8 replies to this topic

[AlmightyAeng]

At the links that several people have posted, here's a rundown. It isn't brief. There's a LOT of info, so I used spoilers to try and reduce the wall of text...but there's lots. My apologies if it's a pain, I'm open to advice.

This is the 28-minute video of Bryan Eckman discussing community warfare at the launch party. There isn't a set ETA, but they flesh it out a bit. I listened and transcribed. You're welcome, work was slow.

Video Link:

Rundown:

There are three groups of players:

Spoiler

Mercenaries: Lone wolfs, new players, single players. They take on contracts to earn loyalty point and rewards.

Loyalists: House players (Kurita, Davion, Steiner, etc). They play with their other house players to gain rank and loyalty points with their house.

Merc Units: Merc units are like individuals, except the leader can accept contracts for the UNIT.

Contracts

Spoiler

There are several types of contracts that mercs and units can pick up...and there is no limit to how many. However, failure to complete contracts can incur penalties.

Planetary Assault/Occupation: Contract to acquire and keep a planet.

Skirmish: Contract to destroy an opposing unit.

Bounty: NPC-generated AND Player-generated contract to hunt a specific player or unit (this includes a bounty on devs).

Loyalty Points

Spoiler

Earned by performing feats against opposing factions.

By earning loyalty points you unlock rank and content.

Examples of content include skins, colors, and the right to belong to famous LORE units.

Like other MMO's (WoW, etc) loyalty will be grindy. However, he said you can't go into the negatives...he did NOT say that you couldn't LOSE loyalty points, but some may argue it's implied.

Faction (Lore) Unit Structure - House Units:

Spoiler

Developer created, organized, and structured.
Membership in an NPC Faction can be earned.
You can be awarded official unit designation, colors, patterns, and this is considered exclusive content.
You retain honorary status if a player leaves a faction.
Earning these is linked to loyalty points and achievements.
Garth is the one working on building the achievement system.
If you gain access to a special unit, you're grouped with them for fighting, preferentially.
Access to the Wolf's Dragoon's is granted when you achieve maximum loyalty in ALL factions.

[Note: The Wolf's Dragoons are a lore MERC unit...which makes me wonder if other merc units are included in the Loyalist category...see more on merc units below.]

Mercenary Unit Structure

Spoiler

Player created, organized and structured.
Membership is my invitation.
Earn rewards as a group.
Own common assets (he said merc corps will be able to buy more dropships, and bases on planets we control and 'other cool stuff.' Mechs?)
They'll give us tools to create our own lances, our own ranks, our own regiments, etc, no player limit.
We'll be able to set our own ranks and privileges, as to what ranks are allowed to access content, as well as setting 'taxes.' Apparently, we get a merc unit bank?

Faction (House) Unit Combat

Spoiler

Players will always be matched and play together against opposing factions. I.e., Kurita vs. Liao.

This will REPLACE pugging as it is now.

If a player is assigned to a specific unit (i.e., 37th Hussars, etc) they will be matched together with others of their unit, if possible.

Players will have a private Faction and Unit Chat channel.

In these matches, it will always be one faction against another, to be filled in by lone wolves and mercs (contract specific).

As Bryan put it "Every match will have meaning, and affect the outcome of the Inner Sphere."

and

"EVERY match...unless it's a private match, which we won't talk about today."and then he pretended he didn't say 'private matches' at all. So, in the works, eta, future. Everyone booed and said 'TELL US!'

Mercenary Unit Combat

Spoiler

Mercenary Units can join the public fight, or participate in the planetary assault.

Mercenary Unit Logistics

Spoiler

Owning dropships and moving companies around.
Includes time to travel through space via dropship.

As he put it, you have stuff--dropships, units, companies--you have to get in a dropship, and a jumpship, and it will take days to reach your intended planetary target.

Once there, you have to GARRISON to planet. If you don't, it will flip back to neutral status and you lose the bonuses that it gives you.

Like a giant chess game, there will be a strategy to WHERE you want to be in the universe.

Planetary Assault

Spoiler

Step One: Travel there in Drop/Jumpships
Step Two: Once the unit is in place, you can get a contract for that planet--IF you have the loyalty points as a merc unit to become eligible for it.
Step Three: FIGHT! A series of matches with attacker and defender ensue...the winner 'flips' the planet and claims occupation.
Step Four: Garrison the planet. That garrison remains there, INDEFINITELY

[Note: To me, this says that the merc unit will own mechs, that we assign access to those mechs via rank, and we LEAVE those mechs and move them around the universe and planets...and when we're assaulted, invaded, or get a contract, our various pilots step into those mechs. I could be wrong, time will tell.]

Faction Warfare

Spoiler

Every single win or loss will add +1% or -1% to the overall 'front.' You fight over fronts (like Kurita and Liao).

Once a front is 100% owned, it 'flips' to the winning faction, and the next selection of planets becomes the new 'front' that you're fighting over. Seems rather dynamic, and awesome.

The bonuses and benefits of those planets also flip.

Interesting note: Faction players and Merc players have to play nice. For Merc players to get contracts within a region, the same faction must own the fronts on both sides of said region (or that's what it sounded like).

[Note: At this point, the image zooms out from the 'front's you're looking at...and gives us a starmap of 3000 planets. I actually got a chill. PGI hasn't done that for me in a while. It was nice. 18:15 in the video.]

