..some interesting ideas here; some weird ones too.


Pretty sure just about every possible inexplicable object has been considered, except maybe Sun Tzu's "Art of War," and possibly alternative books on philosophy or stuff that might be appropriate.

..never read "Art of War" myself, but I've known a few fantics who made me quite sure I didn't want to read it. Something weird about people devoutly quoting and fervently referencing a book like that when the closest thing to war they've ever seen was on the news. Certainly, they wouldn't know what to do if they were put in a leadership position, except possibly to issue orders to kill everything. Yes, one at least was like that.

..actually, there was only one.


I like the idea of a knife, gun, maybe a compass, (or an iPhone with a compass ), , just so you don't appear to rely entirely on your Mech. Various other personal weapon options might be cool: A Rapier, broadsword, useful handaxe, etc..

Everything should be in it's place though. If a knife, then it should have a sheath attached appropriatly to the 'dash?' or a sword should be vertical in a corner of the cockpit, (accessible but out of the way), bobble-heads should be somewhere obvious and frivolous stuff should be frivolously placed. Serious stuff should of course be seriously placed; all I'm saying.

A cigar coul be placed in a band attached to the central console for victory celebration purposes, or another might be burning and wedged between a shifter and a **** within easy reach. 'Gritty'.

et al.

~ 3D Mech bay I can walk around in - Obviously something aways into the future of MWO, but I think it would be cool. Also, I suppose a personal avatar, (human body), would be required to walk around in it, though I'd be happy if my PoV were just a floating camera.

This would also apply to Mechlab and could come in different environments. Say a personal hangar with 4 Mech bays, or a larger, (more expensive), one with 6-7 mech bays. Theoretically, if you were willing to pay for it you could have either more than one of these, or as many as 15 Mech bays in one large hangar.

As I said, a ways in the future and dependent on the success of MWO and player interest.

~ Practice area - Somewhere to take your Mech out for a stroll. Could be a concrete yard with some obstacles and targets or a mountainside that provided the same.

~ Scrapyard - Don't like that mech anymore? ..getting a bit old and suffering from signs of wear? Then this scrapyard is for you. Whatever old mechs or parts you throw in it can be used to reduce the cost of rebuilding your current mechs after they sustain damage in battles. Also, if you fight for pink slips, you can throw your enemies old mech in here.

If you watch the videos under media you'll probably notice that, (in the Mechlab video), the player has 4 mech slots and no mechs, but has 5 million C-Bills or so.

I'd assume this is how you start the game and your Mech value is relevant to how much you spend on it. This also gives a pretty good indication that there will be no Merc Marketplace to speak of, which is fine I suppose, though it does significantly reduce potential player-to-player interaction.

Actually, it appears that it will mostly be PvP oriented like an FPS. I'm fine with that as it limits the overall game commitment I have to make. Means I can just pop in and get involved in a good fight or two when I have time for it, without needing to be a member of a clan or the like. That would be fun too, but I generally don't have that kind of time to commit to something like this.

Regarding unsellable: Whether you have just one or many mechs, I see no difference in selling off every one to generate capital. It's not like you can't sell your car to raise capital to buy another one because it's 'the only one you got." That's tripe as far as I'm concerned and I don't see why it should be present in any game.

Regarding handicap: Okay, this one I can see, but it should be repairable. Something you can work off before progressing to having this Mech as good as or better than the rest. There is no reason that first mech should be somehow inferior to all the rest no matter where you are in progress in your game.

Also, Not just the idea of it being requisite inferior, but the stupid thing is unsellable, (by that top option), so it sits in your hangar for eternity.

My vote: Work off any handicap it may have, allow your techs to improve the design beyond that, and sell it at any time you like as equal to any other mech out there, (In it's class anyway.)

edit: I don't know if there is some means of trading or the like between players in MWO or not as I've not seen any indication one way or another yet, but assuming there is. If that is a concern, there are other ways around it than zeroing the value of a starting mech and/or making it unsellable to avoid fake accounts selling mechs to send C-bills to main accounts ~ obvious exploit.

One option is to require 50 hours of gameplay before trade from an account is allowed and, (if you like), 20 hours before trade to an account is allowed.

Another option is to incorporate the handicap system to devalue the Mech until the handicap is resolved. This could assist gameplay and provide the player with more than just a junk mech perception of their initial game experience.

Basica idea is this: Allow players to choose 2-3 handicaps for their starting mech and level of severity.

Examples:

~ Jump Boosters non-functioning.
~ Engines functioning at reduced capability.
~ Armor damage.
~ Weapons Tracking speed reduction.
~ Overheat problem.
~ Core Energy at reduced level.

These would give obstacles for players to overcome during initial gameplay and potentially make the mech unsellable until they are resolved or fixed. Once the player has repaired these problems, he will benefit from enhanced gameplay with a better functioning mech, giving him greater tactical advantage than he initially started with in the same mech.

None of these handicaps should be too severe unless the player chooses only one system to be degraded and suffer the full effects of the initial handicap on that system.

They should all be repairable with time and effort, but not so long a time as they are discouraged from continuing to play the game. It is bad enough that their initial game experience may well be against much more experienced players with none of these handicaps and the benefits of greater customization, c-bills, and tweaks to their chosen mechs.

Lets not have trash sitting around the hangars.

'hero'

I always had trouble explaining how players would have some other guys mech, (or whatever), from historical canon. I can't rationalize it, much less why 12 guys would have that same Mech, and I doubt I ever will. Not without some serious backstory anyway.

Speaking of backstory: If the 'hero mechs' were manufactured variants of the original armor, (presumed long retired and no longer in use), then I might see a point to having it; otherwise, I prefer anything that goes into the game be immersive content and 'just some variation' of currently existing armors. Same goes for guns and the rest.

'Hero' stuff is like cutting off some guys hand and attaching it to your stump while he's still breathing. ..or after for that matter; all the same to me. It's his/hers and should stay that way. Sure, it's sci-fi fantasy, but the principle is the same: you just don't go around wearing someone elses underwear.