KOMMISSAR KITTY, on 01 August 2014 - 02:42 PM, said:
They kind of didn't do that in the Lore. Most, if not all Mercs under contract had it in the clause to hand over Clan tech, so they pretty much never got it and the Houses were trying to reverse engineer it. The Houses eventually made their own Omni mechs, but seeing hordes of IS mechs now sporting Clan tech simply didn't happen. You're talking about a complete redesign of a mechs innards to receive completely foreign tech and work with a smile without blowing up or shutting down. Some of those machines were a few hundred years old by the time of Clan Invasion and beyond. They were held together with spit, duct tape and prayer.
Clan salvage would work if items were actually destroyed or had a durability stat like the hardcore pvp games...sadly...the tears of this community wouldn't be able to support such a feature.
They did not do what? Salvage equipment and try to replicate it? Sorry to tell you, but "they" did. "They" includes every single person, unit, House, Clan, dog and sister that got their hands on something they did not currently have.
Contract or not, mercenary units are not blindly loyal and idiotic buffoons, so I really do not understand why people keep using that contract excuse in these discussions...
First, most mercenary units were already under contract at the time of the invasion. Recontract just for salvage would not be happening, and see my third point for why.
Second, no one even knew what they were fighting for months after the attacks started. It was not like the Clans announced "hey, here we come, make sure to change all of your contracts so you can lewts r stuff!"
Third, and this is a big one, but this was not a time where Houses could afford to be stingy with their contracts. The Houses that were being attacked needed every single mercenary they could get their hands on, and money is no issue when your existence is on the line! Not only did they still not trust the other Houses, but their forces were getting absolutely steam-rolled at the beginning of the invasion.
Now, having said all that, I am not advocating for mix-tech. I do not want it. I am advocating for some sort of unlock/achievement feature that would allow me, as a Clan Ghost Bear player, to play a Dire Wolf (Clans Wolf and Smoke Jag mech) or Victor (House Davion) in CW, or whatever other mech comes out that does not happen to match my faction.