32 replies to this topic

[MechWarrior3671771]

Hey Gents. Old timer from Neuromancer's league. Played for RAGE and TLH. Have a few questions:

1) is MWO now the primary home for the Mechwarrior genre? Or is something else coming out soon? I don't want to learn the "newest best" version twice. ESP as it seems grinding and purchased(?) consumables are now apparently in play.

2) If you were starting over again, is this version still good enough to spend all your game time on? Would you do it again? I'm coming over from DDO and it's gone off the rails so I don't want to go through that again.

3) Any old CTF pilots around? Did any of your Light Mech runner skills transfer over to MWO Lights?

4) Do we team up into permanent clans like MWL or is it more like the old pickup games on The Zone?

5) Sounds like a Planetary-like mod is coming out next year?

Thanks. Hope to see you on the servers soon. Getting a new gaming rig first.

Edited by Fenrisulvyn, 27 November 2014 - 01:39 PM.

[Redshift2k5]

Fenrisulvyn, on 27 November 2014 - 01:31 PM, said:

Hey Gents. Old timer from Neuromancer's league. Played for RAGE and TLH. Have a few questions:

1) is MWO now the primary home for the Mechwarrior genre? Or is something else coming out soon? I don't want to learn the "newest best" version twice. ESP as it seems grinding and purchased(?) consumables are now apparently in play.

2) If you were starting over again, is this version still good enough to spend all your game time on? Would you do it again? I'm coming over from DDO and it's gone off the rails so I don't want to go through that again.

3) Any old CTF pilots around? Did any of your Light Mech runner skills transfer over to MWO Lights?

4) Do we team up into permanent clans like MWL or is it more like the old pickup games on The Zone?

5) Sounds like a Planetary-like mod is coming out next year?

Thanks. Hope to see you on the servers soon. Getting a new gaming rig first.

MWO is the only current official Mechwarrior game on the market. PGI has the Mechwarrior PC game licence (licenced from Microsoft) until 2018 at the minimum.

I'm having lots of fun and have been playing pretty steadily since closed beta. Your mileage may vary, but it is free to play so there is little barrier to entry to try it for yourself.

There is an in-game organization function, as well as faction association. You can also just drop as a random player in a solo queue match, or use a social service to find ad hoc groups to play with. I personally divide my time between playing with my Unit (Death'd Hand Brigade) in the group queue and playing in the solo queue.

The planetary warfare mode ("Community Warfare") is coming in a few weeks, after years of "soon". This will be a different game mode and on different maps than regular play and will take place during certain times of day. Lots of details about what to expect for Community Warfare over in the Command Chair. Matches will be queued differently and you will compete for planets and territory of the galactic map!

[Ertur]

Quote

The planetary warfare mode ("Community Warfare") is coming in a few weeks

Or 'soon.'

[UrsusMorologus]

Its repetitive and thin at the moment, not much more than deathmatch arena combat, but they have recently added a couple of maps and more are supposed to be added with the planetary control combat. Also learning the mech ins and outs takes a while so its not like every match is the same. Its not an MMO.

[MechWarrior3671771]

Thanks guys. A few more questions, as I am buying a new computer mid december just so I can get back into mechwarrior:

1) will have the house to myself for a few weeks so I can grind 24/7. Sounds like the quickest way to get up to speed is to unlock my pilot tree, bump up grind speed with premium time and hero mech, maybe purchase the firestarter pack to get a leg up? I prefer lights and mediums, would I earn cbills quicker if I started out with mediums? Also, real money is no object atm, so are there any mech packs I should grab right away?

2) New computer should be Dell X51 R2. Specs are:
Intel Core i7
Memory 16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600mhz
Windows 8.1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760ti graphics with 2GB GDDR5

Will that setup max out my MWO gaming experience? Average or Monster? And does anything stick out as problematic, like Windows 8.1?

3) Does the game work with Saitek X52 programable joysticks? Would prefer to know before I buy a new one.

