22 replies to this topic

[Will9761]

What are your favorite and least favorite eras of the BattleTech Universe?

My least favorites eras are the Dark Age Era and the Jihad Era.

Least favorite Eras:
Jihad
Dark Age

Reasons why:
Jihad-The HPG whiteout and Devlin Stone's post-Jihad departure.
Dark Age- The ROTS become cowards and put the Inner Sphere into chaos.
I should also point out that the Wolf Hunters are a wannabe version of the Wolf's Dragoons.

Most favorite Eras:
Clan Invasion
FedCom Civil War

Reasons why:
Clan Invasion-New Technology, Battle for Terra(i.e. Earth)
FedCom Civil War-Instense war between House Steiner and House Davion.

Edited by Will9761, 03 July 2012 - 07:36 PM.

[Aesaar]

Clan Invasion was the the Battletech era I was first exposed to, through MechCommander, then MW3. To me, the Clans are a very, very important part of the setting, and any era without them feels incomplete. They're a very interesting faction. It's why I'm very happy we'll get to see them in MWO next year.

Dark Age is my least favorite, as I suspect it will be for most. The reasons why speak for themselves, I think.

Edited by Aesaar, 01 July 2012 - 06:48 PM.

[Bluey]

I hate Jihad and dark age as well

[MogCarns]

Your list has a couple of errors that you need to correct. Specifically, the list mentions something called "Jihad" and "Dark Age". These things do not exist. The very last act of BattleTech is Katherine Stiener-Davion joining Clan Wolf. Everything after this is, as everyone knows, poorly written fan fiction.

In any case, the 4th Succession War, with ~95/5 split Level 1 and Level 2 tech is the most enjoyable. Nothing in BattleTech is the least favorite.

[Damascas]

I like Jihad and Terran Hegemony eras the most. ROTS is my least favorite despite the potential it had.

[DerMaulwurf]

Dark Age burn in hell. Jihad storyline is excused because they had to connect to the stupid Dark Age which was created first.

I like the Clan Invasion because it made the setting and gameplay more dynamic. Succession Wars are nice too, but games lasted a bit long for my taste.

[Chunkymonkey]

Whats the question about dark age, you have 50 regiments against 7 galaxys in a 7000 to 5000 mechs and alot of support forces turned into 2 agromechs slugging it out with AC 5's and infantry.

Damascas, on 01 July 2012 - 10:37 PM, said:

I like Jihad and Terran Hegemony eras the most. ROTS is my least favorite despite the potential it had.

No comment

JK, i guess some people like more in depth one on one agromech duels then huge battles.

[Ron Greene]

The Succession Wars up until the Fed Suns invasion in 2028 is the best era of Battletech by far because it simply provided a far-reaching background for players and gm's to base their own stories upon. Subsequent eras constrain players by forcing them to adhere to the strained plot twists and characters of a game world in which they have no real input or influence on the events. Very much like trying to play LOTR online. When the ring has been destroyed, it's hard to find events for players to participate in that connect them to that background.

[Sychodemus]

I have no favorite or least favorite era: whatever era I am playing in I make the most of it and have fun. Each era and faction has its own charm. I play characters rather than investing my own preconceived views in the Battletech universe, so it makes it easy.


And once again, the Dark Age is not all about Industrial 'Mechs. That aspect was very short-lived and has been blown way out of proportion.

[Lokust]

I love 3025 up to about 3060. As far as I'm concerned, nothing exists after the novel "Endgame." I think everything past that is garbage and not worthy of inclusion into the universe.

[Fgump]

FedCom civil war because that was where the story was amazing. The novels skipped over the damn jihad and went right into dark ages. I think the Jihad would be a great story but everyone seems to want to just say it happened.

