25 replies to this topic

[Ted Wayz]

Never liked them in the TT, and I don't see the point of them now. But then I would love it if peeps would enlighten me so that I would have a reason to give PGI another $30.

[Flying Blind]

If you don't like them, you don't like them. Nothing wrong with that. Eventually you will be able to buy them with cbills.

I like them both. I think I'm going to like the griffin best though.
Yes, if you loose your right torso you are boned but you have a gigantic left arm to be your shield. I have been running a treb with 2 ERLL and 2 srm6 lately and it has been a lot of fun. I think this mech could do some similar stuff and probably do it better.

There's just no way to know yet if the mech will be good, but I love the design, am intrigued by the play style it implies to be good for, and I used to like it in TT back in the days before I got my first TRO and was just using the standard mechs from the starter box.

Tldr; I don't know if it will be any good, but it looks great and should be fun. That is good enough for me, I bought it.

Edited by Flying Blind, 30 August 2013 - 06:56 PM.

[Angel of Annihilation]

Honestly while I am a huge advocate of the Overlord Package, I am really on the Fence about the Saber package.

First, I already have 3 hero mechs and 1 Founders mech. Additionally, with the Overlord package I am going to be getting 4 more mechs to use as C-bill grinders. That being the case, I have to start asking myself just how many C-bill grinders do I really need.

Second, I have noticed that even when I am running a bit short of C-bills, I have a tendency to want to play my favorite variants rather than immediately que up one of my Hero mechs. Therefore I have to ask myself what is the point of having more mechs with C-bill bonuses is if I am going to perfer playing standard variants anyway and not use the bonus enhanced mechs.

Third, I am not 100% sold on the viability of the Saber mechs, at least the variants with the bonus so I have to ask myself am I even going to play them especially since like I mention, I will already have 8 mechs with C-bill bonuses to chose from.

So what it comes down to is that unless I am going to be playing the Phoenix variant of the Wolverine or Griffin often, all that I am doing is buying mechs for MC, something I could do with or without them being part of a package and I could pick and chose the variants I wanted.

However, on the other hand, the mech bays alone would cost me 1800 MC which is roughly $10. Plus, it will take me roughly 60 hours of playing the game to earn the 6 variants the hard way at our current rate of reward anyway. Honestly the mech value of around 30 million C-bills alone is probably equal the amount extra I would earn from 2 months of running premium at $10 a month so that along is roughly a $30 value not counting the saved time. Also they are collectors items if that has any meaning to you. Also if you are going to us them to increase your C-bill return, they are a pretty good value. Lastly, you do get early access to them with the package, as much as 3 months early access to the Wolverine which does release till March 2014.

Of final note I have to ask myself one last question, when does it stop? If I buy the Saber package, how long is it going to be until the next one. In October do they offer another package with the Reseen verisons of the Marauder, Warhammer, Wasp, Stinger and others, the ones I REALLY want? Or how about a Clan Package in December? Do I just buy them all or do I stop, wait and see.

Anyway, like I said, I am seriously on the fence.

Edited by Viktor Drake, 30 August 2013 - 10:53 PM.

[IceLom]

I agree with most of what Viktor said.

For me it comes down to the fact I do not really like medium mechs... if it came with some more premium time or something else tangible i might think about it.

Lastly again agreeing with viktor, I am going to save my $30 for a package i really want containing stuff i really want since clearly there are going to be lots and lots of packages to come and i wont be able to afford them all.

[One Medic Army]

If it was $15 for the Wolverine, I'd do it.
The griffin...
When you investigate the variants you find out the stock armaments, which are pretty lame.
PPC(RA), LRM10(RT)
LL+ML+ML(RA), LRM5(LT)
ERPPC(RA), LRM20(RT), SL(LT)

Only one variant gets hardpoints in more than 2 sections.

At least with the Wolverine there's the 7K:
LPL+SPL(RA), SRM6 (RT), MPL(H), SRM6(LT)
Plus the other 2 aren't quite as bad as the Griffins, they at least get a head laser to go with arm+torso setup.

[Corvus Antaka]

medium with ballistics in the arm and jumpjets is what sold me

[Anjian]

A Reseen package with Marauder, Warhammer, etc,. is quite unlikely. If they were willing, they would have done it already. A Clan mech package however, remains quite possible.

[Dimestore]

A tough call, yes. The big temptation for me is the loyalty bonus on the Phoenix variants. That combined with the early release means that they will help me get a jump on building my faction loyalty as soon as that is enabled.

[Khobai]

IMO, the Saber pack shouldve been a freebie for anyone who bought a phoenix pack. Quite frankly PGI needed the good press after the 3PV incident and that wouldve been a perfect way to show the players they were sorry.

I dont even think theyd lose any money doing that, because youd still have to buy at least a $20 phoenix pack, and right now no one I know even wants the saber pack because its a bunch of gimped mediums theyre charging a premium price for.

