10 replies to this topic

[Revage]

When deploying to a battle on behalf of one's faction, players with multiple mechs in their hanger should be permitted to "loan out" those mechs to their comrades for the duration of the battle in exchange for increased Loyalty/Faction points. Possibly also, all repair costs to the mech should be deducted from the borrower's funds as well, or loaned for a price amongst mercenaries.

This would provide both a way for players to try mechs they wouldn't normally have access to, allowing players to find out how good some mechs are and encouraging them to make purchases, and also make ranks seem like more than hollow titles; a commander really could supply mechs to subordinates.

[Adrienne Vorton]

hm....i have to think about this... interesting at least...

[Redshift2k5]

Would need some restraints so a player doesn't rely upon a borrowed mech all the time; if someone can always play a borrowed mech then that's money out of PGI's pockets (lost direct sales of new mechs, lost man-hours playing to earn a new mech in-game (and grind-hours are a valuable marketing tool in and of themselves))

[Boris5134]

I like the idea. If loaned mechs are destroyed they are destroyed regardless of who own's them. This is wjere I like the idea of a "faction inventory" to store things like chasis's, weapons, ammunition, and C-Bills. Granted skills still have to be earned through playtime, but I like the idea of being able to share resources between members of a particular house / faction.

[Roland]

It wouldn't necessarily hurt PGI any... While you could theoretically borrow a mech, that mech had to have been bought by someone at some point.

Additionally, you wouldn't have any of the pilot skills that the original buyer had. Depending on the mechanics, you may not even be able to pilot it effectively.

[FinnMcKool]

I would like to see Merc Units do this anyway?

or why not ?

[Revage]

Redshift2k5, on 05 June 2012 - 04:05 AM, said:

Would need some restraints so a player doesn't rely upon a borrowed mech all the time; if someone can always play a borrowed mech then that's money out of PGI's pockets (lost direct sales of new mechs, lost man-hours playing to earn a new mech in-game (and grind-hours are a valuable marketing tool in and of themselves))

Roland, on 05 June 2012 - 05:35 AM, said:

It wouldn't necessarily hurt PGI any... While you could theoretically borrow a mech, that mech had to have been bought by someone at some point.

I was incline to agree with Redshift, but Roland makes a strong point. Non-the-less, there probably should be some drawback to borrowing mechs, like reduced experience gain (could even give a cut to the owner of the mech). Kind of like borrowing a car temporarily, you get use to driving it over time, but when you give it back then what you learned is no longer purposeful or applicable to what you have on hand. Or just as a slight penalty for not buying your own toys, to encourage people to buy their own. It's true that the mech being loaned has already been bought, but I personally wouldn't buy a mech I didn't like, and would probably have bought a mech I like anyway. On the other hand, the borrower may like the mech, but just hasn't gotten around to buying it yet and should make that purchase once they've got the funds.

[Rodney28021]

That would be a good idea if they would do it. If there is not a way to try a mech before you plunk down that hard earned c-bills, there might be more grumbling about what a POS i bought. Or just need a complete refund policy of mech price. If free2play accounts are limited in how many mechs they can own in their hangar, there needs to be a way to sell unwanted mechs. Really Devs need a Q n A about the economics of MWO too.

[PoPuP]

I agree with loaning a mech out, but it just for that match and its can not be of the same type of mech the owner is taking. I think of course the person borrowing a mech has to be on your friends list.

This would be a great way for them to test drive a non-trial mech or a mech with options they can not afford yet.
of course the repairs should done before the mech is returned

PoPuP

[Sen]

Wow, long dead thread. . but one I'm glad got dredged up:

This is actually a REALLY good idea, as it'd help offset the "new player misery" that comes from having [no clue how to manage heat and weaponry] no mech of their own.

I think the repair bill should be on the owner of the mech, however. You own it, you fix it. Keeps people from getting TOO free with their hardware

[PoPuP]

is say its never dead till the close it and remove it, Some type of loaning would be for new players that have friends playing, of course renting a mech at a price is cool.