[Daniel Wraith]

Dark ages the story to sell clicky wiz kid battletech crap after fasa sold the right an was basterdised to hell by wizkids far as im concerned that story line can burn in hell

[Calisrue]

clanvasion from the FRR/merc combined perspective (MechWMercs2) was pretty awesome

[ice trey]

Least favorite Eras:
Fedcom Civil War
Dark Age

Reasons why:

Fedcom Civil War: The same reason why the opening poster likes it... FedCom Civil War-Instense war between House Steiner and House Davion... However any and every other factions' activities become little more than a blurb or footnote, easily forgotten and swept under the rug. House Davion and Steiner had already been hogging the limelight in the game for years on years.
Dark Age- Because it shoves "mechs with shovels" down our throats, took old favorites and bastardized them with diesel engines and exposed ammo feeds, and because the story is just recycling the old succession wars fiction but jamming the clans in there like a violent child hammering the square block into the circle hole. Further on the aesthetic, it felt to me like they were trying way too hard to mimic the 40K'esque grimdark spikey chainsaws bits, and at the same time, also ended up making the 'mechs look more like plastic toys than the old designs that - while far from pretty - looked like something out of an 80s Janes' Guide to Military Vehicles book.

Most favorite Eras:
Clan Invasion
Jihad

Reasons why:
Clan Invasion-New Toys to upset the stagnation of the inner sphere. Horrifying unknown enemy that unites all the opposing factions together to silence the threat.
Jihad - Screw the mary sue Stone that they were forced to cram in there. There are many reasons

• Everyone got their chance to shine. The Free Worlds League, the Draconis Combine, the Periphery... Hell, we've even heard about pirates' activity for what seems like the first time since... god... Since the early clan invasion.
  
• It's like the Succession Wars again at the beginning. The Wobbies trick every faction into thinking their neighbors are attacking, forcing them to take revenge, and suddenly, it's conflict on every border - not just the Davions and "Enemy of the year".
  
• Later, it's like the Clan Invasion, in that the Inner Sphere finally starts unifying against the single terrifying force. The only difference here is that unlike the Clans, there's no honor system for the blakists. They're horribly outnumbered, but they've still got so many tricks up their sleeves, ranging from nukes to unwitting human explosives
  
• Fracturing loyalties and sub-affiliations that help you to appreciate the different sub-cultures throughout the inner sphere. The Azami Arabic tribes of the Draconis Combine start vying for independence. The Fitvelt Coalition break off from the Federated Suns for years of neglect as pirate raids rage on, the Free Worlds Leagues' sub factions each start developing stronger identities right up to the complete fracture of the FWL...
  
• The toys! Oh my, the toys! New PPCs; Plasma Rifles; Celestial Omnimechs; Tons of new variants on classics; Resurfacing of LAMs; 150-ton Ultraheavies; Canon mechs that use Experimental/Advanced tech; Drone mechs; Anti-dropship mobile fortresses; Advanced infantry; Primitive mechs; SO MUCH STUFF TO USE, NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH TIME TO VIABLY PAINT IT ALL BEFORE IT'S OLD NEWS.

Devlin Stone stuff is just a footnote to me. I mostly ignored the blurbs, anyway.


I feel neutral about the Succession wars and the Star League era. The Succession wars have great writing with far more flavor than modern writing, where every world had it's own unique, alien characteristics (Whereas now, we're seeing mostly bland rehashes of earth). The characters really stood out and had far more personality, and the desperation of keeping your mech together with spit and axle grease gave that era the intense feel it personifies. My problem with it is in Tabletop, where we still see so many people who refuse to touch ANYTHING that wasn't published before the clans. That sort of gameplay gets dry and seems to me that they're just a bunch of old grognards who refuse to buy anything beyond what they collected decades ago. It's imposing, it's cheap, and no money goes to make battletech stuff if no new product is being sold - meaning the game dies out.

As for the Star League stuff, I'm trying to get into it, but it's just kind of... Dry? I guess? It's always just been a footnote to build up the universe, to me, and not really something anyone would want to play.

Edited by ice trey, 03 July 2012 - 08:15 PM.

[Sychodemus]

ice trey, on 03 July 2012 - 08:05 PM, said:

As for the Star League stuff, I'm trying to get into it, but it's just kind of... Dry? I guess? It's always just been a footnote to build up the universe, to me, and not really something anyone would want to play.

While it is true that they have only recently begun to flesh out that era, it can be quite fun.

During much of the Star League's history, it can be rather difficult to find an interesting way to explore the setting aside from the occasional skirmish with pirates or states, though you can use it to highlight key moments in a specific family's or unit's history. This can be useful for campaigns set much later. The greater uniformity of SL era units can be a mixed blessing, with 'Mech units being made up of one specific chassis type, it is quite the departure from normal BT play. This part of the Star League era is really different from the others primarily because much of it is relatively peaceful and has little to do with territory.

