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Strum Wealh, on 15 May 2013 - 05:16 AM, said:
Fair points on the others, but I believe that the Black Knight's chances should be re-evaluated in light of the release of the Highlander.
One issue is that, like the Highlander, the "primary" variant (the BL-6-KNT) technically/officially doesn't go back into mass production until later in the timeline (circa 3065, according to some sources).
However, the other variants (the BK-7-KNT and BK-7-KNT-L) are currently in production, and all of the needed LosTech for the BL-6-KNT (Endo Steel, BAP) has long since been recovered.
Additionally, that the "primary" Black Knight variant (which doesn't take much LosTech to create from one of the other variants) technically/officially isn't in mass production while the downgraded variants are is the same situation in which the Highlander (currently in-game) is found, so the latter does set a precedent.
Another issue is that the variants are fairly homogeneous - a trait shared with both the Dervish (see previous proposals on how to address that) and Highlander (currently in-game; see: HGN-732, HGN-733, HGN-733C), and resolved by an extra hardpoint or two here-and-there (though, the 'Mech starts with a minimum of 8 hardpoints needed, so not too many can be added - and, as with the Spider (currently in-game), not every variant may get additional hardpoints).
Finally, the existence of Ian McKinnon's personal Black Knight variant, the BL-6-KNT (Ian) seems to indicate that the design had still existed in some capacity when the recovery of LosTech began.
"BL-6-KNT Black Knight Ian - Downgraded during the technological decline of the Succession Wars era, the personal 'Mech of the McKinnon family was selected to receive among the first experimental weapons developed from the Helm Memory Core by the New Avalon Institute of Science, thanks to the exploits of Fox's Teeth commander Ian McKinnon. When piloted by Ian during the War of 3039, the 'Mech was clad in prototype Ferro-Fibrous armor and the standard heat sinks outside the engine were replaced with corrosive 3039 era double heat sinks. These weight savings, along with the removal of the head-mounted small laser, allowed the 'Mech to carry a Hatchet whose damage was boosted by the addition of Triple Strength Myomers."
(Hark, a canonical Hero 'Mech!
)
And from a "metagame" perspective, a MWO Black Knight would be based on the canonical design - not an OmniMech (as in MW4) and not a jump-capable, Gauss/PPC-toting monstrosity (as in MW4), but as a flexible heavy-class energy boat.
So, why exactly wouldn't the Black Knight work in MWO?
One issue is that, like the Highlander, the "primary" variant (the BL-6-KNT) technically/officially doesn't go back into mass production until later in the timeline (circa 3065, according to some sources).
However, the other variants (the BK-7-KNT and BK-7-KNT-L) are currently in production, and all of the needed LosTech for the BL-6-KNT (Endo Steel, BAP) has long since been recovered.
Additionally, that the "primary" Black Knight variant (which doesn't take much LosTech to create from one of the other variants) technically/officially isn't in mass production while the downgraded variants are is the same situation in which the Highlander (currently in-game) is found, so the latter does set a precedent.
Another issue is that the variants are fairly homogeneous - a trait shared with both the Dervish (see previous proposals on how to address that) and Highlander (currently in-game; see: HGN-732, HGN-733, HGN-733C), and resolved by an extra hardpoint or two here-and-there (though, the 'Mech starts with a minimum of 8 hardpoints needed, so not too many can be added - and, as with the Spider (currently in-game), not every variant may get additional hardpoints).
Finally, the existence of Ian McKinnon's personal Black Knight variant, the BL-6-KNT (Ian) seems to indicate that the design had still existed in some capacity when the recovery of LosTech began.
"BL-6-KNT Black Knight Ian - Downgraded during the technological decline of the Succession Wars era, the personal 'Mech of the McKinnon family was selected to receive among the first experimental weapons developed from the Helm Memory Core by the New Avalon Institute of Science, thanks to the exploits of Fox's Teeth commander Ian McKinnon. When piloted by Ian during the War of 3039, the 'Mech was clad in prototype Ferro-Fibrous armor and the standard heat sinks outside the engine were replaced with corrosive 3039 era double heat sinks. These weight savings, along with the removal of the head-mounted small laser, allowed the 'Mech to carry a Hatchet whose damage was boosted by the addition of Triple Strength Myomers."
(Hark, a canonical Hero 'Mech!
)And from a "metagame" perspective, a MWO Black Knight would be based on the canonical design - not an OmniMech (as in MW4) and not a jump-capable, Gauss/PPC-toting monstrosity (as in MW4), but as a flexible heavy-class energy boat.
So, why exactly wouldn't the Black Knight work in MWO?
I would be OK with it (the Canon Champ especially)
)
