50 replies to this topic

[JohnoBurr]

So I can't help but wonder how people feel about this currently. We've been in open beta for quite a while now, and a whopping total of zero weapons have been added to the game. Seeing as there are tons of weapons in the lore, there's no reason to have this content shortage. However, PGI seems insistent on following the timeline. This intentionally handicaps the game and creates a content drought. Is this due to laziness or the inability to actually create content in a reasonable amount of time? I don't think so, as a UAC10 or UAC20 would be extremely easy to create based on the ACs we already have. I'm just curious if anyone here actually cares about mechs and weapons coming in at the right time.

Feel free to share your thoughts on why you take your position.

Edited by JohnoBurr, 25 March 2013 - 01:30 PM.

[xhrit]

JohnoBurr, on 25 March 2013 - 01:10 PM, said:

So I can't help but wonder how people feel about this currently. We've been in open beta for quite a while now, and a whopping total of zero weapons have been added to the game.

Adding stuff to battletech is what killed the game.

True story.

[Roadbeer]

http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__2126608

[JohnoBurr]

Roadbeer, on 25 March 2013 - 01:16 PM, said:

http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__2126608

And I'm not referring to just clan mechs. I'm just talking about content in general. Weapons, mechs, everything. I don't care about the lore while I'm in a match shooting other stompy robots into pieces. It just makes no sense to me to limit your own game while following such a useless fluff mechanic.

For those that are voting in favor of following the timeline, would you mind sharing why you prefer that method? I'm simply curious.

Edited by JohnoBurr, 25 March 2013 - 01:29 PM.

[Xeren KelDar]

Following a timeline "grounds" it in a setting. It allows a progression of tech which promises new mech models and weapons in the future instead of being stagnant. Progressing the timeline as they are allows them to wave the carrot on a stick and imply that in 6 months Ultra AC20 could show up etc.

Not following a timeline or setting can result in a cesspool of imbalance as well as alienate those that might actually enjoy the lore. Imagine for a moment if there was no timeline and you could take a Mad Cat (Timberwolf) against a 3025 mech. Those 3025 mechs are as powerful as stock trial mechs and even our custom 3050 mech variants can stomp them so you can imagine how unbalanced that would be vs a clan omnimech.

The weapons we have now are for the most part the iconic Inner Sphere weapons and while some of the upgraded tech (ultra ACs and ER lasers) are not in yet a lot of those weapons weren't generally favored more than the stock variant. the medium laser survived all through tabletop as a prominent backup weapon because its just a good piece of tech. The ER medium laser was a nice addition and filled its role, but never fully eliminated the humble medium laser. The only piece of tech I remember doing that is the LB10X as its better than the AC10 in every way especially when you can load it with solid slugs. Most of the missing weaponry is the clan tech and its reverse engineered counterpart. We have no Ultra AC20 cause the Inner Sphere hasn't harvested them from the clans yet. It wouldn't make sense to have that before the clans invaded.

That's my two cents on it. I think it adds more flavor than just throwing a bunch of stuff in just because.

[TheForce]

if i was running the show i'd focus on 3025 tech and get it balanced first, then add new tech and get that balanced.

[JohnoBurr]

Xeren KelDar, on 25 March 2013 - 01:46 PM, said:

Following a timeline "grounds" it in a setting. It allows a progression of tech which promises new mech models and weapons in the future instead of being stagnant. Progressing the timeline as they are allows them to wave the carrot on a stick and imply that in 6 months Ultra AC20 could show up etc.

Not following a timeline or setting can result in a cesspool of imbalance as well as alienate those that might actually enjoy the lore. Imagine for a moment if there was no timeline and you could take a Mad Cat (Timberwolf) against a 3025 mech. Those 3025 mechs are as powerful as stock trial mechs and even our custom 3050 mech variants can stomp them so you can imagine how unbalanced that would be vs a clan omnimech.

