529 replies to this topic

[Paul Inouye]

Deathlike, on 10 September 2014 - 05:19 PM, said:

It's good to know "Clan Mechs" are usable, but that also means there's no "meaningful" Clan vs IS aspect.

What this amounts to is a pseudo-match creation between parties... I'm not sure if 2 minutes if enough for a particular faction to response, nor 30 seconds for mech selection based on a personal dropdeck.

I'd rather see an example of the new mode first before I comment on how "functional" it is.

Not sure what you're seeing but I'll try to clarify what happens.

When you click the Faction tab, the only 'Mechs you'll be able to use from that point on (while participating in CW) are the 'Mechs associated with your account Faction setting. For example, you are currently set to "Merc Unit". This is an Inner Sphere setting. The only 'Mechs you can take into combat in Community Warfare are your IS 'Mechs. You will be joining your unit and other IS players in the war against the Clans.

If you leave the Faction tab on the main menu and return back to normal public play, all of your 'Mechs are available (both Clan and IS). Teams in public play are mixed technology exactly how the game is playing right now.

So yes, Community Warfare(Faction Tab) is 100% Clans vs IS. Public play (not in the Faction Tab) is mixed tech smashy 'Mech madness.. just like it is right now.

As for the timer on how fast someone can respond to the call to arms, it is both tunable, and that first 2 minutes is allocated so that the Unit who has defensive rights to the planet have priority to answer the call to battle. Remember, the battles take place during set hours throughout the day (peak player times like North America - West Coast, North America - East Coast, EU, Pacific whichever times have high player populations). If your unit has the defensive rights on a planet, it would be in your unit's best interest to be around during those peak times. If you are not around, you will be relying on your fellow faction players to defend the planet for you (who get invited after the 2 minute timer times out).

[Bhael Fire]

Marc von der Heide, on 10 September 2014 - 08:22 PM, said:

Clans own all IS mechs. Why should they bee forced to used the weaker Omni mechs?

Clans do not "own" all IS mechs. The Clans manufacture CLAN mechs...not IS mechs.

Just because a player in a Clan faction owns a bunch of IS mechs that does not mean they can drop with those IS mechs in FACTION play. That makes no sense.

Some really silly people out there.

[Paul Inouye]

Mal, on 10 September 2014 - 05:25 PM, said:

Wow.. Paul sounded just like Niko there...

One thing I'd like clarification on.. where do Merc Units, and, especially Lone Wolves/Unaffilated players fall in this? Previously, it was talked about us being 'filler' to round out groups, is that still the plan?

Merc Units/Lone Wolves = IS

Dagger Star = Clan

Lone wolf players are free to join into the foray, they can step into any battle to defend their home planets. In this case it would be any IS planet being attacked by the Clans.

[Dark DeLaurel]

Bhael Fire, on 10 September 2014 - 08:19 PM, said:

EVERYONE will be able to use whatever mech they want in the PUBLIC queues, whether you are solo and/or in group.

Only in FACTION play will you be restricted to Faction-based mechs and other restrictions.

First use bold or italics as it is proper etiquette and has it so you are not shouting. All caps is bad, like really bad.

Now as to your reply, they still haven't said what is happening and if we will have access to our stuff in public cues. Just that in the faction tab we will be restricted, so the question is still valid that I and others have asked.

Bhael Fire, on 10 September 2014 - 08:32 PM, said:

Clans do not "own" all IS mechs. The Clans manufacture CLAN mechs...not IS mechs.

Just because a player in a Clan faction owns a bunch of IS mechs that does not mean they can drop with those IS mechs in FACTION play. That makes no sense.

Some really silly people out there.

Correct they do not manufacture them but they would still have Brian Caches of them. Also lets keep the name calling out of everything as the new CoC are pretty strict.

[Deathlike]

Paul Inouye, on 10 September 2014 - 08:33 PM, said:

Merc Units/Lone Wolves = IS

Dagger Star = Clan

That's extraordinarily disappointing.

Quote

Lone wolf players are free to join into the foray, they can step into any battle to defend their home planets. In this case it would be any IS planet being attacked by the Clans.

Sounds like they'll be quickly smashed then.