Thanks again. And sorry if this info is easily found elsewhere on the forums. - all I have right now is a cell phone and its very hard to navigate the site with.

[Rogue Jedi]

Fenrisulvyn, on 01 December 2014 - 10:57 PM, said:

Thanks guys. A few more questions, as I am buying a new computer mid december just so I can get back into mechwarrior:

1) will have the house to myself for a few weeks so I can grind 24/7. Sounds like the quickest way to get up to speed is to unlock my pilot tree, bump up grind speed with premium time and hero mech, maybe purchase the firestarter pack to get a leg up? I prefer lights and mediums, would I earn cbills quicker if I started out with mediums? Also, real money is no object atm, so are there any mech packs I should grab right away?

2) New computer should be Dell X51 R2. Specs are:
Intel Core i7
Memory 16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600mhz
Windows 8.1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760ti graphics with 2GB GDDR5

Will that setup max out my MWO gaming experience? Average or Monster? And does anything stick out as problematic, like Windows 8.1?

3) Does the game work with Saitek X52 programable joysticks? Would prefer to know before I buy a new one.

Thanks again. And sorry if this info is easily found elsewhere on the forums. - all I have right now is a cell phone and its very hard to navigate the site with.

1) if you like lights the Firestarter pack is a great choice, the best was to make cbills and XP is to look closely at the rewards system and set your mech up to take advantage of it. at the moment there is no "perfect" mech to get the best rewards but with the new rewards system it is now less focused on damage, and lights are finaly able to get decent earnings compaired to the other weight classes.

edit:
just noticed you are essentialy a complete beginner, before you buy anything I suggest you play your first 25 matches using the trial mechs (those 25 matches bring in A LOT of cbills), and decide what you like, if you enjoy lights then the firestarter pack could be great, however most new players will have an easier time starting in mediums and heavies, Lights are very fragile and if you make a mistake you will get killed fast, one of the Medium or Heavy packs could be better.

I suggest playing the trials and taking note what you liked and disliked about the various trial mechs, then post back here, with that information and a request advice about what would work for you.

2) those specs look fine for MWO, you should be able to play at 1080p with good framerates at near max graphics.
if possible I would make sure you get an Solid State Drive with that as an SSD gave me and several others a big performance boost, also it drasticly reduces loading times.

3) I own an X52 pro, it is great for flight sims but it is not the best controler for MWO, unfortunately in my opinion HOKAM (Hands On Keyboard And Mouse) works better than HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) for MWO

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 02 December 2014 - 01:20 AM.

[mailin]

I agree with Rogue Jedi about the keyboard and mouse > joystick. There are some who use a joystick to great effect (so they claim) but the vast majority of us use keyboard and mouse. I'd save the money.

It sounds like a pretty good system. I have similar with Win 7, 32 meg ram at 1866, and a 760 rather than ti. Do not plan on running at max settings. Lower your settings and then tweak them. I usually run lights and I get between 120 and 160 fps with most things on medium. I don't need all of the eye candy. YMMV.

I'm also OC'ed at 4.4 ghz, which makes a difference too.

See you on the battlefield.

Edited by mailin, 02 December 2014 - 01:44 AM.

[Kalamity27]

I have played a number of games from the Mechwarrior franchise. This is the first that a mouse and keyboard just feel right to me. I do know of people that joystick/joystick mouse combo as well. In the end it is all about what feels right to you. But when I played Mw4 I would encourage friends to buy a joystick with it. With MWO I would suggest trying the keyboard and mouse before you spend money on a joystick.

[Orion Starion]

Honestly. if money is no issue, I would play out your 25 cadet matches in different trials and then buy one the big packs, Resistance or Clan Wave II. But if you find you like the firestarter then definatly get that bundle. The firestarters I've played with and against all tend to do very well.

