13 replies to this topic

[Grey Ghost]

I know they have this for a C-Bills-sink / Moneymaker & XP-sink, but does anyone else wish they would re-balance that equation in a way that doesn't lock out Mechs that only have 1 or 2 variants in the current timeline?

[NextGame]

I'd like to see a way in for those mechs too, even if it means making up some pretendy variants.

[lsp]

Not really, no. And getting three mechs basic'd out doesn't even take that long. And is one of the only progressions we have in this game, mastering mechs is currently one of the very few reasons to even play at all. One of the reasons to put up with the repetitive gameplay, over and over again. And for someone who wil say, well, you probably don't play assaults. Wrong, I have four heavys mastered and one assault mastered.

What mechs with only two variants, would really add variety to the game anyways. We have pretty good composition on each class already, the new assault mech coming out would be nice if it was a Mauler. 90 ton with more than enough variants, has 4 ballistic slots 2 energy and 2 missle on a 90 tonner. I think that would finish off the IS assaults nicely.

Edited by lsp, 16 February 2014 - 01:52 PM.

[DocBach]

at the risk of pay to win accusations, they could always invent new hero variants to round out the third chassis....

[WhiteRabbit]

DocBach, on 16 February 2014 - 02:25 PM, said:

at the risk of pay to win accusations, they could always invent new hero variants to round out the third chassis....

wouldn't that prevent anyone not buying the hero from leveling that mech? That would be a quite....strange...since not everyone is willing to pay 30ish bucks for a mech...but 1 something for a mechbay is quite different.
If people couldn't master their mechs without the big payment pgi would prob lose money from the mechbay sales from those people that want the mech but are not willing to buy the hero mech...imo it would make more sense to just make another c-bill variant up and add the hero as a 4th variant. (assuming that they want to get the most money out of people )

[Grey Ghost]

lsp, on 16 February 2014 - 01:48 PM, said:

Not really, no. And getting three mechs basic'd out doesn't even take that long. *snip*

I said re-balance not remove, and I wasn't complaining about grinding in the least.

lsp, on 16 February 2014 - 01:48 PM, said:

What mechs with only two variants, would really add variety to the game anyways. We have pretty good composition on each class already, the new assault mech coming out would be nice if it was a Mauler. 90 ton with more than enough variants, has 4 ballistic slots 2 energy and 2 missle on a 90 tonner. I think that would finish off the IS assaults nicely.

The Mauler only has 2 variants in the current timeline AFAIK with the 3rd showing up about 9 years from now. Now if this truly is the next Assault Mech added to the game, then I think it will be the first non-Hero Mech configuration thought up by PGI. Which might make this whole discussion moot, if they remain open to doing this.

I do believe Mechs that add something new to the game besides looks should get a priority, but not to the exclusion of other available Mechs just because of similarities. Geometry will always be different, and people will still probably buy them regardless. Plus it helps keep the Art Department gainfully employed.

I'm mostly concerned with how long it will take new Mech Designs to be added as the timeline progresses. They usually start with one variant, and sometimes take several years before even getting their second one. Barring any time-jumps, that's going to be quite the long haul. Though if they do indeed start making their own variants, none of this really matters.

[Nick Makiaveli]

A long time ago someone, I think it was Russ, said if it came down to it, they would bend the rules and allow you to unlock Elites with only 2 variants.

However, that was back when the timeline was going to be followed religiously, so now there isn't much reason to not just toss out variants early.

Depends on how they handle Clans and CW....

[East Indy]

Nah. Apocrypha never hurt anyone.

[Deathlike]

Nick Makiaveli, on 16 February 2014 - 04:28 PM, said:

A long time ago someone, I think it was Russ, said if it came down to it, they would bend the rules and allow you to unlock Elites with only 2 variants.

However, that was back when the timeline was going to be followed religiously, so now there isn't much reason to not just toss out variants early.

It's unlikely going to happen.. going the solo or 2 mech route. It wouldn't be good for business. Justifying 3 mech variants for the Clan mechs isn't going to change their model of tiered grinding.

DocBach, on 16 February 2014 - 02:25 PM, said:

at the risk of pay to win accusations, they could always invent new hero variants to round out the third chassis....

Don't even think about it. If you can't master a mech without the 3rd C-bills based variant, don't even dare get into that potential mess. Unless you decide that hero mechs should have a C-bill version equivalent (which I've championed before), you're not going to get much support for that.

Making up mech variants has been done before in the MW series before. Having replayed some of MW2, I've seen variants that "have never existed", but it's there for the sake of the game. Madcats with JJs (MW2)? Jagermech-B (MW2 Mercs)? Commando-7X (MW2 Mercs, the best fake commando variant that ever existed)? Jenner-IIC with 5 med lasers (MW2, essentially the optimal Jenner-F type of build)?

It's not a bad thing. It simply has to be designed well, relative to the game.

Edited by Deathlike, 16 February 2014 - 05:59 PM.

[Sandpit]

If I had to guess, I'd say take a hero variant and throw it into the rotation. They've thrown the timeline out the window so I don't see why it would be a big deal to introduce a new variant that was a "future release" so to speak

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

If nothing else it should be fine for them to invent -1X or whatever prototype variants. I'm sure some few people would object, but so long as it enables them to release variant-impaired mechs then I'd be all for it.

[627]

II'd take a made up variant every day. In fact that is what they are doing right now. Look at the Victors, those variants are basically the same. So PGI just shifted around some extra hardpoints and voila here're your "distinctive" variants...

[Deathlike]

Sandpit, on 16 February 2014 - 08:34 PM, said:

If I had to guess, I'd say take a hero variant and throw it into the rotation. They've thrown the timeline out the window so I don't see why it would be a big deal to introduce a new variant that was a "future release" so to speak

Just understand that this mentality will cause a shift in demand for mechs that aren't benefiting from it (like the JJ capable Cicadas or the missile BJ variant, or even the ballistic Commando) to be called into question/play.

In other words... more trouble/whining to be had.

[LastPaladin]

NextGame, on 16 February 2014 - 01:45 PM, said:

I'd like to see a way in for those mechs too, even if it means making up some pretendy variants.

They've already made up "pretendy" hero variants, so I don't see why it should be an issue.