200 replies to this topic

[Butane9000]

I feel like we don't need a 20 ton lighter less capable Jagermech DD. Could have gone with a missile oriented Blackjack and given it some much needed variety.

[1453 R]

Boy people have been spoiled silly these days.

Anyone remember the Flame? Hero Dragon from back in the day, with an absolutely identical hardpoint count/type to the 1C, just with the guns in different spots? Or the other older Heroes that were meant to be nothing more than different-but-equal options that people with some disposable income and a taste for bling could sport?

We get a Blackjack that (theoretically) combines most of the positive traits of the entire line into one ‘Mech, and all people can do is trash it because it’s a Blackjack, and because it can’t carry six SSRM launchers? Seriously. This thing can do the BJ-1© build on a 250+ engine with some engineering time if you wanted to, it can obviously do insane MG spam, it’s got well-distributed energy hardpoints for fighting on after your arms have been blown off, and also it’s a Hero ‘Mech for a rare and half-forgotten chassis. Seriously. What more did you really expect it to do, and how much were you overhyping it?

I’ve got two Jacks so far, and I see no real problem with making this one the third. It’ll be fun to experiment with, that’s for dang shoe-r.

[xMEPHISTOx]

Sarlic, on 02 June 2014 - 12:02 PM, said:

I hope it's sarcasmn? I am sure they can spend the resources on making or fixing assets for a map instead of mechs. You know.. like prioritising things right. And not some mechs for MC.

Well not to defend PGI, but there are completely different teams of people working on the various projects.
As it is the only one that seems to be on track and getting their work done is the art/design team, all the others are failing us miserably.

Edited by xMEPHISTOx, 02 June 2014 - 05:01 PM.

[Butane9000]

1453 R, on 02 June 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

Boy people have been spoiled silly these days.

Anyone remember the Flame? Hero Dragon from back in the day, with an absolutely identical hardpoint count/type to the 1C, just with the guns in different spots? Or the other older Heroes that were meant to be nothing more than different-but-equal options that people with some disposable income and a taste for bling could sport?

We get a Blackjack that (theoretically) combines most of the positive traits of the entire line into one ‘Mech, and all people can do is trash it because it’s a Blackjack, and because it can’t carry six SSRM launchers? Seriously. This thing can do the BJ-1© build on a 250+ engine with some engineering time if you wanted to, it can obviously do insane MG spam, it’s got well-distributed energy hardpoints for fighting on after your arms have been blown off, and also it’s a Hero ‘Mech for a rare and half-forgotten chassis. Seriously. What more did you really expect it to do, and how much were you overhyping it?

I’ve got two Jacks so far, and I see no real problem with making this one the third. It’ll be fun to experiment with, that’s for dang shoe-r.

Heroes also have the option of giving players a unique way to play a chassis. They do not always need to be similar to the main chassis.

[1453 R]

Butane9000, on 02 June 2014 - 05:21 PM, said:

Heroes also have the option of giving players a unique way to play a chassis. They do not always need to be similar to the main chassis.

They can, certainly. But people seem to’ve gotten more than a little spoiled recently on the superstar rise of the Dragon Slayer and the surprising effectiveness of the Ember. Not every Hero ‘Mech needs to be, or even should be, head and shoulders above the C-bill variants. I’d’ve enjoyed a ghetto ECM-less Hellspawn just fine (a ghetto Hellspawn with ECM would’ve been even better!) but I don’t think the Arrow here is bad. Not at all. It doesn’t really deserve the rap it seems to be getting, let alone direct and unfavorable comparisons to things like Huginn. Poor Huginn…I wanted the Raven hero to be playable so very much…

[Roland]

As long as people keep buying these things, pgi will keep devoting their art assets to them, instead of maps.

[SgtMagor]

I would be happy if they would put collisions, and recoil in the game DFA too but from what has been said my hope of having melee is a no go. I just would like the mechs to do more things besides pew pewing each other.

[Bishop Steiner]

Roland, on 02 June 2014 - 05:32 PM, said:

As long as people keep buying these things, pgi will keep devoting their art assets to them, instead of maps.

you know that it's actually not exactly the same people doing the two art formats? They actually hired people specifically for the terrain maps, it's the job I applied for. Whatever happened from there, IDK, but even though it's all code at the end of the day, they are two different specialties.

