Well, first I'd simply like to state that I like the idea of exploring limits with hardpoints to keep the Mechwarrior setting as believable as it can be within this game's context.
For example, I still find it funny to see PPC's being fired from different mechs that originally had lasers, compared to how the specific Awesomes and the CPLT-K2 being modeled to have big cannons if they had PPC's originally. And seeing a 9M running around with lasers (especially SLs or SPLs) firing from those same cannons is equally as funny for me to see.
So as we have had Auto Cannons have some minor tweaks, where different ballistics have different barrels, I say the same should eventually be done with PPC's and Lasers (if it's not currently being worked on). This combined with soft limits to make believable loadouts and have that reflected in the Mech models would be where hardpoint restrictions should build from, where we can still customize in most cases where it is believable.
Therefore for me at least, balance between weapons is still a separate and very important aspect for gameplay, which definitely needs to keep all weapons viable compared to each other. I'm glad that this is getting addressed albeit slower than what many of us would prefer, I look forward to the next patch to see what's in store.
MustrumRidcully, on 23 June 2013 - 11:52 PM, said:
How does this system address these mechs:
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Thunder_Hawk (3 Gauss Rifles)
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Warhawk (4 ER PPCs)
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Annihilator (4 LBX-10)
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What kind of customization is left if you limit hard point sizes?
How do you distinguish the 3 Missile Boat Catapults meaningful?
One fundamental problem you can easily run into:
If you cannot upgrade a weapon to a larger size variant of that type, what is the point of downgrading another weapon to a smaller size? You can't use the crit slots o weight freed by downgrading for another weapon.
So you basically end up switching between very, very few weapon options.
Basically "Do I use PPCs or ER PPCs? Do I use Medium Lasers or Pulse Lasers?"
This sounds boring to me.
The problem with all the boating is based on pinpoint precision. You fire all your weapons together, all hit the same spot.
Deal with convergence. Or deal with being able to fire all weapons together.
Then you don't need to worry so much about everyone running around with a boat. Some will still do it, but they have no clear advantage over those that don't.
So I figure that we need to have multifaceted approach to improving this game anyway.
If those mechs are introduced into this game, then they need to be addressed through the weapons balancing we will be testing with, and with how they are modeled, scaled and tuned as with existing mechs (Stalkers need to be looked at in particular, [and I wonder how they did in the Tourney? compared to other Assaults, but that's for another thread]).
There are also other ways those three could be brought into this game where they could be made to have specific weaknesses in performance and design of their hitbox sizes (the Thunder Hawk is rockin' an XL afterall, and the Annihilator would be super sluggish with the STD 200 and would seem to have a low limit for it's Engine also).
So for me at least, as I mentioned earlier, hard points limits should take the approach of keeping mech loadouts believable to how mechs look, and when necessary to bring a more balanced approach in how mechs are set up (such as Stalkers taking the field as a boat platform, when maybe they shouldn't be able to do so as effectively as they currently can). And a possible benefit with hardpoint limits maybe with lowering the number of LRM's being fired in a single volley by a single mech yet still keep LRM's viable but not too powerful, as PGI keeps trying to balance them against other weapons.
I'm not sure that I understand your question about the Catapults, so I won't try addressing it.
At any rate, I like the idea of keeping each and every single mech to the same Heat Capacity at a default that won't increase or decrease.
One value I've seen suggested is keep it at 30 (I guess that was TT value?), which would be fine with me. So that this way, weapon heat and then heat dissipation would be where the focus should go to, along with damage being done to our mechs if we fire to Shutdown, Power back up and then Shutdown again and so on, not only taking damage when we Override. Heat Sinks would still modify heat dissipation, so that weapons can be chain fired and so on.
But I still figure that there is a place for hardpoint limits in MWO also if only to make balancing a tad easier, since there would be fewer builds that can excessively abuse what PGI is trying to do in the first place.
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