[BlakeAteIt]

Paul Inouye, on 10 September 2014 - 08:31 PM, said:

So yes, Community Warfare(Faction Tab) is 100% Clans vs IS. Public play (not in the Faction Tab) is mixed tech smashy 'Mech madness.. just like it is right now.

Thanks for the response! Although, the above quote makes it look a little bit like it will ONLY be Clan vs IS. There will also be House vs House, (or I suppose Clan vs Clan) correct?

Also, for both balance and lore reasons (IS lance vs Clan Star), will the Clan and IS factions have asymetrical numbers of 'mechs?

Edited by BlakeAteIt, 10 September 2014 - 08:39 PM.

[Paul Inouye]

ParjaiSkirata, on 10 September 2014 - 05:25 PM, said:

I guess we'll have to see how this goes... But if, for example, I'm with a merc unit, and not affiliated with any faction per se (house, clan, etc), what impact does that have on us? I primarily pilot clan mechs, but I still have IS mechs. Does this force me to have pilot IS mechs if someone else in our unit attacks a target?

When you joined your Unit, you should have been prompted to let you know that your faction will be realigned with the Unit creator's faction. If your Unit creator is Kurita, Liao, Steiner, Marik, Davion, FRR, Merc Unit, Lone Wolf, you will be fighting for the Inner Sphere against the Clans. If your Unit creator is Clan Wolf, Clan Smoke Jaguar, Clan Jade Falcon, Clan Ghost Bear or Dagger Star, you will be fighting for the Clans against the Inner Sphere.

Your forum badge shows that you're aligned with Clan Wolf. If your Unit group attacks a planet, it's going to be an IS controlled planet in IS territory. You will all be required to use your Clan 'Mechs in the battle.

[Paul Inouye]

Eboli, on 10 September 2014 - 05:25 PM, said:

Will you be allowing the use of Hero mechs - as long as they fit with the Faction/planet requirements.

It appears that at first it will be the larger Factions/Clans/Merc groups that will be able to take on contracts - ie those groups that can field a 12 person team immediately. Are their any plans to allow the smaller groups to be able to take on contracts for attacking defending planets? Ie - a Possibility that more than 1 contracted group be dropping together. I ask this because otherwise you may find only a limited number of large groups controlling CW because of their ability to drops 12 mans and possibly even undermine the bidding ability of smaller groups.

Cheers
Eboli.

There is a bidding system that will be going in that will scale with the size of a Unit that will allow smaller Units to bid on planets. However, the smallest Unit that can trigger an attack is 12 members. Units with smaller member counts will still be able to participate in a defensive manner but the actual triggering of an attack must be done with 12 players. More on the bidding system will be coming in the next update.

[Jake 451]

My concern is that as a defender you would always be up against an organized 12 man with whatever you can cobble together.

When is contesting of a world over? In theory we could have an endless battle over a world as it keeps getting attacked over and over again over a 24 hour period. Would there be a limit on how ofter a world can be fought over in a 24 hour period?

Will there be a separate money system for CW? A big organized unit could have a bunch of members grinding out cbills in the regular pug queue to fund the unit in CW. Maybe not even an issue.

An interesting idea would be if your House Unit had the ability to assign (hire) a mercenary unit as fill ins for your regular unit in planetary defense. Say you controlled a world with your unit and hired a mercenary unit as backup that would also get the notification that your planet was under attack? This could potentially cover all the time zones and give mercenaries a purpose.

Will be be able to attack any planet that we want to on the map? Can Steiners go after Marik worlds?

Lots to ponder....you guys have lots of work to do!

[TygerLily]

Paul Inouye, on 10 September 2014 - 08:31 PM, said:

Teams in public play are mixed technology exactly how the game is playing right now...So yes, Community Warfare(Faction Tab) is 100% Clans vs IS. Public play (not in the Faction Tab) is mixed tech smashy 'Mech madness.. just like it is right now.

Noooo!! I can hand-wave mixed IS houses but PLEASE make the public play bucketed by IS or Clan. So Clan vs Clan, Clan vs IS, IS vs IS but no mixed Clan/IS vs Clan/IS. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please!

[Rebas Kradd]

Paul Inouye, on 10 September 2014 - 08:31 PM, said:

If your unit has the defensive rights on a planet, it would be in your unit's best interest to be around during those peak times.

