5 replies to this topic

[Jables McBarty]

I've seen a number of topics (not recently) about ways to "incentivize" complete OmniMech variants. Among others, the most generally rage-inducing was the suggestion that you can't swap out OmniPods until you complete the Elite level tree.

This past weekend I bought my third EBJ (after owning one alone for 3 months or so). Every time I get a new 'mech I run at least three matches stock (much to my team's detriment), then try to do stock plus until I basic it.

As a result, for the first time in forever, I was getting that +2.5% XP bonus for having all eight OmniPods. What kind of incentive is this? If you hit 2000 XP, which is a more than decent game, you get a whopping 50XP. It's not much a "happy reward" in the off chance that my optimal build happens to have all of one variant.

Complete Basics cost 14250, Elite and Master each cost 21500, for a grand total of 57250. If you always run a complete set, by the time you have Mastered the variant, the 2.5% boost granted you 1431 XP, which is the XP equivalent of one victory or decent loss with Premium Time, or one solid victory without..basically not worth the effort.

Which leads us to the topic title: Get rid of the bonus, and make it a malus for each OmniPod that doesn't match the CT. I'd suggest starting as high as 10% per pod, but could be talked down to as low as 2.5% per pod.

Here's the rationale: (based off a 10% XP malus per pod):

-First and most obviously, players have incentive to use the complete omnipod set while leveling. Replicating your Prime's build by swapping the LT, RT, LA, and RA reduces XP earnings by 40%, making it take nearly twice as long.

-However, at a 10% loss for one pod, the disincentive is small enough that you can swap out that completely useless arm or torso without taking a huge dent to XP earnings.

-I suggest a % XP reduction for non-matching pods over a scaling % XP increase for matching pods because any % XP boost large enough to be worthwhile would cause obvious havok in perceptions of IS/Clan balance. Nobody considers the 2.5% boost to be OP...but also nobody really cares enough to seek it out. A malus makes a complete set desirable while sidestepping perceptions of imbalance.

-Most OmniMechs have one variant that is hands down superior (for the sake of discussion, "Prime"), and that's the one they'll Master first. To unlock Elite level, they rush basics on the A and B using the native configuration. Then once they've mastered the Prime, if they want to grind out three Mastered chassis for FW or for sh*ts and giggles, they can either replicate that build despite the malus, or keep running the native config.

-Once you hit the speed tweak, the importance of XP tends to diminish somewhat (particularly after Double Basic). I personally stop paying attention sometime between Mastering my Prime and Speed Tweaking A and B, and just Master A and B by accident more or less. So after that critical point, you can now take full advantage of the freedom to customize that you've always had.

-These incentives are particularly acute for unquirked chassis like the EBJ. I have reason to use my MDD-Prime STs, as that Missile Cooldown quirk can be useful when I need two missile launchers. But why use the EBJ-C STs when the Prime has more hardpoints?

-This gives a long-term incentive to use native OmniPods over whatever happens to be at hand, so that GXP earnings won't be severely affected. As an example, this MDD-Prime config uses the Prime arms rather than the B arms so it doesn't suffer an additional -20% XP malus (on top of the -20% from the STs). For GXP purposes, 7.5% of total XP is effectively reduced to either 6% (keeping the Prime arms) or 4.5% (using the B arms instead).Currently, Since I only get the +2.5% bonus if I have all 8, I get the same reward for a set of 4 as for a set of 7--none. But the per pod malus is a scaling incentive to use more of the same even when there's no functional difference.

What do you think?

[Jackal Noble]

Hahaha ya no. As in no that won't get fixed. So true though. The idea of matching a set for that bonus xp was more of an annoying detriment of anything while building with omnis. Ah my poor darling ebon ,maybe soon you will p-less as you are quirkless. Sniffles..

[Deathlike]

You are wasting your time thinking about this.

1) XP bonus for the full omnipod set is a joke. Full stop.

2) Unless you convert XP on a regular basis (I have never done it, nor consider doing it, and still yet collect 1 million GXP), it's a waste of time.

3) You're wasting your time.

Seriously, stop.

[Narcissistic Martyr]

Fun fact, XP doesn't matter. Pretty much at all. Sort of kind of during leveling but lets be honest most of us can grind out the XP for a new chassis in 10 hours or less.

[Deathlike]

I guess I should ask this to the OP this:

What is the point of altering XP growth on Onmimechs? Make it more painful to grind them?

Consider the already crappy omnimechs in terms of stock omnipods, such as the Mist Lynx-Prime, or the Gargoyle-Prime. Why the heck would you punish people in this manner, especially since most of the "good Omnimechs" rarely suffer from this lack of hardpoint options?

Just think about what you're speaking of when it comes to "stock omnimech omnipods" and then you'll see the vast problems with trying to altering XP growth, when something like the Nova-D would be some godawful stock omnipod set options.

Edited by Deathlike, 13 June 2016 - 03:01 PM.

[Felicitatem Parco]

I fully agree that swapping pods should result in less XP earned for 2 inarguable reasons:

1.) Changing pods physically reduces the amount of that Variant being fielded, so you should get less variant-specific XP because you fielded less variant-specific Mech.

2.) The Inner Sphere players have no way to boost XP because IS Mechs are always 100% complete variants but receive no complete variant bonuses.

When I say "inarguable" I mean it. You cannot say "IS players can change engines, though, so that's less variant" because weapons can also be changed and many Mechs carry more tons of munitions than engine (you don't see weapons or equipment counting toward Clan XP bonuses, do you?)

Edited by Prosperity Park, 13 June 2016 - 03:08 PM.