52 replies to this topic

[Jeremiah Rose2]

In my eyes varients should be very small like switching an PPC to an ER-PPC or uninstallall a laser for an additional Heatskin or switch normal to clan tech. For non-omnimechs.

Omni-Mechs should be abel zu switch in an lager range of varients but nerver you should be able to creat some unreal or stupid settings like 3 Ultra-Ak20, or bringing a Madcat without rockets in the battle.

So the look of the Models should reflect the weapons of the mech.

[vasile]

I want the cannon option, but also I want to do my own mods.

[Hangfire]

Battle line modification of military equipment is just part of the way war is fought, even the red baron had a retreived rolls royce engine in his plane.

Would be a shame to miss out on a lot of very good and very feasable player variants.

[Stormwolf]

True canon configs for battlemechs, mechlabs for omnimechs (limited to podspace only).

[Dayuhan]

I prefer canon 'mechs with cannon variants and dev variants. The one option I might not object too is kind for kind replacements. For example, a medium 45 ton 'mech carries a Large Laser, 2 Medium Lasers, and two machine guns. The Large Laser could be replaced with an ER Large Laser, or a Large Pulse Laser, and the Medium Lasers could be replaced with ER Medium Lasers or Medium Pulse lasers. Since there are no other machine gun options they cannot be replaced.

However, these weapons could not be replaced with a completely different weapon or none-weapon equipment. So you cannot rip out the two machine-guns and their ammo bin and suddenly have room for two more heat sinks. Neither can you replace the Large Laser with a PPC or Autocannon (even if you could find some way of staying within the weight limit) because it would not be a kind-for-kind replacement. These kind of massive changes require a major re-configuration of the 'mechs basic design and thus would require a new variant (either a Dev built variant or a Canon variant).

[Mister Freeze]

FenixStryk, on 14 November 2011 - 01:51 AM, said:

I am strongly against the restriction of customization in the MechLab. I can't put my finger exactly on the source of this anti-MechLab movement, but it's absolutely bizarre to me. Every MechWarrior shined because of its elaborate and flexible MechLab.

...Until the entire game turns into "Who has the best build" and not "Who has the best mech". No mech is going to be good when the entire game devolves into tier lists and netbuilding.

[MaddMaxx]

A Mix would be OK. What I would deem a necessity is that every Weapons system be rated for Cost, Weight, Slots needed and HEAT.

If they allow the players freedom of choice then they also have to force the player to deal with those choices. Namely, removing a LRM15 can get you those 2 LL's you wanted but they also come (auto-magically) with a required 4 (2 dbls.) Heat Sinks. Thus the Lasers can only be placed if the space (waepon slots) and added weight (HS's) are made available.

Everything has to have a HEAT value that cannot be ignored when creating your "Custom Killing Machine" so have at it, just remember to tell the Techs to top up the Coolant tanks. LOL That directly helps keep the playing field even at all times.

Edited by MaddMaxx, 14 November 2011 - 10:13 AM.

[DFDelta]

Variants that can be bought ingame should be the canon ones, as far as they are possible without changing the reactor size.
An assasssin should run 118 km/h, a Warhammer 64 km/h, a Charger 86 km/h and so on.
The different reactor sizes and the different speed values that come from it have always been something that annoyed me, as the speed is one of the "defining factors" of a mech. If you want a heavy that runs 86 km/h, then you don't want a Warhammer. Period.
Reactor should be the one thing thats completely locked and not available for change.


Player should be able to modify them after buying them, for a huge price and maybe take that mech out of commision for a certain RL time.

[Kudzu]

DFDelta, on 14 November 2011 - 10:53 AM, said:

Variants that can be bought ingame should be the canon ones, as far as they are possible without changing the reactor size.
An assasssin should run 118 km/h, a Warhammer 64 km/h, a Charger 86 km/h and so on.
The different reactor sizes and the different speed values that come from it have always been something that annoyed me, as the speed is one of the "defining factors" of a mech. If you want a heavy that runs 86 km/h, then you don't want a Warhammer. Period.
Reactor should be the one thing thats completely locked and not available for change.

Player should be able to modify them after buying them, for a huge price and maybe take that mech out of commision for a certain RL time.

