276 replies to this topic

[Riptor]

Quote

I see no reason that a player can't invest in tank or infantry support which he can control the basics of movement and attack

Because the Devs allready ruled them out thats why... they allready said there will be no tanks or infantry or elementals for people to play.

They want to focus solely on mechs

What they did mentioned however is that commanders might be able to call in artillery strikes or air strikes on certain position... maybe thats to discourage campfests by long range assaults or flush out a lance that stays hidden in a city.

Edited by Riptor, 14 November 2011 - 08:08 PM.

[Amechwarrior]

Riptor, on 14 November 2011 - 07:49 PM, said:

Bigger and better equipped studios had less inovative ideas in the last couple of years.. most games are just a bunch of stolen ideas from other games custom tailored to a specific setting.

...

There wont be any bidding between clan forces to see who can get away with the lowest amount of material fielded for the rights of first strike.

Zellbriggen? Again not really an issue seeing the almost monstrous firepower and range advantage they had in the original...

Yes, range is a problem, always has been in MW games. The developers have stated wanting to correct longstanding gameplay issues. Even if they correct long range play for IS on IS, Clan weaponry will exacerbate these type of problems. The focus on more compelling urban warfare is one way. However, not every map will be a city or have large LOS blocking hills, so map layout does not entirely solve it. How would a Company of 3050 era designs beat a Star of Clanners when in any type of duel they are out-gunned, out-ranged and have no tanks or backup?

Simple, never, ever, not once, fight a duel against a Clanner. Teamplay is how your forces beat Clan factions on the TT. Combined firepower, rushing in with non dual-engaged 'mechs and turning your companies 600 tons of firepower on one 75 ton Clan 'mech. LRMs work both ways and do the same amount of damage at the same range, have a Catapult accept the duel from the Timber Wolf. Let them skirmish at LRM range while the 11 other 'mechs beeline for him. Yea, the other 4 Clan Starmates will designate and fire upon the others, but with good teamwork it can be done. Either the 4 Starmates tag 2 or 3 targets each(splitting damage over many 'mechs), or only attack one target each(leaving 6 of them to close uncontested), they just cannot combine their firepower and drop all of them before the Timber Wolf is over run. The Timber Wolf cannot run away, the retreating concepts posted deny that option as long as the catapult has some forward heading. Play to your teams strengths of numbers and combined fire, not the Clans strengths that favor long ranged duels. A IS victory would take great teamwork, a Clan victory would take great personal skill. This personifies each factions philosophy to the T.

I would actually like an IS/Clan match to favor the Clan victory over the IS. But unless the carrot of Clan salvage is big enough to overlook a stick resembling a 70% chance of losing, you will want a 50/50 win/loss split or something close to it or no one will want to go into the matchmaking cue for it. I as a Clan player, would not mind if the Clans were essentially "PvE" be it AI or developers on the other side and remained unplayable forever. But I do not think letting players play the Clans is an insurmountable balancing act.

[Marxman]

Just because the difference between Clantech and IS-tech was so devastating in CBT does not mean it cant be balanced in MWO.
Take a PPC for example.
Sure the ClanERPPC has greater range, 50% more damage, It takes up less slots, has no minimum range and weights 1 ton less. Sounds incredibly unbalanced compared to the IS PPC huh?
However those stats can be tweaked. I wouldnt make the Clan ERPPC take less slots, id give it a longer reload time, a shorter lifespan/more prone to failure/less damage resistant, higher maintanace cost and maybe a dropoff in accuracy at ranges that exceed those of the IS PPC.
In favor of the ISPPC id slightly reduce heat because IS has single heatsinks, make it more robust in terms of taking damage before failure, a very small chance of failure when fired under minimum range and maybe an option to fire it halfloaded or an overload setting. Something along those lines.
There are many posibilities to balance that out. And consider there might be different brands of PPCS with slightly different stats to fit the playstyle of player.
Of cause the clan erppc would still rule the maximumrange regime and situations were an alpha counts more than anything else, but it comes at a price ans the IS-version nwould be superior in different situations, especialy when there is hot climate, and surpressingfire is needed and so on and an overload setting might bring it to a close tie in point blank engagements. Or it could handle the shocks of meleebattle and still work afterward, if melee makes it into the game.
Similar things could be done to most if not all weapons, armor , equipment. Sure things like that have to be tested and tweaked as the need arises.

