11 replies to this topic

[Tom Sawyer]

When MWO first rolled it was intended to be one year real time one year game time.

So it should be 3052 or even 3053 now depending how you calculate the start date.

In any event my question is this: Should PGI advance the timeline. Maybe in 6 months giving time for the steam rush to cool down? And if where to advance what date would you consider and why?

I know this is not tabletop lore based. We are evening having a second battle for Tukayyid. The first one was 3052 which gave us the 15 year moratorium on Clans pushing past Tukayyid.

Are we going to see Operation Scorpion which was also late 3052? The refusal war between Falcon and Wolf of 3057?

There is alot of history in that 15 year period. Alot of innovation on the IS side as captured clan mechs where retro engineered. 3062 had the rotary auto cannons How about the IS Omnimechs such as the Firestarter FS9-0 of 3056?

So in conclusion if you could advance the timeline to what date would you go and why?

[Rhaythe]

Not officially.

What they should do is introduce timeline-based seasons in Community Warfare every month. For example, December is 3025 month (tech-1 IS only), next month is full-on 3052 clan invasion (IS vs Clans, no house conflict). February could be the Fourth Succession war and allow IS vs IS, maybe with some Clan vs Clan warfare somewhere for flavor.

[sycocys]

I don't know the timelines, but the limited array of weaponry is a pretty big problem in their ability to balance things out. Plus its just f'n boring to still have the same limited selection as we had when we started but with some systems barely working (missiles and lbx) others not working at all (flamers) and mg's that only actually work somewhat well when stacked in a lump of 6.

[Tombstoner]

sycocys, on 07 December 2015 - 08:01 AM, said:

I don't know the timelines, but the limited array of weaponry is a pretty big problem in their ability to balance things out. Plus its just f'n boring to still have the same limited selection as we had when we started but with some systems barely working (missiles and lbx) others not working at all (flamers) and mg's that only actually work somewhat well when stacked in a lump of 6.

Yes i agree the array of weaponry is limited and represents a great opportunity to add in weapons to fill in the blanks. A ppc-5 would have been the energy version of the ac-5. A gauss is a single shot alternate to the ppc-15. no heat with ammo vs. high heat with no ammo. Lasers are in effect the equivalent of burst fire auto cannons. the simitry exists and i hope will be seen in the new kick-starter.

Yes PGI missed the opportunity to create a 2x2 set of weapons. single shot vs multi shot and energy vs ammo. just call the missing weapons lost tech and lets players use what they want on the hard points. Then let clan tech allow you to change your hard points.

Sadly this idea was put forth to PGI.... no response.

Edited by Tombstoner, 07 December 2015 - 09:09 AM.

[Signal27]

At this point, I've come to believe the original idea PGI had of having the timeline advance in real time is just another pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking that's never going to work out. I know it sounds simple in concept, but for the last few years it's become apparent that PGI simply can't deliver on the execution. So at this point, I'd be just fine if PGI abandoned that idea altogether, and just more or less suspended the timeline right in the middle of the Clan Invasion. A timeline hardly ever moving forward worked for Warhammer 40k, after all.

Edited by Signal27, 07 December 2015 - 09:17 AM.

[Bishop Steiner]

sycocys, on 07 December 2015 - 08:01 AM, said:

I don't know the timelines, but the limited array of weaponry is a pretty big problem in their ability to balance things out. Plus its just f'n boring to still have the same limited selection as we had when we started but with some systems barely working (missiles and lbx) others not working at all (flamers) and mg's that only actually work somewhat well when stacked in a lump of 6.

limited array of weaponry should simplify balance. If they can't juggle 6 moving parts, how does asking them to juggle 18 make things better?

[FupDup]

On one hand, there is a nice deal of power creep in the future timeline...

On the other hand, some of that power creep can actually fill existing balance holes.


Example:

The IS LFE makes the STD engine mostly pointless...but it helps to significantly reduce the gap between Clan and IS factions.

Perhaps more importantly, we would no longer have to worry about a mech having side torsos that are either too large or too small. Right now, an IS mech that has large side torsos will often be considered handicapped because it cannot use an IS XL engine without gimping itself. Thus, it must spend large amounts of tonnage on a STD engine, which will reduce its potential firepower load and/or top speed.

On the opposite extreme, an IS mech with small side torsos is forced to use XL because its CT will just get ripped out anyways.

It's all or nothing, swinging from one extreme to another. The LFE solves this yo-yo hitboxes conundrum, and makes more mech hitbox shapes viable.


Some more examples:

Magshot and AP Gauss make MGs obsolete...but they give us lightweight ballistics that are finally viable, because PGI refuses to buff MGs. Light and medium mechs with lots of ballistic hardpoints don't have to be as sub-par anymore.

Light ACs and Protomech ACs infringe on several other types of ACs...but they give a viable alternative to laser vomit, because they don't require so much effing tonnage.

MRMs give mechs with only a single missile hardpoint a way to deal lots of damage with just that single hardpoint. Dat MRM40...

Heavy Lasers give Clan mechs with limited tonnage the ability to pack considerable firepower, while the high heat of these weapons makes them unsuitable for boating (similar to the ERPPC).

Those are the main examples I can think of. A lot of other future tech is pointless like the IS Light Gauss, but there are at least some gems in there.

And of course, MO' ROBBITS for PGI to add in their grabdeal packs.

[CDLord HHGD]

Rhaythe, on 07 December 2015 - 07:58 AM, said:

Not officially.

What they should do is introduce timeline-based seasons in Community Warfare every month. For example, December is 3025 month (tech-1 IS only), next month is full-on 3052 clan invasion (IS vs Clans, no house conflict). February could be the Fourth Succession war and allow IS vs IS, maybe with some Clan vs Clan warfare somewhere for flavor.

This. 1000000000% this.

[BigBenn]

I think what PGI should do is to make the "war" more macro and they themselves manage the front lines. Let the units fight and duke it out and let them earn all their colored ribbons and c-bills, but have the planets exchange hands based on an actual and real time line.

That way, if the top 3 uber Clan units are all attacking FRR, or Dracis Combine, etc, it doesnt matter because the defender is only going to lose so many planets based on the time line. Win or lose, let the actual story line take place. Ultimately, sure of course, let some alternate version of the front lines shift and move, but not to the point of the Clans being 25% in to FS and CC space.

[CDLord HHGD]

PGI should use the official Invasion Waves for marking the planets. Once we are past the documented waves, either make a HUGE event for Tukayyid or speculate their continuance.

Maybe also speculate a new timeline, say the Clans win Earth. The rest of the IS isn't gonna quit. We could have a whole new war, the Resistance Wars.

[sycocys]

Bishop Steiner, on 07 December 2015 - 09:17 AM, said:

limited array of weaponry should simplify balance. If they can't juggle 6 moving parts, how does asking them to juggle 18 make things better?

Not when the weapons are inherently imbalanced, topped off with incredibly imbalance amounts of hardpoints. When they released clans they should have jumped the time line up so they had tech that was closer to the same level to start out with.

Then if players wanted to have their 3025 or whatever it is mode, they could do so and have old tech and everyone else could have a form of mixed tech and both areas would be able to have reasonable balance without insane quirking.

[Green Mamba]

So advance TL till we can have Fafnirs and Templars