In the 3025 era you actually have several canon variants that do change the speed-- the Charger, Banshee, and Longbow lose some speed to gain weapons and armor, the Vindicator has a variant that increases its speed-- and those are just off the top of my head.
The 3050 upgrades with XL engines often add speed as well-- the Grand Dragon and Awesome for example.

From the sounds of the FAQ I don't think that we'll be able to completely change a mech like the previous games, which is a good thing for balance.

[DFDelta]

Kudzu, on 14 November 2011 - 11:46 AM, said:

In the 3025 era you actually have several canon variants that do change the speed-- the Charger, Banshee, and Longbow lose some speed to gain weapons and armor, the Vindicator has a variant that increases its speed-- and those are just off the top of my head.
The 3050 upgrades with XL engines often add speed as well-- the Grand Dragon and Awesome for example.

From the sounds of the FAQ I don't think that we'll be able to completely change a mech like the previous games, which is a good thing for balance.

I know that there are variants that have changed reactor sizes, I just think that this is something that should have never happened in the first place.
A Charger that only goes 54 km/h but is armored and armed like a Mauler is not a Charger any more, but a Mauler with a different name instead. Changes like this that break the "soul" of a mech just annoy me.
Same goes for FF armor and endo steel chassis that were added to already existing mechs.
I have always thought that those 3 things should be locked for each mech.

Maybe later when the tech for this arrives, we could have Marauder REFIT as a completely different unit that is using a XL Engine and all variants that are based on this, but if you buy a Marauder with a 300 standart engine, normal armor and normal chassis then it should stay that way.

[CMDR Sunset Shimmer]

Mr. Freeze, on 14 November 2011 - 09:15 AM, said:

...Until the entire game turns into "Who has the best build" and not "Who has the best mech". No mech is going to be good when the entire game devolves into tier lists and netbuilding.

This, we've seen it time and again... Laser boats in MW2, Laser boats in MW3, ERPPC/GAUSS boats in MW4. is it the only way to play... no it's not... but is it the way the majority of the 'old guard' play, yes... yes it is.

Let me give a bit of clarification as to why I agree with this. List building is something that happens in any game that allows customization, be it online, or traditional.

Warhammer Fantasy and 40K have this problem.
Hordes has this problem
Even Battletech has this problem.

I've been playing Classic battletech for 2 years, and I've noticed a trend, especially with 3025 era players, but it extends further also, to avoid autocannons and missiles due to the ammo explosions, and to run exclusively lasers. Mostly Mediums usually backed up with larges. [yes the LARGES are backups] Medium lasers [talking 3025 tech here] do 5 damage a hit... that means if 2 medium lasers hit the same spot, they do the same damage to that location as a PPC or an AC10. So why really boat anything but medium lasers on something quick?

To the same extent you see this in Warhammer 40,000, X faction sucks, if you're running space marines, take this, and this and this... if you're running Grey Knights, this is the exact tournament winning army that's set up vs everything.

Magic the Gathering and YuGiOh all have decks that you see time and again in tournaments, where as the home brew, you put work into your list deck will rarely ever see a tournament.

This principal extends to all games that allow customization.

[Nill Zenath]

I voted for a mix, and the simple reason is that while the books and technical manual have a pretty thorough account of different variants, it doesn't really represent every last mech. This game is meant to be a reboot, so I believe it has a right to grow and rewrite the cannonical account as necessary. What are in the books represent the end results of the fictional happenings, but this game turns back the clock and allows player's actions to contribute to how this war plays out, there shouldn't be anything to prevent the developers from translating that impact on the setting into new developements. If certain players do exceedingly well, to such a degree that within the games setting should make them a notorious character, the developers once again shouldn't be hampered by the table top "cannon" in interpreting this game. To put it another way, to be so orthodox as to demand specific singular sources of the games inspiration, it limits the game and hampers its ability to exploit the advantages of online gaming.

[Joker Two]

Have only canon 'Mechs orr variants available to acquire. Be able to make customizations, but have any customized systems not function as well as standard systems, representing difficulty of reconfiguring the 'Mech.

Example: when a 'Mech fires a customized laser, that weapon has a short delay in firing. projectile weapons might be less accurate, missiles might lose lock easier. Electronics fail if the 'Mech is rocked hard, etc.