121 replies to this topic

[TheCharlatan]

Hello Mechwarriors,

Let's forget balance for a moment and talk about "character".

When I look at my IS mechs, what I see are dirty, ancient machines full of grit and awesomeness.

Just look at the Hunchie: it's just lusting for a fight.

They look like WW2 tanks, gods of war made metal.

Even the way they play, they feel like they have a character (and I'm not talking about quirks), strenghts and weaknesses that a pilot has to use to do well in them.

Now let's look at clan mechs. With a few exceptions, they just feel... empty. Soulless.

Yeah, they are beautiful, sleek, polished, like a modern jet fighter.

But... i don't know, they just don't feel YOURS.

My Stormcrow is way better then my Shadowhawk, but i still prefer the latter, just because i feel better in that cramped cockpit, with those mean weapons jutting out and obscuring my view. Sitting in a clan mech feels like you are in a sterile office, no matter how much clutter you put in there.

The timber might be the best heavy in the game, but i look at my Jester and think "that's my mech". And I'm going to drive my mech. Same goes for the Mad Dog.

I just can't bring myself to buy more clan mechs, I just can't make a connection with them.

Anybody else feel the same?

Edited by TheCharlatan, 12 May 2015 - 12:47 AM.

[Xenocidez]

You mispelled "quirkless".

[EvilCow]

I had similar thoughts, in CW I play mostly Clan but I only use IS mechs in other modes.

[Paigan]

1.) Do you realize you make a blank line after almost every sentence? Mental disorder?

2.) Extremely highly subjective to the brink of total nonsense.
You personally have strong emotional association with some IS mechs but not with Clan mechs. That's okay. But that doesn't mean that Clan mechs are objectively "soulless" in general.

I could write pages about Clan mechs' souly-ness:
- Look at the kit fox. It looks like a super cute cat. "I can haz ECMs?"
- Adder. Sneaky little tiny-direwolf.
- Stormcrow. It actually looks like a (featherless) chicken running around. Hilarious! Albeit a very deadly hilarious chicken
- Timber Wolf: No explanation needed. It's THE iconic mech of all Battletech
- Warhawk: One word: Wubhawk. Need I say more?

Soulless... pah! Subjective emotional short-sighted babbling...

If anyone needs my, I'll be in my Kit Fox, hazing ECMs.

Edited by Paigan, 12 May 2015 - 12:56 AM.

[bad arcade kitty]

i feel that my little cute foxes and silly crows are not soulless at all

[N0ni]

I fill my Timbers with the souls of dead pilots... am i doing it right?

[TheCharlatan]

Dead Eye 01, on 12 May 2015 - 12:54 AM, said:

I fill my Timbers with the souls of dead pilots... am i doing it right?

Of course you are!

Xenocidez, on 12 May 2015 - 12:46 AM, said:

You mispelled "quirkless".

I made the example with the Shadow Hawk not randomly: it has little to no quirks.

This is not about quirks, or power level, i build lots of my IS mechs ignoring quirks and just playing them to my liking.

I'd prefer driving a Urbie rather than a Timber Wolf, just because it feels better (to me).

Edited by TheCharlatan, 12 May 2015 - 12:59 AM.

[Alistair Winter]

I do think some of them lack character, yeah. But one major issue for me in regards to cockpits is that the Clan cockpits are so similar to Inner Sphere cockpits. I was really hoping that PGI would do something like this with the Clan cockpits, or at least do some kind of other change that would make them feel different from Inner Sphere cockpits. Either make them look more high tech and advanced, or simply make them look more clean, simple and functional, like a mech version of the AK-47, as opposed to the rather clunky, cramped cockpits of Inner Sphere mechs, with all their doodads and thingymajigs.

The Ebon Jaguar is the most soulless of all the Clan mechs, in my eyes. It just looks very uninteresting. It's a good design, but it doesn't do anything for me.

But externally, many of the Clan mechs have tons of character. The Adder is very unique looking. The Kit Fox is an ugly kind of pretty. The Stormcrow is absolutely beautiful, and if it wasn't so OP I would buy one. The Hellbringer is the most beautiful Clan mech, I think. It shares that Hind 24-look with the Stormcrow. The Warhawk also looks great, except they messed its beautiful arms up. And the Mad Dog is a great compromise between old and new interpretations, but they messed its arms up too. RIP beautiful laser gun barrels.

[STEF_]

I think it's because fix hardpoints give soul and personality to a mech, while with omnipods you can change everything in a clan mech.

Mine ones has souls, because I decided to not change omnipods and weapons, once found a configuration that fits me, and now I can say I can feel thier soul too.