The weapons we have now are for the most part the iconic Inner Sphere weapons and while some of the upgraded tech (ultra ACs and ER lasers) are not in yet a lot of those weapons weren't generally favored more than the stock variant. the medium laser survived all through tabletop as a prominent backup weapon because its just a good piece of tech. The ER medium laser was a nice addition and filled its role, but never fully eliminated the humble medium laser. The only piece of tech I remember doing that is the LB10X as its better than the AC10 in every way especially when you can load it with solid slugs. Most of the missing weaponry is the clan tech and its reverse engineered counterpart. We have no Ultra AC20 cause the Inner Sphere hasn't harvested them from the clans yet. It wouldn't make sense to have that before the clans invaded.

That's my two cents on it. I think it adds more flavor than just throwing a bunch of stuff in just because.

The problem is we have an extreme amount of stagnation as is. Maybe not everyone will agree, but it's definitely there.

[Hakai]

xhrit, on 25 March 2013 - 01:15 PM, said:

Adding stuff to battletech is what killed the game.

True story.

This will be uber-unpopular, but I miss the days when an AC5 was ferrocious!!! (table top concept).
5 Damage with almost no heat?!!! WHERE?!!!

In the age of double heatsinks, coolant flushes, Endosteel, Ferro, MRMs, light gauss, rotary autocannons, pulse lasers, extended range pulse lasers, *** blasters and tactical nuke lobbers, it just feels a tad too much like "my tech is better than yours".


I'd have preferred more chassis choices, fewer tech upgrades and some awesome balance to be honest.

Edited by Hakai, 25 March 2013 - 02:02 PM.

[Xeren KelDar]

While the stagnation is there I believe that is more firmly tied to lack of modes seeing as we have only two. Adding more to the armory won't correct that problem. We'd see a small influx of usage on the new tech and then it would stagnate again leading to having to add more and more to fight it. You can see this in action whenever a new mech is released on a smaller scale as for the first few days the game is usually saturated with that variant. Some survive and become regular players, like the Cataphract, but most are shelved soon as people return to the preferred mech. Within a few weeks we are right back at the previous mech diversity for the most part. Weapons I believe would follow the same curve and not address the underlying issue.

To combat the stagnation you address would take more than just a shiny new laser. This is the promised addition we're anticipating with Community Warfare. People are hoping that invigorates the game with diversity in gameplay options. More modes, maps, and diversity in gameplay is more the answer than a new laser in my opinion.

Edited by Xeren KelDar, 25 March 2013 - 02:08 PM.

[JohnoBurr]

Xeren KelDar, on 25 March 2013 - 02:06 PM, said:

While the stagnation is there I believe that is more firmly tied to lack of modes seeing as we have only two. Adding more to the armory won't correct that problem. We'd see a small influx of usage on the new tech and then it would stagnate again leading to having to add more and more to fight it. You can see this in action whenever a new mech is released on a smaller scale as for the first few days the game is usually saturated with that variant. Some survive and become regular players, like the Cataphract, but most are shelved soon as people return to the preferred mech. Within a few weeks we are right back at the previous mech diversity for the most part. Weapons I believe would follow the same curve and not address the underlying issue.

To combat the stagnation you address would take more than just a shiny new laser. This is the promised addition we're anticipating with Community Warfare. People are hoping that invigorates the game with diversity in gameplay options. More modes, maps, and diversity in gameplay is more the answer than a new laser in my opinion.

Keep in mind that I completely agree with you. The problem is, we need all of the above. We aren't exactly getting any of it.

[Mechwarrior Buddah]

Xeren KelDar, on 25 March 2013 - 02:06 PM, said:

While the stagnation is there I believe that is more firmly tied to lack of modes seeing as we have only two. Adding more to the armory won't correct that problem.

They cant add more game modes, that would segment the player base. Dont believe me? Listen to them:

Bryan Ekman, on 21 March 2013 - 05:23 PM, said:

This is one of our largest concerns. In fact, it's one of the reasons we don't just jam in more game modes.

