61 replies to this topic

[Oy of MidWorld]

Basically everything after the fedcom civil war had a desperate, frantic undertone: "Hey look, it's totally extreme, wanna buy our stuff, eh, ehhh?"
I hate this "secluded extremist brotherhood destroys the world" crap. Like all those stupid stories about illuminati and secret catholic-killer-cults, that were soo vogue a few years ago...

Secret Katholic Killer Kult would make one hell of a bandname .

[Comguard]

To be honest, until a couple of years ago I didn't know what happened with the Word of Blake.

I stopped reading the books and playing the game around the time of the Great Refusal - I know, rather long ago, but priorities in life are changing. I think the Djihad storyline was already on the way but I didn't read it at that time.

Then I heard of the "Dark Age". Ok...didn't know what to make out of this. Always connected it to the WizKids system, so I didn't care anyway.

Then I heard of the Djihad...WoB taking over everything? Suddenly gigantic armies? Manei Domini, what? And why? It was all Marik's fault? Devlin Stone, who is this? Too many changes for me. And I don't see the reason why they did it.

[Damascas]

Fiachdubh, on 10 July 2012 - 10:07 AM, said:

WoB are dicks, I would happily play for Comstar however.

Because Comstar are less of dicks?

osito, on 10 July 2012 - 01:39 PM, said:

most of the time my answer is no. They killed the game and book series. They were taken to far in my opinion. They only way i would play them is if i can be in the wolverine divisions. If my memory is correct the last of the wolverines are in the wob shadow divisions. I forget which units though.

There is a theory that the Manei Domini were Wolverines, so far unconfirmed.

[PaintedWolf]

I would not play Word of Blake unless I was feeling really twisted, and even then I'd have misgivings. I consider Clans fascistic, and militarist, and I see them as ten times better then WoB. A Clanner has some sense of future, while somewhat narrow minded, most have some wider view of things, some sense of private loyalties, something human which suggests character.

The WoB are nothing but mindlessly destructive fanatics, ANYTHING and EVERYTHING can be sacrificed so long as it is for the Greater Good, with the Greater Good completely undefined and it is all done in a heart beat. Only those later on can learn what sort of craziness creates these sort of monsters. These are Pro-Armageddon people, people who see some sort of Apocalyptic Final Battle and cheer it on like spectators at the Colloseum.

It's an extremely disturbing viewpoint with strong sociopathic undertones. The Word of Blake sickens me.

Comguard, on 10 July 2012 - 01:52 PM, said:

To be honest, until a couple of years ago I didn't know what happened with the Word of Blake.

I stopped reading the books and playing the game around the time of the Great Refusal - I know, rather long ago, but priorities in life are changing. I think the Djihad storyline was already on the way but I didn't read it at that time.

Then I heard of the "Dark Age". Ok...didn't know what to make out of this. Always connected it to the WizKids system, so I didn't care anyway.

Then I heard of the Djihad...WoB taking over everything? Suddenly gigantic armies? Manei Domini, what? And why? It was all Marik's fault? Devlin Stone, who is this? Too many changes for me. And I don't see the reason why they did it.

Too much change? Battletech is 30 years old. This is the second major change in the game after the Clan Invasion. The game can't stay 3025 forever and remain competitive in the modern marketing environment.

[Isingdeath]

Quote

Too much change? Battletech is 30 years old. This is the second major change in the game after the Clan Invasion. The game can't stay 3025 forever and remain competitive in the modern marketing environment.

Unfortunatly, it didn't remain competive with the changes either!

[PaintedWolf]

Actually I think the Jihad storyline has brought it back from the brink. Prior to that FASA had to sell, and Wizkids resorted to the miniatures in Dark Age to try and revitalize it, a total failure. Now Catalyst has put forth the Jihad and the B-Tech universe is, after almost a decade, starting to general some vibrant computer games again.I would agree changing games too fast, in a cartoonish manner would cheapen the Battletech record on integrity, at the same time,

Quote

• I'll miss the sea, but a person needs new experiences. They jar something deep inside, allowing him to grow. Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.
  
  • As House Atreides prepares to leave Caladan for Arrakis

[Joe Mallad]

I for one, loved the jihad story line. i did not care for it much as far as mixing it into TT and or the Role playing books but to read about it was great. In all honesty, i feel the WOB Jihad was even bigger than that of the clan invasion and the jihad was something so different than the Clan invasion that it really caught a lot of people off guard. There were those of the clans that were fanatics like the jade Falcons and even more so, the Smoke Jaguars... but the fanaticism that was the jihad was even more far reaching in my opinion. I love classic, dont get me wrong but things like the Clan invasion and the later Word of Blake Jihad are things that NEED to happen in story lines like Battletech/Mechwarrior as change brings on new life to things. If these things would not have happened to the Battletech/Mecharrior history, it probably would have died out way before these additions as nothing new would have been brought to the table.