1453 R, on 02 June 2014 - 05:31 PM, said:

They can, certainly. But people seem to’ve gotten more than a little spoiled recently on the superstar rise of the Dragon Slayer and the surprising effectiveness of the Ember. Not every Hero ‘Mech needs to be, or even should be, head and shoulders above the C-bill variants. I’d’ve enjoyed a ghetto ECM-less Hellspawn just fine (a ghetto Hellspawn with ECM would’ve been even better!) but I don’t think the Arrow here is bad. Not at all. It doesn’t really deserve the rap it seems to be getting, let alone direct and unfavorable comparisons to things like Huginn. Poor Huginn…I wanted the Raven hero to be playable so very much…

best paint job in the game, but even with better hit detection, questionable usefulness.

[Scurry]

Difficult to say, about the Blackjack.....

When I play one, I find I rely on hit-and-run, or being mid-range fire support - sort of a mini-poptart, and I do pretty well in them (BJ-1 & 3 have my highest medium WLRs). MGs don't fit all that well in that playstyle. Brawling gets me pasted more often than not.

But then again, at mid-range, the BJ is unusually capable at evading fire. IMHO, it's because of the very slim side profile and decent speed, combined with JJs for added evasion. A BJ facing an opponent head-on will get creamed - but side-on, running at unpredictable speeds with JJs thrown in is often a different matter.

[xengk]

Was hoping for some missile slot on the hero.
But if it is fast enough, might be fun with triple WubWub and 6x MG.

[Strum Wealh]

Bishop Steiner, on 02 June 2014 - 02:40 PM, said:

Kallon, I believe, is a non affiliated, multi-nationalistic company. Hence the heavy presence, though also general scorn, for the design in Liao space. Or are you gonna start claiming GM designs for House Davion, too?

Kallon Factories:
Asuncion (CC/FWL)
Bernardo (CC/FWL)
Kirklin (FS)
Layover (FS)
Loyalty (FWL)
Nanking (CC/FC)
Thermopolis (FWL)
Victoria (CC)
Wernke (FS)

In fact, Kallon was founded in teh old Tikonov Commonality, meaning if anything, they would be Capelan, first and foremost.

As for Talon, it lists it as the premiere FedSuns plant, not actually saying which is the premiere "Kallon" plant in the IS, unless perchance the old Objective Raids source listed, which I cannot remember.

As far as the Talon facility goes:
"Technically Wernke’s only moon (though often described as this world’s smaller sister), [Talon] lacks arable lands and potable water but has significant deposits of rare metals. This fact, along with its easily defensible terrain - much like Hesperus II in the Lyran nation - made it an ideal location for Kallon Weapons Industries to establish its largest and most prestigious manufacturing facility in the Inner Sphere." - Handbook: House Davion, pg. 91
Yes, it is the premier Kallon plant in the whole of the IS.

Moreover, the world of Kathil (another perma-FedSuns planet) is home to the James McKenna shipyards & Kathil Shipworks, as well as the largest GM plants - which places it "among the five most important within the entire Federated Suns".
"Beginning with the dedication of the James McKenna Shipyards in 2602 and cemented when General Motors established its largest manufacturing facility there, Kathil’s star rose quickly and shone brightly." - Handbook: House Davion, pg. 88

And with the Marauder and the Blackjack both being inventions of GM ("the largest single producer of both military and civilian vehicles in the Inner Sphere, and also the AFFS’ largest contractor" - Handbook: House Davion, pgs 171-172) and both having their primary military equipment factories located on Kathil ("While much of its military manufacturing business is centered on Kathil, it has significant operations on seven other worlds and smaller subsidiaries on eleven more."), I will in fact claim that both of those are "FedSuns 'Mechs".

[Bishop Steiner]

Strum Wealh, on 02 June 2014 - 08:17 PM, said:

As far as the Talon facility goes:
"Technically Wernke’s only moon (though often described as this world’s smaller sister), [Talon] lacks arable lands and potable water but has significant deposits of rare metals. This fact, along with its easily defensible terrain - much like Hesperus II in the Lyran nation - made it an ideal location for Kallon Weapons Industries to establish its largest and most prestigious manufacturing facility in the Inner Sphere." - Handbook: House Davion, pg. 91
Yes, it is the premier Kallon plant in the whole of the IS.

