12 replies to this topic

[Ionna Silver]

So I played heavily in 2012 but quit before launch, due to the expense and grind. Has this game improved at all? Is getting new mechs any faster? Are my Hunchbacks, Dragons, Atlases, and Awesome still any good?

Appreciate honest replies, thanks!

[Creag]

Hunchbacks,Atlases and Awesome are still good since the quirks for them. To me grinding for c-bills and XP is still the same. If you do return welcome back

[Modo44]

Ionna Silver, on 08 September 2015 - 11:58 PM, said:

Has this game improved at all?

Yes, a lot. It is still far from perfect, but actually nearly finished.

Ionna Silver, on 08 September 2015 - 11:58 PM, said:

Is getting new mechs any faster?

Yes if you use running events/sales to your advantage. PGI is giving away premium time, Cbills, mechbays, even some MC on a regular basis. There is something for free/cheap almost every weekend.

Ionna Silver, on 08 September 2015 - 11:58 PM, said:

Are my Hunchbacks, Dragons, Atlases, and Awesome still any good?

The Hunchbacks are good. The Dragon 1N has a special deadly build (2xAC5, lotsa ammo). The Atlases are OK, but other assaults can do better. The Awesome stopped being any good when more assaults were introduced (too wide, too easy to kill).

[Ionna Silver]

Thanks, think I'll try back in, is playing with a team over voip a better way to go?

[Ionna Silver]

By 3 Dragons, I was including the Hero mech Flame, quite enjoyed it back in the day

[Creag]

Ionna Silver, on 09 September 2015 - 12:06 AM, said:

Thanks, think I'll try back in, is playing with a team over voip a better way to go?

To me playing with a team is better, players want in game VoIP but hardly anybody use it

[FlipOver]

This is a Free to Play game, and as such, expect to have to grind to get ingame cash.

But now you can buy c-bills (ingame currency) with MCs (real world currency). Although the exchange rate is high, it's a possibility.

About mechs, seems it's one of the priorities with PGI, they release new mechs and mech packs every month or every 2 weeks.

About mechs, PGI is still trying to get some kind of balance working. Now you have clan mechs and IS mechs. They all have quirks that can help or just force you to take specific loadouts if you want to take advantage of the quirks.

Ghost heat has been added as a way to prevent people from using too many of the same weapon. This means, when you shoot 3 PPCs (as an example) together it will increase the heat of them firing by a lot!

Expect some things to change on the 22nd this month when PGI is going to do a pass on most mechs, so if you are hoping to buy something, I'd wait until then and try to use what I'd have.

The gameplay has changed, now its 12v12 and larger maps (some of the earlier and smaller ones are being revamped to make them, for all intents and purposes, better).

You now have a "module" called Community Warfare, that for now consists in conquering planets (each planet has a few areas, once your faction - or the faction you are working with - wins the most areas, the planet flips side), but that's about it.
Of course, you have a few new play modes, animated gates, turrets, a few simple objectives (kill everyone or destroy every generator plus the orbital cannon - OMEGA)

Since 2012 the changes are more than I have tie to point out, but I'd tell you to get ready for a new kind of UI, new menus, lots of new maps and mechs, especially mechs.

Give it a try and remember this is still a work in progress, so don't expect the same kind of stuff as in previous titles like MM:LL.

Just expect a shooter with some nuances thrown into it.

And most of all, have fun.

[Redshift2k5]

I'm just back after a long break myself (8 months? ten months?) and while you missed the introduction of the Clan mechs, a lot of Inner Sphere mechs are still doing just fine.

The big new thing with IS mechs is mech quirks (ok, some Clan Mechs have quirks too). quirks are specific stat buffs to various mechs giving them, for example, additional armor& structure in a component, additional range, cooldown, or better heat for a specific weapon system, or movement-related changes. Here is a list http://mwo.smurfy-ne...ium_innersphere

Many IS mechs have gotten some big buffs, so while a Clan mech can tote a clan AC20 which is way lighter and longer-ranged than an IS one, many IS mechs that "should" have an AC20 will get some strong benefits from using one. The classic Hunchback 4G gets bonus armor and structure to that iconic RT and significant stats buffs when using ballistics and an AC20 (the generic ballistic stats and the specific AC20 stats stack!)

The Dragon is still kinda junk, sorry Mechs on the lowest weight of their class always get the short end of the stick.

We're still getting new mechs for C-bills about once a month. Generally they are coming in fancy-pants pre-order packs first then MC & C-bill sales later, but everything goes on for C-bills eventually (Except the Urbanmech I guess).

