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In the pursuit of science, math, and game balance!
As described by Battletech, an AC20:
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The Autocannon is a direct-fire ballistic weapon, firing HEAP (High-Explosive Armor-Piercing) rounds at targets either singly or in bursts.
Different manufacturers and models of autocannons have different calibers (25mm-203mm) and rates of fire. Due to this, autocannons are grouped into generic "classes" of autocannons with common damage ratings, with Autocannon/20s doing massive damage while having very short range.
Different manufacturers and models of autocannons have different calibers (25mm-203mm) and rates of fire. Due to this, autocannons are grouped into generic "classes" of autocannons with common damage ratings, with Autocannon/20s doing massive damage while having very short range.
As described, an AC/20 is classified as a general rating for the ACs that do 20 damage over a 'round' (a round in TT is described as being a 10 second representation of time).
Currently our AC/20 does 20 damage and has a cooldown of 8 seconds, meaning it fires 2.5x faster than an actual AC/20, which actually makes it an AC/50.
Our current 1 shot AC/20 would only be able to fire every 10 seconds.
Lets go to one of the lore examples.
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An example of the rating system: the Crusher Super Heavy Cannon is a 150mm weapon firing ten shells per "round" while the Chemjet Gun is a 185mm weapon firing much slower, and causing higher damage per shell. Despite their differences, both are classified as Autocannon/20s due to their damage output.
So the Crusher Super Heavy Cannon (CSHC) fires 1 shell every second, doing 2 damage per shell, for a total of 20 damage every 10 seconds. Meanwhile, lets assume the Chemjet Gun fires every 2 second being 'slower', which means it would fire a 4 damage shell every 2 seconds, resulting in 20 damage every 10 seconds.
So by splitting up the cooldown versus the damage per 10 seconds (what the ACs rating actually stands for) we could readjust ACs and prevent them from being such ridiculously high pinpoint damage weapons, with ammo and armor balances to compensate.
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Now, lasers are in the same boat. Lasers also do a total amount of damage over 10 seconds. Now, while these are a bit trickier, it could be handled just as easily as ballistics.
Right now our Large Lasers (IS) do 9 damage over 4.25 seconds, meaning they actually do roughly 18 damage per second (at 8.5 seconds total). Reducing it to 5 Damage would leave it at 10 damage over 8.5 seconds, slightly faster than the 10 second round of TT, but in a good place overall. I believe roughly 4.5 damage would be nearer the correct amount.
Medium Lasers as an example would also change. Currently sitting at 5 damage every (roughly) 4 seconds, they do a total of about 10 damage a second normalized over several TT 'rounds'. Thus their damage would be reduced to around 2-2.25 per volley of laser.
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Lastly, this seems ridiculous as you may read it, however its more of an example piece and not intended to be used as balance discussion. I'm just really tired of seeing people complain that 'we would only fire every 10 seconds with TT rules' being used as a way to justify MWO's mechanic becoming more and more bloated over time (things are ridiculous with quirks).
Add in reduced armor (standard values, we currently have 2x or more last I knew), rebalanced ammunition per ton, and a rescaled heatcap (fewer weapons could be fired in a single 'shot' but weapons could be fired more often in groups of smaller weapons, fewer medium-large weapons, and chain fired with the largest weapons. It would definitely be a different type of game, in my opinion bring a lot more tactics, lance warfare, and player skill into and less about META Builds and PPFLD Alphas.
Edited by MauttyKoray, 08 February 2015 - 12:39 PM.
