353 replies to this topic

[StalaggtIKE]

gh0s7m3rc, on 24 September 2014 - 07:10 PM, said:

Like a Battalion-sized unit broken down to Company-sized Lone Wolf units, with corresponding names, like 1st Battallion 1st Company, 1st Battalion 2nd Company, so on and so forth?

Correct. Or even smaller, like lances.

[EgoSlayer]

A few questions I don't see in the announcement or the FAQ about the contracts.

Example rewards was Jade Falcon 5,000,000 CB attack, FRR 2,000,000 defense. Is this paid out for every match played contesting for the planet? Or just the first ones that get the contract?

Are attacks going to have a similar broadcast call to arms? e.g. All Jade Falcon members "We are attacking Balsta!"
Are attackers limited to Jade Falcon or can any Clan Faction join?
Description seems to indicate that any can join on the attack, but only FRR members can join the defense. This sounds like a potential imbalance in forces.

Edited by EgoSlayer, 24 September 2014 - 07:14 PM.

[Kirkland Langue]

Good, maybe soon we'll be out of an Alpha state and ready to see what this game is really going to be like.

As people should already be able to see - a lot of the discussions regarding MM and Mech/Weapon balance really doesn't apply until we get CW actually on the table. Once players are "playing for real" - it will become pretty clear what really needs changing.

EDIT - By the way, the plan looks very good to me. I'd think that in the first season, you should probably allow players to change factions/forces so that players can experience as much of the CW as possible and to try and break whatever systems you have in place.... you could offset this by making the first season last a few weeks, instead of months. Consider it some kind of trial run.

Edited by Kirkland Langue, 24 September 2014 - 07:19 PM.

[Mystere]

I'd rather not have seasonal resets. Instead, change the victory conditions to "steer" planet takeovers/recoveries.

Edited by Mystere, 24 September 2014 - 07:17 PM.

[White Bear 84]

So our faction is stuck as GB even though we intend on being mercs?

How are mercs going to fit into the equation? Can you provide a seperate update to address concerns for merc/lone wolf players?

[Mechwarrior Buddah]

Cimarb, on 24 September 2014 - 07:07 PM, said:

Love a lot of this. Only thing I do not like is the seasonal reset, but the rest of the info makes me very, very happy!

Keep it coming, Paul!

seasonal reset? It really is an arena game?

There shouldnr be a reset, you just fight out ot your defecit

[White Bear 84]

"We have been watching peak player times constantly since going live with the game. We are currently looking at 6-8PM PDT for West Coast, 3-5PM PDT for East Coast (6-8PM EDT), and 11AM-1PM PDT for UTC (6-8pm UTC). We may also include prime times for AU and Asian times as well. These numbers are all still to be determined but I just want to let you know that we're not just focusing on North American play times."

This leaves:
1pm - 3pm AEST
10am - 12pm AEST
6pm - 8pm AEST

Granted on weekends these times are fine, during the week this is awful - the first two are out because over here you know, we have to work.. ..the evening on is sketchy but a bit better.. ..so thats not so bad, but prime time from what I can guestimate is around 9pm - 11pm I think.

What gets me though is why we only get a "We may also include prime times for AU and Asian times as well." Can PGI elaborate why it is a 'may' only?

My suggestion is to consider the times wisely PGI - you might find some very irate Oceanic players if CW is not planned to accommodate for this part of the player base...

Addition:

So those of us that do not play at peak times will never be involved? Or will there be periphery worlds that can be attacked/defended at slower times?
With the various peak player times throughout the 24-hour day, there 'should' be an opportunity for everyone to partake in CW.

That is "IF" in Easern Aus during the week you do not work or only have 6-8pm free... ????

Edited by White Bear 84, 24 September 2014 - 07:45 PM.

[Paul Inouye]

Just letting you all know that I just posted the last of the FAQ questions.

Now I'm going home hungry, tired and with a headache. hehehe

Keep posting any questions you may have and we'll include them in the next update.

[Valore]

I see a problem as others have mentioned about the unit coffers:

Quote

Unit Coffers

When it comes to Unit coffers and the fact that bidding was removed from Phase 2, coffer monies will be spent on logistical costs for war. Each drop will cost a Unit a set amount of C-bills. This is to pay for fuel/food/supplies and other logistical costs. We are not actually implementing the logistics at this time (maybe in Phase 3) but the cost of operations will be present in Phase 2.

The cost per drop will be scalar based on the number of members in your Unit. This is to avoid smaller units being punished while large units don't notice the cost at all. This is not unlike moving the Swedish army costs compared to the US army costs.

I currently have a unit that is comprised with both casual and competitive players.

This change would basically mean to make the best out of things, we would have to split our unit, putting the competitive players in a seperate area to keep costs low.


Might be something that needs looking at.

Thanks for the work Paul, appreciate the OT.

Edited by Valore, 24 September 2014 - 07:41 PM.

[InKerenskyWeTrust]

Good sounding update. I would also like to second the concerns about the peek/prime time plans, you should plan for a time to include the AU and Asian players.

