Posted 10 November 2016 - 11:08 AM
LAMs are off the table - first of all they're an abandoned technology in BattleTech proper and were basically an experimental lark even when they weren't. Second of all, the level of coding trouble and resulting glitchiness from trying to shove World of Warplanes into MWO would drive Ghandi to drink. Third of all, LAMs completely and utterly break map design - when you can bypass everything on the map and just go wherever you want at any time, you can no longer design maps to try and guide players or steer the flow of battle. It's just not happening.
Melee is on the outside edge of possible - I recall someone in Piranha once mentioning that rerigging the entire roster of existing 'Mechs for punching/kicking attacks was entirely "Not in a million years", but that creating new 'Mechs with specific hand-to-hand weapons (Hatchetman/Axeman, Berserker, Scarbus, and the like) was theoretically possible. I would not expect it, and if those 'Mechs did come in all the axeless 'Mechs would not be able to punch/kick back...but it's on the fringes of maybe, unlike LAMs.
ProtoMechs are FutureTech, first of all, and thus also off the table because Russ is still skeered of heavy lasers. Second of all, they're a dead technology pioneered by a dying Clan that mostly didn't work. Half-sized 'Mechs with a tenth of the armament of a regular 'Mech? Nope. Battle armor works because it's upscaled infantry. ProtoMechs were junk that basically amounted to a one-note "wat da faq" in the fighting on Huntress.
Inner Sphere OmniMechs would be easy to do technically since the OmniMech coding already exists, but often come with nigh-crippling balance hurdles. IS Omnis, if they run by the same rules as Clan Omnis, would have disastrous locked chassis issues, with many of them stuck with single heat sinks. Single. Heat. Sinks. Introducing 'Mechs flat-out guaranteed to blow all the chunks in Creation is not a great way to inspire fervor in your player base, and changing IS Omni rules to relax restrictions on them that aren't relaxed on Clan Omnis? Yeah. That wouldn't end well. That wouldn't end well at all.
Quads? Nah. Piranha enjoys trolling Juodas too much to introduce quads. "Circus 'Mechs" and all that.
New weapons? Nah. No one's yet figured out how to tell Russ that he can adjust the XML values on heavy lasers until they stop being so skeery, so no FutureTech for us. And let's face it - people get all manner of het up over LRMs. What do you think the reaction would be to Arrow launchers that just slammed a single component with eight hundred manillion damage in one shot from anywhere on the map? No, no - player-controlled Arrow IV systems are pretty much a no-go, not in anything resembling their original form.
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Most likely, it's a carefully selected Inner Sphere OmniMech, something to prime the pump and to start balancing out Clan BattleMechs like the Brodiak. Specific melee-capable 'Mechs being introduced would be b!tchin' but likely runs into technical issues, especially if they're still considering an engine change. I suppose they might kick things up some partial fraction of a notch and introduce a 'Mech using Inner Sphere versions of existing Clan gear, a'la iUAC/10, iSSRM-6, iERMLs, or the like, but I dunno if Piranha wants to poke that bear at all given what it'll invite on the forums. Teasing FutureTech when they've told us FutureTech is forever and irrevocably off the table would make at least one player I know incredibly angry.
Not that it matters, since that guy's mostly curtailing his MWO spending anyways, but still.
Brace for your Sunder, I would imagine.