90 replies to this topic

[Karl Streiger]

Redshift2k5, on 18 September 2014 - 03:48 PM, said:

New player experience

• tutorials
  
• starting assets
  
• ability to tutor new players in a private match without the rookie needing premium time

+1
While better as the time in Beta (you know Stock Trial Mechs, reduced Income, No XP) - its still a long road.

Maybe with increased cadet time (income should be reduced per game) - most important that rookies drop in a protecded que or get an "Overwritten ELO" that ensures that those poor guys only drop with minimal chance vs veterans

[Tolkien]

Hi Sandpit,

Thanks for coordinating this - *puts on constructive hat*:

1) 3rd person view - probably as simple as adding a FREE toggle to the match launch screen so players can choose to disable it.

2) Convergence - for the love of kerensky add a cone-of-fire mechanic (worked great in Counter-Strike, a very skill based shooter, as well as planetside and many other games). Homeless bill had some excellent suggestions back in the day. This fixes so many of the balance issues in the game and completely removes the need for kludges like ghost heat.

3) Match balance - battle value.... it's not perfect, but it is way better than the current system where a mad cat and a catapult are treated as equals in the match maker because both are heavies. Likewise with the dire whale and an awesome being treated as equals. BV also takes into account the values of the weapons and equipment on the mechs so it partially solves that problem too.

4) Role Warfare through skill trees rather than grind bushes that we now have.

5) A functional in UI mechlab. The current one is so bad that even with 15 years experience designing battlemechs I have to use an outside tool to do the design (e.g. smurphy) then copy it over. The existing one is like viewing your mech design through a toilet paper tube; you have no overall awareness of the design.

6) Game economy - what we have now is dangerously close to P2W. The 'essential' consumables (arty+coolant) use up more cbills (80k) than the average player without premium time/hero mech earns in an average match (PGI said this was 65k last update). This is tantamount to P2W since the paying players get to take the better equipment much more often.

7) I was going to say weapon balance again, but I think just see number 2) again... that really should be done first. I know it's a bitter pill to swallow but think about how many months and months of jump sniping and boom jagers and boom cats and quad ppc stalkers we would have avoided burst firing if we had this.

[pbiggz]

Weapons convergence scaling (firing more weapons results in decreased weapons convergence, so you can still deal damage, but alpha striking no longer deals massive pinpoint damage) and removal of ghost heat in favour of real heat scale with real penalties.

All these penalties kick in at the listed heat %, but get progressively more severe the hotter you get.

At 60% heat weapons convergence penalty doubles
At 75% heat top speed reduces, visibility impaired
At 80% heat HUD flickers
At 85% heat shutdown sequence kicks in, complete with bitching betty voiceover, it can be over-ridden, however once shut down, you must wait to power back up again, you cannot quick do a quick restart.
At 90% heat ammo begins to cook off
At 100% heat damage is dealt to your torso internals over time for as long as you are above 90% heat
If you remain at 100% heat for more than 10 seconds your head internals will be destroyed, resulting in death, an alarm will sound at the 5 second mark, notifying you that you should cool off in some way before you explode.


these numbers can of course be changed.

And if you think this is mega nerf, here's some encouragement to stay cool.

Below 40% heat weapons convergence improves.
Below 20% heat weapons recycle time improves.
Below 15% heat top speed increases.

Other ideas:

Jumpjet shake continues for as long as you are airborne, but jumpjet thrust is either returned to its pre-nerf levels

Comprehensive powerful mech quirks, for example, vindicator can fire a ppc for half the heat and has half the cooldown, awesome can fire up to 3 ppcs for reduced heat and reduced cooldown, dragon has a +-30% increase to CT armor to counteract geometry.

Beagle active probe noticeably improves lock on time for lrms, increases sensor range, and allows you to detect shut down mechs

ECM increases the time it takes for missiles to lock on to you (but does NOT shield you, that functionality is better left to AMS systems), shields you from bap when shut down, and otherwise counteracts bap's functionality completely, but only for you and whoever is within the 180 m area of effect.