Sometimes it takes two minutes just to spot the flashing icon and open my Teamspeak, much less coordinate 12 people. CW cannot be based around the hope that twelve people from the same unit are waiting around for hours on end, fingers frozen over their mouse (that's literally what it will take), ready to spring into action. If 2 minutes is the mark, it will simply flood the defending teams with puggers across the galaxy. And I'm sure you can imagine what an advantage for the attacking team that would be.

It's much more fair to ask the attacker to wait around for a while. They've got the advantage of organization to compensate for that inconvenience, whereas honestly, the defensive side might end up mostly puggers no matter how long they wait.

Edited by Rebas Kradd, 10 September 2014 - 08:46 PM.

[Paul Inouye]

Solis Obscuri, on 10 September 2014 - 05:29 PM, said:

Two questions, off the top of my head:

What value will non-jump capable lights have if they cannot circumvent chokepoints?

Why is the disabling the gate control a jump-sniping challenge? Why not just make the gate destructible, and make disabling the generator a quick mode to taking out the gate and turrets?

1) Maps are designed to allow the game mode to progress even if there are NO jump jet 'Mechs on a team. The bullet point was provided to give a sense of scale as to how high the gates will be. Light JJ equipped 'Mechs may not want to jump over that gate too quickly as they are probably jumping into a lion's pit on the other side. But sneaky guys might get by.

2) Again, the gates can be opened without a JJ capable 'Mech.

keith, on 10 September 2014 - 05:30 PM, said:

after reading this it sounds like phase 2 will only be for 12 mans. what about the group of ppl who have less then 12? or the poor solo player who would wish to join in this action that sounds fun

I think I covered it in the previous responses... but rest assured, solo, teams of 2-11 and 12-mans can all partake in CW.

[Bhael Fire]

Dark DeLaurel, on 10 September 2014 - 08:36 PM, said:

First use bold or italics as it is proper etiquette and has it so you are not shouting. All caps is bad, like really bad.

NO, THIS IS SHOUTING!!!! (note the punctuation?)

I used all caps on certain key words because some people have a hard time reading the subtle bold and italics...and there seems to be a lot people not paying attention to what has already been stated numerous times. It was for emphatic effect....not to be rude.

Dark DeLaurel, on 10 September 2014 - 08:36 PM, said:

Now as to your reply, they still haven't said what is happening and if we will have access to our stuff in public cues. Just that in the faction tab we will be restricted, so the question is still valid that I and others have asked.

Yes...yes they have multiple times. They have been stating this for MO....er....months. In fact...Paul just re-reiterated that fact directly above your post.

Not trying to be rude...just trying to help people and keep them informed.

Edited by Bhael Fire, 10 September 2014 - 08:50 PM.

[Wintersdark]

Ramsess, on 10 September 2014 - 08:19 PM, said:

I think you have it wrong... with the current integration Merc play and Faction play and lone wolf play have all been melded into one pot.

1. Defenders have to "BID" to get to defend "AKA merc life".
2. If not a full defense unit then you can fill with lone wolfs of said faction or other unit members of said faction.
3. In either case of 1 and 2 nowhere is there anything that applies to the 3 lives that were supposed to be separate when they had their spiffy powerpoint presentation.

Said three lives were "Loyalist, Merc and lonewolf"

My take on all this, they realized it was too much work and that giving something so complete was over what they even know how to set up. So they went for the most watered down idea of a faction VS faction gameplay.

Also im pretty sure you can forget the whole reputation with X faction and those cockpit items that were supposed to give us some extra points or something.

I understand how it works in this writeup.

My point is that I spent hundreds of dollars on mechs under the previous formal design doc, which was pretty clear that merc units where different, that we could earn rep with various factions simultaneously. Nothing was said that CW would be 100% faction restricted for mechs.

I don't know what you have or your play style. But I'm a collector. And I'm absolutely in love with several mechs in each faction. I've spent a _lot_ of real money obtaining them, all in anticipation of battles really mattering.

Now that they do, I'll be unable to use my clan mechs in those battles, the only battles in the game where victory or loss makes any difference at all. (I'm currently in a Davion unit, and Davion faction. Dunno why my forum avatar shows CGB).

