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So, we're into the second paragraph and I'll bet you're wondering "WTF, he said ‘Ghost cooling’ - why is this post not immediately about ghost cooling >.<". And to those of you who are saying that, I want to thank you for getting this far into my post, and let me assure you that I'm getting there.
Well then, Christof (you may be asking) if we aren't looking for weapon boating, then what are we looking for? A well balanced loadout between multiple weapon systems which promotes true customization and variation? To that I would say yes.
But once again, the current quirk structure does not lend itself to a balanced loadout. You can give a mech all sorts of quirks, to energy, ballistic, and missile weapons, but the hardpoints on the mech will be the final determining factor of if that mech is going to boat a weapon type, and more or less ignore the others. (WVR-6k, DRG-5N, TDR-5s, etc.)
So, what's my suggestion?
Ghost cooling. (I’m sure many of you are saying ‘FINALLY!’)
How would it work? Well, my dear forum reader, I am glad you asked that, because here's how I would perceive it to work:
Firing multiple weapon systems of a different type simultaneously (Ballistic, Energy, and Missile) produces ghost cooling, reducing the total heat generated (for the alpha). The amount would be FAR LESS than Ghost heat generates, of course, because in game terms, a slight buff that is repeatable is stronger than a strong penalty that can be avoided.
To that end, I would propose the following numbers (subject to change without reason):
-3 heat per weapon system pair
-4 heat per weapon system trio
Allow me to preface the following example (as this has already come up) that the weapon systems involved in this example are not ideal due to the fact they aren’t boating. They do not share the same profile of range, or projectile speed. I’m sure everyone reading this is so smart they could find a much better combination of weapons (probably all UAC 5’s) that they would rather use, but the point isn’t to criticize the effectiveness of the loadout, this is purely an example to indicate how the heat numbers would be modified.
Example:
2x AC 10
4x Mlas
1x SRM 6
Base heat: 12 + 16 + 4 = 32
Ghost Cooling: 4 (AC10, Mlas, SRM6) + 3(Mlas, AC10) = 7
Heat generated: 25
Ta-da. An incentive that matters, directly encouraging player behavior to be to bring a varied loadout, instead of just slamming every hardpoint with large lasers (Stalkers, Wolverines, Battlemasters).
The butts! (Please find my answer to your post below before bothering to respond. I very likely have you covered.)
But Christof, you might say, “People are going to find a way to abuse this system!” or "People will bring small lasers to fire their LRMs!", or "What about machine guns and any weapons?!" – To you I say: Look. People abuse every system. There is no catch-all, one stop shop fix for that. The most obvious abuses (such as the ones I just said) can simply be excluded from the system:
LRMs
Small Lasers
Machine Guns
Gauss Rifles
TAG
NARC
If there are any other weapon systems that you can think of that you think would be abused to try to produce a result that isn’t intended, just pretend that we have all the time in the world to troubleshoot, and exclude it.
But Christof, you might say, Mechwarrior Online would be better without all these tacked on systems of ghost heat, blah blah, blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah… etc. – To you I say: This isn’t that thread. These threads already exist, find one and agree with that OP. I am not here to resolve Mechwarrior Online not using tabletop values, pinpoint damage, alpha strikes, jumpjets or poptarting, flamers, clan vs Inner Sphere technology, Gauss rifle charge time, or how convoluted the game may or may not have become. Not every post is made to solve every perceived problem in the game. Sorry.
But Christof, you may say, that doesn't benefit mechs that have no other options for multiple weapon systems (Sparky, Nova, Jester, etc.)! - To you, I say: Gotcha covered! They're called 'quirks'!
Snarky comments aside, to resolve issues with mechs of that nature, who only have one weapon type available who generate too much heat to be viable (Nova) - just reduce the heat generated by multiple weapons fired specifically for those chassis. This can be done with quirks, or ghost cooling
But Christof, you may say, I LIKE boating and I don't want to stop! - To you I say: GOOD NEWS! If you read this entire post very closely, you will note that absolutely nothing I have said, not one word, indicates a restriction on your current gameplay! That's right, you can continue right-on boating till the cows come home! Not ONE change is proposed to affect you at all! So you wouldn't have to stop boating for even half a second!
Edited by Christof Romulus, 02 March 2015 - 11:25 AM.