Yes the Jihad originated from within House Marik but most of those that called themselves the WOB were from Comstar proper. I would love at some point down the line to allow us to take sides Comstar/WOB and take part in their own civil war so-to-speak. And I for one would take up arms for WOB as it would be a blast to play as the iconic bad guy of all that is called the Inner Sphere.

Edited by Yoseful Mallad, 10 July 2012 - 02:23 PM.

[PaintedWolf]

To be honest I still felt somewhat bad for the Blakists during the Opening of Final Reckoning, if only because they are still human beings in fear, and everyone, or almost everyone, knows what that feels like. However it should be noted they seemed to have forgotten about this when it came to others.

In truth of Regulus forces who launched the decisive final assault acted irrationally, messing themselves up almost as bad as the Blakists. But then again we are speaking of a system the Blakists had brutally carved up and devastated in the name of "Letting Blake into your heart."

Edited by PaintedWolf, 10 July 2012 - 02:28 PM.

[Stormwolf]

I would play WoB on a secondary account, those guys get to have all the fun.

At any rate, many people hate the direction the universe took after the Fedcom civil war. I personally think that the approach with WoB could have been far more refined and less padded, but I don't hate it.

I only dislike the fact that the Donner bombing killed so many fan favourite characters and that the WoB conjured up such a big army.
The WoB should have been master manipulators not warmongers.

[PaintedWolf]

Stormwolf, on 10 July 2012 - 02:32 PM, said:

I would play WoB on a secondary account, those guys get to have all the fun.

At any rate, many people hate the direction the universe took after the Fedcom civil war. I personally think that the approach with WoB could have been far more refined and less padded, but I don't hate it.

I only dislike the fact that the Donner bombing killed so many fan favourite characters and that the WoB conjured up such a big army.
The WoB should have been master manipulators not warmongers.

They are fanatics. Fanatics are warmongers by their very nature.

[Derek Icelord]

No, but I'd gladly offer my services as a merc at a discounted rate to anyone opposing them.

[Joe Mallad]

Stormwolf, on 10 July 2012 - 02:32 PM, said:

I would play WoB on a secondary account, those guys get to have all the fun.

At any rate, many people hate the direction the universe took after the Fedcom civil war. I personally think that the approach with WoB could have been far more refined and less padded, but I don't hate it.

I only dislike the fact that the Donner bombing killed so many fan favourite characters and that the WoB conjured up such a big army.
The WoB should have been master manipulators not warmongers.

they were master manipulators... if not, then how else could they have massed such an arrmy of followers as they did? Obviously, whatever miss information or truths they were spewing got the attention of a whole lot of believers. I mean look at the fact that whole battalions of mech pilots, soldiers and everything in between went WOB. Every house and comstar lost many they thought faithful. All because the manipulation tactics of the WOB worked.

Edited by Yoseful Mallad, 10 July 2012 - 02:46 PM.

[BlindProphet]

Sure why not?

I've never really understood this whole idea that the WOB jihad destroyed BT. I just honestly can't understand that point of view.

Its not like BT's lore could be held up against literary classics before the WOB. Its not like it got any worse, didn't get any better, but it didn't really get all that worse. Its not like after the introduction of the tech from the WOB that the balance of the game was thrown out of balance.

Now you don't have to like it. Heck there's a lot of things that I don't like in BT. I also think there's a bunch of cool, but poorly executed things in BT as well. But even the things I don't like I don't go off and claim ruined BT, which is still going I might add. Like the clans...cool idea, poor gameplay execution. WOB jihad, cool idea just with poor execution. Cool idea, poor execution...its kinda the theme to me of BT. I love the game, but man there is a lot of poor execution that has plagued the game over the years. None of them have killed or ruined the game yet...

[D Vladistov]

I wouldn't play WoB, but I would definately play Comguard (before the Jihad era).
Hey they kicked the clan's ***** at the battle of Tukayyid.

[John Wolf]

I would absolutely play a WoB faction. It wouldn't be a main choice, but as an alternate. Playing the antagonist in a game can be fun, and playing as the bad guy that everyone wants a piece of is challenging. Same for playing the Horde, or Empire..

All the factions have their hated enemies, Liao, Kuritans, social generals.. the old wars which changed over time, some became allies, others just less of a threat. The WoB became the focus for all the factions.