My only option to play clan mechs would be to leave that unit. That may be a simple choice for some, but it is not one for me. I like those guys a lot, and there are precious few units about that understand my situation so well, and can work with it.

[Paul Inouye]

t Khrist, on 10 September 2014 - 05:31 PM, said:

The faction a player has aligned to will be a hard rule as to which mechs they can us and which planets they can attack/defend.

So as a member of a merc corps, will we be able to change our faction alignment at any time in order to use our full inventory of mechs and participate in multiple conflicts? Or once Phase 2 is released, will our groups current choice be locked in and us unable to change it in order to play with mechs of other factions?

Thank you for your time, and most of all, MWO!

Once you enter the Faction Tab (gotta come up with a better name for this ) your Unit group is locked to your aligned Faction's 'Mechs.

[Cimarb]

Paul Inouye, on 10 September 2014 - 08:33 PM, said:

Merc Units/Lone Wolves = IS

Dagger Star = Clan

Lone wolf players are free to join into the foray, they can step into any battle to defend their home planets. In this case it would be any IS planet being attacked by the Clans.

I totally agree with this, but now that this information is out there, can units have a "freebie" on changing their faction to fit this setup? (Not me, but asking for others)

Paul Inouye, on 10 September 2014 - 08:38 PM, said:

When you joined your Unit, you should have been prompted to let you know that your faction will be realigned with the Unit creator's faction. If your Unit creator is Kurita, Liao, Steiner, Marik, Davion, FRR, Merc Unit, Lone Wolf, you will be fighting for the Inner Sphere against the Clans. If your Unit creator is Clan Wolf, Clan Smoke Jaguar, Clan Jade Falcon, Clan Ghost Bear or Dagger Star, you will be fighting for the Clans against the Inner Sphere.

Your forum badge shows that you're aligned with Clan Wolf. If your Unit group attacks a planet, it's going to be an IS controlled planet in IS territory. You will all be required to use your Clan 'Mechs in the battle.

Again, I agree with this, but will we not have House vs House and Clan vs Clan as well? I know the majority of the conflict is Clan vs House during this time, but there was still a lot of House vs House going on, especially in the regions not directly under attack by the Clans, and Houses were still at each other's throats attacking each other until just around the Battle of Tukayyid in 3052 (2-3 years from now), and continued fighting each other soon after that ended.

Please do not restrict it to JUST Clan vs IS...

[Paul Inouye]

Tiberius Augustus, on 10 September 2014 - 05:34 PM, said:

There should be a limit on drops/launch/get in game to prevent "behind the scene" community groups that will easily turn the tide in CW in an instant by switching sides.

ex you get to drop in a event 10 times

oooooooooo

once you drop the 10th time you can not drop in for another and wait for a cool down

xxxxxxxxxx

Each drop should have a cool down of xxmins then you gain a drop etc till you have 10 again

ex 10:00 mins to gain a drop

also you can not buy drops.

When the event coming to a close the cool down for each drop is quick to a lower amount of mins.

ex 4:00 mins to gain drop



Lock in the faction for the entire duration of the CW event

Interesting.. but Units cannot switch Factions once in the CW area of the game. That being said, this functionality you're talking about may prevent a large Unit (ugh.. I'm gonna catch hell over saying that aren't I?) from repeatedly attacking a planet over and over again.

[BlakeAteIt]

Hi Paul, sorry to ask again, I'm just really curious if CW is going to be all IS vs Clan, or will there be some infighting as well?

For example the Capellans didn't run into a large number of Clans for quite a while...

[Paul Inouye]

NoRoo, on 10 September 2014 - 05:35 PM, said:

Question: Any chance we can have larger Decks? Maybe one of each weight class + a couple optional "Any class" slots? That way we could quickly choose between a couple alternate mechs for our preferred weight classes. I might want to quickly be able to choose between a long range support medium mech, and a short range brawler medium mech.

In a recent meeting, we discussed the option to allow players to click some sort of button on a slot in the drop deck which would allow you to choose a 'Mech from that weight class slot from your inventory. e.g. You have a Jenner in your light slot. You could click the little button on the slot and drop down and select your Raven instead.

[SerEdvard]

Two questions:

Can the gates be destroyed simply by shooting them, or only opened by destroying the power generators?

Will there be any IS vs IS or Clan vs Clan combat in CW?