In response to a question about segregating the player base.

[Xeren KelDar]

JohnoBurr, on 25 March 2013 - 02:15 PM, said:

Keep in mind that I completely agree with you. The problem is, we need all of the above. We aren't exactly getting any of it.

I can understand that, but I think if the gameplay was 100% riveting (in that perfect world fantasy) then having ER medium lasers wouldn't be that big a deal. With that said I'd love to see some of the later mechs, like the Bushwhacker, but they won't be arriving for years and I kind of accept that since we're in 3050 timeframe and it doesn't exist yet.

[Xeren KelDar]

Mechwarrior Buddah, on 25 March 2013 - 02:21 PM, said:

They cant add more game modes, that would segment the player base. Dont believe me? Listen to them:


In response to a question about segregating the player base.

Isn't that a quote from the 3rd person thread? Regardless having too many modes would segregate the player base, but I don't think just two is the absolute cutoff for it either. Either way it's a fine line to walk and maybe I should have said expanded game modes? The point I was trying to make is to have engaging gameplay rather than constantly dangle new shinies in our face to distract us, but that may not have been conveyed too well.

[Mechwarrior Buddah]

Xeren KelDar, on 25 March 2013 - 02:29 PM, said:

Isn't that a quote from the 3rd person thread? Regardless having too many modes would segregate the player base, but I don't think just two is the absolute cutoff for it either. Either way it's a fine line to walk and maybe I should have said expanded game modes? The point I was trying to make is to have engaging gameplay rather than constantly dangle new shinies in our face to distract us, but that may not have been conveyed too well.

yes it is from the third person thread but they were talking specifically at the time about segregating the player base and how they couldnt "jam in" more player modes because of the player segregation it would cause.

[wwiiogre]

Bad Poll

Currently PGI is not following the timeline and get a grade of C at the moment.

Hard point build system is not part of Battletech lore and so far clearly breaks the balance of the game.

ECM is currently the null sig variant, always works; Guardian ECM of this timeline has 3 settings and is not automatic

Coolant Flush, not part of this timeline and module based so magic fairy easy button; Epic Fail by PGI

All LRM's tracking to CT, not part of Battletech lore, broken
SRM's flying ballistically straight not part of battletech lore and is broken
ssrm not needing to relock for each shot, broken beyond belief and also tracking to CT once again not part of lore and broken.

Because everything else PGI has done the game is beautiful, but for following timeline and lore, not so much.

With the current srm/lrm/ssrm nerf the game has actually become more fun to play. Now if they would just reup the heat on ppc/erppc/erll/ll/lpl and reduce their damage back to where they were and we would have a much more fun game where heat efficiency and boating builds would not always be the way to go.

Just saying.

Chris

[Davers]

One of the problems with BT weapons is that the new ones make the older ones obsolete. They don't co-exist with them. They are upgrades, not side-grades. So if we added in newer weapons that just means they become the standard. ER Medium lasers would replace all medium lasers.

There would be different options, not necessarily more options.

[KhanCipher]

Davers, on 25 March 2013 - 02:57 PM, said:

So if we added in newer weapons that just means they become the standard. ER Medium lasers would replace all medium lasers.

clan or IS ER mediums? if we're talking clan ERMLs then yes they will straight up replace the ML, but the IS ERML isn't all that great compared to the ML.

[boomboom517]

follow tt its balanced thats all im saying pgi 0.2dps machinegun is canon

[jakucha]

They mentioned they might do a timeline jump which would have separate tech and queue. For now, I'd rather they just implement the current timeline until it's well-balanced and has no bugs.

[boomboom517]

KhanCipher, on 25 March 2013 - 03:07 PM, said:

clan or IS ER mediums? if we're talking clan ERMLs then yes they will straight up replace the ML, but the IS ERML isn't all that great compared to the ML.

its nice if you have the heat to spare but i agree