[bad arcade kitty]

i'm reading a screenshot thread on this forum right now, found this screenshot

how you can call this kit soulless

[Stealth Fox]

bad arcade kitty, on 12 May 2015 - 01:15 AM, said:

i'm reading a screenshot thread on this forum right now, found this screenshot

how you can call this kit soulless

Same way I Call you soulless?

[TheCharlatan]

bad arcade kitty, on 12 May 2015 - 01:15 AM, said:

i'm reading a screenshot thread on this forum right now, found this screenshot

how you can call this kit soulless

I said "with a few exceptions." Guess i have to be more specific: Summoner, Kit Fox and (B)Adder sure have a soul.

However, that kit fox looks like it's about to be run over by a truck.

[Paigan]

I can haz ECMs!!!


Oh and Alistair:
Clan cockpits should (would!) look more like this:
https://scifiinterfa...metheus-100.png
Meaning MORE futuristic / efficient. Not even older like what you posted

Edited by Paigan, 12 May 2015 - 01:27 AM.

[Navid A1]

This has (had) soul... more than anything... i call it lost potential.





But... this has only DERP!




Its sad that modelers can not give us what alex intended.

Edited by Navid A1, 12 May 2015 - 05:44 PM.

[Lily from animove]

tbh, for me most IS mechs look too similar human shaped, and I think many of them are soulless. Then you have some mechs that really got soul, like a catapult, the atlas, awesome. But then commando, firestarter, The way they are currently used in MWO amkes them soemwhat soulless with their design. While ravens and jenners, have all this.

Most clanmechs are ok in my opinion, they distinct more from each other

gamelay wise, well they lack individuality, since clan (U)Ac's are bad, and so too many laservomit happens by gameplay. That is a bit sad, but yet caused by interweapon balance issues.

Navid A1, on 12 May 2015 - 01:25 AM, said:

But... this has only DERP! Its sad that modelers can not give us what alex intended.

How can you say its derp,

Much soul,
such taste

Edited by Lily from animove, 12 May 2015 - 01:33 AM.

[bad arcade kitty]

>too many laservomit happens by gameplay

hipsters use streaks when they can (:

i wish ballistic was better though

[Senor Cataclysmo]

Alistair Winter, on 12 May 2015 - 12:59 AM, said:

I do think some of them lack character, yeah. But one major issue for me in regards to cockpits is that the Clan cockpits are so similar to Inner Sphere cockpits. I was really hoping that PGI would do something like this with the Clan cockpits, or at least do some kind of other change that would make them feel different from Inner Sphere cockpits. Either make them look more high tech and advanced, or simply make them look more clean, simple and functional, like a mech version of the AK-47, as opposed to the rather clunky, cramped cockpits of Inner Sphere mechs, with all their doodads and thingymajigs.

I couldnt disagree more! I think theyve totally nailed the functional, spartan look for clan cockpits, and I really like that little nod to the lore. Look at how the IS mechs all have nice black dashboards and comfy looking seats, while the clan mechs are all bare metal and mesh and exposed cabling. The IS cockpits look like luxury car interiors, the clan cockpits look like warmachines or construction equipment. All the mechs have similar levels of control doodads in them, but the IS ones have nice button housings and light up switches. Clan controls dont have the same fit & finish.

It makes sense, too. In the lore IS mechs were often much more spacious and luxurious than clan mechs, some even had amenities like chemical toilets.

[Kiiyor]

Somewhat - but then I look at the sleek, weird awesomeness of my StormCrow, and I can deal with it.

That mech is glorious.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Well, clanners are soulless so that makes sense .

Clan mechs are designed to look new sleek and modern. These mechs were recently built for war. They are well maintained by the Technician cast and that cast has the new parts and know-how to keep them running at their best.

IS mechs are old...OLD. In some cases the factories that made them were long destroyed in some succession war. The IS technicians don't fully understand the technology and instead do their best to keep the mechs running with the knowledge and resources they have. This means cannibalizing older mechs and salvage for spare parts.

IS mechs (especially the Founder's mechs) show patina, scratches, filth, even some corrosion. They look beaten, battered, worn out. That is just the reality of mech warfare in the Inner Sphere.

Honestly, the fact this thread exists says a lot for how the mech designers have conveyed everything I said above with just a look at each faction mech.

[bad arcade kitty]

Kiiyor, on 12 May 2015 - 01:51 AM, said:

Somewhat - but then I look at the sleek, weird awesomeness of my StormCrow, and I can deal with it.

That mech is glorious.

yeah, all its angles are hilarious, that weird square shruggy front and weird bird-like profile