11 replies to this topic

[Sereglach]

Dear Mr. Inouye,

I suppose, first off, I should start with the reason this thread is being created. Way back when, I had put up a Feature Suggestion thread about potential Flamer Rebalance. Although located in my signature, it's also miraculously been resurrected, recently, by some new discussions; and it is currently on the first page of that forum section.

Recent events with the CW Phase 2 release (which is frigging incredible, by the way), prompted me to put up this post in Karl Berg's Q&A thread:

Sereglach, on 26 December 2014 - 10:47 PM, said:

Dear Mr. Berg,

For one, I have to agree with the sentiments that PGI has been doing amazing things since the separation from IGP. I greatly look forward to seeing what the new year has to bring. With that said, it ties into my question:

First, a little backstory. Long ago (back in January of 2014) we were told that the Flamer would be receiving a rework that was going to tie in with the release of the Firestarter. In February we received word that it was in engineering's hands and that they were making progress on it, here: Paul Inouye's Feb 24th Quick Update. Then, in September, we were told here, by Russ, that nothing would be happening until they've finished frying the big fish (CW Phase 2 release).

Now that CW Phase 2 has released, do you know if Flamers are back on the table yet? or when they will be addressed again? Any ideas what they're planning on doing to them?

Trust me, as my signature and stats show, I've got plenty of experience with them (currently sitting on over 74k flamer damage between current and archived stats), and plenty of ideas to help. I'll be happy to do whatever I can to assist in it. They're my babies and I hope you forgive me making the direct prod to see if there's anything being done to help them out.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

That, in turn, lead to this response:

Karl Berg, on 27 December 2014 - 05:25 PM, said:

Flamers, eh? I forced Mr. Windover to put together a test map for me, consisting of dropships carrying only flamer turrets when he was building out the new dropship turret system. It was every bit as spectacular as I thought it would be.

I'll pester Paul when we're both back to see if he has any pending flamer plans. Best bet for a prompt answer on this topic is to bug him directly though. He's posted on the forums a couple times during his break, so he might see a nice prominent thread with his name on it.

Therefore, sir, I was wondering if I could get an answer to my queries from the man himself (that'd be you), on the matter at hand. When and/or what will be done to Flamers in the future? Any and all information would be greatly appreciated. I know it may not be much, but consiI'd be happy to provide any input I possibly can and help out in any way possible. I know for many this is a miniscule point, but Flamers are my babies, so to me (at least) it's a pretty big deal. I'd love to see them become respectable weapons for MWO.

Also, as a somewhat related but still off-topic question, what all goes into the engineering, design, and balancing of weapons in MWO? Could you use Flamers as an example to answer this, as well? I thank you in advance for your time and consideration in this matter.

[Wintersdark]

Weapon balance has come so far in recent months, flamers are one of the few remaining effectively unusable weapon systems, which is tragic because they look and sound so awesome.

[Sereglach]

Wintersdark, on 27 December 2014 - 07:56 PM, said:

Weapon balance has come so far in recent months, flamers are one of the few remaining effectively unusable weapon systems, which is tragic because they look and sound so awesome.

Agreed, and also it honestly really hurts my enjoyment of the game in some ways, knowing that by running the builds I like and trying to have fun -the way I want to have fun, with the equipment I like to use-, that I'm intentionally really hindering myself, and thereby my team. That's also not hindering myself in the "I'm not running meta, but still have effective weapons and it's a build I'm good with" way . . . it's in the "I know I've intentionally horrifically gimped myself by doing this, no matter how good of a pilot I am" way.

Edited by Sereglach, 27 December 2014 - 08:19 PM.

[Dirty Starfish]

Might want to put it in general discussion or CW as I think they get more views.

[Sereglach]

Serial Peacemaker, on 28 December 2014 - 02:28 PM, said:

Might want to put it in general discussion or CW as I think they get more views.

I was thinking of putting it there, but I also considered that it might either A: get pushed off the first page too quickly to be noticed, or B: it wouldn't be considered completely appropriate for the section of the forums. Either way, it is what it is and hopefully Mr. Inouye responds.

[Alaskan Nobody]

That, and it puts it next to the already-established thread for the awesome Mr. Berg

[aniviron]

Why has this thread been buried in off topic? Shouldn't it be in GenDisc or suggestions?

[Alaskan Nobody]

aniviron, on 30 December 2014 - 05:57 PM, said:

Why has this thread been buried in off topic? Shouldn't it be in GenDisc or suggestions?

Two posts up.

Sereglach, on 28 December 2014 - 05:21 PM, said:

I was thinking of putting it there, but I also considered that it might either A: get pushed off the first page too quickly to be noticed, or B: it wouldn't be considered completely appropriate for the section of the forums. Either way, it is what it is and hopefully Mr. Inouye responds.

Thank you for reading.

[ShinVector]

Have to agree...
Replace all drop turrets to flamers and give it a 2000% range quirk.

Dragon Class Dropships ! It certainly would be glorious !
*Additionally would be good if they came equipped with a war horn called Dragon Roar, should it happen to kill any mechs.

Edited by ShinVector, 30 December 2014 - 07:07 PM.

[Rebas Kradd]

The flamer topic has been brought up in numerous forums. Given Russ's usual availability and even Paul's increased forum activity, I'd say the reason nobody has responded is because the flamer honestly isn't on the table for fix any time soon.

[Sereglach]

Rebas Kradd, on 31 December 2014 - 10:43 AM, said:

The flamer topic has been brought up in numerous forums. Given Russ's usual availability and even Paul's increased forum activity, I'd say the reason nobody has responded is because the flamer honestly isn't on the table for fix any time soon.

Actually, there hasn't really been a new conversation on it for quite a while. The last time new conversations were coming up was when Russ mentioned that there were bigger fish to fry (CW Phase 2) and that was back in September (as mentioned in the OP). Now that CW Phase 2 has been released, there's a little bit of leeway that's been given; and we'll probably see work on other items in parallel to refinements to CW. That's the reason for renewed asking of these questions.

Edited by Sereglach, 31 December 2014 - 10:49 AM.

[Colonel Fubar]

I want EXPLOADING Flamer Units when they go critical.
Until That Day!