102 replies to this topic

[Baulven]

I will say this it was a rough few matches in FP last night because the IS could effectively ignore ourban mechs on wave three. I lost once to a large pre-made and once to smaller group drop because the tonnage disparity is rough. I think the best way to do it would be to put clans back at 250 and move IS to 270.

I do not think reducing tonnage should ever be considered. Especially since at certain weights and types there are slim options for use, which makes it less optimal. Increasing tonnage for a side isn't as harsh (though that extra weight still is noticeable.

[Jun Watarase]

The tonnage should be reduced to 240 or 250 for both sides IMHO, when you get to higher levels of tonnage it encourages way too many heavies/assaults. You actually saw people use more llghts/mediums in the initial FW release which was a good thing.

[Bud Crue]

Commander A9, on 20 December 2016 - 04:54 PM, said:

What happens when the big teams switch to Inner Sphere and starts winning consistently?

Will Inner Sphere be considered overpowered again?

Yes. If they leave the tonnage imbalance, and all the big (that "big" ought to say good or skilled) teams switch to the IS then most certainly the IS will feel over powered.

God forbid, I defend PGI (defend is to strong. How about "rationalize" instead?), but the tonnage change has zero to do with actually addressing the tech imbalance of clan vs IS, and everything to do with trying to incentivize exactly the behavior you are hinting at: getting teams to move, by providing a visible crutch to one side in order incentivize at least some some of those "big" teams to move from the clans to the IS; so that not all of those teams are on one side, which is what is causing the previous population and skill"imbalance". Not tech imbalance. Read the hot fix notes. Tech is not mentioned or even hinted at. This is all about incentivizing migration. and creating a perception that PGI is "doing something". Nothing more.

As a related aside:
I don't think PGI has any real interest in fixing real or perceived tech imbalance. That imbalance and the potential for the next OP mech to address it (from either side's totally subjective point of view) is what keeps mech packs selling (especially once nostalgia is less of an issue). But what they can do without hurting their cash cow, is to dink around with these sorts of tonnage aspects, rewards, etc. to drive the population where they want it in order to keep the mode playable...and in turn helping to drive future sales. I don't expect anything more than these sorts of minimal effort adjustments, since after all even at its peak player numbers, the percent of the population playing this mode was at a high of 17% and is normally less than 10% (both percentages were cited by Russ during various periods of Phase 2).