20517 replies to this topic

[CycKath]

Bishop Steiner, on 04 September 2014 - 09:10 PM, said:

and why, did that Orion, rebuilt to specs found in the cockpit computers, wind up a stock 1-K? I get they had no advanced tech, but ya know, you think they would have realized that?

That assumes they really did have Kerensky's Orion, as opposed to one he might have piloted in a pinch.

[Bishop Steiner]

CycKath, on 04 September 2014 - 09:53 PM, said:

That assumes they really did have Kerensky's Orion, as opposed to one he might have piloted in a pinch.

correct. There is no way they would have jettisoned a top notch Orion with experimental tech

[Steinar Bergstol]

Nathan Foxbane, on 04 September 2014 - 09:07 PM, said:

I think it is mostly because Kerensky has become a, to be frank, cult figure. And speaking of his Orion, why did he leave that behind the first place? Better yet, what was Theodore Kurita thinking piloting it instead of hoarding it in a museum or in the palace for bragging rights?

Well, consider the fact that Theodore was given that Orion in the mid/late 3020's. And consider the fact that at this period of the timeline functioning Battlemechs are practically priceless weapons of war. Any mech in a more or less functioning state of repair will be used, not locked away in a museum. This is the era when even in the house units battlemechs several hundred years old which have been patched up more times than you can count are still considered prime frontline units. This is the era when making battlemechs is more or less lostech and the factories producing a few new mechs each year are basically running on automated, barely understood processes.

Basically it's not like the situation after the recovery of the Helm memory core when a lot of technology was recovered and new mechs could actually be designed, and the factories could be refurbished and start ramping up the production numbers. It's the age of "My mech is held together by spit, chewing gum, bailingwire and desperate hope".

[CDLord HHGD]

Bishop Steiner, on 04 September 2014 - 08:39 PM, said:

My lore question.......

does it seem odd, or bother anyone else.....

That the Mech designed by Kerensky himself, the Atlas, never got a IIC version from the clans? It had a Royal SLDF Atlas II version, and a Dark Age era Atlas III. Kerensky's personal mech, the obsolete and antiquated Orion gets resurrected with an Orion IIC, but the brainchild of Kerensky, the ride of his closest confidant, commander and best friend, General DeChavalier, the Atlas, the mech that tore the holes in the palace defenses to allow Kerensky's Orion to kick the gates down..... never got a Clan version?

RLY?

Didn't Amaris heavily use Atlai? Or maybe the Atlas was used to break Amaris.... IDK for sure. If Amarus used the Atlas, it makes sense the Clans didn't retool it based on their reverence and superstitions...

Only other explanation? Oops..... /shrug

[Bishop Steiner]

cdlord, on 05 September 2014 - 05:06 AM, said:

Didn't Amaris heavily use Atlai? Or maybe the Atlas was used to break Amaris.... IDK for sure. If Amarus used the Atlas, it makes sense the Clans didn't retool it based on their reverence and superstitions...

Only other explanation? Oops..... /shrug

The Atlas was used to break Amaris.

[stjobe]

Steinar Bergstol, on 05 September 2014 - 12:49 AM, said:

Well, consider the fact that Theodore was given that Orion in the mid/late 3020's. And consider the fact that at this period of the timeline functioning Battlemechs are practically priceless weapons of war. Any mech in a more or less functioning state of repair will be used, not locked away in a museum. This is the era when even in the house units battlemechs several hundred years old which have been patched up more times than you can count are still considered prime frontline units. This is the era when making battlemechs is more or less lostech and the factories producing a few new mechs each year are basically running on automated, barely understood processes.

Basically it's not like the situation after the recovery of the Helm memory core when a lot of technology was recovered and new mechs could actually be designed, and the factories could be refurbished and start ramping up the production numbers. It's the age of "My mech is held together by spit, chewing gum, bailingwire and desperate hope".

My favourite time in the BattleTech Universe. After Helm it was all downhill.

