actuator's out," "-squawk- my hip actuator's out," or "I've got hip actuators out." The latter seems most accurate to my ear, now that you point it out, but I'm not sure.

More importantly, how long does it take that guy's ERPPCs to recharge? =)

[Koniving]

Void Angel, on 19 July 2014 - 09:12 AM, said:

It could be "ah, my hip actuator's out," "-squawk- my hip actuator's out," or "I've got hip actuators out." The latter seems most accurate to my ear, now that you point it out, but I'm not sure.

More importantly, how long does it take that guy's ERPPCs to recharge? =)

Well, from what I've read, an ER PPC is ready to fire again within 6 seconds.
However, the Timber Wolf has 15 DHS, which in the basic rules in a one second time slice means what he did is impossible unless there's a delay, but the delay is too short between charge and fire.

In the realistic interpretation, he literally used 100% of the heatsink capacity he had and would have to wait a full ten seconds before he could fire anything that generated heat or he'd be shut down (and you can't start again until below 46.67% heat in the best case scenario).

This is related and gives you the two interpretations, basic literal and realistic literal.

Spoiler

Koniving, on 16 July 2014 - 09:48 AM, said:

Disagree on the tonnage based heat cap variation (it can make sense, but only if we also have TT's incompatible reactors where an Atlas's XL 300 engine was over 12 million where a Jenner's XL 300 was less than 4 million), then it'd make some sense because it is a combination of the reactor and the safe limits of the pilot that decide threshold in TT. (Actually more specifically it's the pilot; even with cooling jackets these guys are not in the best of conditions).


Even with a lot of DHS and two ER PPCs, you'd want to wear even less and it'd be in excess of 120 degrees in the cockpit from just firing 1; depending on which brand of ER PPC.

But if you go back to that post you'll see how that would work.

"The only way for the graph to be true is if, when you fire that much in a single second, the heatsinks compensate and weaken, and the graph assumes that you get 30 threshold + 10 SHS or DHS that can switch between absorbtion and cooling but not both:

Example:
Lets say you use the heatsinks normally. This is the simplified way.

Spoiler

X mech has 10 SHS. He walks and fires 3 medium lasers.
0 seconds, walking begins and first shot is fired. Lets say this laser burns for one second.
0.1 heat + 3 heat = 1.1 heat.
1 second, cools 1. 2.1 heat + 0.1 heat (walking).
2 seconds, cools 1 heat. 1.2 heat + 0.1 heat walking. Fires a second laser half way into the second (1.5 heat).
3 seconds, cools 1 heat. 1.8 heat + 0.1 heat (walking) + 1.5 heat (other half of second medium laser).
4 seconds, cools 1 heat. 2.4 heat + 0.1 heat (walking). Begins a turn.
5 seconds, cools 1 heat. 1.5 heat + 0.1 heat (walking). makes the turn. Rolls for turning on asphault, succeeds.
6 seconds, cools 1 heat. 0.6 heat + 0.1 heat (walking). Fires a medium laser at 6.3 seconds, + 2.1 heat (7/10ths of ML laser).
7 seconds, cools 1 heat . 1.8 + 0.1 heat (walking) + 0.9 heat (remaining 3/10ths of third ML).
8 seconds, cools 1 heat. 1.8 + 0.1 heat walking.
9 seconds, cools 1 heat. 0.9 + 0.1 heat (walking; final of the 1 total heat for walking).
10 seconds, cools 1 heat. 0 heat.

And yes, I went advanced on it to reflect a real time scenario.

Now lets say PGI did things right and it went with you have 10 heat value within 10 seconds (instead of 1 cooling per second for 10 seconds) and you fired all 3 at once. This is the realistic way.

Spoiler

X mech has 10 SHS. He fires 3 medium lasers at the same time and walks.
0 seconds, Firing. + 9 heat. +.1 (beginning to walk).
1 second, cools 6. 3.1 heat + 0.1 heat (walking).
2 seconds, cools 0.4 heat. 2.8 heat + 0.1 heat walking.
3 seconds, cools 0.4 heat. 2.5 heat + 0.1 heat (walking)
4 seconds, cools 0.4 heat. 2.2 heat + 0.1 heat (walking). Begins a turn.
5 seconds, cools 0.4 heat. 1.9 heat + 0.1 heat (walking). Makes the turn. Rolls for turning on asphault, succeeds.
6 seconds, cools 0.4 heat. 1.6 heat + 0.1 heat (walking).
7 seconds, cools 0.4 heat . 1.3 + 0.1 heat (walking)
8 seconds, cools 0.4 heat. 1.0 + 0.1 heat walking.
9 seconds, cools 0.4 heat. 0.7 + 0.1 heat (walking; final of the 1 total heat for walking).
10 seconds, cools 0.8 heat. 0 heat. (I realized toward the end it was supposed to be 0.44444 repeating cooling per second. But it'd be 0 here. Realistically it'd slowly rebuild in strength until restoring to 1 cooling per second so it'd cool extremely weak at 2 and 3 seconds and slowly build up again, still totaling 10 cooling in 10 seconds)

"

Alternatively, as I mentioned before PPCs and ER PPCs charge in lore (ER PPCs significantly shorter to almost nil). If they were Lord's Light PPCs, they'd buffer 2 seconds with a rather bright glow.
Firing 3 at once...
0 seconds Charge begins, 1.5 heat (0.5 per PPC).
1 seconds charge continues, 3 heat (1 per PPC) (4.5 total).
2 seconds, charge finishes and PPCs fire. 16.5 heat spiked. (21 total) By this point the heatsinks are glowing.
3 seconds, weapons are still warm. (+4.5 heat [1.5 per PPC]) (25.5 total)
4 seconds, weapons are cooling. (+3 heat [1 per PPC]) (28.5 total)
5 seconds, weapons are nearly cooled (+1.5 heat, 0.5 per PPC) (30 total).
6 seconds, weapons are cooling, heatsinks dissipating.
Remainder of cooling time is spent to cool the heatsinks.

