162 replies to this topic

[EvereadyGold]

Ill say this, on mw4 I was a HOUA (heat on unlimited ammo) player, but I did get a lot of FFP HOLA experience from MWLL which if you can run I would recommend playing,

[Soviet Alex]

First Rule of Mecha Club: ask away. There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

Second Rule of Mecha Club: knowing the game-universe background inside-out won't make you a better pilot. Sourcebooks won't stop PPC blasts.

Third Rule of Mecha Club: have fun. Lots of fun.

[Enaris]

The thing that I've seen that most tends to "set off" the experts comes from the timeline.

For better or for worse, the Devs have put this game "earlier" than any MW game since MW1. That means that mechs and technology that many people are used to from MW2-4 are not in this game... yet.

That's important because the game canon has a fairly extensive turnover in technology over the course of time. You can break it into at least 4 "generations" of technology.

3025 Tech- This is the tech that was built into the original tabletop game. It's standard issue stuff. Your starter mechs in this game are built to this standard.
3048(ish) Recovered Star League Tech- The timeline is a bit iffy at that this point, but in this era, a number of improvements from 3025 tech start to work themselves in. Gauss Rifles, Endo Steel construction, Double Heat Sinks are just a few examples of this tech. I say the date is a bit vague, because it's slowly working its way out to line units in 3048. The game does include this tech, but it seems to be behind some kind of unlock (perhaps as you get Faction Points, it's unclear)
Clan Tech- The Clans are separate from Inner Sphere tech, and their improvements are generally similiar to Recovered Star League, but better still. Many players from MW2-4 remember Clan mechs and tech fondly. How they'll work in game when they appear in a year or so is unclear.
3065ish- Newtech. I'll be honest, I dropped out of things before this came out, so I'm honestly not clear what all is in there. Unlikely to show up in game for a good 10-15 years, so I have time to figure it out


Anyway, what ends up happening is alot of the old salts tend to get testy when people are trying to "jump the gun" on the new generations of tech (asking for Timber Wolves, or Clan ER PPC or whatever). That seems to be the main thing that gets under their skin.

Edited by Enaris, 09 June 2012 - 03:54 PM.

[Davers]

The only thing you really need to learn is the weapon systems, and how they work in game. So you will be on somewhat even footing with everyone else, since no one really knows those answers yet.

All the Houses and factions and politics will only be as important as you choose to make it.

[Aelos03]

Fear? i don't think so its more like admiration and i hope too se many of them in game because better the opponents better player i will become, so i look forward to see these experts on field but generally i think no one should fear to ask questions, feel free to ask them because no one is born with knowledge and i think they will gladly pass it.

[Blu C]

Enaris, on 09 June 2012 - 03:53 PM, said:

3065ish- Newtech. I'll be honest, I dropped out of things before this came out, so I'm honestly not clear what all is in there. Unlikely to show up in game for a good 10-15 years, so I have time to figure it out

You misspelt Munchtech.

Because of the power creep issue you ended up getting things like HAGs and other insane weapon ideas. Not all of it is bad (I quite like the newer PPC's for instance) but some of it is just insane. Again, I refer you back to the HAGs.

[LethalMezzle]

Alizabeth Aijou, on 09 June 2012 - 05:46 AM, said:

It's still a new game, and as such everyone needs to get adjusted to the specifics.

Agreed but those with more experience with simulation games and obviously previous MechWarrior titles are still going to have the edge.

I probably won't have a problem with being new so long as everyone's being helpful and polite. It's when people yell at you for being new that really starts to grate - I've run into a lot of unpleasant people in Super Monday Night Combat, for example.

Although this community as a whole seems pretty welcoming, so maybe I won't have much to worry about.

[Forscythe]

Dont fear experts. Most people who have been around to have a good history of the game are fairly mature in their old age(as the games been around for quite some time.) If that fails you then be humble every knowitall loves to be right and with limited Battletech knowledge it is a different kind of battle trying to gain the upper hand of a Battletech one upper. If you know you are correct another Battletech expert will come to your defense and if all else fails change the subject to the Obama and get the thread locked.

[cinco]

textbook case of projecting. kind of sad. if you're afraid of people on the internet, i can't imagine how frightened you must be when leaving the house!

[Insidious Johnson]

Nah, fear not, people who posted threads like the "MW4 ruined a generation of mech players" are still suffering from Post Traumatic Cornholing Syndrome and are historically no threat anywhere but on a forum.

[Pht]

yngvef, on 09 June 2012 - 04:22 AM, said:

My point is: I hope we casual Battletech-fans, or even just "big-robot"-fans are welcome, despite not being able to recite the entire line of succesion in House Steiner.

Yes, you're certainly welcome.

You might take a gander at this: http://mwomercs.com/...y-an-education/ ; I wrote it up for people who didn't know very much about 'mechs.

... and you don't even have to read it all at once.

[Leanansidhe]

On MW4 [Generalization upcoming] i dont think most peaple who say it ruined the game exactly mean what it sounds like. See most of them probably played the game, and likely play it now and again still. What it usualy means is that MW4 dos not have much in common with the source material. Its not bad, even fun as a game it just isent much of a battletech game.

