430 replies to this topic

[Kyle Polulak]

Hi everyone!

Please provide us your feedback regarding the latest Command Chair post regarding the game timeline!

Paul Inouye, on 03 June 2014 - 10:14 AM, said:

Rolling Back to 3049 and Why.

Greetings MechWarriors,

We will be rolling back the timeline to 3049 for a few reasons, with the biggest of them being Community Warfare. If we stay at our current timeline of 3051: We end up well beyond the Third Wave of the Clan invasion the Free Rasalhague Republic is in dire straits, and later this year would see the completion of the Fourth Wave. This is not the essence of Community Warfare as we intended to have had when the Clan vs Inner Sphere fighting broke out.

This rollback has some inconsistencies involved with it. For example, the “S” variants of some of the Clan ‘Mechs are not available until 3050+. However, 3050+ is when they become widely used throughout the conflict zone, not necessarily when they were created. Players can think of it this way… having access to the “S” variants is sort of like having access to the advanced prototypes of these ‘Mechs.. We will have to bear this inconsistency for now as the Clan Packs are being released before Community Warfare.

That being said, rolling back to 3049 puts us in a position where the Clans start taking planets in the Periphery around August. When we launch Community Warfare later this year, players will be able to partake in the Periphery conflict and then move into the First Wave of Operation Revival, where the Clans really start to push into the Inner Sphere itself. This is the true feeling of the Clan Invasion that we wanted from the initial conception of the game and originally suggested a 1-to-1 timeline.

When Community Warfare is ready, the Clans will only occupy a small number of planets. This is where players will have the ability to follow a recreation of the Clan Invasion by forcing their way down into FRR territory and harassing House Steiner and House Kurita along the way. However, if the Inner Sphere players are organized, they can even change the course of BattleTech history and try to stop the Clans in their tracks.

Regarding the 3 additional clans that join the invasion in Wave 4 (Clan Nova Cat and Clan Steel Viper) and just after Wave 5 (Clan Diamond Shark), we are planning on pulling them into the conflict closer to their reveal dates next year (i.e. as soon as possible).

We hope you understand our desire to re-align the timeline to really help bring the impact of what Community Warfare will mean in MWO. We would greatly appreciate your thoughts on the impact of this timeline change and you can provide it here in the feedback thread.

Edited by Nikolai Lubkiewicz, 03 June 2014 - 01:22 PM.

[Helmer]

Sounds reasonable.

The only issue I can see is possibly those who enjoy the "secondary" clans having to wait longer .... however, if you're willing to introduce them during CW, I don't see any major issues.

It's a number after all.

However, I also don't have much vested interested in the Clans, so I'm sure there are other reasons that I'm not thinking of.

Edit: DUH... introduction of later mechs... an obvious issue I overlooked. Easy ways to get around it if we're introducing "prototypes" now.


Cheers.

Edited by Helmer, 03 June 2014 - 03:13 PM.

[DEMAX51]

Cool move

[B B Wolfe]

Helmer, on 03 June 2014 - 01:11 PM, said:

Cheers

Where everybody knows your name o/`

[Heffay]

This is a fantastic idea! Can we get the daily ISN updates replayed as well? I really miss those.

[fleshwoundNPG]

You all wanted it, you all got it.

[Nicholas Carlyle]

Look good in text. Hope you can follow through.

[Mordynak]

Sounds cool to me.

[Tsig]

What is this? A post from Paul that doesn't have any rage in it yet? I didn't think that was possible. Thanks for the info, Paul. Can't wait to get my Thor/Uller/Black Hawk

[Goose]

What else could they do?

But: We have a balanced game to play CW with?

[Valdemaar]

I for one approve of the roll back and look forward to either fighting for or against the FRR in the Clan Invasion.

One question though, does this mean we can once again get Inner Sphere News going? I loved reading the news blurbs of stuff going on.

[Madw0lf]

Heffay, on 03 June 2014 - 01:12 PM, said:

This is a fantastic idea! Can we get the daily ISN updates replayed as well? I really miss those.

Should be easy enough, and really cool to see again.

That being said, change the course of history? So the invasion could be flat out stopped? This actually has me slightly interested in CW now!

[vortmax]

Can we roll back to 3038 instead? When there were no clans and FedCom was about to invade The Draconis Combine?

</purist>


But seriously, I'm in favor of this. Thought starting in 3049 at open Beta was ambitious anyways.

[GroovYChickeN]

Ok. That's all fine and dandy. Other than someone just saying what day it is in game what does this have to do with how the game will be played?

[Helmer]

B B Wolfe, on 03 June 2014 - 01:12 PM, said:

Where everybody knows your name o/`

We serve poutine.

[fleshwoundNPG]

When this Timber Wolf hits 88 KPH....

[cSand]

Might have to rent out my services to FRR this fall

[1453 R]

Really, the timeline didn’t/doesn’t really mean much prior to the implementation of Commodity Warfare anyways, except for telling us what chassis we can semi-realistically expect to be introduced. So long as current ‘Mech builds and available equipment aren't impacted (and they're clearly not going to be), I see no drawbacks to kicking things back a couple of years.

Y’know, except for the fact that it tacks two additional years onto the already-impossible 10+ years we have before any of the really fun toys start coming back into the game. GAWD I miss my Bushwacker…even with that new-minted Clan (Rabid?) Wolf banner over there, I’d take time out of my day to give that old friend a spin again.

Heh…but anyone who knows jack about MWO realized when they got here than we were never seeing those ‘Mechs/weapons. Dangers of taking a game spanning centuries and giving it a 1-to-1 timeline ratio. Being able to try and participate in a live-action edition of the Invasion might potentially be cool, if Commodity Warfare actually even remotely lives up to the utterly impossible level of hype The Community’s heaped on it. And if I never get my Bushwacker, at least I’ll have my Stormcrow(s) to keep me company on lonely nights in the hangar.

[Javin]

Extremely excited about community warfare. This is a step in the right direction.

[CoffiNail]

Let Operation Revival begin! Let us free the Inner Sphere from the dogs that have wrecked mankind and brought the innocents of the Sphere back to the dark ages.