[Bishop Steiner]

stjobe, on 05 September 2014 - 08:35 AM, said:

My favourite time in the BattleTech Universe. After Helm it was all downhill.

agreed. I admit, the 3050 invasion made a dramatic story, but the game went to crap. And never really recovered. I actually ran my last several campaigns in the 1st and 2nd Succession wars. Playing while the 'Verse comes crashing down around your ears is so much more fun than PowerCreepWarrior. Even though some players started with SL tech, it was not as great a boon as expected, since none had SLDF Royals mechs, and in the 2nd Succession War, if one of their high tech systems was destroyed, there was no replacement. So what little tech they had, they really had to ration, and weigh risk v reward for running it. Kind of like how a proper RnR would have been for MWO.

Shame the whiners won that one, too.

[CycKath]

cdlord, on 05 September 2014 - 05:06 AM, said:

Didn't Amaris heavily use Atlai? Or maybe the Atlas was used to break Amaris.... IDK for sure. If Amarus used the Atlas, it makes sense the Clans didn't retool it based on their reverence and superstitions...

Only other explanation? Oops..... /shrug

Alex K's best bud Aaron DeChavilier piloted and Atlas, and the brain-fired monster himself ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky piloted an Atlas II, so it has form for the Clans...

[Cimarb]

CycKath, on 05 September 2014 - 03:01 PM, said:

Alex K's best bud Aaron DeChavilier piloted and Atlas, and the brain-fired monster himself ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky piloted an Atlas II, so it has form for the Clans...

The Executioner looks a lot like it, IMO. The Omni technology probably just necessitated a "makeover".

[ShadowbaneX]

Bishop Steiner, on 04 September 2014 - 08:34 PM, said:

technically, since the Osprey was a limited run for the SLDF Royals regiments, no. Those were either destroyed in the Amaris Coupe or taken with the Exodus, and for all intent and purposes, extinct. Even the Comguards had none. (In fact, the Comguards were largely ignorant of the Royal SLDF designs till later)

Funny you should say that, but, slight tangent here, the 3050 MechWarrior RPG campaign I'm in my character is piloting an Osprey. It's modified, LB-10/X, LRM-10 & a pair of Medium Pulse Lasers.

The story the GM came up with was that during the late days of the Star League a Jump Ship had a navigational error and slammed into a planet. It jettisoned it's drop ships, one of which was a Leopard that had 4 mechs with experimental configurations on board. A Firebee (ER PPC, 4 SRM2s), a Wyvern (ER LL, ML, SL, LRM-10+A, SRM6+A), the Osprey and a Hammerhands with a pair of uAC/5s, 2 MLs and an SRM6.

We were part of a salvage team that found the Leopard which had survived the crash, and managed to offload the mechs and stashed them in a nearby cave, jury rigging up some preservative measures out of a set of drop pods and, well, oil. They were in fairly rough shape after half a millennia or so, but we're fixing them up.

As for the Atlas, no real lore reason why that didn't happen, especially since Sarna mentions that all the Atlas II pilots up and left with Kerensky and, presumably, brought mechs with. Perhaps they were so revered that they didn't bother/couldn't bring themselves to change them?

[Tkhaw]

The osprey looks like a good addition to the game (in the future), but while reading it on sarna, I came across some other interesting mechs made by Blue Shot Weapons (some lyran company).

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Lynx

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Cestus

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Starslayer

What are your thoughts on this?

Edited by Tkhaw, 06 September 2014 - 07:28 AM.

[CheebaMech]

http://www.auniversetoexplore.com/

[Odanan]

CheebaMech, on 06 September 2014 - 07:29 AM, said:

http://www.auniversetoexplore.com/

You could at least say what is this about...

[Tkhaw]

Odanan, on 06 September 2014 - 07:33 AM, said:

You could at least say what is this about...

Some new game to be unveiled...

but as long it's not battletech/Mechwarrior, Its irrelevant to the thread...

[CheebaMech]

Sorry, I'm trying to be sneaky. The 3 other threads I started in "General Discussion" have disappeared. To sum it up: PGI is getting ready to release a new game. The question is how much of the money/resources that are supposedly going to develop MWO have been diverted to this new IP. You're correct in that it may be irrelevant, but as some have speculated, what if it IS related? Is this the CW finally? Nobody knows at this point.

