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The answer is subjective, as it often is with a deceptively simple question. How much money is enough? How many kids? When do you 'win' in a game with no definitive ending?
Here's some napkin math with some of my thoughts on the potential mech variety in MWO
Most of this info is from Dev Blog 6
Figure 17 distinct weights - 20, 25, 30 ... 100
Figure 7 Generic weapon hard point profiles
- Mostly Energy, Ballistics or Missile (3)
- Even split between two of the above (3)
- Even split between all three (1)
Figure Jump/No Jump. "Jump Jets in MechWarrior Online are chassis specific. If a BattleMech comes with Jump Jets, then a player can add/remove as they wish." My guess is jump capable mechs will have less hard points and/or modules
Figure Many Modules/Few Modules "The number of available slots will vary on a chassis by chassis basis" my guess is that the number of modules is going to be used as a balancing stat, based on Jump jets, Hard Points, and overall potential. I will not be using it in my calculations below, but the potential for variety exists, depending on how MWO implements Modules.
So we have (17 x 7 x 2) basic mech chassis possible given the above variations. Many more are technically possible. Major Energy, Minor Missile is different than All Energy, etc, but this should give us a starting point.
17 x 7 x 2 = 238 distinct variants. Not bad. Maybe 60 or so 'base/prime/whatever' chassis with 3 additional variants each. Some more, some less, but something like that.
Add the Clans and their clan tech, and you have another 238 distinct variants. Add quads and omnimechs and there are more still.
I think we can safely say there are at least 500 distinct variants possible. How does that measure up to TT Battletech?
Master Unit List's search function lists 2313 IS/Clan Battlemechs, built using Introductory, Standard or Advanced rules, from 20-100 tons.
500 << 2313, but some of those variants are pretty non-varied. Take a look at the Jenner JR7-D vs the JR7-K. The only difference is FerroFibrous vs Standard armor and CASE vs No CASE. These minor differences would not have qualified as variants give the above napkin math parameters.
Now for the fun part. If you "gotta catch em all", how long will that take?
SWAG on my part, but say 10 hours for the C-bill grind for enough to purchace the average mech + the cost of a garage slot. I may be way off on this.
500 variants x 10 hours each = 5000 hours playtime = 5 years at 20 hours a week.
If $80 MC is enough for 8-10 average (medium) chassis, call it $12 MC for an average chassis + garage slot. This 500 variants = $6000. Again, this is a SWAG on my part. I may be way off
Finally, we have a potentially interesting MWO playtime time to MWO MC value of 1 hour = $1.2
This last number is based on dividing one SWAG by another SWAG. Take it with several grains of salt.
Edited by zencynic, 01 July 2012 - 05:07 PM.
