13 replies to this topic

[Malleus011]

PGI,

What if we had a drop mode that required us to do Recon?

Imagine a game mode with no start screen information on the opposing team.
Team sizes are not fixed at 12, but may vary by 1-2 mechs in either direction (balanced by tonnage, perhaps?)
Since neither side knows how numerous the enemy team is, scouting and recon is a must.

(NB: This would go well with a slight change in game mechanic to give cash rewards to the first 'mech to target an enemy 'mech, the first to reveal their paper doll, etc).

In this mode, seeing 10-11 in the kill counter doesn't mean it's two of you hunting down their last guy. You don't really know how many enemy 'mechs there were - or who was piloting them.

(NB: Another good feature to add: - populating the enemy roster with pilot name and 'mech type as they are scanned!)

Removing some of the global 'meta game' knowledge from MWO would add tension and challenge to drops. Think it over.

[Johnny Z]

I really like the idea of no start screen info. Just the planet and time of day of the drop, with maybe a cool sci-fi picture of a dropship entering the atmosphere from orbit or something. This would be for regular quick matches.

Maybe for Solaris the opposition names and even mechs could be shown I don't know.

Sim FTW.

[Khobai]

Game is unbalanced enough with the same number of mechs on both teams. last thing we need is a gamemode with a variable number of mechs on each team

Plus I would rather see scouting made a thing in ALL gamemodes instead of one gamemode

To that end... the best idea ive seen to make scouting meaningful is to reduce damage done to targets when you dont have a target lock. Like -30% damage to anything thats not locked on. That forces you to get a target lock to do full damage which makes scouting important.

And lights/mediums should be way better at getting sensor locks than heavies/assaults which would give them a powerful role in the game and make heavier mechs dependent on them for sensor locks. That gives us something approaching role warfare.

Edited by Khobai, 11 April 2016 - 11:33 AM.

[Kaeb Odellas]

Khobai, on 11 April 2016 - 11:25 AM, said:

Game is unbalanced enough with the same number of mechs on both teams. last thing we need is a gamemode with a variable number of mechs on each time.

Plus I would rather see scouting made a thing in ALL gamemodes instead of one gamemode

To that end... the best idea ive seen to make scouting meaningful is to reduce damage done to targets when you dont have a target lock. Like -30% damage to anything thats not locked on. That forces you to get a target lock to do full damage which makes scouting important.

And lights/mediums would be way better at getting sensor locks than heavies/assaults which gives them a powerful role in the game and makes heavier mechs dependent on them for sensor locks.

You mean that laser damage thing in the public tests that was universally panned?

I'd rather they tie convergence to targeting. Makes a little more sense than an outright damage reduction.

[Miodog]

I would be up for any idea that changes the 90% probability that you fight in the same locations on every map.

[Ryllen Kriel]

Good suggestion OP. I would like to see different game modes that weren't just 12 vs 12. It would be fun to drop in a four man group with random spawns of enemy tanks, helicopters and infantry in a PVE scenario with nav points to follow. Domination is a redundant version of Skirmish with a set battleground while Conquest is still drastically underdeveloped and lacking it's full potential. It would be great to see more dynamic game modes.

[Afuldan McKronik]

All I seen when I seen the thread title was a Steiner Scout Lance. Clickbait!

[Afuldan McKronik]

This would make a great mode for 4v4 though. Bit of lore into our game.

[Tristan Winter]

I get what you're trying to accomplish, but I don't think RNGeesus is the answer.

There would need to be some kind of balance, not just a random number of players and a random chance of being hilariously outmatched.

[LordNothing]

im thinking of starting a mandatory all locust unit for cw.

[Khobai]

Quote

You mean that laser damage thing in the public tests that was universally panned?

nope. I mean for all weapons not just lasers.

Quote

I'd rather they tie convergence to targeting. Makes a little more sense than an outright damage reduction.

except thats not feasible. if convergence was that easy to fix they wouldve done it by now.

[Malleus011]

Tristan Winter, on 11 April 2016 - 05:42 PM, said:

I get what you're trying to accomplish, but I don't think RNGeesus is the answer.

There would need to be some kind of balance, not just a random number of players and a random chance of being hilariously outmatched.

Random number, but balanced by another metric, like closely matched tonnage or something along those lines.

The main point being that play changes completely if you remove all the meta-game knowledge we're handing at the start of a battle right now. We know what map we're playing. Most of us have memorized those routes. We know we're playing 12 enemy 'mechs, and that there will likely be 3 assaults, 3 heavies, 3 mediums, 3 lights, with slight variations if one queue is overstocked. Once you've knocked out a few enemy mechs, you know you have a numerical advantage and it's time to push. Once you've got 2-3 guys left it's time to chase them down and harvest kills.

What if you didn't have any of that data? You know there is an enemy force out there, but not how big it is numerically or tonnage-wise (only that it is roughly equivalent to yours). If you've knocked out three 'mechs, is that 30% of their strength? Or 20%? When are you ahead? When are you behind?

Denying meta-information to the players makes the matches more dynamic and dramatic, because you're facing unknowns. Is that one ECM light left over playing hide-and-seek, or is he leading you into a trap with his last two heavy buddies? You'll play entirely differently without exact knowledge of the enemy team - and that will remove some of the staleness that plagues MWO.

[Quicksilver Aberration]

Malleus011, on 11 April 2016 - 10:55 AM, said:

(NB: Another good feature to add: - populating the enemy roster with pilot name and 'mech type as they are scanned!)

I'd love for this to be added regardless, at least the mech type part.

[Sir Wulfrick]

How about adding the MRBC drop 1-5 criteria in to the game as a separate mode?