Because of real life I have occasionally, had to put Mechwarrior aside. But I have continued to putter away at it, whenever time permitted. Yes there are ongoing glitchs, most of which I seem to have been lucky enough to avoid most of the time. But what game doesnt have its flaws, particularly because it is still in the openning phases. Yes I would like to see more content, new maps/modes, larger match ups, etc, etc. But I am prepared to be patient and reserve judgement. But comparison, I have found waiting for Mechwarrior Tactics to be far more frustrating, as it even more slowly seems to be grinding ahead, lol

Harusee, we all need to vent from time to time. An you at least did so in a fairly controlled manner all things considered. Helps I like sarcasm, lol. Helps pass the time at work for example.

There is also the reverse side of the equation to look at here, as well. Looking at how much the Clans did in fact accomplished dispite all the points standing against them. They shifted more territory, then had be moved in some 300+ years of ongoing warfare in the Inner Sphere. Also to be fair to the Clans, their enemies had just as many problems to over come as well. A scary thought if they had gotten their act together before the conflict begain. Ironed out their differences, and hit the Inner Sphere as one "nation" rather then a group of co-belligerents. Not saying they would have necessarly won, the war. But it would be a safe bet that they would have closed the gap to terra considerably.

And I agree that some Clans did adapt to the situation more effectively then others, the Ghost Bears in particular. Likely comes from their more "wait and see" thinking. One of the reasons they didnt press the Aerospace modified pilots, they where skeptical about it. Why do something just because you can? An we have perfectly good, unargumented pilots to work with. The Elemental had nearly a century of work behind it, by Hell's Horses (in terms of creating a infantryman genetic legacy). Before Clan Wolf created a successful Battlesuit.

The old argument about raw potential vs hard won experience seems to be the bane of the Clans in some ways.

hmm a interesting question. A lot of factors, have to be weighted up to make sense of it. Three things that come immediately to mind, thought. The Clan's ritualized form of warfare. The internal divisions between and in some cases within the Clans themselves (Warden or Crusader). An the problem that seemed to come up time and again, of not being able to give the Inner Sphere credit for being a capable enemy.

Also as others have stated, just the shear scale of the task they jumped into, perhaps without as much thought as they should have given the matter. Once you start a war it does have the ability to take on a life of its own. As the various forces involved act and react against one another. In some cases success can be almost if not more dangerous then defeat. If it puts you in the wrong position, or forces you to do something you didn't take into account.

The headlong charge at Terra, complicated matters as well. Which ever clan claimed Terra first became master of all the other clans. Thats a hell of a lot of policitcal and military pressure to put on commanders in the field. Add the fact several of the clans involved in the invasion cannot stand each other ... well now you have a race that there is no tape to break.

There is more I can add to this, but its going to have to wait. I dont do my best thinking at 4:01 am in the morning . An I will also have to do some serious re-reading, of all the background material I still have on hand here at home for BattleTech.

I would tend to agree as well, that a more moderate stance is required. You want a game with an interesting background and options that you can build on. But you also have to make it playable for a diverse group of people. Canon vs game balance is a difficult challenge for any Dev Team to deal with. Some of the frustration we are seeing in the forums comes from the complete lack of details to draw any conclusions from. We have very little hard intel to go on at the moment, just shadows and rumours. Hopefully as we get closer to an open beta we will all get a better look at the various aspects Mechwarrior Online has, and how they will relate to our own interests and playing styles.