41 replies to this topic

[PauloBR]

Same problem here. My unit aligned with Steiner for 28 days, but I had no IS mechs.
So I left the unit and broke the contract paying 1.1 million c-bills.

Now I'm stuck with Steiner for 2 days. =/

[AlphaToaster]

I read that there was a severe penalty, but they could have at least stated that the penalty is 50k cbills per day left remaining and that there's a 48hour minimum length. I took a 7 day contract and broke it just to see what the penalty was. I might actually retake it for this weekend.

[Sandarbian]

Lava Cookies, on 12 December 2014 - 11:25 AM, said:

In a sense, it is an answer.
Like I said, if you read around, you would have learned that IS factions could not bring Clam mechs.

Did I ever say anything about not bringing clan mechs...no I did not...you are just trolling, buzz off.

[Sandarbian]

Lava Cookies, on 12 December 2014 - 11:25 AM, said:

In a sense, it is an answer.
Like I said, if you read around, you would have learned that IS factions could not bring Clam mechs.

And I was probably reading Mechwarrior and Battletech books while you were in diapers. Please if you are not going to answer MY questions then don't bother answering AT ALL!! Not interested in opinions, trolls, or lore.

Edited by Sandarbian, 12 December 2014 - 12:07 PM.

[Duncan1dah0]

The early release forced a lot of unit leaders to make the decision quickly. In the best case we would have talked about it, but I have to think most units already had an idea where they would go. You should have talked with them and found out. Again with the early release this caused complications. Pick some trial mechs and learn the new maps and tactics.

[styarr]

AlphaToaster, on 12 December 2014 - 11:54 AM, said:

but they could have at least stated that the penalty is 50k cbills per day left remaining and that there's a 48hour minimum length.

Yeah this is the key issue for me too, there was no warning on breaking the contract that you'd still be stuck with the same faction for 2 days - I wouldn't have bothered paying the cbills to break a 7 day contract if I knew I couldn't play with my IS buddies for the weekend.

[Iron]

Sandarbain contact suport tell them your story.Tell them your unit took a permanent contact with davion and find out if they can do somthing for you. Now make sure you pick what you realy want on this 2nd pick they might give you they wont give you any more if they fix this for you

[Sandarbian]

Why should the contract that a group I no longer belong to affect me? The problem isn't the contract that HHoD took, the problem is that PGI NEVER THINKS!! What? Do they really think no one will decide to change factions...ever?? Did they test whether someone could change factions or not? They must not have because I've left the group, which should have cancelled the contract but didn't. I've cancelled the contract myself, suffered the time penalty of 2 days, and now? CAN NOT CHOOSE A NEW FACTION! CAN NOT TAKE A NEW CONTRACT!! PGI, the ban of Battletech.....

[Xetelian]

2 DAY wait is insanity.

[Dracol]

XPhantasmaX, on 12 December 2014 - 11:07 AM, said:

that's a stupid rule that is implemented if I wanted to get out of contract. why does it have to be such a hassle. another screw-up by PGI. guess I wont be playing for another 13 days if this is actually the case.

Its to prevent people from just hopping to winning faction to winning faction.

[Dracol]

Sandarbian, on 14 December 2014 - 04:42 PM, said:

Why should the contract that a group I no longer belong to affect me? The problem isn't the contract that HHoD took, the problem is that PGI NEVER THINKS!! What? Do they really think no one will decide to change factions...ever?? Did they test whether someone could change factions or not? They must not have because I've left the group, which should have cancelled the contract but didn't. I've cancelled the contract myself, suffered the time penalty of 2 days, and now? CAN NOT CHOOSE A NEW FACTION! CAN NOT TAKE A NEW CONTRACT!! PGI, the ban of Battletech.....

Again, it was to stop people from faction hoping. If any one can be in any faction at any time, why even pick a faction? With at least some minimal commitment, it at least feels like people are working for a larger entity. Without, CW would just be a glorified general queue with a map. No one would really be a part of any faction. Just random people fighting together for which ever faction is "in" at that moment.

Also, one last thing, when different factions payout differently due to population stats, people can't just jump ship for the highest payout faction of the day.

[x BUSTOV x]

I'll put in my two cents. You would think that if such a severe penalty for breaking a contract or switching factions amounts to time you can"t play CW then they would spell it out clearly and have a second prompt like you do for spending GXP on skills or selling a mech. It should say so in the patch notes. Now I am stuck not playing CW during a tournament weekend and I am pissed. Take it out in cbills, I have over 130,000,000 of them, take it out in loyalty points (whatever they are, can't find a counter for those). Don't make a player sit out of CW, you'll loose players with penalties like that.