PPCs deal splash damage

Laser burn time decreased

Pulse laser deals several points (pulses) of damage, rather than burning slowly like a big hot ugly laser

IS autocannons fire a series of shells in close succession (faster than clan,just like in MWLL) which spread over time, but not too much.

LBX autocannons do not spray shells, they fire a flak shell which explodes in proximity to an enemy or at the end of its range.

Streak SRMS do not use lrm lock on mechanics, they dumb fire, and track as long as you have your reticle trained on the target. They can be made hotter and have their ammo/ton ratio altered if they become too powerful in this manner.

Paperdoll and smurfy mechlab implemented

chat window added to bottom corner of screen which does not close

companies can change their faction (you could lock this out to once a month to prevent flip-flopping)

CW does not reset every 3 months, there is simply a set of worlds around each faction's capital which cannot be taken, so full victory cannot be achieved, but conquests are far more meaningful.

Faction chat channels

Faction wide resources

Added as of 6:30 pm eastern

Chassis perk: internal flexibility: Summoner allowed to toggle between Standard/endosteel internals
Chassis perk: jumpjet flexibility: Summoner can remove up to 3 of its fixed jumpjets
Chassis perk: armor efficiency: 25% increase to all summoner armor.

Remove Timberwolf S variant. Replace with Timberwolf D variant, reimburse players in full with mc or cbills for all S variant omni pods, provide free Timberwolf D mechs for every S removed. (say what you will, giving the timberwolf jumpjets was a stupid stupid stupid idea, especially when the summoner was already such a niche mech, all it did was make the mech that should have been special because of its jumpjets useless because there was another objectively superior choice.

Inflate hardpoints on summoner prime and b left torso [ 2 missile instead of 1]

Inflate missile hardpoints on all vindicators that have them

Increase vindicator engine cap to between 320 and 340 for all variants



I will add more if i think of anything.

Edited by pbiggz, 20 September 2014 - 10:50 AM.

[Kraven Kor]

My little idea:

Fix PPFLD / TTK by normalizing all weapons to deal damage and generate heat to where they do their "Tabletop" listed damage over 10 seconds.

Let's say we make a Gauss have a refire rate of 4 seconds; in this suggested fix, each shot would deal 6 damage - making it deal 15 damage every 10 seconds or 1.5dps

Large Laser; let's say a cycle time of 2.5 seconds and a beam time of 1 second for 1 shot every 3.5s; it would deal damage per shot such that it deals 8 damage over 10 seconds or 0.8 dps.

They might need to lower armor values if they do this; but I think it would fix TTK and "balance out" better in the long run with DPS winning out over alpha strike potential.

I'd also suggest making gauss produce heat. It has long been a point of contention.

----

My other big issue is "immersion" insofar as the game mode options being very... game-y. We need a more military feel to the game modes; CW game mode as proposed sounds closer, but I'd like to see multiple gameplay modes with a more military objective feel to them in the future. Tons of ideas have been proposed - securing landing zones, evacuating to a drop ship, capturing a starport, escorting a supply convoy or command vehicle / VIP, taking a defended city...

[wanderer]

Heat scale functionality beyond simply 100% = shutdown. It is one of the core mechanics of Battletech, and it's lack has led to the detested "ghost heat" system and only assists and abets the overheat-riding mega-blasts that help produce those nightmare Death Star designs.

Revamp jump jets. Completely. They've drifted so far off in functionality as to be facepalmingly bad and allow for builds that are impossible in TT thanks to PGI's arcane jet limits, and were slammed so badly to deal with jump sniping that they became broken for intended usage.

Edited by wanderer, 19 September 2014 - 05:58 AM.

[CutterWolf]

Russ, how about something your team could do in a few days or less, "Unit Decals". This is something that has not been talked about but is something so easy to add to the game.

Thanks!

