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That said, I am aware of a few things when considering this:
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1. (-) It opens up a whooooole can of worms when it comes to balancing and making things fair. This is probably the most important issue.
2. (+) It can however, open up a new level of customization and loadout, increasing optimization choices and flexibility, depending on playstyle or preference, GIVEN proper balancing...
3. (-) Causes issues with simple things such as replacing lost parts, since the parts you used in your loadout may not be available in the sector of space you are in. Additionally in this regard, there may be problems based on your house affiliation if you acquired an house-specific component via salvage, raiding, etc.
4. (+) Could provide a interesting layer the economy system when looking for new parts for your mech, alter availability based on where you are in space.
5. (?) Feels very RPG like. (Personally I'm not sure how I feel about having it in MWO, Not sure if it belongs here..)
6. (-) Is probably more complicated (in terms of micromanagment) to have than it's worth. (also IIRC there hasn't even been confirmation that there's 'full' customization of mechs..)
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Now for the sake of discussion let's clarify what I mean, what if (lets go with LRMs this time, and ignoring any weapon attributes that lore considers true or false):
StarCorps Industries LRM-15
+15% fire rate
+35% heat generation
+10% projectile speed
Visual - Fires like in the reboot trailer
Luthien Armor Works LRM-15
+25% damage
+30% lock-on time
-5% missile tracking ability
Visual - Fires in 'lumps', like MW4
As some side notes, would the model number also come into play? Would, as time progresses in-game, older models become less expensive as newer and more effective models were released by manufacturers? At high prices? In limited quantities? Privilege based restrictions based on house affiliation (at first release, until they diffuse throughout the Inner Sphere via salvage or something)? Components that are simply rare, and therefore valuable? That also brings up questions like "should I use my valuable but powerful _____ for that extra firepower to ensure mission success?"
What I keep coming back to is balancing, balancing, balancing. With a side of "should this even be here in the first place?".
An ISN news flash from a while back that said "Victory Armaments’ ER lasers performed well", so at the very least I think it would be cool to see additional depth in weapon/electronics choices as they are slowly introduced (whether it be based on lore or not).
But I'm not sure I want the cool factor / customization freedom etc, if it comes at the price of balance, difficulty managing mechs, or being just plain unnecessary.
I'm neither particularly for or against the idea. I was just thinking about it and I couldn't make up my mind if I would like to see something like this or not, so I decided to ask for some opinions. So let's discuss it.
What do you all think?
