165 replies to this topic

[Joe Mallad]

Here is what im thinking.

Small pulse lasers do 3 damage for a duration (burst) of .5 seconds so... do the same with machine guns. Have machine guns burst fire just as small pulse lasers do and that .5 second burst of ammo can do 3 damage just as a small pulse laser do.

If they worked the same as burst fire (pulse) weapons and did 3 points of damage per burst, machine guns would be on the same level as small pulse lasers.


now the advantages and disadvantages...

Both small pulse lasers and Machine guns have an optimum range of 90m but the advantage goes to machine guns at a max range of 200m over small pulse lasers at 180m and machine guns do not build heat like the small pulse lasers do. However, machine guns do need ammo and that ammo runs a risk of cooking off or being hit and blowing up. So... both weapons still have their advantages and disadvantages, giving players reason to use both or either depending on play style. But making machine guns work in the same manor as small pulse lasers and giving them 3 damage per burst would give them a lot more bite.

The only other change i would do with machine guns is to make their recycle time 1.00 instead of the continuous 0.1 fully auto fire between each individual machine gun round as we have now. The machine guns would still have a faster recycle time and have an advantage over the small pulse lasers recycle time of 2.25, but again... the small pulse lasers have the advantage of not needing ammo so it all works out in the wash.

Edited by Yoseful Mallad, 20 April 2013 - 04:54 PM.

[Joe Mallad]

if you vote no... lets hear why you would not like this.

[Lord of All]

MG's are for infantry period. get over it.

[Little Nemo]

Sooo make them the same weapon? Nah.

[FupDup]

Lord of All, on 20 April 2013 - 04:59 PM, said:

MG's are for infantry period. get over it.

You are wrong. Get over it.

[Elepole]

For infantry indeed:

[Vassago Rain]

Both small pulse lasers are just as useless.

[Joe Mallad]

Lord of All, on 20 April 2013 - 04:59 PM, said:

MG's are for infantry period. get over it.

than why dont we have infantry to use an infantry weapon on? If thats the best you can come up with... machine guns should just be taken out of the game all together

Vassago Rain, on 20 April 2013 - 05:02 PM, said:

Both small pulse lasers are just as useless.

not as useless as machine guns at the moment.

[TungstenWall]

Elepole, on 20 April 2013 - 05:01 PM, said:

For infantry indeed:

Agreed

they have no place in armored warfare.

[Zervziel]

......So what's the point of this thread? I mean just use small pulse lasers.

[FupDup]

Zervziel, on 20 April 2013 - 05:08 PM, said:

......So what's the point of this thread? I mean just use small pulse lasers.

I never knew that SPL could fit in a ballistic hardpoint.

[Elepole]

Zervziel, on 20 April 2013 - 05:08 PM, said:

......So what's the point of this thread? I mean just use small pulse lasers.

Let some light and medium a chance to use actually useful weapon for once ?

[Joe Mallad]

Zervziel, on 20 April 2013 - 05:08 PM, said:

......So what's the point of this thread? I mean just use small pulse lasers.

if i had the spider that can run 4 machine guns and they worked this way... i sure would run it than. If you have a mech that has no ballistic hard points, than you run the small pulse lasers lol. IF machine guns worked like this and i could get a tiny fast light mech that has both ballistics and laser hard points... like the flea, you best believe id run a few machine guns and small pulse lasers and rip into anything with them.

Edited by Yoseful Mallad, 20 April 2013 - 05:15 PM.

[danust]

No. 1.5t ammo and weapon. No heat and basically unlimited ammo. Not much should be expected for so little cost. Designed and works as a crit killer. Seems like it might introduce a boating nightmare. They really do kill crits, try them.

[Wintersdark]

Lord of All, on 20 April 2013 - 04:59 PM, said:

MG's are for infantry period. get over it.

Except this isn't supported by *anything* - even the BT lore says they're effective at, and I quote, "Stripping the armor off battlemechs"

Not to mention that there is no infantry in this game. You may as well add dedicated anti-air weaponry... and be sure not to add aircraft.

[FupDup]

Leedair, on 20 April 2013 - 05:16 PM, said:

No heat and basically unlimited ammo.

That makes much less difference in combat than it sounds like it does on paper. Lots of ammo is useless because it can explode and it also does next to no effect on your enemy. No heat is overrated because heat is a non-factor in this game if you use DHS. You can and should also use cover to dissipate any excess heat.

Leedair, on 20 April 2013 - 05:16 PM, said:

Designed and works as a crit killer.

The crits are rare and take longer to remove all components from an unarmored section than the time it takes to destroy the entire section with a normal weapon.

Leedair, on 20 April 2013 - 05:16 PM, said:

Seems like it might introduce a boating nightmare. They really do kill crits, try them.

Hardpoints prevent this, and we already have a lot of boating that is far worse than MGs could ever be. Also, how can it kill crits? I never knew that crits could be killed. You mean components, which can be damaged with critical hits. Get your sh*t straight.

Edited by FupDup, 20 April 2013 - 05:26 PM.

[Joe Mallad]

so far i have not heard any good arguments on why machine guns would not work as i have suggested. Everyone is screaming they need a rework or an outright damage buff so they can be worth using. I think my idea gives them enough bite to be useful while keeping them on par with small caliber weapons from the laser category so as not to outdo other weapons. And they still keep their advantages and have disadvantages.

[Loler skates]

FupDup, on 20 April 2013 - 05:08 PM, said:

I never knew that SPL could fit in a ballistic hardpoint.

I do it all the time in my 10 mg spider.

[Wintersdark]

Leedair, on 20 April 2013 - 05:16 PM, said:

No. 1.5t ammo and weapon. No heat and basically unlimited ammo. Not much should be expected for so little cost. Designed and works as a crit killer. Seems like it might introduce a boating nightmare. They really do kill crits, try them.

Why? A small laser is a 0.5 ton weapon with actually unlimited ammo. Machine guns can and certainly do run out of ammo, and if you're using several they do so quickly.

Small lasers can indeed be boated - a hunchback can carry 9, jenners and cicada's 6, etc.

Machine guns? 4 max, and only on otherwise crappy chassis that are generally useless at best. 3 on mediocre chassis like the Dragon (C I think?) and a hunchie.

With 3 or 4, you need 2-3 tons of ammo. That's roughly 4-5 tons of weaponry, for a total of 2dps. It can explode and kill you.

Heat? Most importantly: The only mechs that would or even could use this "effectively" are ones that would ignore the heat from small lasers in similar numbers too. Hell, you could give them the same heat per second as Small Lasers as well and it wouldn't matter at all because 10 in engine DHS will easily cover the heat from them anyways.

[Blackfire1]

MACHINE GUN 16 matches
8,709
rounds Fired
4,704 Hit
54.01%
01:29:50
Time used 167 Total Damage.

Edited by Blackfire1, 20 April 2013 - 05:24 PM.