[-Natural Selection-]

Mech quirks for non-jumpjet capable lights to reduce fall damage. In conjunction with "shock-absorber" making the damage the same as before the mechanic was adjusted.

[Sandpit]

CutterWolf, on 19 September 2014 - 06:11 AM, said:

Russ, how about something your team could do in a few days or less, "Unit Decals". This is something that has not been talked about but is something so easy to add to the game.

Thanks!

it was talked about at the townhall actually and they're looking into it

[Joanna Conners]

I just want CW released. After that, we can discuss improving it or other features of the game.

[CompproB237]

The UI, specifically the mechlab with a dash of Social interface.
Real Lobbies.
How heat is handled. I kind of like pbiggz idea.
Pinpoint front-loaded damage. - See weapon manufacturers below.
Time to kill.
How targeting works - C3 networks?
Targeting computers - Jagermech/Rifleman's D2j?
Information Warfare - Linked to targeting, C3, Role Warfare... this is in really bad shape and effects a lot of systems.
Role Warfare - Some of it is there (lights obviously fast.. assaults soak damage) but it can be so much more.
Weapon manufacturers and their different models of firing types (Pontiac 100 vs Crusher Super Heavy Cannon vs Chemjet Gun).
'Charge mechanic' on Gauss - Move this to PPC, change it to a simple delay. It makes more sense from a reality standpoint. The Gauss can also have a charging sound effect after it's fired and PPC can show a 'PPC charge bar' as it's charging.

I'd expand on this but I didn't have much time to post today.

Edited by CompproB237, 19 September 2014 - 12:09 PM.

[Hagoromo Gitsune]

Quote

Let me itroduce some boost equipment for some weapons of IS. I'm talking about pure experimental Amplifier/Capacitor Block.


What it does:

• - Increases lazers stats to the values like: +2 damage, +1-2 heat
  
• - Increases PPC/ERPPC stats to the values like: +5 damage, +5 heat.

Cons:

• - Takes extra 2 tons and 1 critical slot.
  
• - When damaged can blew up making damage like 2 tons of AC20 ammo affecting sorounding equipment and structure. Crit. damage chance 50%.

Stats:

• - Weight: 2 tons
  
• - Critical slots: 1
  
• - Cost: 300 000 - 500 000 C-Bills

This is not regular PPC Capacitator. Cause PPC Cap not in until 3060.

Edited by Hagoromo Gitsune, 19 September 2014 - 11:58 AM.

[Immitem]

Time to add my two cents.

Note: These are written in order of importance so personal desires are at the bottom with more important features and fixes at the top.

Ghost heat needs to go and in its place penalties to movement, structure, aiming, and censors. Furthermore, blacking out if you run too hot for too long would also encourage you to avoid alphas.

Additionally work the heat scale around making stock mechs mostly heat neutral. Make them competitive in that sense. Also distinguish between heatsinks and double heat sinks by having the former being given a higher threshold with the latter being true DBHS with two points of dissipation but with a lower threshold.

Homeless Bills idea of convergence would also be greatly appreciated as it adds further strategy and dissuasion from alpha striking and high impact attacks. Also recoil on some weapons based upon the weight of the mech wielding them combined with how high it is mounted (Atlas hip vs Jagger Shoulders) would further dissuade high-damage pinpoint alphas.

Jumpjets should keep a hearty reticle shake but be much more explosive in that the take off is immediate and launches the mech violently in the direction the chassis is pointing, bye bye poptarts. Vector thrusting would also be quite welcome.

For pulse lasers, I feel that the MW3 versions were best as they functioned like a normal laser but could be fired continuously by tapping the fire button as you pleased, creating machine gun lasers.

PPCs should have an option to deactivate the minimum range with a high chance of destroying it and damaging internals. Furthermore all PPCs could have an option to decrease heat by making it fire 5 points of damage up front with a tail of energy that does damage over half a second to cover the remaining 5. Clan ppcs taking a whole second to cover the remaining 10.

