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TEST DRIVE
Once an interface like Smurfy's mech garage is introduced, and I know you guys like it and are working on a better, UI, there is no excuse for us to be unable to play with mech load outs BEFORE buying the mech.
Right now, there's no reason we can't do that with the stock mechs as it is.
I know you guys would really, really, really love to implement PvE, so perhaps a singular target test drive PvE match would be ideal for testing the mech.. until then, the standard testing we can do would suffice. This would let us know if the mech is suited to our play style, or let us get practice in with a weapon before we purchase it and go in to real PvP
"CLASSIC BT" BATTLE
The grind would be less painful if an unmodified mech weren't often getting steam rolled by a pro-competitive lance running pimped out designs. If there were a game mode where everyone had to run stock load outs that would not cut time on the grind, but make the grind less painful. The idea would need some fiddling with (is it pure stock? or do modules count? Consumables? ect ect) but it's one I really like, and for core BT enthusiasts might be a lot of fun.
FACTION DONATIONS
Chrome Hounds, another mech game, a famous mech game, with an awesome (but later due to lack of moderation, highly abused) community warfare system, also had a grind.. but it was no where near as harsh as this. I'm sure you guys just don't want to see us with insane levels of c-bills that just sit there unused. Partially because using mc to buy things is probably a good source of income.
This idea would support use of c-bills, but not just on mechs, and thus permit mechs and mech gear to be lighter in cost. In Chrome Hounds, we were allowed to donate ridiculously huge sums of money to our factions.. This.. this didn't ever seem to do anything, at all. Perhaps MWO could use the same idea, but reward us for supporting our chosen House/Clan. This will allow cutting the cost of mechs and their gear but redirecting the savings elsewhere in to something that will directly influence the war.
Better/more turrets. NPC lances with better gear/AI/more tonnage, assuming that similar to Armored Core and Chrome Hounds, the sheer vastness of a war means players are not always present on the battlefield a team wants to play on, and thus some level of PvE will be introduced in CW. This way, when player population for one side is low during a time of the day, a sudden injection of c-bills/mc in to the House would help stop the bleeding of territory to enemy factions so rapidly.
In return, mechs and gear would be less expensive, making it less annoying to set up a mech. This would also support the purchase of new mechbays as we increase the number of mechs we own. Right now, the grind is so painful, that I generally just don't bother with it. Due to the new Atlas, my Founder's Atlas, and the Boar's Head I got with my Founder's MC.. I have little incentive to participate in the grind, and virtually every purchase I've made I've regretted and sold. This burn has made me unwilling to experiment further when using my assaults and founders mechs are so much easier than waiting soooo long just to experiment with new play styles. This means that I also have had no reason to buy new mechbays since the grind has disincentivized (is that even a word?) me from expanding my mech collection. I actually have 3 bays sitting open right now. One of those is getting the Combine Atlas. Not sure what's going in the other two.. maybe a Masakari? Maybe. Meh. =/ That pretty much summarizes my feel due to the grind.
FULL RETURNS ON PURCHASES
This one seems like the simplest fix.Yeah, there's no good reason in world our purchases would fetch full price, but you removed other realism-costs as well.. which I wouldn't mind paying for if c-bill rewards weren't so excruciatingly small. Then again, as an avid Armored Core fan, I'm already used to surrendering a decent chunk of my change to repairs and ammo. I wouldn't support this in conjunction with cutting costs on mechs and gear. This would just make mistakes both in regretted purchases as well as accidentally selling stuff less punishing in every way except for time spent.
GARAGE ADD-ONS
Also another From Software idea I think you guys should totally use for yourselves. Armored Core V and Verdict Day feature highly expensive but awesome garage mods. Including different locals and stuff sitting around. I imagine MC for faction banners or being able to see other mechs sitting next to each other (either ones of yours or of friends/clanmates) or other cute things like that would be awesome. I was iffy on suggesting this because new garages and content for them would pull from time spent on new maps and new mechs, two of the most important things this game needs. Still, the C-Bill sink represented by these could tug away at our wallets and keep us from accumulating too much money too quickly. Even with a cut in mechs and gear costs, as long as garages and their decorations are pricey, our c-bills will remain spent. Especially if coupled with faction donations of some sort.
http://oi53.tinypic.com/153bdww.jpg
As an example, here is a garage from Armored Core V. An open dusty field in the post-apocalypse. It begins with I think the lights and the fence and the barrel with the fire. EVERYTHING else in that "garage" is option. The chopper, the trucks, even the boxes! I don't recall having to pay for them.. but I could see justifying them in this.
GARAGE ADD ON: CUSTOM FINISH SHOP
A secondary suggestion relying on the Garage Add-Ons. For an insane level of C-Bills, equal to a whole other garage (maybe 20,000,000 c-bills?) is the custom finish shop. This would replace the standard camo section we have for mechs already. MC could be used to purchase color sets as a bundle deal (10-15 dollars, maybe?) and all colors now have a MC cost. All colors also have a c-bill cost which, if c-bills are purchased, cost 3-4 times as much as just buying them with MC, making grinding an option (and a bit of a painful one, if you want to collect the colors), but available. An alternate version of this would be to increase the number of colors available for c-bills as well as ones available for just mc. Another alternative is that paint is consumable, with larger mechs eating up more paint than smaller ones. This would mean all paint would have to be purchasable with C-Bills if some kind of battle damage (as detailed a bit further down) were incorporated into the game. It would also increase c-bill purchases, though, for people who want to focus less on worrying about paint and more on other things. The limitations are a bit harsh right now, and there are multiple ways to fix the poor way colors have been handled.
Painting a car takes a long time, so painting a mech takes even longer. There is a wait time for when a new paint job is complete. Each paint job also costs c-bills each time you want to repaint a mech. MC may be used instead, and MC may be used to speed up the paint job, finishing it instantly.
Maybe include a feature where battle damage / paint wear accumulates slowly over time based on mech destruction, and a new paint job must be commissioned to remove the worn look. Some people I'm sure would like to keep the look, but it does make the new feature more immediately wanted for people who would rather not look trashed.
Of course, most of these only appeal to an immersion junky like me who would drool at the level of engagement the environment provides me with so many options to sink my c-bills in to other things. Things that really let me feel like I'm IN Battletech.
Please share your ideas, if you think the grind is fine, or if it should be longer, or if it should be shorter, and of course how/why where applicable. If a new suggestion is provided that seems to get a lot of positive responses, I'll add it to the poll. Hopefully the devs will see this, get some ideas, and formulate something to make the game a more rewarding experience, especially for newer players.
Edited by ReXX, 25 October 2014 - 02:44 AM.
