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[FalconerGray]

Hello all. Firstly, I don't expect any of this to ever happen, or necessarily even work. They're just ideas that have slowly come to me after reading much discussion on topics such as 12v12, 8v8, 12v10, PSR, ISvClan, 1/1/1/1, etc.

I recently starting playing Battletech through Megamek and have been enjoying it immensely. Despite being a Mechwarrior fan for nearly 20 years, I've never played BT before and it's been a good experience. Now, you might be rolling your eyes and expecting me to bring up a bunch of 'Classic BT TT ftw' nonsense that would be completely irrelevant to MWO, but I won't do that. I understand that they're completely different and always will be, but there are still some things I noticed that could be translated into our environment.

Part of what I noticed is the weight classes of mech I've faced. The heaviest mech in my company is a 70 ton Archer. The heaviest mech I've faced is a 60 ton Ostsol, and that was in a 'special event' mission. So besides that one occasion, I haven't faced anything bigger than a medium. The cool thing about this is that it gives the heavier mechs more impact, as when you see one, it's actually a big deal. Does anyone remember the mission in MW2 Mercs with the Stalker guarding an objective in a heavy urban map? That moment of "omfg a Stalker, what am I going to do?" is still one of the best Mechwarrior experiences I can think of.

Now, my actual concept for MM in MWO is a complete revolution of the system, which is probably the main reason why it would never happen, but it's still good to talk about this stuff. Currently, the MM tries to balance by tonnage and by PSR, right? The problem here is, what happens if one player takes a 6spl ACH, while the other is in a MLX? Or one team has a tier 2 player in a mastered, moduled, metabuilt DWF, while the other team gets a tier 4 rookie in a trial DWF? The system thinks they're balanced, but we all know that isn't the case.

PGI are currently trying to balance every mech against each other and while they're efforts are impressive, I'm not confident in it ever happening. I agree with the idea that anyone should be able to drop in any mech and have a fun, well fought match, but can't see this as being the answer.

My thoughts involve an extreme BV-style system, combining not just the mech, but the player. So a tier 2 player and a tier 4 player in the exact same mech are given different weighting against each other. Loadouts, modules, pilot skill, this should all come into play with the objective being to create two sides with an equal BV. Where this gets extreme and most interesting, is that it is also made possible by a complete scrapping of not just the 1/1/1/1 system, but the 12v12 as well.

And I don't mean 12v10 ISvClan because despite a Clan Loyalist, I don't believe it to be practical in MWO, I mean BV=BV through any number necessary. As players enter the queues, all the MM is trying to do is to create two equal teams, and if that happens to be an asymmetric number, so be it.

It also has a second purpose, which can be to reduce wait times. If the system has 20 players lined up with equal BV, does it matter if there is only 1 assault or a handful of lights? What if a drop ended up being 8v8 of all heavy and assault, because that's what was there at the time? Or all lights and mediums, or whatever really? Going back to the Megamek experience I mentioned earlier, I think it could be exciting in it's own merit. Set a minimum number of 4 to a side and take it from there. A single lance of high ranked mrta-pilots vs a company of everyone else? Could that be balanced? Could it be awesome? I think it's possible...

Again, not expecting it to happen and not claiming it's the ultimate answer, but the image I have in my head is pretty damn cool. Curious to know thoughts, positve or otherwise, because these discussions can be interesting and enjoyable. I'm not a fanatic, so if you think this is a terrible idea, I won't get offended if you don't!

Cheers.

TL;DR version: ditch 1/1/1/1 and 12v12 for two matched teams of whatever fits. Thoughts?