Carry on.

[Bishop Steiner]

CheebaMech, on 06 September 2014 - 08:16 AM, said:

Sorry, I'm trying to be sneaky. The 3 other threads I started in "General Discussion" have disappeared. To sum it up: PGI is getting ready to release a new game. The question is how much of the money/resources that are supposedly going to develop MWO have been diverted to this new IP. You're correct in that it may be irrelevant, but as some have speculated, what if it IS related? Is this the CW finally? Nobody knows at this point.

Carry on.

I'm sorry, but I need to point out something.

PGI? They are not a Mechwarrior Studio. They are a Game Development Studio. If you think, or thought, that 100% of your money was going to go to MW:O, and that MW:O alone would be enough to keep a company afloat, you are delusional.

Just as the people who cried because IGP took our founders money for Mechwarrior Tactics (a spectacularly bad run endeavor) were and are delusional. (Yes, IGP did exactly that.... IGP is a publisher that is what they are supposed to do. PGI took a LOAN from IGP, used part of Founders money to repay that. What IGP does with it after, is irrelevant)

PGI HAS to continue to develop other titles, or they will go under as a business. And since ATM, before any crowdfunding can begin, their source of income IS MWO, yes, some of the money will be used for that. Before asking for crowdsourcing, one needs to build a minimally viable product to show.

Do i necessarily LIKE it? Not really. But I understand the business model and the necessity. All the money spent on WoW? Doesn't stay with WoW. Blizzard earmarks it for other uses. EA does the same with their titles. If a studio wants to grow, they have to diversify.

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 06 September 2014 - 08:34 AM.

[CheebaMech]

I agree with you Bishop, to a point. Blizzard never had a Founders/Phoenix program and the like. If a company gets money from me for a particular item, the item is what I'd like to receive. So far there have been no clear ways to determine the validity of these programs...I personally feel disappointed in that the developers have yet to finish this project and yet somehow have the resources (that were previously claimed to be unavailable) to start another project "bigger than MWO". All I want is clear, no bullshit explanations of what the hell is going on with our (Founders, etc.) money.

[Odanan]

Quote

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Bryan Ekman, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Piranha Games. 14 years ago I founded Piranha Games with my business partner Russ Bullock to build exciting and engaging games that we love to play. Piranha is best known for our latest endeavor — MechWarrior Online, an online free-to-play giant robot combat game. MechWarrior Online's incredibly successful Founder's Program proved that we can work directly with our backers to help build a game for the community.

On Sep 9th, 2014 at 12:00PM PDT we invite you to join us for the reveal of our next project. It's a big one, it's going to be the largest production ever undertaken here at Piranha, and we want YOU to be part of it.

It's epic, it's online, it's sci-fi.

Just below you will find a registration form. Filling out this form will register you for our new game and grant you an exclusive in-game item when the finished product goes live. By registering now, you can also name your Pilot – yes that's right, pilot. Ok, no more spoilers…

I look forward to the future, and our journey to the stars.

Sincerely,

Bryan Ekman


Creative Director/Co-Founder
Piranha Games

By looking at the android thing, you can clearly see it's not Battletech/Mechwarrior related.

I have some questions about that:

1- Is MWO fading away?

2- Is the already small PGI team going to be diverted from MWO to this new game?

3- And wouldn't it be better if they created a singleplayer game of Mechwarrior* instead of a completely new game, considering they already have the licence?

*this site is called www.mwomercs.com, I wish that meant something.

Edited by Odanan, 06 September 2014 - 10:20 AM.

[Strum Wealh]

CheebaMech, on 06 September 2014 - 08:16 AM, said:

Sorry, I'm trying to be sneaky. The 3 other threads I started in "General Discussion" have disappeared. To sum it up: PGI is getting ready to release a new game. The question is how much of the money/resources that are supposedly going to develop MWO have been diverted to this new IP. You're correct in that it may be irrelevant, but as some have speculated, what if it IS related? Is this the CW finally? Nobody knows at this point.

