Duke Nedo, on 08 November 2015 - 09:12 AM, said:
I can almost agree with something you write here, but...
...making IS XLs also survive a ST loss is the simple and safe way to do it imo. By doing this, mechs that need this badly, say Victors, get a big buff, while mechs that are don't really need this, say Stalkers, get a very small benefit if any at all. There is no risk of making balance worse, its a completely safe way of moving IS mechs nearer clan mechs but never beyond.
Give structure or some other buffs to all IS mechs and Stalkers may suddenly become OP while the Victors still didn't get enough. So, you'd have to do it on an individual basis and if you set out to do that then we're right back where we are now... with Quirks.
As much as I am an advocate for simpler, obvious solutions, that still makes one such a solution better, than another. Making IS XLs effectively equal to Clan Xls is just a safe way to make Standard Engines completely redundant as a viable choice, because beyond the price difference and larger crit-space, almost nobody really cares what happens to you after you lose both ST's. If IS and Clan XLs were to be equalized, this will make XL a must-have straight upgrade from STD the same way as Double Heatsinks are to Single Heatsinks.
The issue of IS/Clan balance is neither the XL engines, nor weapons, nor better ES/FF upgrades, nor omnipods, nor mech profiles. It's the
general idea, that a Clan mech possess some or all of those advantages without paying anything in return. And it's disturbing to see you guys disassembling that one general issue into dozens of separate issues and arguing about how everything must be equalized by removing any distinctivity that Clan mechs have. Make XL engines the same! Make weapons the same! Rescale stuff! What about ES/FF? How we're going to make those equal? Guys, stop! General issues are fixed by general solutions! Stop screwing up the scale of a problem! There are some parameters where IS and Clan are equal, so why it's not better to adress those in IS favor?
This simple idea of double internal structure for IS is but a one most sinple solution. It can make a great impact, while being as simple solution as it gets. Besides, it also positively affects other interdependant gameplay aspects - it reduces TTK, it make crit-seeking weapons more relevant, it makes it easier for new players to experience the game, it reduces the lethality of alpha-strike vomit builds, etc. With all that, I cannot see any negatives which that simple change will bring.
Neither I am seeing a releveance of Stalker/Victor analogy. Seems to me like a red-herring. Stalkers and Victors are completely different mechs with completely different playstyle and loadout options. If there's imbalance between them, then Quirks are indeed what is supposed to be used to solve the problem. It has absolutely zero relevance to the engine discussion.