116 replies to this topic

[feor]

GreenHell, on 19 November 2011 - 07:33 PM, said:

Starter assault mech = Charger (trololololo)

I'd go for that, I love the 1A1 Charger. Just gotta know what you're doing with it.

Of course, I self-identify as an Ice Hellion, so I may not be the most mentally balanced person when making such a decision.

[GreenHell]

i don't think they were talking about "free" in that sense j echo...
i think they meant free as in the first mech you get without spending c-bills (in game currency, not real money)

[Melissia]

J Echo, on 19 November 2011 - 09:03 PM, said:

Well, looks like 9/10s of the community wants pay-to-win.

Wait, what?

Whoever said anything about buying a 'mech with real money?

The starter 'mech doesn't necessarily have to suck. My suggestion was that the starter 'mech for each house should be the standard frontline medium 'mech, for example. Those 'mechs aren't sucky... the Vindicator for house Liao and Centurion or Enforcer for house Davion, for example, are both excellent mediums 'mechs.

[CeeKay Boques]

The funny thing is, I think most Mechwarriors agree it takes tons of skill to successfully pilot a light versus an Assault, yet, we think of growing from small to big.

[Melissia]

Mn, in my case I only picked the mediums because mediums are supposed to be common front line 'mechs. The enforcer is described as the primary workhorse of the Davion military for example.

[EDMW CSN]

Technoviking, on 19 November 2011 - 09:48 PM, said:

The funny thing is, I think most Mechwarriors agree it takes tons of skill to successfully pilot a light versus an Assault, yet, we think of growing from small to big.

It takes quite a bit of cunning not to get circle strafed by a bunch of locusts if you are in an Atlas or a Daisy since you can't turn for crap anyway. Personally I prefer mediums or fast heavies. 45 ton and 55 ton mechs are among the best balanced in speed / damage imo.

[Thom Frankfurt]

I hope it's a broad selection... I don't like the idea of everyone stomping around in an Atlas at first level (are there levels?). Maybe have your character start out with the lightest tonnage for your weight class and every x levels or XPs you can choose the next heavier one... I dunno. it's a thought.

[The1WithTheGun]

GreenHell, on 19 November 2011 - 07:33 PM, said:

Starter assault mech = Charger (trololololo)

Hey - if they have melee combat in at launch I'll take it!

[Nik Van Rhijn]

Lyran scout = Atlas

[Mattiator]

Quote

But how would that work ?
Assuming the person is going for a "power build" and is light mech specced in Real Life (not ingame), he can take the assault and sell em off to better pimp his lights or just keep the chump change till he needs to upgrade his light mechs.

A person who opt for 1 medium and 1 light can't possibly do that.

Let's take an example where you can choose from one of four mechs, one light, one medium, one heavy, and one assault. Each of said 'Mechs would have certain C-Bill value, obviously. Each player essentially starts with a certain number of C-Bills, and is in essence 'purchasing' their first 'Mech. So, there is no major advantage to buying the Atlas right off the bat (other than personal preference), since you have a lot less cash to start tweaking it than the player who started with a Bushwhacker. Hell, the Bushwhacker player might even have the credits to pick up another 'Mech if they wanted!

[44th MAC Bagger]

Every Mech have his one particular job to do on Battlefield .
We will see what the Play Engine do with your Skill if you sit inside your Mech and handle it :-)...to many "??????" at the moment fore a good Basic Answer....

[Oswin Aurelius]

I'm really worried that it might not be possible to balance the heavier mechs vs the lighter ones. I really hope they do find some way to make it work, but I don't like to get my hopes up.

That being said, I'm going to be making some chaos in a nice medium mech. I just love the combination of speed and being able to mount powerful enough weapons to be a threat to any class of mech. I think you should only get one mech at the beginning, otherwise I'm afraid people won't have the right appreciation for the real value of a mech.

I wanted to add more, but I've been up all night and I can't remember what else I wanted to say. XD

[Adridos]

Thom Frankfurt, on 19 November 2011 - 09:58 PM, said:

I hope it's a broad selection... I don't like the idea of everyone stomping around in an Atlas at first level (are there levels?). Maybe have your character start out with the lightest tonnage for your weight class and every x levels or XPs you can choose the next heavier one... I dunno. it's a thought.

Yeah, that system is plainly BAD. I do not know, why do you keep advocating it.
Low lvl would be urbies against eachother and then it will shift to lances of JUST Atlases killing eachother and we do not want that.
For those who do not believe me, look at WoT. You get LolTractor and make it to Maus. Why do you think there is not any Loltractor on high level play? Just the same boring clash of the heaviest tanks in the game (3 tank battles).