Same with Omnitech. Think MW4 for a second. In MW4 Omnimechs only have a limited amount of omnislots. That might tone down their advantage enough to balance it out. And if not there is one more thing that could make them less devastating. An omnimech only has an advantage when you have the weaponpods available in a dropship or fieldbase. So there are logistic problems to take into account wich could be integrated into the market system. Sure you have your Timberwolf sporting only erlasers bacause supplies are getting stretched in the Invasions fast pace. But now your on a planet with hot klimat and no fieldbase is close where you could switch to a different loadout.

Its certainly not an easy task to balance out all the weapons available in 3049/3050. But it can be done. And giving the IS some advantages at some ranges and implement some disadvantages into the supperior clantech might help leveling the playingfield enough to make it fun for everyone.
Because lets face it, most players wont care about bidding/Zellbriggen and numerical differences. They play to have fun and of cause to win as well. This is a war simulator, and tactics are never fair. So balance cant be left to the players it must be ingame from the start.

Edited by Marxman, 15 November 2011 - 04:15 AM.

[Captain Hat]

Me? I'd make the Clan ER PPC explode violently when hit. Make it rock the 'mech slightly when it fires, and fuzz the HUD. Increase the heat cost of shooting the thing.

Make it a deadly weapon, maybe as deadly as it is in traditional Battletech, but make it harder to use and more likely to bite your hand off than the IS version.

If the Clan 'mechs are fast-moving and hard-hitting, make them less able to take punishment and more prone to taking punishment. IS 'mechs are designed to be tough and reliable. Clan 'mechs are not usually designed to be either of those things.

Also, Clanners tend to see electronic warfare as dishonourable, so just don't let them use any.

Edited by Captain Hat, 15 November 2011 - 04:40 AM.

[Joseph Mallan]

Though your post did spark my desire to say something. My reply isn't directed at you Datum,

Datum, on 13 November 2011 - 07:30 PM, said:

*Snip*
What I wish is that they would balance their deployment or something, extremely high maintenance or something.

That would work, but the Clans don't use money.... per say. It's all in the prestige of the unit. Units like the Falcon Guard, or Clan Wolf's Gold Keshik had priority to supplies over say the 67th Battle Cluster of Gamma Galaxy(made the unit up). There is the lag time the Clans have getting resupplies fro Clan Space. However, how will Clan players react when they are Dispossessed because there are no replacements coming for months?

If we're not joining a Clan then we need to suck it up, and take our beatings like we did in the fiction. I intend on being a 10th Lyran Guard, I will be in the thick of battle with the Clans, I will be shot out of my Mech ... a lot! Stop whining about **** before it happens! The Dev's are playing the mechanics close to the chest, but are pretty much saying they are going to make the system "fun" for everyone. That's a big order to fill, and frankly improbable. I watched the ranting before DarkAge was released, I even participated a bit. I have read the posts about the Jihad, I even wrote a few (even when I was a Commando), You know what... The game is still here! It is still evolving and Still worth playing amid all the ******* and moaning Our game is still being published after 25 years.

We are getting a new Computer game after what... a decade of drought. Quit yer, belly aching and play the game when it comes out! Then decide whether you like the game mechanics or not! Remember one very important factor, If the Dev's make the game so YOU love it, they have just made it so someone else will HATE it! So Be Semper Gumbi (always flexible)!

