MagnusEffect, on 10 November 2011 - 10:07 PM, said:
I get what you are saying and, yeah, totally agree. Come to think of it, I remember the first time I played MW3 and was shocked when I tried to fire a big weapon fitted to the right arm of my mech. Was a huge change from MW2; **** that Gauss rifle had some kick.
It was flawed in some ways, but definitely ahead of its time.
(huge grin) I know exactly what you mean. In MW3, it "felt" like you were firing a Gauss Rifle or a PPC. I loved it.
Kudzu, on 11 November 2011 - 12:08 AM, said:
I think part of the communication problem is that some people want it to be more "realistic" to the Battletech universe and some people want it to be more "realistic" to our universe.
I would like it to be both, if possible, and I think it is. Start with the actual map of our local group, where the Inner Sphere would be, adjust for galactic motion over the next 1,038 years, and start setting up worlds. As for how things work in the BattleTech universe, well... since we don't know what's actually out there, yet, apply the BT universe as is. I know I would absolutely love it.
Odin, on 11 November 2011 - 12:56 AM, said:
Sorry to be so complicated again, any thoughts?
My thoughts are, about any sort of skill, is it should be a mixture of in-game pilot and real-world pilot skill. It has to be done that way in other games, for example Fallout 3, Oblivion, and other similar role-players, so why not here? Everyone starts out with a pilot, which has already been stated, in a 'Mech, and the pilot is of Cadet or Green quality; the player has to learn how to adjust fire and fight the controls enough to keep the 'Mech on track, which makes the player work for their game a bit. Nothin' wrong with that, in my opinion, it would all be a more natural part of the game than point-and-click, which requires absolutely zero skill at all. Piloting and Gunnery skill, tactics, etc. all come up steadily as the player does their thing, and the in-game pilot graduates up to Regular, Veteran and, eventually, Elite quality.
For the twitch-based community, the effect it would have for them would be at the lower end, potentially being frustrated by their in-game counterpart as they gain their skill. For the non-twitch community, it would most likely be seen only as a training period. On the upper end, for the twitchers, their skill would likely not be improved much, they would learn the same tactics and compensative skills everyone else does, and they would go on to play the game they want to play, except for that pesky Cone of Destruction, which has been reduced significantly due to their pilot's skill and their new compensatory skills, but remains because of the equipment, the fact they're sitting and swaying 30 feet above the ground, going over terrain, stepping on 'Mech fumbling rocks and into slimy mud-bottoms in rivers, and other terrain and weather effects that will throw them off. For the common pilot, however, the upper end would give them the opportunity, as it does in other computer games, to actually improve their real-world skills with Piloting and Gunnery, and they would have the compensative skills and the patience, and they would have the CoD, even if they personally can never get above a certain level of skill.
Voila! You know what we have, now? A MORE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD! That's what.
What does that mean? Really, if you can't figure it out, here's what it means... it means the God forsaken twitchers are going to have a more difficult time taking me, and those who are like me, down, which means I'm going to want to stick with the game longer, to grunt and sweat and swear at my computer, and giggle like I'm insane -all of which I've done in the past- and have a marvelous time. I hear a lot of people talk about artificially enhancing Piloting and Gunnery skills, that it's a bad thing, but I'm here to tell you that, according to the tabletop game rules, and even if BattleTech were real the real-world problems with driving 200+ year old computers 30+ feet in the air in wind, rain, crossfires, and terrain that can give way and throw off targeting scanners badly at 30+ kilometers per hour, disallow for point-and-click mentality. This is how and why the to-hit tables in the tactical board combat simulation game were made the way they were, why it's so hard to hit a 'Mech other than both the attacker and defender at an almost stand-still without intervening terrain, etc. This is why the Cone of Destruction and an in-game means of determining hits similar to the board game is the best way to do things, and is so necessary to MWO. Every single player of the MechWarrior series of games, including MW3, my favorite, should be required to play, even if it's 4 real-world guys versus 4 other real-world folk, a Company vs Company sized tabletop version of the game, just for even two rounds. They would figure out how things are, and how different they are in the computer game.
The excitement and anger of lining up a shot and missing because your opponent knows also how to pilot a 'Mech and was able to get out of your cross-hairs, is the most exhilarating element of the game, moreso than landing a fresh hit every single time they point-and-click.
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