7 replies to this topic

[Treye Snow]

So much chatter about how Clan Tech/mechs are going to be extremely overpowered and exclusive or how teams are going to be shortened to 12 IS and maybe 6 Clan mechs for balance..

Yeah, this is where TT fans need to remember they're playing a shooter, not a Sim based on lore.


I know exactly how they're going to balance Clan tech. Ready for this?

They're not.


Now before you have an ammo explosion in your cockpit, hear me out.

I personally am waiting for a Timberwolf. 75 tons of badassery, guns blazing and kill ticks on my side torso, but going through all the TT stats and loadouts I'm thinking to myself. "Man, if I'm going up against the mechs in today's game, I could easily take out an entire team single-handedly" and then it hit me. How DO you balance that in a shooter MMO? You can't give someone a massively powerful mech/class and expect it to be exclusive (SWG M Swordsman/M Force/ M Def anyone?)

So here's how you do it and not cause mass pilot ejections into the orbit of RAGE.

Clan Mechs should have the same hardpoints, same engine cap, and same tonnage. Clan Teh should be IDENTICAL IN STATS to IS versions.

That Clan ERPPC? Yeah no. You just shoot pretty purple lightning. That's your Clan Tech.

"BUT TERRIBAD, CLAN TECH IS LIGHTER N STUFF AND BUILDS WONT WORK THE SAME"
Quiet you, I'm not done. This is where TT needs to die, and die hard. If you want clan stuff, it needs to be fair to EVERYONE ELSE. I don't give a space rat's *** if in lore it weighs 5 tons less and does 5 points more damage. That doesn't work in a Shooter. Just like if the King Crab makes it into the game, just because in TT it has twin AC/20's, doesn't frickin mean you should be able to use it here.

TLDR: Clan Tech and Mechs should be a cosmetic choice. If you want your superior Timberwolf to be better than everyone else's mech, you're playing the wrong game.

[Novakaine]

There are no Clans.
The Clans are a myth.
The Clans do not exist.
You have been warned.
FedCom MilSec

[Iskareot]

The only good news from this is that they are separating CLAN play and PUG play. You will end up having a choice. Lobby form or some type of choice mechanic. Imagine if the clans could just join a pug and flat out just roll them for no reason. Making the pugs mad and the clan overpowered in stats and what fun would that be? I mean even a Dev is logical... that's like letting a Pro Football team with Comms take on a 8th grade football team... even they know how bad that would be.

[FupDup]

My comments:

1. The Mad Cat/Timber Wolf will not be an issue if PGI continues down their current road of bad hitboxes. That thing will have a triple-whammy of a huge head (Catapult style or worse), huge CT (also Catapult-like), and even huge side torsos to boot (those ears mean that you won't be able to twist to deflect damage worth a damn). I might even go so far as to declare the Mad KItty dead on arrival. All of the power creep technology in the world won't be able to save it from PGI's modeling department.


2. Instead of making Clan stuff weigh the same as IS stuff, I believe that we could use a "sidegrades" system. For instance, a Clan Gauss Rifle might weigh less and take up fewer slots, but perhaps it could have even more fatal explosions and a slower RoF than the Inner Sphere Gauss. Perhaps Clan lasers could have longer beam durations. Perhaps Clan missiles could have slower locks or lower agility (can't turn as fast or drastically, etc.) or something. Clan dubs could stay at 1.4 and Inner Sphere dubs could be bumped up to 2.0. You get the idea.

Edited by FupDup, 17 August 2013 - 06:38 PM.

[Zakie Chan]

I liked the idea of 3 lances vs 2 stars. Give them their fancy clan tech and give us a slight mech advantage.

I YLW people all day long, everyday since closed beta. 6 PPC Stalkers, 4 PPC/Gauss Misery's, Streakboats, 90 alpha Splatcats, Gauss K2's. Ive played against the crazy builds. It didnt stop me then and Clan Tech wont stop me now

Yolowang scoff's at the canister borns attempts!

Edited by Zakie Chan, 17 August 2013 - 06:43 PM.

[Stoicblitzer]

i pretty much ignore any thread about Clans, TT, or Lore. we don't even have hit registration and people wanna talk about Clans. get with the program, people.

[CyclonerM]

In the other thread about Clan tech balance pointed out the right solution IMO.
The Canon way!
Omni-mechs and Clan tech have many advantages,it is right , but also big limitations. In the canon, Omnimechs have a hard-wired structure and internals, so you can easily replace weapon pods but to change internal structure,criticals locations, engine,armor,,etc. you need to completely redesign the whole chassis.
As someone stated:
IS BattleMechs: limitate weapons changes,possibility to change the internals ecc.
Clan Omni: easy weapons loadout changemetns, no possibility to change structure,engine,armor..

[Lord Ikka]

The fact is that PGI will not change the weight of Clantech to make it equal to IS. Due to their desire to stay true to TT Mech specs (a good thing in this case) weight will not change. What made the Clans extremely powerful in TT was both their pilots' skill (targeting and such), and the fact that Clan weapons/heatsinks are better.

Of the two, pilot skill is a wash- the only real advantage I can see PGI putting into place is having Clan Mechs able to target enemies further away than IS. While an advantage, not an insurmountable or overpowered one.

On to weapons and heatsinks. This is the big sticking point. Clan weapons, on the whole, fire longer and hit harder. Lasers are all extended range models (while having less of a heat penalty than IS ER versions), Clan ER PPCs do more damage at further ranges than IS ER PPCS, and Clan LRMs have no minimum range. Add that to the fact that Clan DHS cost one less critical space than IS and you have what may be an large advantage to Clan pilots. I cannot speculate how PGI will balance this, but I have a feeling that no matter what Clan OmniMechs will have an advantage one-on-one with IS Mechs (As they should!). Clantech is more advanced, so it should be a little better. I don't think that everyone needs to swap to Clan, and I think there will be some IS advantages that people don't think about that will help.

Right now the IS Mechs retain the Clan OmniMechs' ability to easily swap out weaponry while having the ability to upgrade their internal structure, engine, and armor. Clan Omnis should not have that ability- having permanent engines, armor, and structure. While most Clan OmniMechs already have Endo-Steel/Ferro-Fibrous and all have XL engines, the IS ability to switch that up is a advantage. Less than the weaponry one, but still helpful. Means that the Clans will not be able to make their Mechs faster/slower than they are from stock. Tactically, this is a major help. Clan Mechs are very "middle-ground" for speed generally. IS Mechs will be able to put in faster engines and use speed to help out in out maneuvering the Clans, or drop speed and pile on more weapons to try to equal out the Clan advantage there.