[Nill Zenath]

I'm inclined to believe other elements of game play will take the advantages of clan tech into consideration. Just the fact that the devs want to emphasize city fighting greatly marginalizes the range advantage.

Riptor, on 14 November 2011 - 08:06 PM, said:

Because the Devs allready ruled them out thats why... they allready said there will be no tanks or infantry or elementals for people to play.

They want to focus solely on mechs

What they did mentioned however is that commanders might be able to call in artillery strikes or air strikes on certain position... maybe thats to discourage campfests by long range assaults or flush out a lance that stays hidden in a city.

They've ruled out player piloted vehicles and players running around outside their mechs... that's different than what the poster you responded to said. As you point out the devs have already said the "Commander" will be able to call in airstrikes and have other similar abilities. Airstrikes aren't just "mechs"... they're some sort of abstraction of a unit under the commanders indirect control. So how is an airstrike different than having "air craft" that sortie and then leave to refuel?-It isn't. So why can't commanders or other player have access to other minimally tangible yet impactful ability and units under their control in much the same way? For example, what if elementals or infantry were limited to they type that ride atop your mech, and used as a once per game special attack?

[garrett]

The FAQ talks about mercenary companies being this game's equivalent of guilds, which indicates that players might not be directly joining Houses or Clans. The Clans are still many months away from entering Inner Sphere space in this game's continuity so it could be some time before we find out how they will be handled.

[alaric]

Adridos, on 09 November 2011 - 09:58 AM, said:

What's so OP about the omni mechs, that you are always talking about? There isn't any gameplay difference between them and the normal battlemechs. I know they can attach, detach weapons at will, but it isn't game breaking thing and they are much more expensive than regular mechs. Tell me, why would people play just omnis?
Oh, and BTW: Sunder was introduced in 3058 and by that day, there will probably be a next game out. All the omnis are late war things as far as I know.

Clan omnimechs are vastly superior to inner sphere mechs.
they have smaller engines and lighter internal structure freeing up more space for weapons and armor and they have higher efficiency heat sinks allowing them to fire all the extra weapons. Finally their weapons are smaller/lighter as well allowing more to be placed on the mech and they have better range than inner sphere weapons.

[Riptor]

Nill Zenath, on 15 November 2011 - 05:08 AM, said:

I'm inclined to believe other elements of game play will take the advantages of clan tech into consideration. Just the fact that the devs want to emphasize city fighting greatly marginalizes the range advantage.

They've ruled out player piloted vehicles and players running around outside their mechs... that's different than what the poster you responded to said. As you point out the devs have already said the "Commander" will be able to call in airstrikes and have other similar abilities. Airstrikes aren't just "mechs"... they're some sort of abstraction of a unit under the commanders indirect control. So how is an airstrike different than having "air craft" that sortie and then leave to refuel?-It isn't. So why can't commanders or other player have access to other minimally tangible yet impactful ability and units under their control in much the same way? For example, what if elementals or infantry were limited to they type that ride atop your mech, and used as a once per game special attack?

Let me point you to the Faq?

Q. Will there be vehicular combat alongside Mechs for the players this time?

A. At the moment we are not following up with combined arms (tanks, hovercraft, jets etc.)


No combined arms... if they had said that players wont be able to pilot these machines you would have a point but the answer was explicitly "no combined arms" Huge difference there.

Furthermore the worth of AI controlled tanks in battle is questionable at best, cause again the game is made up by single matches and not long drawn out campaigns.

And about the airstrikes... so what you will have a bomber zipping in and zipping out again dropping his payload.. i doubt you will be able to intercept it before it can drop its bombs.. way to complicated for a F2P mmo. And even if.. people will simply choose to only use artillery then since that cant be intercepted.

Oh and something i mentioned in another thread:

Stop thinking only of the conquest mode.. its only one half of the game. All these suposed fixes do not work in deathmatch or team deathmatch at all.

Edited by Riptor, 15 November 2011 - 05:59 AM.

