277 replies to this topic

[MovinTarget]

KingGladiator, on 07 August 2016 - 03:49 PM, said:

True. I'm guess im a bit salty I guess since it seems like clans get quite a bit of love recently. Kodiaks, Vipers, Linebackers, all the IIC's.

Well, since the IIc's dropped, we've had what, 4 Different Heavies drop? Whammer, 'Rauder, Rifleman, and Archer, then we got the phoenix hawk.

I know not a lot of these are considered tier 1 mechs, but how many of the IIc are? plus the Jenner IIc got gigantic (like the IS Jennys, but they've been out for years). In fact, up until they finally gave the Orion and Highalnder IICs some quirks, they were relegated to lrm boats as they had torsos constructed from warm butter (so does the hunchie IIc but that seemed more usable).

As for the clan mechs you mentioned, the Linebacker is not out yet, and we are getting the cyclops before that comes out. in fact, since the iconic mechs, its been alternating clan, IS, clan IS pretty regularly, so I'm not sure your assertion is entirely correct.

There are two *maybe* three Kodiaks that are preferable and maybe I'm not the best at them, but I can think of other mechs I'd prefer over the Viper...

[MovinTarget]

John McHobo, on 07 August 2016 - 04:05 PM, said:

I´ve had the suspicion that they fight with spaghetti code since a patch for performance messed up the "center torso towards walking direction", and I understand how hard that would make feature development, but if this is the case they can´t figure out the code since 2 years...and this just takes them too long.

Spaghetti code is called such because of all the layers that are interwoven and how messy it gets to follow one "noodle" end to end without disrupting the other noodles.

Trust me, I still find amazing, surprising nuggets long after all my predecessors left the company. In a perfect world people would be commenting their code effectively (ideally comments can total more lines in the code than the code itself), but in high pressure situations, it is the first thing to be ejected since everyone thinks, "This makes perfect sense, anyone can understand it!" or, "I'll come back and comment this later..."

[Dee Eight]

Prior to receiving my Kodiaks, I was FW drop decking with three hellbringers and a shadow cat so I was 10 tons underweight on the cap. I won't fill a deck with a trial mech and I've have no interest in buying three crows to master them. I only bring MASTER unlocked mechs to FW (as do the majority of other players). With kodiaks it was a pair of them and a pair of lynx (if they raised the tonnage back to 260 like it was before phase 3, I'd use kit foxes or cheetahs). I would not use my vipers in a deck unless I absolutely had to have a 40 tonner fill a space. I also wouldn't use a warhawk to fill an 85 ton slot because I don't like the low placement of most of the weapon hardpoints. A Marauder IIC on the other hand, THAT I will use.

[PraetorGix]

AnTi90d, on 05 August 2016 - 09:46 AM, said:

..This is an odd move..

(It is pretty, though.)

Either a desperate cash grab, or monumental lazyness on their part.
I was THIS close to getting it because it looks so amazing, but after seeing how they made up almost all variants this is almost surely a pass, again.

[PraetorGix]

meteorol, on 06 August 2016 - 04:53 AM, said:

Announcing the Marauder IIC shortly after nerfing the Marauder for absolutely no discernible reason will surely make people wrap their tinfoil even tigther

Except now we see that the Marauder IIC is that discernible reason.

[Nightshade24]

Vladosteron, on 07 August 2016 - 02:09 AM, said:

While I am happy to see this classic Mech made playable for the Clan-Lovers out there, i would rather have Omnimechs like the Kingfisher or the Fire Moth (yes Speedcap, i know) in game.
20 tons and 90 tons, those sweetspots are not yet filled with Omni-Mech options!

I know Russ declared Big Mech Packs dead, but even I - a strictly IS Player - would buy a pack with F-Moth/Black Lanner, Crossbow/Kingfisher.

Well, I personally want more battlemechs, because it's something clans lack and we have more battlemech options out there that fill niches and gaps that omnis can not... for eg, having a slower 85 tonner that can focus on fire power (marauder iIC) instead of raw speed (warhawk)

Russ didn't declare Big mech packs dead, he said those are not the best idea at the moment andd part of it was because thy struggle to make a good mech pack in the old light/med/heavy/assault tier system...
for eg they wanted to make a Clan Wave IV pack- we had a few Medium options... some heavies... nearly 0 lights and assaults at the moment due to the lack of viability of a STD engine assault or a 200kph+ light mech. notice how there is no omni assaults or lights in ages (or lights in general) for clan...

I think when we start to hit new mech time we will have room for more mechs

Chados, on 07 August 2016 - 03:50 AM, said:

Five of the last six releases were Clan. It's fairly clear which way things are going here. And it's natural, as Clan mechs are in all ways better mechs.... [snip]

...
The Marauder IIC will relegate IS Marauders to the scrap heap among the solo queue for Unseen fans. It's going to be a beast. I wasn't going to spend more money on the game but I love the Unseen so yeah, I will get this and the IIC Rifleman when that comes out.

