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[pattonesque]

So the new player experience in this game is kind of an issue. The trial 'mechs are generally pretty poor and grinding your first chassis up to viability takes many hours. Joining up with a unit can alleviate this, but you're still stuck with 'mechs that don't quite do the job.

One thing that would solve this (and that would provide a use for all those group C-Bills) is to let units set up a group of 'mechs that can be used by anyone in the unit. So say you've got a new player dropping with his unit, and they need him to drop in a HBK-4G. They could have a pre-made 4G ready to go in the unit stable, worked up to their specifications (maybe they prefer lots of ammo over more lasers, or more speed, or whatever). The new player could use it for the duration of the game, but he wouldn't own it -- it'd still belong to the unit.

Players would be able to learn the game on a decent 'mech, could be able to "try before they buy", and wouldn't be totally useless in CW. It'd gently ease them into the game and could be easily balanced to prevent abuse -- limited numbers of stable slots, for instance, with additional ones available for MC. You could also lock the 'mech if it's in a match -- so you wouldn't have every member of the unit dropping in the one tricked-out Timber Wolf in the stable.