91 replies to this topic

[Melissia]

• Should we be able to procure 'mechs from other factions, or should we be restricted?
  
• Should we be able to obtain 'mechs as salvage?
  
• If so, how easy should it be to do so?
  
• Same question to weapons and equipment as well!

Personally, I think that players should be able to auction off their 'mechs to anyone, but otherwise can only purchase 'mechs that according to the timeline are being produced by their house (whether they're house soldiers, or mercenaries hired by them). Obtaining 'mechs as salvage should be a difficult thing to do, and require an overwhelming victory against one's enemies-- or perhaps this can be part of the PvE elements added in later, with the 'mechs as salvage being the top tier of rewards, for the best performance in PvE missions (the other rewards including free ammo stocks, free repairs, weapons and equipment, etc).


This would make lostech and clan 'mechs even more valuable, and further cement the differences between factions.

Edited by Melissia, 17 November 2011 - 01:51 PM.

[Rogal Dorn]

I think you should be able to buy any mech but maybe with a discount for mechs produced by your faction.

[CoffiNail]

Makes sense to not be buying your lance of Panthers from the Marik Mech factories

[Kudzu]

Some mechs are common across all the houses, they should cost the same for everyone. The ones that are more house-specific should be much more expensive to buy cross faction, perhaps based on how your faction gets along with the one you're buying from (A Steiner can buy a FedSun design for less than it buys a Marik design, for example.).

[Melissia]

Wow, no votes for no yet...

[LordxMugen]

depends, which house/faction has access to the Raven?

[Kudzu]

LordxMugen, on 17 November 2011 - 01:58 PM, said:

depends, which house/faction has access to the Raven?

It's a pure Cappy design.

[Stormwolf]

To take directly from the TT and general BT universe:

- There are general mechs available to all factions
- Each faction has faction specific mechs, the Hatamoto Chi for the DC for instance (and in some cases the FRR)
- The Houses tend to sell their old mechs to mercs when they have upgraded variants to distribute among the troops.
- All factions can salvage mechs from their neighboring factions, it would make sense to see a Capellan mech among Fed Suns troops. But you're unlikely to see a Capellan mech in the FRR.
- There are factories who are willing to sell to mercs.

My wish would be for all factions to basically have mechs as presented in Era Report 3052.

Edited by Stormwolf, 17 November 2011 - 02:02 PM.

[UncleKulikov]

Dividing up mech availability by faction will result in balance issues. By giving some factions access to a certain mech and denying other factions, it greats an imbalance that can result in unfair play. I don't think the faction fluff was written with combat balance in mind, meaning that mech access wasn't written into those decisions.

Basically it would be a bad idea for gameplay.

[SL33TBL1ND]

I'm all for cross-faction price jacking.

[Melissia]

Balance issues can be solved through patches, really. Most factions have a choice of decent 'mechs that can fulfill the specific roles they need, and the generic non-faction 'mechs can also do the same.

[Kudzu]

UncleKulikov, on 17 November 2011 - 02:01 PM, said:

Dividing up mech availability by faction will result in balance issues. By giving some factions access to a certain mech and denying other factions, it greats an imbalance that can result in unfair play. I don't think the faction fluff was written with combat balance in mind, meaning that mech access wasn't written into those decisions.

Basically it would be a bad idea for gameplay.

I play on several MegaMek servers that use fluff based build tables, it works out just fine. If you join a faction that doesn't have a certain mech you want you either salvage it or conquer the planet it's built on to get it.

[Stormwolf]

UncleKulikov, on 17 November 2011 - 02:01 PM, said:

Dividing up mech availability by faction will result in balance issues. By giving some factions access to a certain mech and denying other factions, it greats an imbalance that can result in unfair play. I don't think the faction fluff was written with combat balance in mind, meaning that mech access wasn't written into those decisions.

Basically it would be a bad idea for gameplay.

Really? I always found the house RAT's to be pretty balanced.

[TheRulesLawyer]

I'm here for the cross faction price jacking *and* limited availability. You jack up your non faction mech, you might have to wait a bit longer for parts to come in. Plus they should always be available to buy. Make them randomly pop up from time to time.

[Melissia]

Besides, you can always try to find another player to buy off of, if they add a trading / auction area (ComStar Auction House? heh). You could announce you're looking for a Raven, and are willing to pay ~5-10% extra to get it, and I'm sure people will be glad to procure a raven and sell it to you for a profit.

Mechwarriors are far less picky than the great houses when it comes to things like this. But it's usually going to cost you extra as most people want to make a profit off of things like this.

Edited by Melissia, 17 November 2011 - 02:08 PM.

[Hayden]

This is from an earlier thread I started that died:

I would like to see strategic targets for the Successor States to capture. At this point, all I have in mind is factories, but here’s how it would work in short: the FedCom controlls the planet Kathil (or whatever “province” Kathil is in) giving that faction the General Motors factory there. This factory builds Marauder battlemechs, jump jets, fusion engines, communications systems, and AC/5s, whichlowers the cost of these items.

Now, let’s say the Capellans capture that planet: in addition to a nice XP boon for the participants in the battle (for capturing an important objective), the Capellans get the GM factory there. They now get access to cheaper Marauders, and lower costs for jump jets, fusion engines, communications systems and AC/5s and by extension new Battlemechs that use that equipment.

[Duncan Aravain]

Should be able to salvage and use battlefield loot as long as it fits into your mechs tech ability. This helps create some surprise factor as you start seeing some "oddball" weapon pairings on the field. Entire mechs should be rare, except for those rare killing head shots and even then, trying to find a replacement should be very tough for all non faction standard mechs. One must also claim the field after the battle or suffer the problems of trying to retreat and carry your salvage with you. You retreat and leave the feild, then the enemy can salage their own team's wrecks. However, mech kills and salvage should be marked as to who killed it; perhaps giving it to the most points of damage caused or to the 2 most responsible mechs. They should also be allowed to turn the mech into a "neutral wreck" signifying that anyone from their side could claim it. If 2 parties have "salvage rights", both must agree to give up their looting claim to turn it into a neutral wreck.

[KnowBuddy]

Sort of.

It makes sense that some 'mechs associated with your declared/allied house (if this is a possibility) will be more available. But this is a mercenary situation, so cash rules everything (sing C- C- bill y'all). Almost anything is possible to acquire with enough C-bills.

I think a discount on associated (or high favor) faction-related 'mechs and an increase in cost of non-associated (or low favor) faction-related 'mechs would capture the situation relatively well.

[TheRulesLawyer]

I hope they don't allow you to auction off mechs between factions. It would trivialize the difference between factions. Plus you'd be selling the enemy military secrets!

[UncleKulikov]

Stormwolf, on 17 November 2011 - 02:05 PM, said:

Really? I always found the house RAT's to be pretty balanced.

I should qualify: I have absolutely NO idea which houses have which mechs.

Even so, if side A has a set of tools, and side B has a different set of tools, they cannot be perfectly balanced because A has some things that B doesn't. Which makes it inherently unbalanced, even though that imbalance can be small.

And would only players of a single house be on the same team? That would seem odd, fracturing the player base. If not, then if any house pilot could team with any other house pilot, why would there be a restriction?

Kudzu, on 17 November 2011 - 02:03 PM, said:

I play on several MegaMek servers that use fluff based build tables, it works out just fine. If you join a faction that doesn't have a certain mech you want you either salvage it or conquer the planet it's built on to get it.

That's a lot of requirement just to get a mech that you need. I'm not convinced that these restrictions would improve gameplay at all, let alone enough to warrant a potential balance issue.

Edited by UncleKulikov, 17 November 2011 - 02:19 PM.