[Troutmonkey]

My Unit went Clan Ghost Bear, and when I logged in I'm suddenly no longer Merc Corps and am now a Clanner. There were no prompts to accept contracts, no messages of the consequences.

I only own IS mechs, so I broke contract to play with another Unit over the weekend. Luckily my unit only took a short contract, I'd be seriously pissed if I had to pay out a permanent contract that I didn't sign up to. Little did I know I still had to wait another 2 days. Now I've missed an entire weekend of organized play.

The system is screwy and poorly communicated, much like many of the elements of this game

[Mordin Ashe]

I can relate to your consternation, I know how it feels to be stuck at faction that doesn't suit you at all.
On the bright side, timer is 2 days and the challenge lasts for 4, and CW was released for 1 day even before that. Also you can fight for the faction you are currently in to finish the challenge, if only to find out how different people/units/factions do things.
While it can a pain, it can also be an opportunity to put what you have to good use. Life is what you make of it :-)

EDIT: But well, a weekend is a weekend. How about someone with twitter asked Russ about making this event last even the next weekend?

Edited by Mordin Ashe, 14 December 2014 - 11:25 PM.

[Chuck Jager]

note: if no penalty people would change every minute. It is imaginary money that to a small degree mirrors the real hidden penalties in everyday life.

My unit made multiple changes within the last week and I logged on and found ,myself with a clan 7 day contract. I was not happy and played 1 match with my 3 stormcrows and 1 trial twolf. I got back in game and broke my contract and saw I had 2 days left but the penalty was a small drop in the bucket 200,000credits basically a couple of bad to mediocre pug matches. I played my clan mechs plus 1 trial and did really well with out any weapons modules, 5of7 wins. Of course now playing IS, I have had only 1 of 7 wins and that was against IS. (I will say that most of the issue is the attacker has to be very aggressive and this mirrors the play found on the group que side that has had more clan players)

SO in short the price seems fair for the sake of not having people exploit the system and have them take some accountability to manage their choices. I think as a unit you should have a choice to bow out of your leaders choice and quit the unit before entering your first match. I have seen too many guilds, units, clans, etc who are too casual with permissions and make bad decisions that affect others. It still should not be PGIs job to police the unit you chose to join.

I personally believe a community warfare faction choice or diaper pacifier party is still all make believe role playing game that consenting adults should have an option to participate in and I will let it be. If folks make these choices in their lives that is great, but at this time some folks lifestyle choices are affecting my wait time. I had to learn to live with the fact that casual gamers in flight sims have to use a mouse to fly a plane and if I want quick matches I have to play with them. If the amount of real history in two world wars, the laws of physics and the traditional flight sim community as a whole can live with these adjustments so that more people can enjoy a game --- insert forgone conclusion here.

I will happily give up any and all loyalty points or faction rewards including credits if I can just more easily get in game and do not have to worry about having to sign a contract.

The only thing that will matter to me in my choice of factions is getting on the winning side with the quickest drops. Given the history of online gaming there will probably be many others who will choose this same way. These same people could be given the carrot of not having to deal with choosing a side while making the role playing side more easily maintain some balance with their game of Robot Risk.

[Hydrocarbon]

How about treating a NEW ASPECT of the game in BETA mode just as they are? Allow the first contract to be broken w/o penalty and/or institute a progressive cool-down period for those who break contracts to reduce faction flipping.

Letting people explore it freely would be a GREAT idea, considering there really is almost no info on it. Especially since the nearly non-existent info available is not exactly front & center. I spent over an hour going through the forums to try to find some info, and didn't find any official explanation of it. The only official topic was how matchmaker works and how the lobby/que looks barren until a game is fully filled. All I found was a few posts that mentioned PUG's can use both IS and Clan mechs, then sign up for a Ghost Bear contract only to find I can only use Clan mechs. The worst part was I only have 2 Clan mechs in my stables.

[x BUSTOV x]

In hopes that a Dev takes an interest in this topic I am bumping this to the top. I currently cannot play CW content and the Faction page does not explain why I get an Error message saying unable to accept contract. I have a ticket in on this but get the canned response that due to higher then normal help tickets it will take longer to respond.

[Tezcatli]

Here's a thought. Think before you commit to a faction. : /

[Troutmonkey]

Tezcatli, on 16 December 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

Here's a thought. Think before you commit to a faction. : /

Was never given the option, it was forced on me by my Unit without any prompts or options.
I don't blame my unit. I blame PGI and poor design choices and communication.

Edited by Troutmonkey, 17 December 2014 - 03:09 PM.

[Tezcatli]

Troutmonkey, on 17 December 2014 - 03:08 PM, said:

Was never given the option, it was forced on me by my Unit without any prompts or options.
I don't blame my unit. I blame PGI and poor design choices and communication.

They pressured you into a faction. So what's the problem? They changed their mind?