So i am a little bit less angry now about the latest Patch
Please PGI read this Post
I think there should be some structure quirks too, at least for some Clan Mechs like HBR or the EXE Arms.
Why? I can explain for EXE in particular:
With its low slung Arms you are constantly doing bad shooting up/down a Hill, also you have to expose almost the entire mech to not heat up the ground instead of hitting a Target. The relatively low free tonnage for Weapons gives you not a very good time trying to install adequate Long Range weapons for a 95 Ton Mech. But it has MASC and Jump Jets, so it is ideal for Brawling and quick poking behind Obstacles.
With the more or less overall massive Structure Quirks IS Mechs got now, you feel like in a Glass Mech when you play as Clanner when you encounter a close Range fight. Especially Atlases are now the favoured Mech, the matches i have played since the Patch got introduced went all into a direction like "Let's get fast into a close brawl and make some good old staring contests". More skilled Pilots now can use the additional Turn Rate/Twist Rates on their IS Mechs to easily distribute the damage, while almost all Clan Mechs are now just too slow to twist effectively. Not to mention the Speed penalty for loosing a side Torso.
For example, the often Compared Thunderbolt has now at least +15 Structure on Side Torsos (Top Dog ~40?), while HBR has none, even the 2,5 Torso Twist on the -B Variant got removed. Like on Thunderbolt, Side Torsos are the main Target because of the Ballistic and ECM+3 Energy Hardpoints. So please give the Clan Main Weapon Structures some Quirks, too. Hunchies have huge Structure and Armor Quirks for their Main Weapon Hardpoints for example.
So don't get me wrong, but the list of disadvantages for Clans is now even longer.
-Lower Tonnage on CW Dropdeck
-Higher entry costs for buying a Clan Mech (I think especially new players tend to use IS because the entry level costs are way lower, so IMO many new Steam Players will go IS, again that leads to even more imbalance in the Community)
-Less Module Slots (I think there should be a general possibility to onlock more Slots with Mech XP, for example 50,000 and 100,000 XP for additional ones, so experienced CW Players can spend their Mech XP somewhere)
-Ghost Heat starting earlier (Try firing three ERLL or LPL...)
-AC Bullets
-Almost no Accel/Decel Quirks
-Some small stitches like not mentioning Clans in Academy (I know you are about to Fix that Problem), your (Dusty) Mech Overview on this Page not mentioning them, higher costs for Faction Content. For me in personal its okay, but it seems that especially new Players won't even consider Clan because they seem to be made less attractive.
In addition to that: I do also have some thoughts about the latest Patch in General:
-PGI arguments the reduction of the Mech Tree Values like Speed Tweak are for a smaller gap between New Players and "old hands". I can understand this point particularly. But with new Players starting in Tier 5 now, is there really a big danger Newbees get stomped to death by Veterans playing at least in Tier 3? With the overall spraying of Accel/Decel Quirks on IS side, it seems more to be a pretense for another Clan Nerf.
-Gauss Rifle, please PGI, give it a smaller Cooldown or at least the possibility with further unlocks on Pilot Trees, the only mech you can have fun with a Gauss seems to be the Grid Iron now. Of course only for IS MC
-Overall TTK has increased, at least for IS Mechs. In general i like that, but: Staring Contests happen now more often, and Clan Mechs now seem to be the Main Target because of their now missing Structure and Twist Quirks.
Further Addition to that:
-Please raise the Tonnage for 12 man Groups in Public Matches. We want to Play the Mechs we are good in, not the ones we have to because of the Tonnage Limit. It is not the Tonnage that stomps smaller public Groups. I remember our 12 man group facing Russ Bullock in his Top Dog with some other public Players on Crimson Straight, shortly after we stomped them the Tonnage Limit was set even lower... Seemed to kind of overreacting for me. But in my Opinion it is not the right way to nerf Teamplay further. Instead you have to adjust the matchmaker for larger Groups. Maybe that gets easier in half a year when we get many new Players through Steam. Its okay to make an easier entry for new Players, but please do not nerf Advanced Players in Units. Especially permanent Clan Units do not really have much Mech Choices left.
Last, i have also some suggestions for Improvements:
-For making Clan Mechs more attractive to new Players you could introduce a deferred Payment for the more expensive Mechs, that could make the Clan Mechs more attractive. So you pay ~20-40% of the Clan Mech Price, but 75% of all Match earnings go for paying that Mech.
-Establish special Time Zones for 12 man Pug Teams with higher rewards, making it more attractive to join a Unit and putting together more 12man Groups. This could also motivate new Players to Join a Unit and in long term preparing them better for CW.
-Give the new Players a special CW reward system like the Cadet Bonus.
-Make two different Groups of CW Planets, one for Single Players and one for Teams. That will avoid further wining about CW and "Clan OP" (Also read here:
http://mwomercs.com/...factions-in-cw/)
Greetings
Peter