[Kanatta Jing]

PGI is thinking of placing the weight limit for 2 person drops as 125 tons. It may well be adjusted upward, but it is the number they are starting with.

This would make dual drops of Shadow Hawks, Griffons and Wolverines advantageous, as they share mobility (81 kph and JJ) and combined have a wildly varied weapon profile.

[SgtMagor]

agreed, once drop weight limits are set, medium mechs should be the go to stompy bots, with the mix of speed, mobility, and a somewhat decent load out Shawk, Wolverine, Griffin will be worth their weight in C-bills!

Edited by SgtMagor, 31 August 2013 - 04:50 AM.

[WildeKarde]

Have to agree with the points Viktor made - pretty much how I feel about the saber pack.

I like the wolverine, bit unsure on the griffin's viability ingame due to weapon locations. On that basis I probably wouldn't buy but I can see how the pack saves all that time grinding to get them. If I wanted the mechs as a cbills purchase then it would take a fair amount of time to earn their value, a lot longer than the actual $30 to buy the pack.

TBH if it had been a heavy and a medium then I might have just went for it. Having seen the technical readout they actually had for project phoenix they had other options than double mediums.

And saving the money might be better for the next pack.

[ShadowbaneX]

Khobai, on 31 August 2013 - 02:00 AM, said:

IMO, the Saber pack shouldve been a freebie for anyone who bought a phoenix pack. Quite frankly PGI needed the good press after the 3PV incident and that wouldve been a perfect way to show the players they were sorry.

That might have been a great way of alienating even more people, especially those that had demanded refunds for their Phoenix packs once 3PV dropped. If it was free for anyone that had already ordered and then cost $30 for anyone new who bought in, well, that might have been better.

Then again, it's the internet and I would have lmao at the rage of those people that had missed out on the free stuff.

[Carrioncrows]

I took the long road when it came to this decision.

But here is a quick overview of the shortroad:

30.00 (well 29.99) gets you 6,500 MC.

30 bucks from the saber package gets me =
x6 Mech bays - 300 a piece - 1,800 MC
x2 Hero mechs(because that's what they are!) - 4125 a piece - 8250 MC
x4 Mech Variants -around 1800 a piece - 7,200 MC

Total = 17,250 MC worth of mechs and bays.

That's a little over 75 bucks worth of "Shtuff" that I got for 30 bucks.

Ok here is the long road.

After nearly a year of playing this game I came to the conclusion, what comes around goes around.

Things change.

Early on I sold and bought mechs like daily. Mechs I hated and didn't like I ended up buying again and like a month or two later when a balancing pass made that mech enjoyable. I am now actively up to 48 mech bays, and I try never to sell a mech if at all possible.

Why? Because some new balance pass, or some new weapon or tweak will get me thinking. "MMMMmmmm....WHAT IF!?!"

What if, is the reason I love tinkering in the mechbay and almost half of the driving force behind my enjoyment of MWO. So yeah the Wolvie and griffin don't look great on paper right now but that doesn't mean they won't be amazing once we see the whole chessboard.

Already i am looking at builds and tinkering with what they can do or what they might excel at.

But one of the bigest incentives is that we get them on Dec. 15 instead of in March and April of next year. You know how bat XXXX crazy it would drive me to see someone else in a chassis that I couldn't (not didn't, but couldn't) get yet?

So 30 bucks? That's dinner and a movie. I can give up a dinner and movie this month.

Cha-Ching!

[Khobai]

Quote

30.00 (well 29.99) gets you 6,500 MC.
30 bucks from the saber package gets me =
x6 Mech bays - 300 a piece - 1,800 MC
x2 Hero mechs(because that's what they are!) - 4125 a piece - 8250 MC
x4 Mech Variants -around 1800 a piece - 7,200 MC
Total = 17,250 MC worth of mechs and bays.

Couple flaws in that thought process though. Like why would you pay MC for mechs you can get with cbills? Also its not really 6 mech bays because you cant sell 2 of the mechs so its more like 4 mech bays. For it to have the same cost/functionality as a mech bay you have to be able to put ANY mech in it. Also youre making the assumption that $1 for 250 MC is a good deal in the first place, and its really not.

I still maintain that PGI couldve made way more money if the saber mechs were given away free to everyone who bought a phoenix pack. Because theyre not worth $30.

[Wolf Ender]

if they sweetened it with a little extra premium time or some other extra thing, i might pay 30 extra bucks, but after spending 80 for overlord, i am not going spend another 30 on 2 mechs that look pretty lackluster. wolverine has somewhat intriguing hardpoints but griffin just looks bad *hardpoint-wise* beautiful mech though, admittedly.

[Sahoj]

The Phoenix/Ballistic variant Wolverine interests me greatly but I can't build it without an XL.

I don't like XL engines in medium chassis mechs - especially one that will be SRM reliant.