[Nill Zenath]

alaric, on 15 November 2011 - 05:37 AM, said:

Clan omnimechs are vastly superior to inner sphere mechs.
they have smaller engines and lighter internal structure freeing up more space for weapons and armor and they have higher efficiency heat sinks allowing them to fire all the extra weapons. Finally their weapons are smaller/lighter as well allowing more to be placed on the mech and they have better range than inner sphere weapons.

We've yet to see how maintainance and C-bill costs come into play... clan omni-mechs are all those things, but they're suppose to be more expensive. Not in any exact terms but a 70 ton clan omnimech is as good as a say a 80 ton standard battlemech... but it costs as much if not more as well. So while its more advantageous by weight class, it carries a cost.

The game has been implied to be built around something of a persistent leveling system with unlocked tech and abilities... it strikes me that clan tech makes for ideal late game content. It gives you new options and ways to kit out your mech in a straightforwardly better but costly way.

[Nill Zenath]

Riptor, on 15 November 2011 - 05:54 AM, said:

Let me point you to the Faq?

Q. Will there be vehicular combat alongside Mechs for the players this time?

A. At the moment we are not following up with combined arms (tanks, hovercraft, jets etc.)

No combined arms... if they had said that players wont be able to pilot these machines you would have a point but the answer was explicitly "no combined arms" Huge difference there.

Furthermore the worth of AI controlled tanks in battle is questionable at best, cause again the game is made up by single matches and not long drawn out campaigns.

And about the airstrikes... so what you will have a bomber zipping in and zipping out again dropping his payload.. i doubt you will be able to intercept it before it can drop its bombs.. way to complicated for a F2P mmo. And even if.. people will simply choose to only use artillery then since that cant be intercepted.

Oh and something i mentioned in another thread:

Stop thinking only of the conquest mode.. its only one half of the game. All these suposed fixes do not work in deathmatch or team deathmatch at all.

I never said combined arms. I never said vehicles fighting alongside mechs. I said the representation of intangible support or abilities like airstrikes representing aircraft without the physical presence of aircraft. This is how I think these other components of the tabletop game like infantry and elementals, and different aircraft should be incoporated. I specifically avoided the computer controlled tanks, because I think it crosses a particular line. Big IF, but even if the devs wanted to include tanks I would think they'd best be suited as a game balancing mechanic for drasticly miss matched groups of players or limit tanks to specific scenario driven events.

Edited by Nill Zenath, 15 November 2011 - 06:13 AM.

[Riptor]

Okay then tell me how these "skills" work out and bring the balance to be even between clans and IS.. cause im sure the clans will have their own set of skills.

Because last time i checked Elementals whiped the floor with everything ranging from infantry units to assault mechs. (if they manage to land on them that is) XD

Also i highly doubt that skills alone are going to counter the fact that a clanner can shoot you out of your cockpit before you even get into firing range. Adding a couple of skills isnt going to magically keep the clans from popping IS mechs with their superior weapons... infantry , air strikes or artillery strikes arent going to lower the damage of enemy weapons nor their range or the effency of the enemys heat sinks.

Edited by Riptor, 15 November 2011 - 06:49 AM.

[Nill Zenath]

Riptor, on 15 November 2011 - 06:45 AM, said:

Okay then tell me how these "skills" work out and bring the balance to be even between clans and IS.. cause im sure the clans will have their own set of skills.

Because last time i checked Elementals whiped the floor with everything ranging from infantry units to assault mechs. (if they manage to land on them that is) XD

Also i highly doubt that skills alone are going to counter the fact that a clanner can shoot you out of your cockpit before you even get into firing range. Adding a couple of skills isnt going to magically keep the clans from popping IS mechs with their superior weapons... infantry , air strikes or artillery strikes arent going to lower the damage of enemy weapons nor their range or the effency of the enemys heat sinks.