Also, glad to hear that you guys are continuing to consider RR and logistics costs for CW. I think if done well, would add greatly to the immersion of fighting a war for the inner sphere.

Look forward to hearing more in October.

[Xenon Codex]

Thanks for the great update, looks very interesting. Just a thought for future consideration...

It would be really cool if each "faction" (Marik, Kurita, Wolf Clan, etc.) had SPECIFIC modifiers (plus and minus) during combat to encourage different play styles and mech configurations depending on the faction you are oriented with.

Ideally the modifiers would be significant enough so that switching factions would create a unique experience. I'd liken it to the slew of strategy games where for each game you get to pick from a number of alien races each with unique advantages and disadvantages. For instance, some factions could provide a +10% damage boost for all energy weapons while also increasing damage from ballistics by 10% (i.e. boat energy, avoid dakka mechs). Another might add +10% armor with a -10% max speed. Lots of different options to make things interesting and faction oriented.

[Sprouticus]

For everyone saying you would benifit from splitting up the unit, here are my thoughts.

1) assuming the drop cost is linear, small units will pay the same cost/player/drop as large units
2) If you have casual player, you could be impacted. On the other hand, if your casual players wanted to contribute indirectly, they could be used as a CB funnel for the comp players.
3) I like the system in general although who can attack what is kind of convoluted. I am sure we will all figure it out though.

4) I like having a 'path' of contested worlds. Think of them as jump lanes for the attack force to take or the defending force to retake.


5) I do like the idea of salvage and cross faction mech usage, but I understand the complexity. A simple system where X number of (wins/kills/assist/dmg/whatever) gives you enough 'salvage points' so that you can equip a cross faction mech in your drop ship.

6) suggestion on specific planet impacting cost: Use special planets in the attack/defend paths (say 1 per 5 planets in the path) that raise or lower the cost of X (specific chassis, weapons, repair/rearm when they go in, etc) by a small %. Say 1% pr planet for the first season.

7) Dont call them seasons. Call them resets or whatever.

8) How will the date advance if you reset the CW map/season?

[Demi-Precentor Konev]

Question: Any discussion of special events? They've been popular recently with the Lance Challenges and whatnot. I like the idea of maybe having a Twycross/Luthien/Tukayyid weekend.

It would call for more map creation and Tukayyid throws the whole ComGuards question into the mix, but it's a big enough event in the lore that I think people would really be into say a weekend long event where all CW conflicts are on that one planet and the token "threshold" is something absurdly high. Opens up possibilities for more Hero 'Mechs. Scratches the lore itch. Maybe throw out some cockpit items or special camo specs for players that participate.

Do you need people to volunteer to write INN blurbs about CW? I'll do that for free.

Edited by ArtyomBrusilov, 24 September 2014 - 07:55 PM.

[Sprouticus]

XenonCx, on 24 September 2014 - 07:50 PM, said:

Thanks for the great update, looks very interesting. Just a thought for future consideration...

It would be really cool if each "faction" (Marik, Kurita, Wolf Clan, etc.) had SPECIFIC modifiers (plus and minus) during combat to encourage different play styles and mech configurations depending on the faction you are oriented with.

Ideally the modifiers would be significant enough so that switching factions would create a unique experience. I'd liken it to the slew of strategy games where for each game you get to pick from a number of alien races each with unique advantages and disadvantages. For instance, some factions could provide a +10% damage boost for all energy weapons while also increasing damage from ballistics by 10% (i.e. boat energy, avoid dakka mechs). Another might add +10% armor with a -10% max speed. Lots of different options to make things interesting and faction oriented.

I love this idea, but balance is hard enough right now. Adding yet another set of variables might make it impossible.

[Sprouticus]

One suggestion on the cost of drops for casual players:

Only consider a player part of the unit for cost if they have dropped in the last X days. This means larger units are only impacted by how active their CW player base is...

[Liveish]

The coffer wont get reset at each season right ?

[Valore]

Sprouticus, on 24 September 2014 - 07:56 PM, said:

One suggestion on the cost of drops for casual players:

Only consider a player part of the unit for cost if they have dropped in the last X days. This means larger units are only impacted by how active their CW player base is...

Or alternatively, gauge that by coffer contribution. Only people who have actively donated a certain amount count towards increasing costs.

[Lucity]

The mention of Periphery planets alone gives me hope I can play for a periphery unit someday.

Edited by Lucity, 24 September 2014 - 08:07 PM.

[White Bear 84]

live1991, on 24 September 2014 - 07:59 PM, said:

The coffer wont get reset at each season right ?

Gawd, you would hope not.. ..imagine saving up 100's of million cbills to lose it all.

[Yelland]

Can you just do a 3 minute promo/trailer video showing (WIP) of all of the CW features? That's a lot of detail that is hard to associate with how it actually applies in the game.

Sounds exciting but you also haven't clarified the map systems for CW very well. What I don't want to discover is that we will be using the exact same maps already out in a CW configuration...