The Amaris Coup is obviously a time of numerous battles so it isn't too hard to do anything there. The untold stories of the soldiers who either return home or decide to join with General Kerensky offer many possibilities as well. This is the simplest timeframe of the SL era to handle.

The aftermath of the fall of the Star League is a terrible era particularly as former SLDF comrades have to choose sides and perhaps face each other on the battlefields of the First Succession War - it makes good drama, much in the vein of any civil war. This is definitely the most emotionally engaging, but from a strategic sense it is also the most hodge-podge as units have no idea who they will be fighting this week or the next.

It really just depends on what you like though. If you like character driven story, it has lots of possibilities. If you just like tactical battles, then the SL's era uniformity can offer challenges that are not easily countered because you simply cannot change your unit roster.

[Dreager96]

The Blood of Kerensky was an awesome book and a great peace to kick off the clan invasions...still a great a read after 3 times. I also like the rest of the books on the aftermath and civil war that forced House Davion and Stiener and into such a bloody conflict.

[phelan]

Voted Clan Invasion as my favorite. Although, I do also really like going farther back in time to the real down and gritty Succession Wars period.

Dark Age is still my least favorite if I was forced to name one. But CGL has been doing a pretty decent job of fleshing it out and "legitimizing" it lately. So, I dislike the setting less than I used to. Same goes for Jihad Era, which until about a year ago I had absolutely no interest in whatsoever. Wars of Reaving sourcebook was really good stuff though.

[Will9761]

Too bad some of the Homeworld Clans died though, there were some clans that I liked. Nevertheless, they got what they deserved.

Edited by Will9761, 10 August 2012 - 10:55 AM.

[C E Dwyer]

succession wars, will all ways be my favorite, it felt nitty and gritty, it was and is a great background, old tech values with new, but failing weapons where wars are conservative because any of the states could have lost that last bit of tech to send them tumbling, but still fighting while are loathing com-star at varying levels for really being the masters of the galaxy..even the mech themselves were for most part patch built..all that power..and yet heat build up making them vunerable..

Clan invasion for me signaled the end of creativity, all the new influx of new/old tech, double heat sinks more powerfull yet really the same weapons.OMG..lets have this mega powerfull enemy that might overwhelm to inner sphere, was the same sad path many great genre have walked down..

Krenksy left because he was nausiated by the politic's, I didn't hang around to find out much about the clans..but they seemed to have none of the values krensky had, and were just as power hungry, devisive and pathetic as the original innerspere houses..
so it felt wash repeat..

I love the old sphere, its why I have supported this with my time and money, but I'm fairly certain I'll leave this game alone once the clans get here, unless they turn up as some, dev, admin boggie men wild card, but as active players, I shall almost certainly fold on MWO

[Will9761]

Cathy, on 10 August 2012 - 10:59 AM, said:

succession wars, will all ways be my favorite, it felt nitty and gritty, it was and is a great background, old tech values with new, but failing weapons where wars are conservative because any of the states could have lost that last bit of tech to send them tumbling, but still fighting while are loathing com-star at varying levels for really being the masters of the galaxy..even the mech themselves were for most part patch built..all that power..and yet heat build up making them vunerable..

Clan invasion for me signaled the end of creativity, all the new influx of new/old tech, double heat sinks more powerfull yet really the same weapons.OMG..lets have this mega powerfull enemy that might overwhelm to inner sphere, was the same sad path many great genre have walked down..

Krenksy left because he was nausiated by the politic's, I didn't hang around to find out much about the clans..but they seemed to have none of the values krensky had, and were just as power hungry, devisive and pathetic as the original innerspere houses..
so it felt wash repeat..

I love the old sphere, its why I have supported this with my time and money, but I'm fairly certain I'll leave this game alone once the clans get here, unless they turn up as some, dev, admin boggie men wild card, but as active players, I shall almost certainly fold on MWO

You can blame Nicholas Kerensky for that. It's mostly his fault the clans turned out the way they did.

Edited by Will9761, 10 August 2012 - 11:10 AM.