And you know most "Experts" still play mechs basedoff "because i like it" witch is almost the same as "because it looks cool"

[GaussDragon]

Insidious Johnson, on 09 June 2012 - 06:52 PM, said:

Nah, fear not, people who posted threads like the "MW4 ruined a generation of mech players" are still suffering from Post Traumatic Cornholing Syndrome and are historically no threat anywhere but on a forum.

[Kid Weeb]

As someone who is very familiar with the lore of BattleTech/MechWarrior, welcome to the MWO forums. I've been an uber-fan since I picked up my first BattleTech novel back in the late 80's. I own all the novels and a large majority of the sourcebooks. I have played the tabletop game for a while. However, I am a newbie to PC gaming. I don't really think that my knowledge of House Davion, for example, will help me one bit when it comes to piloting and fighting. My knowledge of the various Mechs and weaponry will probably just let me know what is about to kill me. So don't get too caught up in worrying about the lore unless you like that sort of thing. If you are interested in a summary and some background of the BattleTech/MechWarrior universe, I suggest going to:

http://bg.battletech.com/

This site will give you a summary of the different factions (House Steiner, the Clans, etc.) along with some other pertinent stuff. It has info that is set before, during and after the timeline of MWO. The timeline of MWO is set in 3049.

Another site to check out is:

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

This site has a ton of information on the BattleTech universe. Check out the weapons category.

If possible, get yourself copies of three Technical Readouts: 3025, 3039 and 3050. These will have the BattleMechs that are available in the BattleTech universe. So far, there are 13 Mechs announced for inclusion in the game:

Commando, Jenner, Raven, Cicada, Centurion, Hunchback, Trebuchet, Dragon, Catapult, Cataphract, Awesome, Stalker and Atlas.

Other than that, just have fun with the game. Good hunting.

[Adrienne Vorton]

well mechwarrior 4 was not so much a bad game...(mw4:mercs still a good game) the only big problems "we" have is, that microsoft bought the rights and started creating their own stuff without any respect for what had been growing over many years, to some universe with a big fanbase. It was like someone would buy the rights on star wars and make luke skywalker a big muscled guy who runs around rambo style with two huge tubolaser machineguns and r2d2´d be his robocop2 lookalike companion...

ppl new to starwas would probably not have so much of a problem with that^^

and since microsoft owned the rights on most of the classic stuff, the game companies started to create some weird adaptions of battletech, like dark age and what ever, which destroyed the picture of BattleTech Universe in many many fan heads...

but we welcome everyone new to BattleTech/ MechWarrior, no matter which game brought him here as long as you are willing to look deeper in it, and show real interest to all of it...and if not..well, just enjoy it anyway

Edited by Adrienne Vorton, 23 June 2012 - 02:43 AM.

[Weird Beard]

Leanansidhe hit the nail on the head. MW4 wasn't truly MW anymore. Not that the game itself was bad but this community want to play MW based on the TT rules. To deride those who dont like MW4 is to be ignorant of their reasons. If you ever played MW 2 or 3, you should see right away why. After MS got their hands on the franchise (during Mech Commander) it really suffered. To date, my favourite MW game is MW2: Mercenaries.

As for the clan tech, many dont like it because of the sheer difference it makes to gameplay and what those differences take away. To me, clan tech removed a lot of what made BT what it was: You stopped having to worry about heat (a very important tactical aspect) unless you designed your omnimech poorly. Designing mechs also became so much easier. 3025 tech was cool because you really had to think about your designs in order to make them effective.

Edited horrible grammer. Still not great but easier to read

Edited by Weird Beard, 23 June 2012 - 02:45 AM.

[GaussDragon]

Weird Beard, on 23 June 2012 - 02:41 AM, said:

To deride those who dont like MW4 is to be ignorant of their reasons.

This goes two ways. A lot of the people who disliked MW4 were derisive of those who did.

[XxZylonxX]

I think your worries are coming out of nowhere.
This forum has been quite friendly and welcoming to newcomers.

Maybe its just you feeling your overwhelmed by all that Mechlove.

[Myshal]

Aegis Kleais, on 09 June 2012 - 05:34 AM, said:

So in other words, you're aware of the truth in the statement, you just choose not to partake of its wisdom.

I guess I'm lucky. The Wolf is a mean contender at all ranges and looks damn good doing it!

To be honest, after many IS technological advances in the BT universe. Many mechs saw upgrades, role changes and flexibility. If you choose your mech based on how it looks, then find a way to arm it and use it in an effective role. There are always tweaks that can be made and ways a mech can fill a role better, but ultimately the choices are the Mechwarriors themselves. Ever since I learned all the rules for changing mechs in the mechbay for TT, I have altered variants to suit my play style and their roles. For example; the Hollander (BZK-F3) is a 35 ton mech with one weapon system. A Gauss rifle. However, I would upgrade to an xl engine, endo steel, dbl heat sinks in the engine and use the extra tonnage created for a TAG system and Null Signature system. Takes a scout mech and makes it very dangerous with onboard or offboard artillery (Arrow IV missiles ).

[StandingCow]

As someone that doesn't know the MW/BT universe all that well... the community is generally friendly enough that someone will kindly point out your error. Or I will mention before I state something that I don't know that much about the universe.

Tell you what though, you will quickly learn, and before long you will be an expert.