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But there's a nagging worry in my heart, like a chip of glass in my I.S. enchilada. Quirks will indeed close the power gap between IS and Clan 'mechs, but if it's done wrong, it has the potential to leave the I.S. 'mech selection more boring and less specialized than before.
Each chassis is designed to provide a different pilot experience, and each variant of each chassis is intended to give him different options in loadout. With a quirk pass, PGI is given a huge choice:
To flatly buff the defense and offence of each mech to converge on a uniform high damage, high defense paradigm, or to enhance its strengths and let its weaknesses be thereby justified in order to provide greater specialization.
If the first route stated above is selected, we'll see quirks become predictable, as only one approach will be taken to improve each 'mech to satisfactory levels. We've been given a glimpse by PGI of a few suggested improvements for the hunchback and the Locust 1V. In both cases we see:
1. A durability buff for the most-destroyed part of the 'mech (i.e. the right torso of the Hunchie and the legs and arms of the Locust).
2. A general weapon-type buff (i.e. ballistics on the Hunchie and energy on the Locust).
3. A specific weapon buff for whatever is expected to be the "optimal weapon" for the chassis (i.e. the AC20 for the Hunchie and the ERLL for the Locust).
This would fail to improve the game for two reasons:
First, a specific weapon buff would essentially mean that the 'mech would not perform optimally unless the player designed it around whatever weapon had been arbitrarily selected for the buff. With the Hunchback, all TT designs basically were centered around an AC20 in that torso, so in its case, this might be fine. On the other hand, the Locust 1V has 4 Ballistics hardpoints and only about 5 tons to spend on weaponry. As anybody could see, a Locust pilot who follows the suggestion of the quirk designers absolutely could not fit the 4 machine guns suggested by the 'mech designers onto the same 'mech. In this case, it is impossible for the player to make optimal use of the quirk assigned. In other words, a particular weapon buff would sometimes restrict viable load-out options, which is contrary to the spirit of the game.
Second, this pattern would be boring. If the same approach is taken in buffing each 'mech, then the player would still have to compare each 'mech based on the same, very limited factors: Damage output, ideal weapon (as selected by the quirk designers), and durability. In this situation, each 'mech is reduced to a system of three statistics, and players would basically be stuck picking whichever 'mech has the best quirks and the best optimal weapon load-out.
I say, the quirk pass is the perfect opportunity to uphold and finally perfect the core of the Mechwarrior game, which is the fact that every 'mech is viable for different reasons. This can be accomplished by enhancing each 'mech's best aspects to make each chassis uniquely capable of holding a certain, specialized role, while repairing only what drawbacks might cripple the 'mech's performance in this role.
Each 'mech is defined by something which no other 'mech has. The weaknesses (other than those which actually do cripple the 'mech's viability) are accepted, but the strengths are augmented.
Suppose instead of buffing the problem 'mechs until unrecognizable, they be given quirks to enhance their strongest points or, if needed, to establish strong points.
The locust, for example. Buffs of durability or weapon effecacy would have to get out of hand (in the 200% range) before it can compete with other light 'mechs. Why not give it unique sensor abilities, consistent with a more dedicated scout 'mech, and only solve the worst of its defensive problems, which is the vulnerability of the legs? I propose this:
+50% target info gathering speed
+50% sensor range
+25% turn rate
-50% fall and collision damage
Without directly improving armor or weapon strength, there would be a great reason to take this little 'mech onto the battlefield. The fall damage absorption would solve some of the leg damage problems which come with the lack of jump jets, and extra turn rate would help it throw off an attacker's aim.
Another problem 'mech: the dragon. With all its weapons in its arms, which are not only wide-set but also far below the cockpit, and its huge center torso, this thing is hard to use meaningfully. It is also one of the lightest possible heavy 'mechs. Its strengths? Basically none, except for a hair more speed with the same engine owing to its lower weight. I propose it be given buffs to improve its harassing abilities and to help its CT to survive:
+10% top speed
+33% acceleration and deceleration rate
+25% target info gathering speed
Side torso hit-boxes include the sides of the nose, leaving only the top and front faces as CT.
This would result in a quick, nimble 'mech with a talent for hitting weak spots and for dodging into and out of cover. The extension of the side torso hit-boxes would somewhat solve the problem presented by the 'mech's enormous nose by spreading damage. Suddenly the dragon would have a purpose as a quick harrasser.
Do you see the pattern? Without simply giving each 'mech a uniform buff to firepower or toughness, these two largely useless 'mechs can suddenly gain battlefield utility.
Certain other 'mechs would still benefit better from general buffs, simply because they are too varied in application to be pinned down in a role. An example is the vindicator: Neither very powerful nor very fast, it is intended to be a jack-of-all-trades which keeps pace with the team's heavier 'mechs. It is designed for the purpose, with a good mix of hardpoints, but it simply can't compete with a well-piloted specialist 'mech. General durability and weapon cooldown improvements would serve it as well as anything.
The only 'mech which comes to mind as a good candidate for the 3-part buff formula discussed earlier is the Hunchback, whose design is entirely centered around delivering an AC20 to the battlefield and bringing it wherever the team needs it. A specific quirk to improve the AC20, stacking with a general ballistics buff, would make this thing plenty destructive. Toughening the right torso would let it carry on fighting at full strength for longer.
If quirks are applied with the particular role of that individual 'mech as the foremost guide, the added variety of battlefield roles among I.S. chassis would benefit the I.S. factions greatly as well as keeping the pilots interested. Where the superior technology allows each Clan 'mech to handle almost any situation with confidence, the superior specialization of I.S. 'mechs would allow them to take advantage of their pilot's skills to a greater degree and thereby even the odds.
Do you agree? Please comment below.
Edited by Oogalook, 13 October 2014 - 03:31 PM.
