25 replies to this topic

[SkyCake]

this thread really illustrates something thats been bugging me about MWO the entire time ive been playing it...

why customization?

mechs should have just been more or less stock from the outset(armour/ammo tweaked for game balance), and then the chassis/weapons themselves balanced through flavor wins such as the what the last patch did for the AWS...

all of this games balance woes stem directly from mech customization, and rather than PGI locking customization out, they attempted(and largely failed) to balance the game through such winners as ghost heat, charge up, and desync... then proceed to come full circle and buff chassis that are lackluster, redundant, and obsoleted by mech customization... why pilot an awesome for ppcs when you can get them on victors and have jets too!

PGI finally answers this two years later with "because the AWS has a cooling buff" and that may provide incentive for a time, MAYBE, until other chassis start picking up buffs of their own, and of course should that happen, the AWS risks becoming 2nd rate once again and we're back to square one. and one needs to look no further than the forums to see many threads by pilots wishing for this and for that for their own favorite mechs....

so PGI can say "well, for the victor we're going to give it an AC buff, better jump jet landing blah blah blah, to push the mech towards its original intent" and that would be fine... that would be proper, but it would still beg the question: WHY CUSTOMIZATION???

IF YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE US SUCH STRONG INCENTIVES TO PLAY THE MECHS STOCK LOADOUT, SO MUCH SO THAT IT WOULD BE SUBOPTIMAL TO RUN ANYTHING BUT, AND HEAVILY PUNISH NON STOCK BUILDS THROUGH GHOST HEAT ETC., THEN WHY CUSTOMIZATION???

*HEAD EXPLODES*

[Khobai]

Quote

all of this games balance woes stem directly from mech customization

While I agree that customization is a large part of the problem, removing it still wouldnt solve the problem.

Some stock mechs are simply better than others. The only way to balance that out would be some type of battle value system.

[Haxburch]

SkyCake, on 02 August 2014 - 11:02 PM, said:

IF YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE US SUCH STRONG INCENTIVES TO PLAY THE MECHS STOCK LOADOUT, SO MUCH SO THAT IT WOULD BE SUBOPTIMAL TO RUN ANYTHING BUT, AND HEAVILY PUNISH NON STOCK BUILDS THROUGH GHOST HEAT ETC., THEN WHY CUSTOMIZATION???

Because you  should make your own decisions freely. Customization is a gift not a law .You are free to follow your own ideas but tweaks will figth the meta . Will give the IS mechs some coolness and unique character and honor the lore !But tweaks dont destroy customization , you can still do what comes in your mind.

Edited by Haxburch, 02 August 2014 - 11:31 PM.

[SkyCake]

Khobai, on 02 August 2014 - 11:15 PM, said:

While I agree that customization is a large part of the problem, removing it still wouldnt solve the problem.

Some stock mechs are simply better than others. The only way to balance that out would be some type of battle value system.

perhaps you are right that removing customization will not solve the problem of balance, but it would solve the problem of flavor, of which this game is seriously lacking, and which the players are desperate for and much appreciate... this thread and the many like it are proof enough.

and the argument that "some stock mechs are simply better than others" is not a problem of mech customization or its absence, but of the lack of roles built into the game... every situation you run into in MWO is a nail, and so its only correct to run a hammer... if you bring a saw, or an axe, you are gimping yourself and your team... if MWO presented you with varied situations, then you could never say a hammer is better than a saw, or an auger better than an axe... it would all DEPEND on the situation, and then we would have multidimensional gameplay, which is what every game strives for and what every GOOD game has...

[SkyCake]

Haxburch, on 02 August 2014 - 11:25 PM, said:

Because you should make your own decisions freely. Customization is a gift not a law .You are free to follow your own ideas but tweaks will figth the meta . Will give the IS mechs some coolness and unique character and honor the lore !But tweaks dont destroy customization , you can still do what comes in your mind.

would not choosing between chassis with set loadouts be a sort of customization in and of itself? wasnt this the whole point for these different loadouts existing in the BT universe in the first place???

[Haxburch]

SkyCake, on 02 August 2014 - 11:54 PM, said:

would not choosing between chassis with set loadouts be a sort of customization in and of itself? wasnt this the whole point for these different loadouts existing in the BT universe in the first place???

But this is a living game and the BT lore should not be a DOGMA ! People need freedom and people need individuality. Lore is good but LORE  isnt GOD ! The BT devs are not godlike or masterminds , the BT dev had just a idea to make money with a story. For a living game dont be a lore nerd ! But you can honor the Lore with some easy tricks.But i can not give a answer to your question just my opinion. Maybe u are rigth but i believe in my point of view.

Edited by Haxburch, 03 August 2014 - 12:07 AM.