Moreover, the world of Kathil (another perma-FedSuns planet) is home to the James McKenna shipyards & Kathil Shipworks, as well as the largest GM plants - which places it "among the five most important within the entire Federated Suns".
"Beginning with the dedication of the James McKenna Shipyards in 2602 and cemented when General Motors established its largest manufacturing facility there, Kathil’s star rose quickly and shone brightly." - Handbook: House Davion, pg. 88

And with the Marauder and the Blackjack both being inventions of GM ("the largest single producer of both military and civilian vehicles in the Inner Sphere, and also the AFFS’ largest contractor" - Handbook: House Davion, pgs 171-172) and both having their primary military equipment factories located on Kathil ("While much of its military manufacturing business is centered on Kathil, it has significant operations on seven other worlds and smaller subsidiaries on eleven more."), I will in fact claim that both of those are "FedSuns 'Mechs".

SLDF would liek word with you......whenever Kerensky brings them back!

[Bromineberry]

zazz0000, on 02 June 2014 - 03:17 PM, said:

I like how everyone is focused on the BJ and not all the sweet-ass weapons tweaks coming in...

Exactly my thoughts. I couldn't care less about the BJ-Hero (pun not intended), but the changes in ACs and SRM sound great and I'm looking forward to see, if this will change anything.

[Strum Wealh]

Bishop Steiner, on 02 June 2014 - 08:24 PM, said:

SLDF would liek word with you......whenever Kerensky brings them back!

Well, I'm farily sure that a great many people would like to have more than a few words with the good General before I get my audience with him.

Then again, it's not like he's coming back - it's been over two-and-a-half centuries, and it's not like he and his followers could have settled some barely habitable planets in the middle of no where & founded some kind of pseudo neo-barb "warrior culture" bent on restoring the Star League, or whatever it is some of these loons that yap about some group of Periphery bandits calling themselves "the clan" or some such are saying.

[xengk]

[FupDup]

xengk, on 02 June 2014 - 10:25 PM, said:

So, engine limit of 235.

Sadface.

[Kassatsu]

TygerLily, on 02 June 2014 - 11:31 AM, said:

From Twitter:

Weapon Balance Updates

New Hero Blackjack! BJ-A "The Arrow"

Hardpoints:
Left Arm: 3 Ballistic
Left Torso: 1 Energy, 1 AMS
Center Torso: 1 Energy
Right Torso: 1 Energy
Right Arm: 3 Ballistic

Jump Jets: 4



New Champion Shadow Hawk 2H

There will now be 12 trial mechs rather than 4. Nice (and they're all worth a damn being Champions!)

Track IR: in.

HUD and UI bug fixes

4 selectable Clan factions (3 more in the works, in-game date being rolled back soon for those who didn't know)

So much for our 1:1 lore timeline. Not that I expected it to actually keep up or anything.

Also why do we need a repost from twitter to get crucial patch information on the official forums?

I'll admit that if I were keen on spending MORE money on this game, that BJ hero would be tempting because it's literally a mini JM6-DD.. And boy was 6xMG 2xLL on that thing fun, make it smaller, faster and add jump jets? Whoa boy. Only downside is I'd HAVE to use an XL on the BJ... Not that big of a deal though honestly.

EDIT: Whoa, 12 trials? Too bad we don't get hero trials. Lose the c-bill bonus, lose the fancy paint and bam.

Edited by Kassatsu, 02 June 2014 - 10:40 PM.

[xengk]

FupDup, on 02 June 2014 - 10:29 PM, said:

So, engine limit of 235.

Sadface.

84kph pre-speed tweak and 93kph post-speed tweak.

[New Breed]

Trauglodyte, on 02 June 2014 - 11:47 AM, said:

Could we PLEASE have the morons over at NGNG stop creating hero mechs? I don't even necessarily think that the Arrow is bad but it would sure be nice to have PGI's lap dogs stop being the go to source for ideas. For that matter, let's have NGNG go back through and "fix" the prior heroes.

While I wouldn't call them morons, it really does blow my mind how much PGI uses NGNG for things. Zero reason to.

[MonkeyCheese]

1453 R, on 02 June 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

for fighting on after your arms have been blown off

I can safely say that I have never had that happen, arms are tiny on the blackjack compared to the rest of its body

Ghost Bear, on 02 June 2014 - 10:54 PM, said:

While I wouldn't call them morons, it really does blow my mind how much PGI uses NGNG for things. Zero reason to.

Havent bothered to look into NGNG for I guess years now.

Edited by MonkeyCheese, 02 June 2014 - 11:12 PM.