Mechs should also have a hardpoint limit in addition to a limit of the number of the weapons that can fit in any section. A combination of the current system and MW4.

Collision damage needs to be a real threat along with DOA. Can anyone say "Do the Highlander Burial?" Knock-overs should make a comeback but need to be reasonable in that the pilots can actually fight to stay up by briefly being given control of their balance for a second or two. Some extra depth to what was otherwise a trolling tactic.

Melee should also be a viable option so that a mech like an atlas or a shadow hawk has more options when in close quarters. Additionally, while grappling would be no doubt too hard to code for ATM (still have my fingers crossed) giving something like an atlas the ability to lift up to fifty tons with its arms and carry around some cover or throw a thirty tonne mech in a flailing death ball would be a most terrifying addition. I will add that the mech has to be destroyed first and ragdolled as I could see this easily becoming a trolling tactic. On the other hand, if the opposing mech has a single leg destroyed then by all means, let that atlas carry a human/mech shield.

Speaking of destroyed legs, I think legging should only cripple them mech instead of destroying it. If you leg an atlas it could still sit up and hold its position but run the risk of rag dolling again if it turns its torso too violently.

The clans should be OP but deploy in much smaller numbers relative to IS mechs.

Other people have commented in depth on the other weapons to a satisfying degree so I will simply give them my stamp of approval (having different weapons manufacturers would be dope).

Randomly generated maps as another has pointed out is a good holdover until more maps are released. Furthermore the maps need another pass in collision detection.

Lastly, I believe all mechs should receive more articulation. Mechs with articulated arms should be able to raise them above cover while all should be able to crouch. The more humanoid should be able to go completely prone with weight and shape being a determining factor in how fast they can get back up. Additionally I feel that mechs should be able to essentially belly-flop or dive to avoid fire. The armour is brittle so you are very likely to damage it immensely but any exposed internals are not as brittle and thus will receive much less damage than a missile strike or ranged barrage. Doing this at full speed however is likely to tip that scale.

The final piece of articulation that I believe should be added is a buff in medium mechs agility. I believe that to add further survivability and greater incentive to make them the most common mech on the field would be the ability to do quick, short hops in any direction to avoid fire, even pivot 180 degrees on a single foot (when stationary) to turn quickly or put some cover between you and a wall of death.

Anyways, in descending order of importance, my two cents.

Edited by Immitem, 19 September 2014 - 05:07 PM.

[KamikazeRat]

Jetfire, on 18 September 2014 - 04:49 PM, said:

-More Varied and interesting Quirks: See Awesome, this is where you can define a mechs personality
-ECM Block sensors on single mech, LRM lock slow umbrella, heat similar to JJ, able to be toggled, put more ECM mechs in game, short range lock prevention 180m
-Gauss Explosion high dmg when charging/ed, low dmg when discharged to offset charge nerf somewhat
-Flamers act like lava immersion in cauldron, cause more damage once mech is hot

i picked out the ones i liked from your post to make mine....might be cheating...
only thing i would add is with the Gauss change, lengthen the time it can be held as well, so you get a little bit of a thought process going "do i start charging now so i can snapshot if i need to, or do i wait that half a second to potentially save myself from a increased gauss explosion"

[Delas Ting Usee]

In the larger scheme of things these two should be low on the priority ladder...but are nevertheless important to the immersion of the game.
1) A way for pilots to eject from their cockpits when they choose to.
2) More voice over comms from Betty saying pertinent stuff.

[Vanguard319]

Here's what I would like to see:

I'd like to see ECM get some adjustments so that it isn't quite as OP as it is now, but still useful. For example, instead of denying missile lock with SSRMS completely, just increase lockon time as with LRMS. Also, if a scout is in the influence of an enemy's ECM, make it so that they cannot relay target data to friendly missile boats, denying them indirect fire on targets in that ECM bubble unless the scout counters it with their own ECM. This would actually make players with ECM actively partake in EW and ECCM roles instead of just using it to shield them from Streaks.

