29 replies to this topic

[Sadistic Savior]

Jikan, on 18 February 2015 - 05:07 PM, said:

I just bought a spider, it had a flame thrower on one arm and nothing on the other.
I upgraded some parts and got loads of more tonnage to work with so I changed the flamer to a pulse laser, saw I had more room so I thought it'd be nice to have another one on the other arm.
But nope.
How come I can change the armor plating and structural support, even change a flamethrower that uses fuel to a laser on one arm. But having one laser on each arm is impossible.
What gives?
I thought the ton limit and slots already regulate mechs, I haven't seen this in other mechwarrior games. Granted I mostly played mw4. But even there I had the freedom to chose between slug throwers and pew pew guns.
Feels like a giant leap backwards, any graphical improvements aren't really good enough to tip this in favor of progress for mechwarrior games.
The absolute least you could do is have "upgrades" available to change base mech hardpoints.

The other Mechwarrior games were not real simulators...they were shooters. Thats why you did not see this restriction.

This game is heavily based on the Table top boardgame, and it's attendant lore. The mechs in this game are based heavily on that lore. You are not playing the same mech with a different shell. They all have intrinsic differences.

The mechs in the game are treated realistically. In real life, you would not be able to swap weapons out on a battle tank the way your are describing...some tanks are designed around certain weapon systems. It works the same way with mechs.

[Sadistic Savior]

Jikan, on 18 February 2015 - 06:17 PM, said:

Wish I knew about the clan mechs before. Guess it's back to the grind.
Personally I don't see it as a huge deal to be able to change around hardpoints.

Just like I don't see it as a huge deal having hardpoint restrictions. There are specific reasons behind it and IMO it makes the game more fun.

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Having the ability to do so wouldn't really make all mechs the same

I disagree. It would make them very similar. What would be the difference between them other than tonnage?

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That there is no set size limit is a bit of a half truth. I doubt you can put the largest rocket pack in a spider if you want to fit everything else you need.

You doubt wrong. Yes, you can put an LRM 20 or an SRM 6 on a Spider, if you ignore hardpoints.

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If you could i wound't like it, just seems absurd. Have they even modeled that option?

Yes. Many times. Most fans of this genre prefer this model.

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I just don't see how limiting my guns to one arm makes sense.

It makes sense because it adds uniqueness to each model. It makes sense because it is a more realistic depiction, and that realism contributes to the immersion. And immersion is fun.

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The other arm is completely bare. Other versions have stuff on the left arm, but mine can't. It ***** up my symmetry.

This completely ruined the pimp my ride vibe I had going until I came across this.

This is not meant to be a pimp my ride game. MW4 was like that, and it's one of the reasons I much prefer this game to MW4 (I played and beat MW4 as well).

[PhoenixHawk OSF]

I want to reinforce using smurfy's for loading up a mech prior to buying it. As a relative newbie myself, I learned the hard way that the variants of each mech don't have the same hard points. Look at the variants closely before you buy. Also look at the heatsinks prior to buying..upgrading to Double Heat Sinks, which is just about paramount in this game IMHO, is costly. On a Thunderbolt it's $1,500,000 cbills. I'd rather spend a little more on the initial purchase but save that upgrade cost, for a variant that already has DHS's.

I'd also suggest playing with several of the Trial mechs before purchasing, because your ultimate goal in purchasing will be to get 3 variants of the same mech, and build up the XP in each one so you can unlock the Elite level skills. You don't want to do what I did and buy one that you thought you liked, only to find you don't, or that there is only one variant of it that you like.

There is a bit more planning and looking ahead than anything on the website teaches you in this game. It's not run and gun like the former MW games were. Each mech size, and build, has its own functionality within your team. Don't go for a build you hope to solo like we used to be able to do in MW4. Going solo in this game, especially as a new person to this version, will just end up in you getting blown up a lot.

[Quick n Fast]

@OP... u been playin 2-3yrs.. how to u not know any of this..?

*facepalm*

[SnagaDance]

Kahnawake MechMaster Prime, on 21 February 2015 - 07:32 AM, said:

@OP... u been playin 2-3yrs.. how to u not know any of this..?

*facepalm*

The profile date illustrates when a forum profile was made. Not when he started to play the game.

Take a look at my profile. Got my account back in 2011. Only started playing August 2013 after the game launched. Had a closed Beta invite after the E-mail invite fiasco but I could only start playing after I got both an internet connection and computer that were at least half decent.

[Alaskan Nobody]

PhoenixHawk OSF, on 20 February 2015 - 11:21 PM, said:

On a Thunderbolt it's $1,500,000 cbills. I'd rather spend a little more on the initial purchase but save that upgrade cost, for a variant that already has DHS's.

DHS always cost 1.5m to upgrade

Endo costs 10k for per ton
So 200k for a Locust, 500k for a Centurion, 1m for an Atlas and so on

Ferro costs half that (5k per ton) but saves less weight

Edit: those are per mech chassis weight
(IE all 20 toners cost the same for endo and ferro, all 50 toners, and so on)

Edited by Shar Wolf, 21 February 2015 - 02:39 PM.

[Void Angel]

JC Daxion, on 19 February 2015 - 03:42 AM, said:

i would not start with clan mechs... They end up costing you tons more than the IS mechs. As for your spider, there are only 4 variants, that are kinda limited, many other mechs have much more variety in what you can mount and were,

Actually, they don't - you just pay more up front because you're getting all the upgrades up front, rather than having to put them in after-market. The c-bill per value for Clan and Inner Sphere 'mechs is the same, though statistically the Clans seem a bit more powerful - which is why PGI is thinking about letting the Inner Sphere have a bit more tonnage in CW, but that's another story. The difference in PuG play isn't really notable at most levels of play.

[Void Angel]

PS: Consider this: a Fully Upgraded Cataphract on the Inner Sphere side will actually cost more in equipment value than a Mad Cat Prime.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Void Angel, on 21 February 2015 - 03:31 PM, said:

PS: Consider this: a Fully Upgraded Cataphract on the Inner Sphere side will actually cost more in equipment value than a Mad Cat Prime.

I would say CAN cost more.

I ran mine with a much smaller engine - which drastically reduced the price.

But I also ran it with several different engines - which upped the price.

On the other hand - you are going to need 3 Timberwolves to Master them...


It is not a perfectly black and white situation - but on the average - IS mechs will wind up costing at least as much as the Clan equivalents.

[SnagaDance]

One thing that might help keep the price of Inner Sphere mechs in check is by using only one engine and swapping that between the variants. For instance, the first mech I Mastered was the Jenner. So when I got that expensive XL300 for it I just passed it around and have even used it in other mechs.

Nowadays I've only got the F-variant Jenner still in my stable but I like it so much it has its own dedicated XL300 engine (yeah, I managed to get a few more of those in the meantime).

In the case of Clan mechs you have to buy them with their own dedicated and expensive engine (which you also can't sell to make some nice C-bills back).