Now I think you're mixing things up, the discussion is on Clantech and Omnimechs not, on "clan mechwarriors". Thats a different bridge than this. I've mentioned that I think there should to be a computer controlled aid to balance drastically miss matched opponents... being Clanners or not would just be one more factor in that equation. Additionally the tabletop has a mechanism for balancing Clanners as well... generally a 5 mech Star will fight 2 Inner Sphere lances of 4. 8 on 5 is a decent enough handicap and something that could easily be managed by the servers.

Like I said something like calling Elemental might be a once per game ability, What the result of that special ability is, doesn't have to be as devestating as the more greatly suspended disbelief of the novelized fiction allows for. It could be reduced armor and speed. Like how other games have buff and debuff type abilities with durations.

The critical part of balancing clan tech is the cost. It costs more to purchase and it costs more to replace. It should also factor into the balancing mechanic for battles, if there is one.

[Riptor]

I am mixing things up?

But i wasnt the one bringing skills up in the first place.. that was you.. unintentionally maybe.

Because abillitys is just another word for ingame char skills... calling in an airstrike will be a skill just like calling in an artillery strike. Those are the abilitys of a commander type role as they described it. And those once a battle skills will not bring the balance to even out between both sides since the clans will have their own sets of skills...

Quote

The critical part of balancing clan tech is the cost. It costs more to purchase and it costs more to replace. It should also factor into the balancing mechanic for battles, if there is one.

Erm.. nope. As a clan player i will allways have a Clan mech i can play with no matter if it costs more to repair. At the end of the day i will have my superior machine to play with. All this does is slow down the players progression a bit. It does not however balance the in battle balance out or change anything about the huge imbalance between IS and Clan tech in matches.

The players will gladly take a hit to their progression if it means they can ROFLSTOMP the competition.

Quote

8 on 5 is a decent enough handicap and something that could easily be managed by the servers.

I have played megamek long enough to know that this is not nearly as equal as you make it seem to be, especialy if i field 8 IS level 1 tech mechs and you field a full star of clan mechs.. dont even need to be omnis.. IIC variants are more then enough to whipe the floor with those IS machines.

Especialy since IS level 1 has no CASE and one hit is enough to blow an entire mech to smitherins...

The field would only be even on those terms if we had broad access to IS level 2 tech.. something that only comstar really had at that time.

Edited by Riptor, 15 November 2011 - 08:07 AM.

[Nill Zenath]

Riptor, on 15 November 2011 - 08:06 AM, said:

I am mixing things up?

Yes... like I said you're discussing Clan mech warriors piloting clan battlemechs. The original topic of this thread isn't that. Its innersphere mechwarrior piloting clan battlemechs... in the form of the inclusion of that tech to the game.

Riptor said:

But i wasnt the one bringing skills up in the first place.. that was you.. unintentionally maybe.

I brought up abilities solely as way of representing vehicles and non-mechs in an indirect way. What that has do with Clan mechwarriors is beyond me.

Riptor said:

Because abillitys is just another word for ingame char skills... calling in an airstrike will be a skill just like calling in an artillery strike. Those are the abilitys of a commander type role as they described it. And those once a battle skills will not bring the balance to even out between both sides since the clans will have their own sets of skills...

Are they character skill or are they tied to level specific and class specific equipment, who knows? Airstrike versus artillery strike would realistically have different angle of attacks and time delay between order and attack. Balancing the IS and Clan abilities, I imagine to be a case of degree and duration. Some can be used often but to less effect and vice versa. The game developers have the advantage, since this is a reboot, to rewrite what resources are immediately available to a given faction in this specific theater of war. It isn't as if, just because some vehicle or mech was availble in a tech manual in a given era, it would be available to everyone in every theater of combat and to the same degree.

Riptor said:

Erm.. nope. As a clan player i will allways have a Clan mech i can play with no matter if it costs more to repair. At the end of the day i will have my superior machine to play with. All this does is slow down the players progression a bit. It does not however balance the in battle balance out or change anything about the huge imbalance between IS and Clan tech in matches.

