4 replies to this topic

[Batch1972]

Hi All,

Just a question for the Merc Units - I'm a lone wolf so I don't follow all the inter-merc unit politics but I do love the lore.

We are 3 months into CW and already the map has changed beyond all recognition to the lore. FRR is all but gone. Luthien lost then found. Strange Marik enclave shenanigans. At current rate it'll be reset time in 3 months

Is there ever a point where you think you should change sides to try to restore the balance? Does CW make it easy?

[Ax2Grind]

Batch1972, on 14 February 2015 - 03:44 AM, said:

Hi All,

Just a question for the Merc Units - I'm a lone wolf so I don't follow all the inter-merc unit politics but I do love the lore.

We are 3 months into CW and already the map has changed beyond all recognition to the lore. FRR is all but gone. Luthien lost then found. Strange Marik enclave shenanigans. At current rate it'll be reset time in 3 months

Is there ever a point where you think you should change sides to try to restore the balance? Does CW make it easy?

CW makes it very easy. Everyone is a merc(ish) in this current incarnation of the game and the choice is always present to use 1 week or 2 week contracts instead of the "forever contract favored by those wishing we had a true loyalist faction. Basically its possible for every unit and player in game to change factions.

Most of the self titled merc companies already do this, jumping around between factions to fight for various causes, cbills, or just to try different faction communities out. Many times the jumps by these mercs has been somewhat in sync with other merc units as well to create a specific outcome...if you go through the battle reports you will see a specific time when MS and others helped to pull Steiner out of a nose dive, and where FRR was bolstered by QQ and 228 to name a few to push back and hold the Wolf and GB clans.

The big shift in battle lines came with the change in Ceasefires. By adding two more planets that can be taken every day, barring having units active during that time, it has created a huge shifting of the battle lines. Any faction that can get all three of its time zones to focus on offensive battles is likely to expand, and any that are not are likely to shrink or just seem stalled out. This also came as large chunks of population dropped out of CW proper or switched to one of the stronger communities/factions. This left a number of factions looking somewhat like a ghost town...even when they still have large units attached and assigned to them...the activity level just isn't there throughout the inner-sphere for a more balanced battle board. That's a big reason Davion now bleeds planets where the first few weeks it did nothing but eat planets. Factions with strong communities, like SJ, or Marik have so far weathered the storm and that's why you will see them growing so well.

As with the two merc pushes to bolster the northern IS houses that I mention above, it only makes a difference if the mercs stick around for a long time. If the House in question doesn't have a healthy and strong "loyalist" membership that has strong leadership the enemies of those houses will just rapidly gobble up territory again. It could probably be said to be both a strength and a weakness of the game that this is so...that it takes alliances of multiple units to affect real change in the game and there needs to be folks who can hold down the fort as well as those that jump around to fight on various fronts. Clearly low population doesn't help this, but its also clearly a matter of organization.

Hope that helps.

[Necromantion]

Batch1972, on 14 February 2015 - 03:44 AM, said:

We are 3 months into CW and already the map has changed beyond all recognition to the lore.

The lore will never translate into this game due to it being a pvp game. It is not an RPG and doesn't have a predetermined storyline. Do you think that people who are loyalist to their favorite factions whos factions were ultimately crushed in the lore are going to just be like "oh well this is where we queue up over and over and start losing every game"

Its just not going to happen *shrug* and this has nothing to do with merc units ultimately, its just how the game is set up.

[HARDKOR]

Hopefully phase 2 of CW is more robust and layered in it's options, rules, and mechanics. The planets are all the same and territory has no affect on gameplay, so all we are left with is the scoreboard in the lower left of the faction tab that shows you how many planets you have tagged. PGI seems to be following the Canadian model of being super polite, so you can't even look and see where your unit or faction stands vs other units without using a 3rd party site to collate data(same concept as making personal stats private.)

[Necromantion]

I am just wondering what PGI's stance on Com warfare is in regards to lore. Because honestly from their current implementation and whatnot they seem to be more concerned with the PvP aspect and balancing it in light of that and an FPS game, which ultimately it is.

I am confident that a full on lore based twist on com warfare would be awful but some implementations of more lore based aspects to make it a more diverse and immersive experience isn't something that I am sure that anyone would be against as long as they are well thought out and implemented in an intelligent and balanced manner