5 replies to this topic

[Autofire55555]

I haven't played MWO for a while, but...back when I was playing, I could never get into playing in an organized group, yet I wanted to be able to strategize with the PUGs I played in (as in taking Lance or Company Command). Because MWO is a team-based game, it helps if at least someone could be making plans and calling the tune. No...I'm probably not a good leader, but practice makes perfect.

The tricky thing, though, is that it's impossible to tell what each person's build is without asking them at the start of the match. For example, one Raven might be a SRM brawler, while another one is a spotter. These are very different roles, because the brawler Raven is better fitted for rushing to a harassed Assault's side, but the spotter should stay on the front lines.

So, my suggestion is to allow players to pick what roles each mech fulfills, kind of like WoW's role system when joining random parties. The mechs' rolls could show up in the player list (and, optionally, on the map.) For starters, MWO's website lists Scout, Brawler, Support, and Assault, but those are pretty general roles. More specific ones could be "LRM Support," "Sniper," "Glass Cannon," etc.

Sure, you could have people lying about their mech's role. However, this is really silly, because it means that, in the case that someone tells them to do something, they'll have the wrong loadout for the job. If these people are trolling, they'll probably sink down into the lower ranks anyhow.

[Autofire55555]

Okay, this might make things more clear. The image from the WoW wiki shows exactly what I mean. Maybe I should have linked this instead of just flooding words...

http://wowwiki.wikia...n.2FRaid_Finder

[Generic Internetter]

Makes sense for this team-based game to have better team cohesion.
Good idea.

[Alardus]

I agree. People keep complaining that I don't scout in a stock COM-2D and I'm like "bro, I'm a striker type light. I run slow so I wouldn't survive a scout, but I will plant 10 SRMs into an enemy's back when you attack. That's my CBT Introductory Rulebook role."

[oldradagast]

Makes sense. It is rather silly that I know more about my ENEMIES' weapons than the weapons of my team-mates, and all we really need to know, as you said, is their general role - the details really don't matter.

[Greyhart]

actually a very good idea.

You could put it in the mechlab so that you could select a role from the drop down menu that best fits what the mech is designed for with a short discription next to each one.

then that would show up on the team page and if you mouse over it the detailed description appears as well. These are al predefined not user generated (because people mean that we can't have nice things).