And yet just because you always have a Clan mech doesn't mean it'd be 100% fully operational all the time...but like I said I was speaking of IS mechwarriors piloting clan battlemechs not clan warriors.

Riptor said:

The players will gladly take a hit to their progression if it means they can ROFLSTOMP the competition.

Feel free to ROFLSTOMP to you hearts delight, but it seems to me no one deserves bragging rights if its just because of game imbalance that they're winning. Its a failure of game design and while it isn't cheating its karmically the same on the recieving end.

I don't know where you're getting this "hit to progression" as a basis for playing clan. It could be more or less significant. If you want to really "play clan," I think the more setting appropriate approach is one where Clan mechwarriors can't just buy whatever battlemech they want. Have in game a relatively fixed number of assault and heavy mechs relative to the player popultaion, and you have to fight a trial of position to pilot anything better than a light or medium battlemech.

[KingCobra]

Personally i would have done it in reverse and made it all about the Clans and omni tech and used the innersphere for cannon fodder on my march to earth (loll) much more of a great story line.

[BLeeD]

Ok First , This game can support clan Mechs and Probable will at some point. It really depends on how they set this game up. If they follow the world of tanks format : you will be able to have 4 or 5 mechs at any one given time. You start with bad lights and work your way up to Assult mechs in any given Line. Just like in world of tanks you have a German , Russian , American lines of tanks you can follow. You can follow mulitple lines at once ie can have some american tanks , russian and german in your line up at the same time.

Each tank you fight in gets you exp points and money untell you gain enough to purchase the next series of tanks in the Line your following. Each line is different has its advantages and disadvantages of course. And then there are Pay to Play Tanks these are top tier tanks that you can purchase with credits you purchase from the game site. These tanks usually earn alot more money and allow you to battle in high lvl tanks with out leveling up the free way. But the Pay to play are not the top tier tanks the top tier tanks you still have to lvl up to get to.

It works because they have a game organizer as part of the pregame when you go into the que mode. the game organizer trys to match up each tank in its tier for an equal partner for the opposite team. Low tier tanks fight against lower tier tanks and you work your way up. For the most part this system works fairly well. It only sucks when you get to the point of leveling where you are still in that middle tier groups and have to fight the upper tier groups and you get 1 shotted and you don't do much damage to them or any at all.




BLeeD {D.o.C) we still live in your nightmares .

Edited by BLeeD, 15 November 2011 - 09:45 AM.

[Kudzu]

garrett, on 15 November 2011 - 05:17 AM, said:

The FAQ talks about mercenary companies being this game's equivalent of guilds, which indicates that players might not be directly joining Houses or Clans. The Clans are still many months away from entering Inner Sphere space in this game's continuity so it could be some time before we find out how they will be handled.

From the interview it sounded more like you pick a faction and belong to it forever with merc companies are just a fluffy way of saying you belong to a guild. Much like if you join the Horde in WoW, then join a guild you don't stop being a member of the Horde.

Riptor, on 15 November 2011 - 06:45 AM, said:

Also i highly doubt that skills alone are going to counter the fact that a clanner can shoot you out of your cockpit before you even get into firing range. Adding a couple of skills isnt going to magically keep the clans from popping IS mechs with their superior weapons... infantry , air strikes or artillery strikes arent going to lower the damage of enemy weapons nor their range or the effency of the enemys heat sinks.

Skills might not but the moving away from flat open maps takes away a big part of the clan advantage. City fights in particular disfavor the clans.

Riptor, on 15 November 2011 - 08:06 AM, said:

Erm.. nope. As a clan player i will allways have a Clan mech i can play with no matter if it costs more to repair. At the end of the day i will have my superior machine to play with. All this does is slow down the players progression a bit. It does not however balance the in battle balance out or change anything about the huge imbalance between IS and Clan tech in matches.