Carry on.

Well, IF the threads you posted had even a hint of the toxicity that has been presented in the same-title subreddit (where people are already actively planning to rep-bomb this "A Universe To Explore" thing before any substantial information regarding what it is - other than "made by PGI" & maybe-kinda looking like a Star Citizen knock-off - is even released), then it actually shouldn't be surprising if such threads were either K-Town'd or outright deleted.

Other than that, Bishop pretty much said the majority of what needed to be said.

----------

Odanan, on 06 September 2014 - 10:13 AM, said:

By looking at the android thing, you can clearly see it's not Battletech/Mechwarrior related.

I have some questions about that:

1- Is MWO fading away?

2- Is the already small PGI team going to be diverted from MWO to this new game?

3- And wouldn't it be better if they created a singleplayer game of Mechwarrior* instead of a completely new game, considering they already have the licence?

*this site is called www.mwomercs.com, I wish that meant something.

Apparently, Bryan is doing a ATD-of-sorts here (after the original had apparently been met with the same sort of toxicity as is currently seen on the above-linked subreddit, and subsequently deleted).

And, presumably, we'll know more (including whether they've even started any real development on this thing, or if it's still in the "pretty concept art" stage) on/after Tuesday, anyway.

[Bishop Steiner]

CheebaMech, on 06 September 2014 - 08:58 AM, said:

I agree with you Bishop, to a point. Blizzard never had a Founders/Phoenix program and the like. If a company gets money from me for a particular item, the item is what I'd like to receive. So far there have been no clear ways to determine the validity of these programs...I personally feel disappointed in that the developers have yet to finish this project and yet somehow have the resources (that were previously claimed to be unavailable) to start another project "bigger than MWO". All I want is clear, no bullshit explanations of what the hell is going on with our (Founders, etc.) money.

Not a bad point, except this:

The FOUNDERS money was for this game. And yes, they reported a Loan with part. They had to. No game to crowdsource without the startup loan. The rest of that money, by all credible reports, went to MW:O. Again, part of that was repaying IGP for the loan, and if IGP chose to use that money for whatever....is beside the point.

But the Phoenix and Clan Packs? No promises. Not crowdfunding. Read what was posted. You paid for: Mechs. And Premium Time and Baubles, depending on package. To claim that money was supposed to be specifically earmarked for this game, is inaccurate. That would be like saying every Paint scheme or cockpit bauble bought, the money is earmarked for exclusive use in MWO.

That is not how this works. As outlined in my previous post, PGI is a Game Studio. And like any business that has to run multiple projects, they will constantly "rob Peter to pay Paul (hopefully not Inouye, I'm rather cross with him ATM)". And should this new game sell, I can promise you, money from it, will be used in MWO, as needed, too. And whatever next project PGI assumes.

It's just simple business, brother man. They have to run and develop multiple projects to stay solvent. They will use funds raised however is needed for the Company, because if the company doesn't stay solvent, MWO dies, anyhow. Too often people take too short of a view. On the surface, it can appear infuriating at times, but when you got 100 employees or more, and obligations, it's wheels within wheels and quite the juggling act to make it work.

At least this helps explains Bryans MIA status for most of 2014, though.

As for the rest, well, I guess we find out on Tuesday?

Odanan, on 06 September 2014 - 10:13 AM, said:

By looking at the android thing, you can clearly see it's not Battletech/Mechwarrior related.

I have some questions about that:

1- Is MWO fading away?

2- Is the already small PGI team going to be diverted from MWO to this new game?

3- And wouldn't it be better if they created a singleplayer game of Mechwarrior* instead of a completely new game, considering they already have the licence?

*this site is called www.mwomercs.com, I wish that meant something.

That depends. You see, most of the time, a studio like PGI is hired to develop for someone. Also, a PvE MW title, might not, financially make sense, as if tied to MWO, it generates no given revenue, and if it is not, might cause just as much backlash from all those who have invested in this Game.

Even if it is an in house idea, diversifying markets probably is a better plan, financially.