[Blalok]

Oh to be young and flush with cash again... You'll be more than fine with those specs. I'm running a first-gen i7 at a stock 3.07 GhZ, 24 GB RAM and a GTX660 (my one upgrade after they added DX11) on max settings, 1920x1080, and get a reliable 60fps. Definitely support the SSD for OS & game install location. I haven't tried my flightstick since before they officially added support. Mouse is the way to go for me still.

Although you've obviously been scanning the forums, it bears mentioning that some user-created sites are invaluable for keeping up with the changing weapon & 'mech stats (Smurphy's mechspecs for example), as there is a lot of out-dated info lingering here.

Welcome back to the franchise.

+edit: @$#! Autocorrect doesn't like my joystick either!

Edited by Blalok, 03 December 2014 - 10:11 PM.

[Inveramsay]

Other than my strong recommendation against brand desktops that seems fine to me (they are always worse specced than if you built it yourself).

In the current game, lights are difficult to run properly. Mediums of heavies are a much better choice generally, even if you have run MWLL in the past. I would agree with the others to start off with the trial mechs since they are now much better versions of mechs than you will have money to build initially.

Good hunting!

[Logan Pryde]

I have that same pc and run at 1080p, max settings around 60-80 fps. In times of heavy effects (explosions and smoke) it may drop down to around 40 fps. Also as mentioned above, keyboard and mouse for this game is the most effective. Can't believe I'm saying that after using nothing but joysticks for all other MW titles.

Play your first 25 drops in the trial mechs, you will get loads of cash. After your 25 are up then drop some coin and get a pack. If you like lights, the firestarters seem to be a little on the OP side right now. Most of all, welcome back to Mechwarrior and have some fun!

[MechWarrior3671771]

Okay cool. I'm here for Planetary, so I guess my first mech size is going to depend on how much importance is placed on fast scouts and spotters.

Sounds like I should clear out my 25 trial matches
- under Premium Time (stacks with cadet bonus?)
- use those matches to see how the weps and variants handle
- match up my fav tactics with a chasis
- get feedback on it from forums before I buy with cbills
- start leveling up my skills on 3 variants, one of which can be the hero variant for the extra 30% bonus ?

That should keep me busy for a bit. Already found some mechs that look good on paper, can't wait to see how they handle. Just have to wait a few more weeks, ugh!

[Rogue Jedi]

Fenrisulvyn, on 04 December 2014 - 08:59 PM, said:

Okay cool. I'm here for Planetary, so I guess my first mech size is going to depend on how much importance is placed on fast scouts and spotters.

Sounds like I should clear out my 25 trial matches
- under Premium Time (stacks with cadet bonus?)
- use those matches to see how the weps and variants handle
- match up my fav tactics with a chasis
- get feedback on it from forums before I buy with cbills
- start leveling up my skills on 3 variants, one of which can be the hero variant for the extra 30% bonus ?

That should keep me busy for a bit. Already found some mechs that look good on paper, can't wait to see how they handle. Just have to wait a few more weeks, ugh!

good strategy,

just a few items I want to clarfy

the Cadet bonus is given as achievements not part of the match rewards so it no longer stacks with Premium time (but did when first introduced)

Heroes are unique variants and get a 30% cbill earnings bonus, Champions are upgraded versions of a chassis available for cbills, you can make the exact same build for cbills except that the Champion gets a 30% XP earnings bonus

also for Community Warfare (conquering/defending planets) you will probably need to take 4 Mechs (you can use trials) with a combined weight of between 140 and 240 tonnes, and you will need to chose Inner Sphere or Clan, if you chose IS you will not be able to take Clan Mechs and vice versa.
at current there is no plan for any form of match making in CW so I would recommend getting confidant in a few Mechs in the other game modes first.

[Mott]

The weight restrictions for CW shouldn't cause you too much stress Fen.

If you buy a suite of the Firestarters, you'll just be at the minimum required 140 tons weight. And they'll be viable and integral the entire match no matter how they're kitted or how the match is going.