Dee Eight, on 07 August 2016 - 07:19 AM, said:

Right...

lights 5 Clan 9 Inner Sphere
Mediums 6 Clan 13 Inner Sphere
Heavies 6 Clan 13 Inner Sphere
Assaults 6 Clan 10 Inner Sphere (soon to be 11).

By the time the Marauder IIC releases in December, the Clans will add a medium, and two heavies and finally then the assault in question. Except for the lights, its basically half as many clan options as Inner sphere options for players.

Dee Eight points out precisely the reason why there is more clan mech packs then IS... And then there's the fact most event/ donation/ early access/ hero mechs / additional variants are also IS mechs.

And also clan mechs are not vastly superior each time. In my honest opinions the IS have better lights in all ways besides firepower. You can't put two LRM 20's on an IS light but easily on a clan light. You can easily mount a UAC 20 on a clan light going 100kph+ but not an AC 20 on a mech barely going 50kph~. etc..
However there's also the topic of LRM boats... arguably the clustered LRM nature of IS LRM's as well as the heavy quirks on many mechs (ie Catapult vs Mad Dog) often resaults in the Catapult being a better option for raw LRM firepower unless you are using a troll build on a mad dog like 6 x LRM 15 or 2 x LRM 20 4 x LRM 15... which then the advantage would be the catapult has better heat, ammo, and supporting fire management and armour...

Marauder IIC can't replace the IS marauder, the IS marauder is a heavy mech and the Clan one is an Omni. The IS one can jump higher, run faster, etc... If anything if any IS mech should feel threatened it should be the Awesome because the Marauder IIC can vomit 4 ER PPC's much easier then a warhawk which was neck and neck with the Awesome.

Dran Dragore, on 07 August 2016 - 09:06 AM, said:

I hope the Marauder IIC gets some ER PPC Quirks so we can play the mech as it was intended. The Kodiak 5 is IMHO one of the worst Kodis, so i think the Mad IIC will share the same destiny with 9 Energy Hardpoints and no other ones. Well, lets see what the Quirks will show...

We do not need quirks to make the Marauder IIC ER PPC's to work. However quirks would be nice to differentiate each Marauder IIC and make the Marauder IIC worth taking ER PPC's over the warhawk (making both strong but unique)

The Kodiak 5 suffers because of it's hard points and what it was made to be... once the ghost heat pass comes the Kodiak 5 may be better, but the problem still present in the fact that it's just not very... interesting? many energy hardpoints and a ballistic... there is only so much you can do with that.

KingGladiator'

Take arguably one of the best IS mechs in the game, and give it to clans.

As if Clanners don't have enough to absolutely obliterate the competition in FW anyway

The Marauder IIC is a different mech, if they changed the looks of it and called it a Blood Asp you wouldn't be complaining it would be taking the best IS mech (arguably).

The Marauder IIC is an assault, it's going to be slower then the Marauder, less versitile, less JJ alt, ETC... The Marauder IIC's main advantage is high hardpoints only for the ER PPC's and ballistics...
ER PPC's are not quite in the meta at the momment, so that leaves ballistics, arguably all the ballistics are probably a poor choice right now besides a gauss rifle. Okay, both Marauders can lean on a Gauss Rifle... what else?

Well the Marauder IIC can do higher laser vomit at longer ranges and higher damage over the marauder- no surprise here since it's an assault that'll be moving far slower, it should be able to do more damage... but beyound that....

Most advantages the Marauder IIC, the Marauder already has just on a lighter chassis.
The Marauder IIC is just as likely to replace the Marauder as the Marauder II would replace the Marauder...
or how a Mad Cat mk II is going to replace a Timberwolf, or how a Firestarter omnimech would replace the regular firestarter.

Just taking an existing chassis and making it heavier doesn't make it better (in MW: O. In earlier MW games where firepower and armour are the only two things you should care about and most often there'ss no problem going 20 kph then sure...).

And FW is mostly swayed by the population and NOT by tech... evidence being what, the entirety of FW? We've seen people switching factions causing the entire situation of clan vs IS change, one minute a Clan is about to hold Terra, the next minute all clanners are forced back to their original invaded planet without a single change to the quirks between the mechs besides very mininmal 2-5% quirks- most often on chassis not even used in CW like say a Catapult C4 or what ever...
The Marauder IIC can do a pair of UAC 10's, now that's something a lot more threatening. It can

KingGladiator, on 07 August 2016 - 03:49 PM, said:

True. I'm guess im a bit salty I guess since it seems like clans get quite a bit of love recently. Kodiaks, Vipers, Linebackers, all the IIC's.