Numbers and good teamwork do, though.

Quote

I have played megamek long enough to know that this is not nearly as equal as you make it seem to be, especialy if i field 8 IS level 1 tech mechs and you field a full star of clan mechs.. dont even need to be omnis.. IIC variants are more then enough to whipe the floor with those IS machines.
The field would only be even on those terms if we had broad access to IS level 2 tech.. something that only comstar really had at that time.

First, it's really hard to match 8 lvl 1 mechs to 5 clan mechs unless you're using 8 assualts vs 5 lights. 12-16 is much more realistic. Secondly, What in the world makes you think that you'd be forced to used lvl 1 tech when lvl 2 is much more common in 3050 than most people think fluff-wise, and game wise people will have a year or so to procure the lvl 2 designs which hold up much better against clan gear while still keeping the numerical advantage.

[Riptor]

Please point me to the the F2P match based competitive multyplayer game that gives one side superior equipment and the other side the bigger player number?

There is not a single game that would go that route and for a good reason: It is not profitable and inbalanced...

Having unequal numbers means someone somewhere has to wait longer for his game to start, and as a Dev you dont want that.

Also it would totaly ***** over lance composition if an IS player captured a clan mech or salvaged some clan tech and put it in his IS mech.

You cannot take 20 Tiger tanks and expet to even put a dent into 5 Abraham battle tanks.

Also your "numbers vs. equipment" does (again) not hold up in the other two announced game modes, team deathmatch (that i GUESS will work like what we have in WoT currently.. everyone just randomly assigned to teams and then go to town) and free for all deathmatch.

You have to consider all available modes when you want to balance things not only conquest.

Quote

used lvl 1 tech when lvl 2 is much more common in 3050 than most people think fluff-wise

The big masses of military forces where still using the level 1 teach designs simply because the factorys couldnt keep up with the demand, so yeah.. level 2 teach existed but it was pretty much only the houses elite forces and comstar who had it... not mercs working for the houses.

[Kudzu]

Riptor, on 15 November 2011 - 07:11 PM, said:

Please point me to the the F2P match based competitive multyplayer game that gives one side superior equipment and the other side the bigger player number?
There is not a single game that would go that route and for a good reason: It is not profitable and inbalanced...

http://bg.battletech.com/ -- the game
http://banshee.mekwars.net/mwtracker-- F2P, match based competitive multiplayer game

You know, the game this one is based on.

Quote

Having unequal numbers means someone somewhere has to wait longer for his game to start, and as a Dev you dont want that.

Someone is always going to have to wait, how long they wait is the question.

Quote

Also it would totaly ***** over lance composition if an IS player captured a clan mech or salvaged some clan tech and put it in his IS mech.

Several points here:
1. If games are based on a bv system it changes nothing.
2. Assumes salvage when it has not been mentioned by the devs.
3. Assumes modifying the weapons on our units when the FAQ seems to indicate that we won't be able to.

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You cannot take 20 Tiger tanks and expet to even put a dent into 5 Abraham battle tanks.

In Battletech as long as you hit you do damage, no bouncing shots off of armor that is too thick.

Quote

Also your "numbers vs. equipment" does (again) not hold up in the other two announced game modes, team deathmatch (that i GUESS will work like what we have in WoT currently.. everyone just randomly assigned to teams and then go to town) and free for all deathmatch.
You have to consider all available modes when you want to balance things not only conquest.

Who says that pug games won't be purely IS vs IS and clan vs clan? Having clan vs IS in conquer only would actually be better IMO.

Quote

The big masses of military forces where still using the level 1 teach designs simply because the factorys couldnt keep up with the demand, so yeah.. level 2 teach existed but it was pretty much only the houses elite forces and comstar who had it... not mercs working for the houses.

I'm not completely sold on the fact that we'll be playing as mercs, since the answers we've seen so are are that we pick a house at character creation and "merc companies" are just a different way of saying "guilds".