If you buy a suite of any of the 55 ton mechs, you'll be at 220 tons and well within the max weight. Say you decided to take any of the Wolverines, Griffins or Shadowhawks... with 4 of those chassis (likely doubling up on the best-in-class variants) you'll be able to dress up your mechs for the various stages of the battle.

You may build a long range sniper around ERLLs, ERPPCs, AC5s or Gauss to suppress the enemy, either as your team takes down the gates or defends them.

Then your next mech may be a speedy skirmisher based around LPLs, MLS, AC5s or LRMS/SRMS. To get into the dust up early in the match and either help with the brawls or probe a primary objective, etc

Then your 3rd mech may be built to be a short range brawler with 3 or 4 SRM tubes, AC10/20, or boating MLS. This is to try to drop as many enemies as possible, as quickly as possible to open up the field a bit for your team's attempt on the primary objective.

And your 4th mech is built to be the clincher... we don't know how CW battles are going to end... so i guess the clinchers are just built depending on if you think you'll need more speed and maneuverability at the end of a battle...or firepower and ammo. There's great arguments for both.

My deck is going to consist of very nimble, very hard hitting 55toners. WVRs and GRFs. Their LPL and SRM quirks combined with their speed and better maneuverability than 80% of all other mechs simply have them a little OP, right now.

You're going to have a blast man. Can't wait to drop with you. We'll group up and help you bankroll major cbills in short order so you'll have 4 mastered mechs in no time!

[Remarius]

Some really good suggestions and I'll echo the Firestarters as not only do they have great speed/mobility and ridiculously good hit boxes but they have two of the best finishers in game - the Ember and FS9-A. A good Firestarter Pilot is always valued. If you're after practicing in lights then the Jenner trial mech is decent.

I don't think anyone mentioned it but if you're focused on CW then get into a unit thats gearing up for it as its supposed to be aimed at the best which will be incredibly hard if you're not on comms and wolf packing/focusing. Any unit will try to grab all 12 slots for each battle to maximise their chances of winning or group with other units to do that.

Best place to start if you don't have contacts is the following thread of public comms:

http://mwomercs.com/...then-look-here/

I'd suggest Comstar NA or NGNG as a lot of units spend time there casual or serious dropping.

[MechWarrior3671771]

1) when you say Premium doesn't stack with Cadet, it still applies that 50% to match rewards for c-bills, MXP and GXP right? Something like [match rewards * 50%] + cadet bonus. So it's still useful to play the 25 cadet matches under premium time?

2) I've read that Hero mechs give 30% and Champion mechs give 10%. Are saying that's been changed to 30% for both?

3) From what I've read re CW Planetary, the total tonnage window may be tweaked, and the entire range could be shifted up or down depending on the map, It also sounds like unused tonnage can't be given back to the rest of the team. I don't like wasting that much tonnage. So maybe its smarter for me to stay flexible and choose Meds as my primary mechs and go up to heavy or down to lights depending on how the CW rules and drop tactics pan out.

4) I want to join a unit right away, but I should wait till I can get on TS and drop with different teams to see what fits best - I don't like to jump around teams. One issue I might have is that my prime play time is weekday afternoons EST, which aligns me with Paris ~ Moscow time, assuming most of them play evenings. Do we have many Euro teams? Or is that irrelevant because we have a lot of Americans already playing during the daytime?

[dragnier1]

Premium time is always good, especially teh free ones. I still have 10 free days' worth sitting around. You really see the benefit of premium time when you score a lot of assists, spotting and other stuff.

Hero mechs and special pheonix (P), clan (I) (G) and other selective mechs (as set by PGI) provide 30% cbill bonus. Champion mechs provide 30% xp bonus instead. At this point the xp bonus is not that useful once you unlock master tier skill. Cbills on the other hand are always needed.

