51 replies to this topic

[3xnihilo]

I like the idea of having the community design/vote on champion builds. Since the point is to sell a standard variant for mc instead of cbills it would be a lot nicer if they were at least mostly viable stock. If the worry is that it would make the trials OP (I am skeptical that it actually would) then make different trials that are actually designed to improve new player experience. It seems like you could build mechs that were durable and ran fairly cool with a little bit less than optimal dps so that the incentive to buy and customize your own mech is still there, but running in a trial isn't a miserable experience. This sacrifices damage output which is less important to a new player in favor of survivability which is the main problem for beginners.

Improving new player experience is always a win. Even if trials were really good stock there are very few people with the self control to stick with them and not want to get different variants/master/customize their mechs.

[Widowmaker1981]

Compared to final builds designed for fully mastered mechs trials should have:

Cooler weapon loadouts (due to missing 15% dissiaption and 20% capacity) and bigger engines (due to missing speed tweak and all the agility boni). Basically take a decent build and then trade some weapons for heatsinks and engine size.

[Qtvcfr]

Fixed it.

[meteorol]

I think thats a nice, well balance build.

Well balanced because it has motherflippin 44 armor on the goddamn CT of a f*ckin 65t mech. That balances it nice against the stock HBR and MDD which are both entirely unplayable for new players because they don't use enough armor on their f*ckin CT.

Atleast noobs can now be oneshotted through the CT by direwolfs in both IS and Clan heavies if they got scratched 1 single time before waddling into his line of fire, having no idea how to torsotwist. Good job on balancing stuff there.

[CocoaJin]

See all these friendly builds y'all come up with? That's one reason why trials are a bit crappy...to incentivize players into getting their own.

The trial mechs are for you realize all the cool things you'd do to it if it was yours. Time in trials gives you chance to see all the cool,gadgets out there that you learn to fantasize are on your mech...then off the game welfare and buy your own. That's not to say the welfare is bad...it isn't, it just isn't intended to meet your needs or there is no incentive to get off it and contribute to the community(buy in and support the game) and reach one's potential(hot rod your own rig and wreck face).

[Homeless Bill]

We win. **** yeah. Stand by for Champion rebuilds...

[Joseph Mallan]

Qtvcfr, on 06 May 2015 - 07:11 AM, said:

Fixed it.

I was expecting a bad build... Its not. its not a Jager because of it though.

[3xnihilo]

CocoaJin, on 06 May 2015 - 10:34 AM, said:

See all these friendly builds y'all come up with? That's one reason why trials are a bit crappy...to incentivize players into getting their own.

The trial mechs are for you realize all the cool things you'd do to it if it was yours. Time in trials gives you chance to see all the cool,gadgets out there that you learn to fantasize are on your mech...then off the game welfare and buy your own. That's not to say the welfare is bad...it isn't, it just isn't intended to meet your needs or there is no incentive to get off it and contribute to the community(buy in and support the game) and reach one's potential(hot rod your own rig and wreck face).

However, if new players get discouraged by using substandard builds and leave then the only way for PGI to keep making money is by releasing more and more mechs for preorder so people who have already invested keep investing. If you made trials good people still need to own the mech they like and 2 more variants to level them up to perform optimally. Also, there is a difference between bad builds, viable builds, and meta builds. Trials just need to be in the viable category. Instead of trying to make a brawling jäger with a small xl engine and short range weapons, they could put a bigger standard engine in it drop to srm4 and add armor, it is the same mech still a so/so build but now it can brawl a little better and it is more durable so a beginner can get a feel for how it works with out get st cored by the first mech that see them. If you like it you will still want to buy it and make it suit your play style better. but you aren't stuck learning in a mech that would only be viable in a highly skilled players hands. Ie. someone who would never run it like that because they know how to make better builds.

The thing is, right now, the incentive to keep playing through the initial grind is mostly "I love BT/MW so I want to play this game." I would love it if MWO could be attracting new players and building a larger fan base for Battletech in general, not just providing an outlet for those of us who are already fans.

Edited by 3xnihilo, 06 May 2015 - 11:30 AM.

[Tiamat of the Sea]

3xnihilo, on 06 May 2015 - 11:13 AM, said:

Value Text

This.

The problem is not that the new Champion Jaeger is suboptimal, it's that it's an outright deathtrap for no actual reason. It could easily have run a single pair each of SRM-6 and Medium Lasers, and standard AC/5s like so- http://mwo.smurfy-ne...67473f96f0fbd4d

The result is still a 'mech with the same multi-range profile and the capacity to work with only two firing groups, it still goes Jager speed, it still has fragile Jager armor, it's still sub-optimal, but now it has enough ammo, it can still function after the ammo runs out, and it doesn't punish every single small mistake with death by overheat/XL implosion. It's far from perfect or even specialized, but it's a simple, usable design that can easily make a new player say 'Wait, I think I know how to make this better.' after a few matches.

[luxebo]

PGI has listened, go to developer outreach and post your build there. Don't be a troll and build something absolutely just garbage for new players to play but instead either:
1) let The B33f create em all.
or 2) just post what you think is best.

Edited by luxebo, 06 May 2015 - 05:57 PM.

[Alex Morgaine]

Personal thoughts on trials:
1:start with stock mechs
2:if slots allow, swap to dhs unless it has it already.
2a) if it does, move to 4, though with dhs stock it probably can be competitive short of RP political shortbussing in the TT TRO.
2b) If not able to swap to equal #dhs due to too many external dhs, swap to dhs, remove unslottable dhs tonnage and add as armor (Most stock mechs have half armor).
3) use any tonnage/slots after maxing armor to increase ammo per weapons to 2 tons minimum, if capable. If tonnage remains, with no slots, upscale engine.
4) If 14 slots exist after dhs add, swap structure to endo.
Follow steps 2b and 3.
5) if somehow there are slots left for ferro fibrous, follow step 4 again.
Worst case, you have a stock mech that may or may not have odd weapon choices, but it should have the armor and ammo to use them adequately.

[Troutmonkey]

Rules of building a mech:
1. DHS on every mech
2. Max Armour CT and ST's, frontloaded with no more than 15 on the back, 10 is fine.