Ejecting 2.0
We got our eject function finally...but...playing a game like MWO that tries to immerse you as much as possible into the mechwarrior universe...the current ejecting system is well... BORING AND LAME. To say the least.
It has one function and one function only, which for anyone who watches food networks "Good Eats" knows there is only one uni-tasker allowed ever anywhere, and I don't see the benefit of a fire extinguisher in a mech with a reactor running a buh-million degrees.
Childish words aside, here's the idea.
As soon as you press that eject button you are forfeiting the ability to play, and on a bad respawn timer... that can be up to a minute plus that your team doesn't have you on the field and if you are IS like me, the clanners just roll on over the rest of whose left. So lets break it down.
First, you realize the mech you are in is banged up and useless so you decide to eject.
You have to:
1. Find a spot to safely eject
2. Push the forsaken button and hold it forever
3. wait for the computer to say 3...2...1...
4. finally eject only to be greeted by a 30 second respawn (not always 30 sec but lets be honest here, that sucks).
you wasted all that time just to get a new mech, you could of suicide ran into enemies and been back in that time!
No. I don't want people (even the clanners) to waste time waiting to die when they could be playing MWO like a boss.
So how does ejecting 2.0 work?
Well first, no ejecting at 100% because you brought the wrong mech.
And, just because the mech is dead, doesn't mean the pilot is. (LIFE SUPPORT PEOPLE IT'S A THING)
Ejecting first becomes available at 49% integrity (total mech health) OR when Critical Damage is achieved. Betty would promptly announce
"Hull integrity compromised, Ejection enabled"
So a Battlemaster with a standard engine thats lost both torsos, arms, and a leg is well under 50% they could eject, or that same Battlemaster with 95% but a cherry red cockpit they could also eject.
So ejection is now an option for our doomed mechwarrior, well maybe not doomed. Because EJT2.0 has more in store!
In ejection 2.0 you push that button to punch out you DO NOT FORFEIT PLAYING FOR A BIT.
You push that button and are treated to a 3 second animation of the pilot smacking a button or two in the cockpit, then pulling the lever. At that point the inside and outside of the cockpit windows look a lot like the Hunchbacks in game model. I.E. metal slabs across the glass, meaning the cockpit is now a pod that's about to leave the mech.
Then you eject. However, you are far from waiting to respawn just yet. The mech's cockpit fires out of the mech and your HUD now updates you have a pitch indicator, hull integrity monitor, distance counter, altimeter, and a few other digital things that might be deemed useful.
Now you are in the air, and you have another job to do. Pilot the ejection pod THE HECKIE OUT OF THERE. Keep the pitch indicator in the green zone until you hit a target altitude and you successfully ejected out of your mech to safety, ready for the next mech.
But why implement this? All this sounds like is a fancy light show based minigame for people who die on the battlefield.
Your answer? Pushing power.
Pilots dont die in a dead mech (no engine) they have life support. No, your mech may get destroyed, but you are still first person in it. Up close to the ground, waiting to eject. How does this create pushing power? Simple. Kill the pilot.
When the ejection pod is launched it is no more than a metal ball with some circuits in it. And note, the direction that the mechs cockpit faces determines the pod launching angle, hence why the pitch indicator. No armor. No weapons. Just a pilot and some gadgets. And it has a little bit of a lag in it after the initial ejection as the thruster takes over. A perfect opportunity to rip that pilot out of the sky.
The pod itself has (for numbers sake) 25 hitpoints (maybe more maybe less) A mech or two depending on their load outs could power through that, destroying the pod and killing the pilot inside. This generates pushing power because now that player has a set respawn time that could be a bit longer than others, allowing a team with more pilots kept alive to push on a team with dead pilots and thus complete objectives. (O-Gens destroyed or Capture points taken)
On launch the pod creates a chafe effect, any missiles guided toward the mech lose lock and fall elsewhere. The pod also has a one time flare use, its a live targetable thing much like a UAV is and anyone who has 5896849685 LRM5's is going to capitalize on that target. The flares do what they do now, confuse missiles and force them off target. This balances hopefully the pods journey as it attempts to leave the battlefield.
Successful ejections earn small survival bonuses and perhaps smaller respawn times, while pilots KIA have longer respawn times and their killer receives a large bonus.
This also means that ejecting can be implemented into PUG NON CW games with the benefits of incredible rewards/achievements/titles/ cockpit items even!
Now in skirmish the goal is "Remove all opposition". Much like in Titanfall, you can leave your titan and go do other stuff. The titan sits on its own and acts on its own, that isnt the point here, other than a kill board update. Someone destroys my Atlas and the kill board reads:
Enemy has killed Atlas (wamX)
much like in Titanfall, killing the robot but not the pilot earned you:
wamX [weapon] Enemy Auto-Titan
So my Atlas is down, but I'm still inside, looking at the dirt. So I'm going to eject. It's going to end one of two ways.
wamX has Ejected. (safely ejected)
or
Enemy has killed wamX (Pod Destroyed, pilot killed)
Skirmish now ends when either all pilots are dead or have ejected off the battlefield, the same going for conquest and assault with their additonal win conditions.
And I apologize ahead of time, but yes I made this in paint, no Im not a artist, my girlfriend is and shes teaching me how to draw on paper, digital is much different. But here is a mock concept of the ejection pod for a raven.