Ghost heat needs to die, Preferably in a fire. It's a mechanic that just punishes players for using certain mechs, regardless of whether they have good heat management or not. To prevent the return of the 6-PPC insta-kill Stalker, I would propose implementing a Cone-of-Fire system that adds accuracy penalties to a mech's targeting based on factors such as movement speed, jumping, heat buildup, and actuator/sensor damage. Each weapon would have it's own CoF, with these penalties affecting each weapon individually. This would force players to consider whether they want to be accurate with their fire by sacrificing speed and mobility, or be more evasive at the cost of accuracy, rather than being able to have both at the same time. It would also force players to consider their cooling efficiency, as rising heat would gradually affect the player's aim.

I also want to see Jump Jets be useful for navigating around the map again. Poptarting can be kept under control with the Cone-of Fire system I described above.

Edited by Vanguard319, 19 September 2014 - 10:17 PM.

[NextGame]

step 1: player councils are still a terrible idea.

[Myfriendscallmecoach]

NextGame, on 20 September 2014 - 12:54 AM, said:

step 1: player councils are still a terrible idea.

Thank you for your well thought out and useful post. I'm sure the devs will use the information you provided in a very meaningful way.

[KraftySOT]

1. Pin point damage/convergence

2. Target sharing

3. Heat system

The balance lately IS better, and even in some ways better than previous MW titles, just the path to get there was a little more wobbly and lore unfriendly than many may like. I think the balance we have now, can be maintained different ways, that make alot of people more happy, and makes alot more sense to people.

Does no one else see a disconnect when you have a mechlab stat telling you a weapon makes 10 heat, then you get into the game, fire it, and you have a %...to a new player, this makes absolutely no sense, and even to a TT player, this makes no sense. At least being able to see, we made "10" heat with the weapon that says it makes 10 heat, would better represent, and allow for more people to understand, the ingame heat system.

Or conversely...in the stats, having the weapon state that it makes "10%" heat or whatever it is..and somehow identify how much heat "100%" is.

Ghost heat is widely unpopular because its nigh impossible to figure out.

And people still do the things that it was designed to prevent, just like lrmaggedon still happens if your team doesnt have an ECM who has some idea what its doing.

I think making an understandable heat scale would go a long way, and fixing LRMs goes a long way to making sure you dont need a mechanic to stop them from being over powering, you can make ECM do something else, thats more fun that just a hammer on anvil counter to LRMS.

Pin point damage is just a personal preference that I believe would fix the same things ghost heat was designed to fix, but didnt.

[Sandpit]

Chenkenstien, on 21 September 2014 - 02:31 PM, said:

Thank you for your well thought out and useful post. I'm sure the devs will use the information you provided in a very meaningful way.

just ignore people like that. It's just baiting you into starting a personal argument which eventually just derails the thread.

[Arkbird_]

Could a price readjustment on modules be considered? Consumables are fine, i mean the other modules. When the choice has been a new module or a mech I've always chosen the new mech because for such a tiny pay off I would rather have a whole new way to play the game (or work on mastering mechs) rather than getting a single seismic sensor.

I have tons of GXP stocked up since beta but never buy anything with it since modules seem rather useless due to their cost. Literally have 2 modules that I switch to whatever mech I'm playing the most at the moment and that's it. This probably isn't a problem for those who play a ton of the game where cbill costs are not much of a problem but for people who play only a few games per week modules just might as well not even be a part of the game.

Might help with new players too. Idea I had was when you get a new module unlocked you get a "discount" on the first 2-3 modules so that you can get a few before they hit the regular price. Like 1/4th price first module, 1/2 for 2nd, 3/4ths for third. That way new players would actually care about GXP and want to get more of it to unlock a new module they could put on their mechs therefore (possibly) increasing new player retention a little bit.

Just food for thought.