And if you think choosing at the beggining is bad, because you can get assault and then buy light with tones of equipment for it, then there is a simple solution. Give all the classes same ammount of money -> You start with some light assault mech and you get 5 000 000 C-bills. But if you start in the light, you will still get 5 000 000 C-bills.

[Eradikitten]

Hrrm. My thoughts:

You should always have a Mech or two to fall back on. . .

Ok, to start off, beginning mech selection can be used as an enticement to encourage people to play the less popular factions. If MPBT:3025 is any indication, most people are going to flock to Davion, Steiner, and Kurita. House Liao and the FWL will get significantly fewer players, and most likely the Free Rasselhague republic will be SOL (Especially once the clans start making an appearance.) If a couple of the houses are over-represented, incentivize people to go with the less popular houses by starting them in heavier mechs. (I suspect the FRR will need heavies. Official innersphere underdogs and all.)

Further, just like in World of Tanks, your starting mech should be free to repair, always in your inventory. While this does mildly harm the concept of "mercenaries" sometimes you need to make sacrifices in the name of gameplay.

[Strayed]

J Echo, on 20 November 2011 - 03:54 AM, said:

Ugh. I would rather have a system where a virtual pilot is retired when he/she can't afford a replacement mech. Nothing like removing the account, but simply the player must start over again from scratch as though he'd just signed up for the game.

Example: I sign up for MO, I get the starting Jenner, I made some cash, I buy a Warhamer. I get my **** kicked, lose my Warhammer, lose my Jenner. Game over. My pilot loses all of his experience and what little cash he has remaining, and then he starts over with a new Jenner and the normal starting amount of c-bills, exactly like a new pilot.

Can imagine that happening with mercs, not sure if it'll happen with a faction?

[Melissia]

J Echo, on 19 November 2011 - 10:05 PM, said:

Ugh. I would rather have a system where a virtual pilot is retired when he/she can't afford a replacement mech. Nothing like removing the account, but simply the player must start over again from scratch as though he'd just signed up for the game.

I would hate that system so damned much...

[Alizabeth Aijou]

GreenHell, on 19 November 2011 - 07:33 PM, said:

Starter assault mech = Charger (trololololo)

To be honest, I'm actually kinda hoping it'll be that.

Quote

Well, looks like 9/10s of the community wants pay-to-win.

Go download MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, start a new game, play until you can go to Solaris VII, and do the light arenas there. Then you tell me if light 'mechs are as worthless as you think it is, and that you need a heavier 'mech to win fights. A skilled light 'mech pilot could probably do pretty good in the grand championship on Solaris VII.

Quote

The funny thing is, I think most Mechwarriors agree it takes tons of skill to successfully pilot a light versus an Assault, yet, we think of growing from small to big.

Never underestimate a light 'Mech.
In canon we got at least a few high-profile people piloting them. Tomoe Sakade (wife of Theodore Kurita) piloted a Panther, for example. As did Minobu Tetsuhara, and his brother Fuhito.

Well, the one that you *are* allowed to laugh at is the OTT-7K Ostscout. The only weapon it has is the TAG...

Edited by Alizabeth Aijou, 20 November 2011 - 05:01 AM.

[Rustic Dude]

I think a simpler solution would be to give the player some starting money and give him a limited catalog of used Mechs. That would mean the player could have some amount of choice without randomization: it could be a light scout-Wasp, Stinger, Locust-, a decent light combat Mech-UrbanMech, Hornet, Panther-, or a crappy low-end medium Mech-Cicada, Vulcan, Hermes II. All 3025 technology, of course..

[EDMW CSN]

Melissia, on 20 November 2011 - 04:24 AM, said:

I would hate that system so damned much...

In EVE they gave you a rookie ship or something to keep on playing if you lost your ship and docked to any affiliated faction space station. Maybe a rookie mech like a cheap Flea or something really banged up ?

I am kinda more forgiving here. But restarting over only really applies to mercs. House units will retain the pilot as long he is alive....

Edited by [EDMW]CSN, 20 November 2011 - 05:13 AM.

[Woodstock]

Jake Steel, on 19 November 2011 - 04:10 PM, said:

I think for balance it should be light.

I don't think they can balance based on the weight of the mech as that will only lead to a race to the biggest mech. From what they have said the balance will come from rolls not just tonnage. I personally would love to see mixed sized teams. so 10 on one team and 4 on the other. and a system using rolls and BV to balance the sides.

As for starting mech ... I'd go with a house specific mech of the right weight class.