12 replies to this topic

[Alistair Winter]

Remember that? It's from this presentation.

I think PGI has done a great job with CW, but there's one thing I feel is missing. Immersion. That word gets thrown around a lot, but what I mean is, I would like to feel like I'm playing a certain character within the Battletech universe.

I think choosing between Mercenary, Loyalist and Lone Wolf should be a very meaningful choice with different consequences. Right now, we're just a bunch of players fighting under different flags. There's no way of telling the difference between a lone wolf, a mercenary and a loyalist. There's no way to distinguish between a rank 1 Mechwarrior and a rank 20 Mechwarrior on the battlefield, a sibkin or a khan, a private or a captain-general.

Here's my suggestion.

• In the Faction tab, it should be very visible to the player if he/she is a mercenary loyalist or lone wolf. The player should identify with his/her choice.
  
• All three choices should feel very different to the player. For example, a loyalist may have a more steady income and get more LP rewards, while the mercenary is more feast or famine, being able to make huge paydays on a good day and minimal income on a bad day. And while CW is all about the units and organized gameplay, it would be nice if the Lone Wolf players had a certain bonus as well. Maybe put them somewhere in between the other two extremes.
  
• It should be easy to distinguish between a Lone Wolf, Mercenary or Loyalist on the battlefield. This is part of making the player identify with his choice, letting other people see whether you're a mercenary or a loyalist. Some Mercs are really proud of their unit, some Kurita pilots are die-hard Kurita fans from TT days.
  
• It should be easy to distinguish between a rank 1 and a rank 20 player on the battlefield, especially in your own ranks. This is the reason PVP titles are a big deal in MMOs. It's fun to show off your progress, even though it's just an achievement. And it's fun to look around and see really high ranked guys on your team. It's scary to look at the enemy team and see players with a high rank. It adds a layer to the game.

TL;DR: Right now, it just feels like we're a bunch of people playing with different factions, like picking a colour for a game of Ludo or Risk. It's not very immersive. I want the differences between Mercenaries, Loyalists and Lone Wolves to be more signficant and more apparent, and I want the difference between Privates and Generals to be very visible.

PS: I would personally also be thrilled if I could choose between 3 portraits for every faction. Male face, female face and masked face. Do it for Lone Wolf, Mercenary, Clan loyalist and every major faction in the game (House Davion, Clan Wolf, etc). Then you get to look at your character with his House Kurita pilot's helmet and a samurai mask and think "F*** yeah, that's me! I look awesome."

Edited by Alistair Winter, 17 December 2014 - 03:10 AM.

[Sam Slade]

The OPs very solid point is one of the reasons I argued so vigorously in favour of allowing people to play an IS and a Clan character

[Tristan Winter]

Sam Slade, on 17 December 2014 - 04:08 AM, said:

The OPs very solid point is one of the reasons I argued so vigorously in favour of allowing people to play an IS and a Clan character

Definitely agree with this. Looks like they're not even considering that at this point, unfortunately. But it would have been really nice. Maybe more people would even use real names for their CW characters, instead of "BurgerKing88" and "MyCatLikesBalls". Then again, maybe not

[Mao of DC]

I like this idea very much. I would go on to add that the ranks of Mercenaries that are part of a unit should display their rank in the unit not the faction they are currently working for. A mercenary Colonel may have to accept the orders of a (pick your faction) Captain. Because that person is the representative of the W/E government but it doesn't mean the Colonel isn't still a Colonel.

[Alistair Winter]

Mao of DC, on 17 December 2014 - 04:45 AM, said:

I like this idea very much. I would go on to add that the ranks of Mercenaries that are part of a unit should display their rank in the unit not the faction they are currently working for. A mercenary Colonel may have to accept the orders of a (pick your faction) Captain. Because that person is the representative of the W/E government but it doesn't mean the Colonel isn't still a Colonel.

Well, it's kind of tricky when it comes to Mercenary ranks, I think. Because you could have a mercenary unit where every player starts out as Admiral and is then promoted to Marshall-General, Jedi Commander and finally Inquisitor Space Marine, Steward of Gondor.

