Deathlike, on 01 August 2014 - 07:03 AM, said:
As of today, even the highly competitive players agree with this module loadout...
...I'm not sure how that is much of an upgrade, as this will be the standard for most/all mechs. There will be variations like UAVs instead of Coolant for Light Mechs or Target Decay for a missile boat... but ultimately speaking, you've locked down "definitive modules" in each bracket, which literally creates "no diversity".
Most of the modules are situational; it's players that have chosen to assign "sufficiently less situational that we're going to call them mandatory" to a handful of them. And the complaint is that players have assigned this status to 1-2 more modules than can be slotted in. That's not a fault of the system.
If (as MasterBNB suggested on p16) we add 3 'Mech modules to every 'Mech (so that the baseline is 4+1 rather than 1+1,) then all we do is cater to the so-called "mandatories" (causing ~60k GXP to become pure progression) and then put the choice on top of that... and what thereafter? As more are added, something else will become the fifth "mandatory," and then you'll want it buffed to 5+1 because 4+1 offers only a false illusion of choice.
Based on the way you want to value the modules, there are only a few ways that PGI can achieve the module system they are trying to achieve, in a way acceptable to your "need" of the mandatories plus choice:
1. The Warcraft approach: The "mandatories" are now master 'Mech efficiencies and off the pilot tree.
-Some of these would be very bad if proliferated, notably Seismic. Also, it risks running into the fifth mandatory. This is not a slippery slope; it's exactly what has been happening in World of Warcraft over its several expansions.
2. The extra gear approach: The "mandatories," if not all 'Mech modules, become pieces of gear that must be mounted with tonnage and crits.
-Tonnage and crits are the "currency" of 'Mech customisation. This option gives us good fine-tuning of relative utility vs. real cost.
3. The addslot approach: Master Module slots can be added to the 'Mech; each is a piece of gear that costs tonnage and crits.
-This can be either fixed, or variable by weight class / jump jet weight. For all of these, I'd say two crits.
--Fixed: 1.5 (same as IS BAP and ECM)
--Weight variable: 1/2/3/4 (and change the Command Console to 2 slots + counter-ECM instead of current pseudo-TC3.)
--Jump weight variable: 1/2/4 (same as Improved Jump Jets, and still change the Command Console.)
These slots can take 'Mech or weapon, but not consumable.