4
Now I know this has come up and been discussed before about unit sizes, but the unit size is a bit of a reflection of what has been found to work in terms of effectively advancing an attack lane. You need large enough numbers to effectively mount a continual attack on a planet for the full attack phase to take control.
Part of this problem is that we don't have an alliance system in game and need to rely on external methods to co-ordinate the attack/defence of a planet. The other part is that when the attack phase is not favourable to your timezone, you can put in a really solid effort only to lose it all during the off peak. Therefore having a large enough unit focused on the same planet almost becomes a requirement so you can cover the phase effectively.
This is probably how the call to arms should be changed and combined with the ability to create alliances between units. As it is now, we have the units listed thanks to the leaderboards. Having an in game function allowing units to ally and then have call to arms go out to those members might help build the numbers and co-ordinate efforts.
The other part of the population issue is how many players are currently loyal or contracted to a particular faction. It should be possible to dynamically adjust the payouts to the players according to these populations, have it work on a sliding scale of some sort and take into consideration unit/player reputation. It should also be possible to give each faction a few differences so there is a bit of flavour and individuality to each. Keep in mind that the payouts do not have to be totally measured in c-bills. We could look at other options such as a salvage system, loyalty/notoriety points as a form of currency, logistic costs and repair/rearm options.
However, all of that does not really change the battles on the ground and I think this is the biggest change that needs to be looked at. Personally I feel that we have all the ingredients available in MWO and we just need to combine them for faction play.
If we had a map that was either large enough, or could be a combination of several maps to incorporate:</p>
Invasion
Domination
Conquest
and Assault
Then we have the start of a real battle campaign with multiple objectives that could run over the course of a full attack phase.
Consider the following amendments to each of these modes to make it work in faction play:
1. The Orbital cannon is a point somewhere on the map that a team needs to control to allow their heavier dropships to land. Until then, they could be restricted in terms of how many mechs they can deploy into the battle at once, or the weight class of mech that can be deployed.
2. The radar dish from Domination is another point somewhere on the map that gives a team the radar sweep and target information while it is under their control.
3. The conquest points are deployment/drop zones that a team can select to bring their mechs from a hanger into the field or be delivered to via dropship. Capturing these will allow a team to advance the battle lines further into the enemies territory, but perhaps could once again be restricted to certain weight classes.
4. The new base as it is being described for the changes to the Assault mode is the primary objective for either team. For the defenders it should be the big land base where they can deploy their heaviest forces. For an attacking team, it should be the Union or Overlord dropship that lands once the orbital cannon is controlled.
And this is just one sector on the planet.
There is no timer other than the length of the attack phase and the win condition for the sector is modified to reflect this extended battle.
A counter attack is what happens when one team sends mechs to recapture one of these strategic points.
A skirmish is what happens when two forces collide on the field and engage each other.
Then take and modify scouting so it fits the mode by allowing those information points to be deployed from a mech.
Imagine this scenario:
A scout mech goes out looking for one of these strategic points on the map, which are randomly located and hidden in a fog of war. The scout finds their objective and drops the beacon (consider it a new consumable) which then acts like a way point, reveals part of the map, acts as a sensor and gathers intel points.
Perhaps we use those landing beacons from the ghost drops and allow a scout to drop them on the map for orbital drops? That would be interesting.
An enemy mech can find and disable these beacons as normal to remove the above advantages.
The last consideration is the number of mechs we can have in the game at one time ..... which is currently 24.
Does not seem like a lot, but we have proof that more can be brought in as one is destroyed. All that needs to be changed is the ability to bring in new players instead so that when one player is destroyed or retreats from the battle, another can take their place. This will allow more players to participate in a single battle, lends more weight to using an ally system between units or having enough players from your own unit ready in the dropship/lobby ready to deploy.
Either way, it should mean we can have an ongoing and epic battle.
Edited by 50 50, 04 July 2016 - 03:37 AM.