On a storyline note, I believe the Jihad was something the Btech universe needed. My favorite faction got nuked to hell and back, and I personally thanked the Line Developer for it. Some factions were lost, some were beaten, many remain and will rebuild. My faction, the Dragoons, were battered. Favorite characters lost, major changes.. and I believe it was all good (Not immediately mind you, nobody enjoys that pain). As much as we like our heroes to live forever, in the realm of Battletech, it is a universe at war and people are going to die. Too early, not soon enough, whenever it happens, characters will die. However, post Jihad, my faction is active again, its fun to play again because its not the power house it used to be. It grew into something major, and was more of a minor house than a merc company, but now its fighting again... and I love it.

We all have our opinions, and if people are upset about the Jihad, and any casualties they've experienced I can understand that. People just need to remember that nothing is static, nothing lasts forever. Especially soldiers in a universe constantly at war in one shape or another. Was your faction destroyed? Carry on the fight as your own unit in its own story, a son or daughter of someone who served in the unit that was destroyed.. create a new story. All of the stories we got into Battletech for in the beginning started the very same way.. there is a lot more to enjoy, and more to come.

I'll be along for the ride, till my story is done being told.

[Lucius Prospero]

I would totally go word of blake. Though I doubt we'll ever see a computer game set in it's timeframe. It's just not flavored like the rest of battletech is, and there aren't enough recognizable faces or events that take place.

[Saren21]

Oy of MidWorld, on 10 July 2012 - 01:48 PM, said:

Secret Katholic Killer Kult would make one hell of a bandname .

I see what you did thar!

[Ashla Mason]

Jihad was the stupidest plot in the entirety of The BT timeline.

Like, we're basically supposed to buy that WoB was able to Raise an army of soldiers, Mechs and warships (that have jump drives with unlimited range) that (in conjunction with super duper spies that infiltrated every great house flawlessly) were able to launch invasions of every successor state simultaneously, and whenever they ran up against a scrap of resistance they were able to either deliver a bio-weapon or bombard the **** out of the impertinent world.

Then we have the great houses, who (rather then deal with the insane lunatics who are rampaging through the IS), are either locked in battle with each other or (alternately) themselves. Oh and the warden clans still in clanspace? Yeah they apparently go insane and have a mini jihad of their own that results in 4 clans being annihilated, 2 driven from clan space and one new one founded.

And who stops this? Why, some ******* named devlin stone who has plot armor visible from space and we basically know absolutely nothing about.

In short: No, I wouldn't play WoB, since they wound up driving the setting insane.

[Strum Wealh]

Damascas, on 10 July 2012 - 01:53 PM, said:

osito, on 10 July 2012 - 01:39 PM, said:

most of the time my answer is no. They killed the game and book series. They were taken to far in my opinion. They only way i would play them is if i can be in the wolverine divisions. If my memory is correct the last of the wolverines are in the wob shadow divisions. I forget which units though.

There is a theory that the Manei Domini were Wolverines, so far unconfirmed.

As I understand it, the survivors of the Wolverines met up with ComStar in the mid-to-late 2800s and formed a cabal called "The Blood", which was then sequestered to a set of hidden worlds called "The Five"/"The Hidden" to develop tech to combat the Clans should an invasion occur.
However, knowledge of The Five was lost to ComStar with Myndo Waterly's death and the ComStar/Wob schism, and said anti-Clan tech ultimately becoming what was used by the WoB during the Jihad.

-----

And, to answer the question, it is highly unlikely that I would choose to join a WoB faction.

[PaintedWolf]

Yoseful Mallad, on 10 July 2012 - 02:46 PM, said:

they were master manipulators... if not, then how else could they have massed such an arrmy of followers as they did? Obviously, whatever miss information or truths they were spewing got the attention of a whole lot of believers. I mean look at the fact that whole battalions of mech pilots, soldiers and everything in between went WOB. Every house and comstar lost many they thought faithful. All because the manipulation tactics of the WOB worked.

That's what's so insane about it. They are at first methodical, calculating, patient enough to secretly skim and save on funds enough for decades to secretly train entire armies on hidden worlds, patiently never letting their existence be known for decades only to waste this vast, disciplined tightly organize network in an orgy of self-destructiveness meant to attain one completely irrational goal- punishment. Punishment on All of Mankind for (at the very least in their POV) being Wrong. The issue of whether or not simply being wrong deserves punishment, let alone severe mass punishment is never questioned- because all the followers are, by their secret training, insane, and so is their deformed, inbred Master.