Edited by Redshift2k5, 09 September 2015 - 04:31 AM.

[Modo44]

Ionna Silver, on 09 September 2015 - 12:06 AM, said:

Thanks, think I'll try back in, is playing with a team over voip a better way to go?

Well, you have VOIP in-game now, so you can start with that. If you want to group up, there are various TS servers where you can go. Some, like NGNG, have dedicated open dropship areas -- I suggest starting there.

Ionna Silver, on 09 September 2015 - 12:09 AM, said:

By 3 Dragons, I was including the Hero mech Flame, quite enjoyed it back in the day

The Flame (Gauss+4xML, XL350) is still pretty good, at least until you start using the stronger Clan heavies (Timber Wolf, Hellbringer, Ebon Jaguar). In general, Elo (skill-based matchmaking, which I think you may have missed) should match you decently with your limited mech choice. Once your mech stable expands, the weaker mechs will start feeling like that for real. The game only differentiates Elo by weight classes, not per chassis.

[bayoucowboy]

Modo44 is right about the Dragon 1N with AC5's - with the mech chassis quirks and a weapon cooldown module, the mech is a great killer. Hunchbacks are still competitive in solo queue and are typically in the recommendations for new players at this point. Atlas and Awesome chassis don't see as much playtime, but are still workable in competent hands.

Clan mechs usually carry higher alphas, but heat management can hamper them in brawling.

The heavy IS Thunderbolt now carries its weight with current chassis quirks - esp the 5SS with its range modifiers

Community Warfare is fun with an organized group, this is where faction contracts come into play. Don't take a contract until you know which group you will be playing with. I think most of the factions (I know Davion does) and larger player groups have dedicated TS servers along with the VOIP. Since there are so many differences in Solo/Group queue vs CW games, you should research/learn about it before "jumping in". Still mechs shooting mechs though

[IraqiWalker]

Ionna Silver, on 08 September 2015 - 11:58 PM, said:

So I played heavily in 2012 but quit before launch, due to the expense and grind. Has this game improved at all? Is getting new mechs any faster? Are my Hunchbacks, Dragons, Atlases, and Awesome still any good?

Appreciate honest replies, thanks!

Here's the short version:
1- Hunchbacks are possibly the best Inner Sphere medium mech. Every single variant is really good at something.

2- Dragons are decent, one of them (1N) is damn near broken when using it's 2xAC5 build (It's pretty much a RAC 5)

3- Atlases are okay, they can still take a beating, but this game is 12 v 12 now, If you get 4 mechs to fire at you together, you're going down in 9 seconds flat

4- Awesomes are not in a happy place right now, most of the variants are between meh, and could use more work. The good news is that PGI is actually going to re-size the model. Addressing many of it's problems (huge torso, balanced hitboxes ... etc.)

5- The game has improved a lot, but honestly, the improvements didn't start until the publishers were taken out of the picture, we're in this stage where PGI is communicating more (we have clear roadmaps, and PGI is getting REALLY punctual about meeting their deadlines. Compared to 2013, this is about 5 times better.

6- The grind is still the same. Though it will feel like it's worse at first, because when they made the game 12 v 12, they reduced the rewards a bit, to make it even out for some godawful reason.

Ionna Silver, on 09 September 2015 - 12:06 AM, said:

Thanks, think I'll try back in, is playing with a team over voip a better way to go?

Yes, absolutely. However, now we have separate queues. So if you are dropping alone, you are dropping with 23 other players that are not grouped up. Also, we have in-game VOIP, and it's great. Much better than the crappy C3 one we had back in those days.

Edited by IraqiWalker, 10 September 2015 - 10:41 AM.

[Not A Real RAbbi]

I started playing in open beta, +/- October 2012. It's come a LONG way.

3 game modes in the public queue. Public and group queues. More and bigger and cooler maps. FAR more mechs. Clan omnimechs. Community warfare. 12-mech teams. SO improved.

[mailin]

I've been playing regularly since August 2012 and you should jump back in. The game is still a lot of fun and PGI has come a LONG way since they got rid of IGP.

Because of quirks, you may want to take a look at the quirks and reconfigure your weapon loadouts on some mechs. For a while Hunchies were practically non-existent due to other later mediums being far superior. But now that PGI has added quirks to them I see Hunchies in every drop. Atlases are still viable, although they have gotten less ideal than they were initially.

Oh, and welcome back!