I don't want to downgrade from the normal engine. The STD 275 is too heavy to fit a large ballistic weapon (I want a jump-jetting LB 10-X loaded Wolverine). At that point I'll just drop an XL in my Dragon and call it a day.

If I could fit the LB 10-X AC (4TOA), 2 SRM4's (1TOA), a medium laser and 2JJ with solid speed. I would spend $30. (Which you kinda can - but it is not a very good build in current meta)

http://mwo.smurfy-ne...8e12f9df93d882a

Edited by Sahoj, 31 August 2013 - 09:40 PM.

[Angel of Annihilation]

IceLom, on 30 August 2013 - 11:15 PM, said:

I agree with most of what Viktor said.

For me it comes down to the fact I do not really like medium mechs... if it came with some more premium time or something else tangible i might think about it.

Lastly again agreeing with viktor, I am going to save my $30 for a package i really want containing stuff i really want since clearly there are going to be lots and lots of packages to come and i wont be able to afford them all.

Yeah this is really my worry. The original mechs from the Phoenix looked really good as a special package that might come along once a year or so. However them coming out with the reinforcements this quickly makes me wonder how facst new, perhaps better packs will be releasing.

Anjian, on 30 August 2013 - 11:57 PM, said:

A Reseen package with Marauder, Warhammer, etc,. is quite unlikely. If they were willing, they would have done it already. A Clan mech package however, remains quite possible.

Honestly I do kind of agree with you but I really thought the same about the Battlemaster and Shadow hawk so it wouldn't really surprise me to see the Marauder and Warhammer showing up, just when I have spent all my money on Saber.

Wolf Ender, on 31 August 2013 - 08:39 PM, said:

if they sweetened it with a little extra premium time or some other extra thing, i might pay 30 extra bucks, but after spending 80 for overlord, i am not going spend another 30 on 2 mechs that look pretty lackluster. wolverine has somewhat intriguing hardpoints but griffin just looks bad *hardpoint-wise* beautiful mech though, admittedly.

I agree here as well. If they would have added an additional 30 days premium, that would have sold me on this without question.

Edited by Viktor Drake, 31 August 2013 - 09:47 PM.

[Angel of Annihilation]

Carrioncrows, on 31 August 2013 - 01:23 PM, said:

I took the long road when it came to this decision.

But here is a quick overview of the shortroad:

30.00 (well 29.99) gets you 6,500 MC.

30 bucks from the saber package gets me =
x6 Mech bays - 300 a piece - 1,800 MC
x2 Hero mechs(because that's what they are!) - 4125 a piece - 8250 MC
x4 Mech Variants -around 1800 a piece - 7,200 MC

Total = 17,250 MC worth of mechs and bays.

That's a little over 75 bucks worth of "Shtuff" that I got for 30 bucks.

Ok here is the long road.

After nearly a year of playing this game I came to the conclusion, what comes around goes around.

Things change.

Early on I sold and bought mechs like daily. Mechs I hated and didn't like I ended up buying again and like a month or two later when a balancing pass made that mech enjoyable. I am now actively up to 48 mech bays, and I try never to sell a mech if at all possible.

Why? Because some new balance pass, or some new weapon or tweak will get me thinking. "MMMMmmmm....WHAT IF!?!"

What if, is the reason I love tinkering in the mechbay and almost half of the driving force behind my enjoyment of MWO. So yeah the Wolvie and griffin don't look great on paper right now but that doesn't mean they won't be amazing once we see the whole chessboard.

Already i am looking at builds and tinkering with what they can do or what they might excel at.

But one of the bigest incentives is that we get them on Dec. 15 instead of in March and April of next year. You know how bat XXXX crazy it would drive me to see someone else in a chassis that I couldn't (not didn't, but couldn't) get yet?

So 30 bucks? That's dinner and a movie. I can give up a dinner and movie this month.

Cha-Ching!

Under conventional thinking your right for the most part but really these mechs are only Hero in regards to the fact they have a C-bill boost, otherwise they are not unique variants like a true Hero mech (aside from some small geometry changes and a paint job). Again this goes back to my previous question, Just how many C-bill grinders do you need? Also you have to purchase at least a few tiers of the standard Phoenix pack so the investment is more than it seems. Don't get my wrong I still think it is a good deal but the deal is starting to get stretched thin a bit.

[Kanatta Jing]

It takes approximately 3 hours to finish a dinner and a movie.

Some dinners and some movies aren't worth 30$. In fact, I'd much rather stay home then have some of those dinners and/or movies. At any price.

A wanton soup with inconsistently terrible pork followed by a plate of chow-mien adorned with processed chicken accompanied by the sound of a screaming infant?

Yet another romantic comedy assembled by wrote and likely acted by Adam Sandler? Possibly while wearing a fat suit?

Terrible plan. Why not spend that 30 dollars on something you might enjoy?