Kodiaks- where 2 of the variants are underpowered, 2 of the variants are meh, and one is only ever considered in comp play...
Vipers- literally a Nova Mixed with a Kitfox in lore. You take two subpar mechs in competetive play and what do you get?... in all seriousness, the Viper has good speed and Jumpjets... but the IS already have the Cicada for over a year and that jumps much higher... Linebacker? this is literally a lighter budget Timberwolf, Only lunatics like me like this thing. All the IIC's? Considering mostly all of them are not really seen in game and rarely are considered better/ much better (orion IIC, Highlander IIC, Hunchback IIC, etc)... Let's not forget the Resistence II pack came earlier.

Overall, the Clans get lots of mechs recently because there is less clan mechs then there is IS mechs, they get as much love (arguably less) then the IS. It's just that they are not as neglected as before.

In all honesty I can see the next few mechs go like this...

Marauder IIC, followed by Marauder II, then some random clan/ IS mechs...
or ....
Marauder IIC, Warhammer IIC, Rifleman IIC, Phoenix Hawk IIC (isn't thios an asasult?... actually isn't all of these assaults?)
Mirroring the earlier reseen packages we saw from IS.

[Dee Eight]

I just had the thought...what if they follow up the Marauder IIC with the Warhammer IIC and then the Rifleman IIC (for Jan and Feb releases) ?

Also as to "hero" mechs....clans have a viper and a kodiak, and will get the night gyr and huntsman and linebacker and Mad IIC hero's in the future. IS have hero mechs and champion mechs galore. Hell, some mechs have TWO hero's (Catapult, Dragon, Phoenix Hawk) and except for a handful of models they all have champions. Clans thus far have only had champion models. The only non hero/champed IS mechs are the Panther, Urbie, Wolfhound, Crab, black knight, enforcer, grasshopper, mauler and zeus. But we already know we'll be getting champions for the panther, crab, grasshopper and zeus.

[-Ramrod-]

Dee Eight, on 07 August 2016 - 09:32 PM, said:

I just had the thought...what if they follow up the Marauder IIC with the Warhammer IIC and then the Rifleman IIC (for Jan and Feb releases) ?

Also as to "hero" mechs....clans have a viper and a kodiak, and will get the night gyr and huntsman and linebacker and Mad IIC hero's in the future. IS have hero mechs and champion mechs galore. Hell, some mechs have TWO hero's (Catapult, Dragon, Phoenix Hawk) and except for a handful of models they all have champions. Clans thus far have only had champion models. The only non hero/champed IS mechs are the Panther, Urbie, Wolfhound, Crab, black knight, enforcer, grasshopper, mauler and zeus. But we already know we'll be getting champions for the panther, crab, grasshopper and zeus.

I was thinking that we'll probably see the Warhammer and Rifleman IIC's next year. Possibly even more IIC's. Though I personally would like to see a King Crab and/or Panther hero. None of the Resistance mechs have Hero variants. And Champions don't count in my book.

[tokumboh]

Here is my thoughts:
1. I think the lack of Cbills is a bad omen.
2. It seems that the better mechs are reinforcement mechs in the main
3. It seems that there is a overload of non lights in terms of mechs

I believe this slow shaving of rewards is poor from PGI but it must be the way they are going, so yes I am disappointed
Most of the time it make sense to buy the packs but it get harder and harder to justify them these days since before a basic and a hero would have given you a good spread of mechs now you have to buy US$70 a pop which if you did this every month would leave a serious hole in your pocket. So being a early adopter you pay quite a heavy price. compared to waiting

My problem is that it appears that mechs are the money maker not in game purchases and there is little incentive to put effort into improving other facets of the game. I have manged to listen to the FW round table and basically the problem FW has is not enough players, now reducing the bucket/queues helps immensely but we could have IS v Clan as we do on BoT which works well there needs to be a more radical approach which includes not only the queues but the rewards for playing I seem to play less and less these days because of samey game play. There is just a lack of variety in type of battles and objectives

[NeoCodex]

I would almost buy this if they wouldn't be milking money from reinforcements. They know everybody wants the ECM variant. Like wtf. It's basicaly a 35$ mech.

Do we know how long before reinforcements get released for cbills? How was it with the Kodiak?

[ObnoxiousGamer]

NeoCodex, on 07 August 2016 - 11:18 PM, said:

I would almost buy this if they wouldn't be milking money from reinforcements. They know everybody wants the ECM variant. Like wtf. It's basicaly a 35$ mech.

Do we know how long before reinforcements get released for cbills? How was it with the Kodiak?

*quietly mounts three C-UAC/10s to MAD-IIC-A*

[Aramuside]

NeoCodex, on 07 August 2016 - 11:18 PM, said:

I would almost buy this if they wouldn't be milking money from reinforcements. They know everybody wants the ECM variant. Like wtf. It's basicaly a 35$ mech.