Lord's Light PPCs are particularly known for long charge times and favored because of how cool they run due to the prolong charging delay, many of the others are a fair bit faster to fire but as such the heat spikes faster and higher causing discomfort, inaccuracy and impaired mech performance in mobility and stability.

And that method can work for either true to tabletop system without the heat spiking. Whether the simplified (first) or realistic (second). It'd also give you reason to favor a slower charging variant over a faster charging variant; makes it easier to fire more of them at once without hitting penalties quite so fast. It'll also cool you faster before penalties could kick in and leave you more 'stable' to use other weapons without hurting efficiency as badly if you did use fewer of them at once.

But again it'd require a complete overhaul of the heat system and how it works. PGI will never do it. The closest we'll get is the first (simplified) true to tabletop system. And even that isn't likely.
---------------
Now, on the one shot per tabletop... The thing is you had a "use" per 10 seconds, not so much a single shot (though Gauss Rifles and PPCs were often depicted to be exactly that). For example the Victor's Pontiac 100 AC/20 is actually supposed to be a 100 shot weapon. As in 100 individual shots done in a rapid burst that in the book it's in is described as occuring within 1 to 2 seconds and requiring 5 seconds to reload.

A single 'click' of the trigger will burn through the entire magazine, and the Victor's primary ammunition feed requires the left hand to extract a cassette from the right torso and then feed it into the upper left side of the right arm in a pre-programmed movement that can be done safely during normal operation. If for some reason the left arm is destroyed, there is a secondary feed that requires the Victor's right arm to fold as high as possible so that the ammo can be funneled through the shoulder and into the upper reserve ammunition port. This secondary feed is known to have problems when under fire, as the secondary feed requires the arm to be completely locked and could jam if the right arm is hit during this time.

Then there's also the machine guns, which we know do not do 2 damage in 1 shot, if an AC/2 Whirlwind-L model at 30mm does 0.2 damage per saboted anti-tank round.

There's also many medium lasers described as requiring multiple shots to do 5 damage, with a special mention of the Rassal Blue Beam as being one of the few medium lasers to be able to do 5 damage in 1 shot, and it requires a secondary capacitor which pre-charges and focuses the laser which causes vibration and EM Interference. It's also mentioned to be Difficult to Maintain. It's beam color is blue and it's said to do its damage in less than 0.5 seconds, but requires more some seconds of pre-charging before it can fire, and cannot be used again for more than 6 seconds otherwise it would strip its cooling jacket. As such the weapon became praised for its destructive potential but criticized for its combat impracticality. The concept was used to make the Bombast Laser later on.

Aiming (or how tabletop handles the "to hit" and location hit damage by rolling) was simplified as otherwise we'd need a 500+ page book just to cover every weapon variant and in the case of the Victor's AC/20 we'd need to make 100 goddamn rolls! O_O

There's more than 60 standard medium laser variants. The Rassal Blue Beam is just one of the most detailed. Some never stop firing and it's a constant beam for up to "5" seconds. Some have several short beams. Some have fewer but longer beams. There's actually a pink medium laser. Of the 60+ variants, 44 of them are truly unique from the others.

Edit: (Rassal Blue Beam being a blue beam medium laser able to do 5 damage in a single shot, rather 5 damage in 10 seconds). Oops.

Mentioned PPC charge up in two visual examples.

Spoiler

[Edustaja]

The line you interpreted as "Computer: "Maximum depleted." (Might have said ammunition but it sounds like maximum)"
is actually "Weapon depleted"

[Sky Hawk]

Sorry Kon, but I hear both time:

Computer: "Warning, ammunition level: critical."
Computer: "Maximum Weapon depleted."


(But, it's a foreign language, and not loud enough... I could be wrong...)

[Tim East]

Koniving, on 19 July 2014 - 05:24 AM, said:

"Alpha Assault, this is Bravo Cadet! I've got bandits all over me, would you get down here?!"
"Sit tight Bravo 3, I've got visual."

"I've got a bad hip actuator now. My targeting system is damaged. I'm in bad shape."

"Roger, I've got them."
(This is actually a misstep from lore. Clans do not use contractions. It would be "I have got them" or more likely "I have them." In full it'd probably be "Aff, I have them.")

"He's got a lock on me, he's got a lock on me!"

These dudes are definitely Clan Wolf, and most likely freeborns to boot. Contractions are not entirely out of the question.

[Satan n stuff]

Void Angel, on 17 July 2014 - 05:18 PM, said:

Well, of course it's fun! Mostly because I'm right. =)

Seriously, though, correctness in language does matter, because languages are systems of thought. The human brain (like the computers built to imitate it) thinks in symbols. Language is a system of symbols we use to communicate, and also internally in thought. So being imprecise in language tends to lead to bad thought, something to be avoided whenever possible.

PS, how did you break the quotation frame, but still include the linkback arrow? (which is still broken, by the way.)

While you can think in a language and probably do, it's perfectly possible to think without involving any words or symbols, in fact subvocalizing ( thinking in language ) is extremely inefficient when used for anything besides actually speaking.

Also Atlai won the majority vote, so that's the one we're going with, deal with it.

[Void Angel]

Sure. But all that means is that some of the symbols we use are non-lingual; it doesn't mean that shoddy use of those symbols isn't dangerous. Particularly since the nonverbal symbols we use are still linked to language - and language symbols are the primary ways we learn ideology and world-view.

Speaking of world-view, the majority can vote for ignorance all they like - my knowledge is still superior.