Odanan, on 22 October 2012 - 03:18 AM, said:
I don't think the devs care much for the tonnage and maybe they will skip some.
Comparing the Blackjack with the Vindicator, I think the Blackjack is more likely. It would be a mini-sniper when the Vindicator would be only another medium brawler.
55 tons? - No Dervish or Kintaro. I think they will wait 4 years for the Bushwacker.
75 tons? - Hoping for the Orion. Maybe the fact that it is an "Atlas Jr." is a good thing: people can buy it first to get used to the Atlas stile. Or it is a good entrance to the heavy class for all those Atlas players.
95 tons? - Well, the Banshee would be fine, except for the fact it has awful weapon loadouts for all the 64.8 km/h variants...
About the Marauder and the Reseen, I lost all hope.
With the doubling- and tripling-up, I also think that tonnage isn't a
primary criterion... but I would think that the Devs are at least mindful of it.
Mediums:
I could see either the
Blackjack (which, IMO, is as much a "
JagerMech Jr." as the the
Orion is an "
Atlas Jr.") or the
Vindicator ("mini CN9-AL"?) being used to fill the 45-ton slot as well as flesh out the lower end of the Medium-class weight range.
I don't see the Devs waiting three-to-four years to add the first 55-ton 'Mech - especially if they stick to the proposed 1-2 'Mechs per month plan; even if not announced until after the actual release (transition out of beta), I would expect the
Dervish and/or
Kintaro (more likely the former) to be announced (and/or implemented) before the
Bushwacker (which won't have the needed three
canon variants until 3056 - 6 to 7 years off).
Heavies:
As
previously discussed, the
Orion is pretty-much the only currently-viable choice among the 75-tonners (unless the Unseen - and, thus, the
Marauder - are included).
Barring that, I wouldn't mind seeing any of the
Grasshopper,
Guillotine,
Lancelot, or
Quickdraw - all of which, while not likely to be most players' initial "top picks", are nonetheless viable by virtue of meeting the known criteria.
Assaults:
The
Banshee isn't so bad... though, like the
Hatchetman, several of its variants are very heavily dependent on the yet-to-be-fully-implemented melee combat and physical attacks; 'tis a
literal brawler rather than just another "close-quarters combat specialist".
It is also effectively the only
95-tonner that is canonically in-production in the IS until the 3053 introduction of the
Albatross (which won't have three canon variants until well-into the J***d) and the
Colossus (a Solaris 'Mech that gets its third canon variant in 3067).
Though, I would imagine that more common and popular Assaults in other weight brackets - such as the
Cyclops,
Charger,
Hatamoto-Chi, and/or
Victor - would be more likely to be announced/implemented before the
Banshee (or any other IS-built 95-tonner).
Your thoughts?