Do we know how long before reinforcements get released for cbills? How was it with the Kodiak?

You might want to look a bit closer as that's a 255 engine there and no jump jets..... basically a very slow target with ECM giving it a desperately needed survivability chance.

Personally I much prefer the 340XL, 4 JJ MAD-IIC-B which is in the base set or the similar MAD-IIC-C in the reinforcements.

[Colonel ONeill]

ObnoxiousGamer, on 08 August 2016 - 12:11 AM, said:

*quietly mounts three C-UAC/10s to MAD-IIC-A*

You know that PGI increased the Ghostheat on UAC10s by a giantic amount? I dont think that three will be really good.

[Grinster]

JaidenHaze, on 06 August 2016 - 03:41 AM, said:

No. HBS is working together with PGI (PGI gave them the Mech models) and if HBS releases their game, MWO will profit from the increased awareness for the franchise.

And what really grinds my gear, a lot of people equate new Mechs with new features. They are not the same, because they are made by different people. Sure, a reworked game mode (Assault and so on) or a fixed CW may need some art assets but thats not enough to fill the work load of 4 graphic artists.

PGI has to make money, they cant pay their bills otherwise. And if you don't want to support them with a Meck pack or something else, dont do it. But dont say they are not making any progress. It could be faster, they could communicate more in the feature suggestion and talk specifically about a proposal, but well.... they dont know. Why dont you focus on that?

It was my impatience for some hot mech-on-mech action, after backing HBS's Battletech, that led me to play MWO. I am very happy buying mechs. Not that I would stoop to owning a filthy clan mech

[MovinTarget]

tokumboh, on 07 August 2016 - 10:53 PM, said:

Here is my thoughts:
1. I think the lack of Cbills is a bad omen.

-You get a whole extra heavy mech and a mechbay, if you don't like it, sell the mech and you'll prolly get close to 6.5 million cbills and still have a free mechbay.

tokumboh, on 07 August 2016 - 10:53 PM, said:

2. It seems that the better mechs are reinforcement mechs in the main

I see strengths and weaknesses across the board, people hyper focus on that ECM reinforcement and it has a lower engine cap.

tokumboh, on 07 August 2016 - 10:53 PM, said:

3. It seems that there is a overload of non lights in terms of mechs

1) Between the omnimech lights and the jenner IIc, clans have all light roles pretty well covered (save for the 20ton slot since I don't care for the Lynx.... lol)

2) PGI knows that heavies are the most popular weight class and are probably counting on this to sell more merch. I don't think this is inherently bad since they need to stay afloat...

Edited by MovinTarget, 08 August 2016 - 01:57 AM.

[Dee Eight]

Ummm...more heavier mechs than lights...geee...like that wasn't obvious from the get go of battletech. When they first introduced the game we had a total of THREE light mechs and 11 other non-light mechs. With four weight classes...its going to be pretty damn obvious to anyone with a brain (or at least it should) that in any comparison, the other three categories will outnumber the 4th that was never meant to fill any more roles than scouts, raiders and harassment of enemy lines. Contrary to tv shows like The Rat Patrol, armed jeeps are not supposed to take on tanks.

[Aramuside]

Dee Eight, on 08 August 2016 - 04:26 AM, said:

Ummm...more heavier mechs than lights...geee...like that wasn't obvious from the get go of battletech. When they first introduced the game we had a total of THREE light mechs and 11 other non-light mechs. With four weight classes...its going to be pretty damn obvious to anyone with a brain (or at least it should) that in any comparison, the other three categories will outnumber the 4th that was never meant to fill any more roles than scouts, raiders and harassment of enemy lines. Contrary to tv shows like The Rat Patrol, armed jeeps are not supposed to take on tanks.

In fairness though in tabletop lights and mediums were supposed to be the most common from the Lore..... its just the heavier the better generally so people wanted heavier mechs. The original book just gave the list of available mechs it wasn't equal ownership, e.g. Atlases were MUCH rarer on the battlefield that Commandoes. Not that you would guess that from MWO.

[K19]

Never works :S

[Thorn Hallis]

Ryokens leap, on 05 August 2016 - 12:51 PM, said:

Guess PGI wasn't listening when the majority of the player base said the don't want and don't care about another new mech release.

Probably because the "majority" never said that.

[Fog Ocelot]

Please tell me this isn't the precursor to a "Rifleman IIC" and "Warhammer IIC" announcement.

Ton for ton the Marauder IIc should obsolete the Battlemaster and Stalker. The Rifleman IIC on it's own has the potential to so heavily obsolete the Jagermech (& possibly also the thunderbolt) that along with the up coming Night Gyr, Linebacker and Huntsman release, IS pilots won't have a single mech in any weight category that can out perform a clan mech of equivalent tonnage, even in niche "uber quirked" roles, excepting the locust pending release of the piranha or another clan 20t'er?