The InnerSphere Battleground:

Spoiler

What's at Stake:
Global Bonuses
Access to Cheapest Prices for 'mechs and tech
Bragging Rights

CW Economics:

Spoiler

Prices Will Vary based on Faction Relationships
Black Market is used when you lose access to the cheap planet products
As planets are captured...prices may inflate hideously.

Example: Davions will get Victors cheap. Kuritas? Not so much.

[Note: Also, he talked about 'special items' that he refused to reveal and was teasing the audience with. Considering how many mechs we all already have...I REALLY REALLY wonder if we're gonna have to just keep buying 'mechs once we garrison them, OR if they're destroyed in match. Seriously. Suddenly light and medium 'mechs look like a better, less expensive option. Just saying, I'm calling it now. *weeps over hero mech destruction*]

Delivery of Community Warfare

Spoiler

Phase 1: Association

Joining a House
Creating a Merc Unit
Introduction of the 'Level' that gets you access to content
Currently planned, 60 levels, "Until Paul says differently" lol

Phase 2: Front Warfare

Fighting over fronts, affecting the starmap.
This includes the Lobby, and the dropship that allows you to pick one of four mechs each match, vote on a map, and pre-configure lances, with commanders, etc.

Phase 3: Planetary Assault

The 'big' battles.
Mercs going for content, capturing planets.

Quote: "It's going to take us about sixth months to roll these out." 22:40

Phase I will start just after delivery of UI 2.0.

[Note: At 23:00 Phil shows the new IU 2.0. Bryan says it's a teaser of what's coming "In the next four weeks."]

UI 2.0

Spoiler

UI 2.0 shows rotation in any view.
Naming of 'mech
How to buy a 'mech
A MUCH more user-friendly view of ALL our 'mechs, including filters by types.
All the "mech screens" are now on one, easy screen.
Unified API so you can bring loadouts in from outside the game. Easy change of loadouts.
Fullscreen UI

[Note: It does look MUCH better. Wish release had waited for this.]

So there it is. I hope you enjoy the rundown...I need a beer.

Edited by Ghost Badger, 27 September 2013 - 12:29 PM.

[Otterway]

Wow. Badger, that's a fantastic summary. Thanks! If PGI can put this together, it'll be amazing.

Edited by Otterway, 27 September 2013 - 01:15 PM.

[Koniving]

Pretty good.

(On the loyalty points, I believe he said that your loyalty points "can't go down. You won't have negative loyalty." And later, "When you leave a faction you will get an honorary status" and something to the lines of "You keep all your progress in that faction." Otherwise the Wolf's Dragoons thing is impossible to achieve).

[Funkadelic Mayhem]

Exciting information. SO happy to be a part of this game!

Im glad they are taking their time to get UI 2.0 and CW out. Id rather it be right and as in depth as they can make it. The rushed and lacking. Its clear PGI is learning from their mistakes. Nothing worse then putting something out (current UI for example) then having to take resources away from the game to completely redo a system (UI 2.0).


It feels like the time leading up to Christmas as a child. SO EXCITED!!!!!!!

[Batch1972]

Ghost - good work on pulling this together. However it's rather sad that you have to pull this information from a podcast for the benefit of the Community. Where is the PGI communication on this - this is BIG news - it's what people want. They should be trumpeting this from the rooftops.... unless it's all talk just to keep people tagging along for a little bit....

[MustrumRidcully]

Thanks a lot, Ghost Badger!

[Felio]

Koniving, on 27 September 2013 - 01:17 PM, said:

Pretty good.

(On the loyalty points, I believe he said that your loyalty points "can't go down. You won't have negative loyalty." And later, "When you leave a faction you will get an honorary status" and something to the lines of "You keep all your progress in that faction." Otherwise the Wolf's Dragoons thing is impossible to achieve).

That's good, because I think they said earlier that there would be decay. So you had to keep playing -- playing well and playing often -- to maintain rank.

It's a universally reviled system, so I'm glad to see them backtrack.

[Funkadelic Mayhem]

Xie Belvoule, on 27 September 2013 - 01:27 PM, said:

ohhhhhhh good for you..... *clap* you can post pictures on a forum....

[Zerberus]

Koniving, on 27 September 2013 - 01:17 PM, said:

Pretty good.

(On the loyalty points, I believe he said that your loyalty points "can't go down. You won't have negative loyalty." And later, "When you leave a faction you will get an honorary status" and something to the lines of "You keep all your progress in that faction." Otherwise the Wolf's Dragoons thing is impossible to achieve).

Yes and no. it says max loyalty with all factions, but it doesn`t say max loyalty with all factions "at the same time".. Like in WoW, to farm the title and achievement "The Insane" you need to kill goblins at Booty Bay, Everlook, Ratchet and Gadgetzan until the Bloodsail Buccaneers start to like you and offer you quests (by which time you`ll probably be at max negative rep with all goblin factions), then grind out exalted with the Bloodsails.

And then you have to turn around, decllare war on the Bloodsails, and kill thousands of them until the gobbies are on speaking terms with you again, and then grind all of those out to exalted. And then there`s the whole collect and deliver part for the other 2 factions, but the Bloodsails / SteamWheedle Cartel relationship is the relevant part, here.

I would no be surprised to see it work in a similar fashion, though it is admittedly implied that there will be no negative, but I kind of find that hard to believe at face value....

Edited by Zerberus, 27 September 2013 - 02:17 PM.