If you're going to display Mercenary ranks then it should probably be displayed as a set ladder, like NATO ranks. OF-1, OF-2, OR-1, OR-2. So OF1 may mean Warchief in one unit, Sheriff in another and Paladin in a third. It won't matter to anyone viewing from the outside. They'll just see someone with an [OF1] tag.

[Tom Sawyer]

Take a page from Hammer's Slammers. Rank of merc units may be internal but overall galatic rank and standing is per the central bonding authority (comcast?)

[Mao of DC]

Alistair Winter, on 17 December 2014 - 04:59 AM, said:

Well, it's kind of tricky when it comes to Mercenary ranks, I think. Because you could have a mercenary unit where every player starts out as Admiral and is then promoted to Marshall-General, Jedi Commander and finally Inquisitor Space Marine, Steward of Gondor.

If you're going to display Mercenary ranks then it should probably be displayed as a set ladder, like NATO ranks. OF-1, OF-2, OR-1, OR-2. So OF1 may mean Warchief in one unit, Sheriff in another and Paladin in a third. It won't matter to anyone viewing from the outside. They'll just see someone with an [OF1] tag.

That's fine I could live with that. Hell they should change the way loyalty point are given to Merc unit players. Instead of getting points for a faction their points go to the unit. It makes more sense since Mercenary are not know for their diehard loyalty to a given faction/government. That's what makes them MERCENARIES. I personally dislike the FRR but that is the contract my unit signed so that's who I fight for, for now.

[Alistair Winter]

Mao of DC, on 17 December 2014 - 05:11 AM, said:

That's fine I could live with that. Hell they should change the way loyalty point are given to Merc unit players. Instead of getting points for a faction their points go to the unit. It makes more sense since Mercenary are not know for their diehard loyalty to a given faction/government. That's what makes them MERCENARIES. I personally dislike the FRR but that is the contract my unit signed so that's who I fight for, for now.

How would that work though? What if the unit is disbanded? What kind of rewards would you get for merc comp loyalty, when other players get faction based camo, decals and patterns, for example?

I think faction based loyalty makes sense for mercenaries historically. Mercenaries do tend to develop a relationship with their employer over time. And as I said in the OP, I think mercenary players should be rewarded with more C-bills and less loyalty points. Kind of like being a freelancer IRL. You can earn more money as a freelancer, but you also have less job security and potentially less of a steady income. So mercenaries on losing streaks are gonna have a bad time.

[Dagadegatto]

This would be very nice. +1
I especially like the idea of having different ways of making money for the different roles.
Perhaps Mercs would get paid less for wins and losses but would get more of the salvage and a bigger payout for kills/damage while loyalists would have a more steady income.

Also some more player badges would be nice. For example, I am part of a mercenary unit but becasue we are currently contracting with the FRR I look just like any FRR loyalist as you can see on my forum portrait to the left. This is the same on the map ready screen. Would be cool to have some sort of extra merc version of each badge so everyone can see that I'm a merc currently working for the FRR and not a member of the FRR military.

[SgtKinCaiD]

As always, Alistair, my hat's off to you for proposing such awesome features !

[Cion]

Alistair, PLEASE get this to Russ today for the town hall meeting.

Thumbs up.

[Sam Slade]

Alistair Winter, on 17 December 2014 - 06:22 AM, said:

How would that work though? What if the unit is disbanded? What kind of rewards would you get for merc comp loyalty, when other players get faction based camo, decals and patterns, for example?

Mercs earn reputation points not faction specific points... rep points allow some measure of faction unlocks, grant a greater cbill payment, but do not grant the same logistical bonus a Loyalist gets(I assume drop ships and the like will/should require faction unlocks?).

Mercs get a rep not a medal

[Alistair Winter]

Cion, on 17 December 2014 - 08:30 AM, said:

Alistair, PLEASE get this to Russ today for the town hall meeting.
Thumbs up.

How do I do that?

Sam Slade, on 17 December 2014 - 08:41 AM, said:

Mercs earn reputation points not faction specific points... rep points allow some measure of faction unlocks, grant a greater cbill payment, but do not grant the same logistical bonus a Loyalist gets(I assume drop ships and the like will/should require faction unlocks?).
Mercs get a rep not a medal

Great idea. They used to talk about something called "prestige" before loyalty points. More prestige = more valuable contracts, perhaps?