The amount of rage and hate going on about this particular change is amusing to me…
…actually, the rage and hate that comes from any changes in this game are hilarious now that I think about it.
I honestly and truly have to wonder if there were some subtleties about this game that people have generally and completely missed and they completely and utterly lose any possibility of coherent thought and simply roll their faces over their keyboards as they spout their vicious hatred that is formed out of their ignorance (admittedly, the fact that this is the internet and people always have to rage about something is also likely a factor as well, but that lies outside my point).
What subtleties am I talking about?
For starters, this game is inspired by the lore of BattleTech… I am well aware that some folks are aware of this fact and this particular bullet-point is not for you, so moving on: this inspiration begins and ends with the background, equipment, names and locations. Anything above and beyond that is simply window dressing at best and PGI has taken the efforts to point out that the Lore and such are merely guidelines at best.
The rage and lamentations about certain aspects of the tabletop game, books and other lore (people changing factions at a whim, people playing both sides, Clans hiring mercenaries, etc., etc., etc.) are absolutely meaningless. The sooner you realize this, more likely the happier you will be. If this is not a viable solution, then I would suggest you start getting to work on the game that *you* want to play.
Following up is pretty much anything that changes in this game, though the crux of this observation is usually centered around various quirks and such. The fact of the matter, and this is something that I am pretty well convinced most of the people playing this game cannot wrap their heads around is that at its baseline, MechWarrior: Online is an MMO. In MMOs things change. They change a lot. Some MMOs are only PvE, others are strictly PvP but most of them have a mixture of the two. In games that have PvP elements, a Metagame is developed, that can be roughly translated to best practices that make the most out of what the game’s mechanic.
Players that develop this meta do so with the expectation that their way of doing things will out-perform other players. Strategies and tactics, equipment, etc. are built up (some more quickly than others). This is common, this is expected.
Equally common and expected by those who play MMOs like Guild Wars 2 or World of Warcraft are things that shift and change the established meta. Some of these changes are minor and hardly noticeable by the majority of the population while others can completely tear the current asunder leaving nothing but ruin and ash in its place. These changes are done on purpose. This disruption is completely and totally intentional and it is NOT because the developers ‘hate the community’, ‘can’t balance anything’ or ‘have no clue what they’re doing’.
These changes, these intentional disruptions have the sole purpose of creating and maintaining an in-game dynamic. They do it to keep things interesting and competitive. They do it to prevent boredom and encourage people to do and try new and different things. This, my fellow MechWarriors, is the most important reason why things can, will and should change. Because once things get locked in to a certain meta, things will quickly get boring. And (most) players won’t stick around for ‘boring’.
The fact that PGI has announced that they intend to release this game through Steam at some point in the near-ish future, the fundamental fact of the matter is that there will be changes. And if PGI wants to increase and grow its player base, it NEEDS to keep things interesting for everybody…or at least as many people as possible.
TL;DR:
- Complaining about stuff regarding lore is stupid and pointless. Don’t like it, make a game that is closer to the lore or what you want to play
- Complaining about any given changes in the game is stupid and pointless. As an MMO-style game with a strong base in PvP, you can expect changes that will disrupt the meta and cause people to establish new metas. Get used to it.