3. No such things as wasted tonnage. Those are likely individual caps, to control abuse.

4. The unit setup is going to be tweaked when loyalty points are implemented. Till then, stay tuned!

[Remarius]

Fenrisulvyn, on 05 December 2014 - 05:46 PM, said:

1) when you say Premium doesn't stack with Cadet, it still applies that 50% to match rewards for c-bills, MXP and GXP right? Something like [match rewards * 50%] + cadet bonus. So it's still useful to play the 25 cadet matches under premium time?

2) I've read that Hero mechs give 30% and Champion mechs give 10%. Are saying that's been changed to 30% for both?

3) From what I've read re CW Planetary, the total tonnage window may be tweaked, and the entire range could be shifted up or down depending on the map, It also sounds like unused tonnage can't be given back to the rest of the team. I don't like wasting that much tonnage. So maybe its smarter for me to stay flexible and choose Meds as my primary mechs and go up to heavy or down to lights depending on how the CW rules and drop tactics pan out.

4) I want to join a unit right away, but I should wait till I can get on TS and drop with different teams to see what fits best - I don't like to jump around teams. One issue I might have is that my prime play time is weekday afternoons EST, which aligns me with Paris ~ Moscow time, assuming most of them play evenings. Do we have many Euro teams? Or is that irrelevant because we have a lot of Americans already playing during the daytime?

1) The Cadet c-bill bonus is via the accomplishments so isn't effected by Premium, however the reward you receive in the game is always effected by Premium.

2) Hero mechs give a 30% C-Bill bonus, Champion mechs give a 30% XP bonus (used to be 10% xp) and come pre-fitted with a usually decent setup so don't need money spending on them. Reality is that xp will come easy, particularly if you're using premium, but you can never have enough c-bills. If you are comfortable with using MC then a c-bill earner, if a good base chassis, is nice (luckily the Ember is good!). Personally I'd avoid Champions however unless you get one with one of the packs as those are heavily discounted.

3) Well currently all we know is min 140 and max 240. Some (mainly IS) players have been arguing for flexible according to worlds you're attacking/defending - usually arguing for lower as that would (totally concidentally) give the IS side a great advantage as their lights are much better. Personally I have a drop deck at 240 tons made up of 2 heavies and 2 mediums but its easy to drop it lower if necessary.

4) Well I'm Euro and not had a problem but there's definitely more NA based pilots. In terms of units the joy of Comstar NA or NGNG comms is you can drop with whoever is after a group in the public dropships at the start and get used to units. If you want to find a fit that's probably the best place to start as you can talk directly to people. There are also a load of units that frequent the Mechspecs site that are happy to have you drop with them on their private comms.

On that matter (just in case I or someone else didn't mention it before!) the best site for fits is:

https://www.mechspecs.com/

Advice tends to be very practical w/o most of the personal opinions and angst on theses forums.

Edited by Remarius, 06 December 2014 - 12:22 PM.

[Kmieciu]

Fenrisulvyn, on 05 December 2014 - 05:46 PM, said:

I want to join a unit right away, but I should wait till I can get on TS and drop with different teams to see what fits best - I don't like to jump around teams. One issue I might have is that my prime play time is weekday afternoons EST, which aligns me with Paris ~ Moscow time, assuming most of them play evenings. Do we have many Euro teams? Or is that irrelevant because we have a lot of Americans already playing during the daytime?

Join the NGNG TS3 server!
voip01.n1585.hypernia.net:9992
password = mechwarrior

There is always someone waiting to group up. Having said that, you should probably drop solo for your fist 25 fights. The solo queue is more forgiving than the group queue. You make a mistake in the group queue, you'll be focused by a whole group and might die in seconds.

If I were you, I would drop solo twice with every trial mech available before buying any mech with C-Bills or spending money on mech packs.. Bear in mind that IS trials are "somewhat" optimized while the Clan trials use stock "TT" loadouts. Nevertheless, the stock Stormcrow, Timber Wolf and Direwolf can easily match the IS trials.

Edited by Kmieciu, 08 December 2014 - 01:14 AM.