SuperFunkTron, on 25 January 2017 - 09:44 PM, said:
I think we'd need to make a comprehensive list to see what each faction actually ends up with seeing which factions would suffer from what kind of shortages and then the correct steps could be taken to mitigate that disadvantage.
SuperFunkTron, I really like your idea, so, in the interest of discuss it with you further I'm going to open myself up to the ocean of salty troll nastiness that I know my comments will incite because I'm going to suggest something that is just not possible (predictions: "everybody would quit gg", "I've been playing since 2012 and am not giving up my mechs you ******", "dumbest.idea.ever"). But hey, its a forum, where people are supposed to brainstorm and share ideas. I'm not looking at it through a lens of "what is realistic?" or "what would the community accept in its current state?". You've just got me thinking about what the game could have been in an alternate reality, and how much I would have loved to play that game.
So, here goes: I really like your idea but I think you didn't go far enough with it. I don't think the restriction should be "2 mechs from your faction/clan, 2 mechs from outside". Since I'm too stoopid and crazy to prioritize reality I think the restriction should be "4 mechs from your faction/clan's approved list". No other options allowed.
I know the players would shriek and rage and burn things if PGI ever did that, but honestly, it is far from unprecedented. Are there not MMORPG’s that require players to choose a faction or side at the beginning? Are there not single player games where you build a character, pick a profession/class, and are restricted forever by that choice? If, the first day I had logged in to MWO, PGI had said "this is a first person RPG" and then been given a brief but accurate description of all the factions and clans, and told I had to pick one, I would have picked one and happily played. The restriction to a certain set of skills or technologies would not, in any way, have turned me around and sent me looking for entertainment somewhere else. I think the only reason restrictions like this could never work now is because the players have already been given access to everything and will now react emotionally to restrictions because something is being taken away that they originally had the right to have.
How the heck do we balance it? As you said, comprehensive lists would have to be considered, but my suggestion if that each faction/clan to claim the best mech in a certain category/weight class. There would either have to be some major rework done on all the mechs or we would have to really deviate from canon in the Battletech Alternative Universe we call MWO and assign certain mechs to certain factions/clans despite it not being lore. For example, lets assume, for the sake of discussion, that the best clan mechs in the game, by weight category, are the Kodiak, the Timber Wolf, the Storm Crow and the Arctic Cheetah. If you are playing against Clan Ghost Bear, you know the Kodiak is going to be on the battlefield and so you’ll be meeting the toughest assault there is. Plan accordingly! But you also know the Timber Wolf won't be on the battlefield because you aren’t fighting Clan Wolf. I don’t pretend to know the lore but the Storm Crow and Arctic Cheetah would go to CJF and CSJ or vice versa. On the IS side it’s a bit more difficult because you have 4 weight categories but more then 4 factions. But you could increase the number of categories by having Liao have the best mech in the “ECM” category, etc etc.
I think this shares a lot of the same pros as your original post (developing tactics based on faction strengths/weaknesses, new players finding guidance for fighting styles and builds, etc.). And, of course, a greater sense of faction and depth to the houses. What I also like about it is that it somewhat destroys the meta and forces the use of all the mechs. It is very RPGish (where some characters have great strength and armor but no healing or magic, etc.; the game is balanced because no one person or even team has access to everything). I am fully aware that some mechs aren’t great, but I’m always a little disappointed when I look at all my mechs and see the ones collecting e-dust in the corner of the mech bay. But somewhat subpar mechs would now be a part of the game (Question for Dex: "you mean to tell me ******** that I'm gonna have to pilot something inferior and know that the enemy has something better?"; Answer: "yes"). For example, amongst their options, Liao is going to get stuck with the Vindicator (a mech I consider substandard). But that challenge is part of the fun. How do we use this craptacular mech effectively? Or do we not use it at all, and capitalize on the fact that we have the raven and better ECM then anyone else? Maybe we make an alliance with [insert name whoever] because they have the Griffin… we will bring the scouts and they will bring the medium SRM boats (in game terms, this would just be talking to another team and setting up joint drops).
The game I describe is impossible. It also sounds (to me… this is just MY OPINION and I do not claim it is gospel truth) like it would be so much more enjoyable then the current MWO. Not that I don’t love our game, but I would love this even more.
- Dex
PS. I'm not even a lorist, and have never played Battletech. I know nothing about canon and have only ever played MechCommander2 and MW4. But some days I fantasize about winning the lottery, giving PGI enough capital to stay afloat for a decade without needing to even consider player population, and in exchange requiring them to split MWO into 2 games called “MWO2: Battletech Online” and “Stompy Punchy Robot Competitive FPS Slamfest”… I honestly believe (ya ya ya i'm a naive white knight optimist) that within 2-3 years either 1 or both of those games would have a population base larger then the current MWO population. Why? Because we have lost tons of people who wanted it to be one or the other but instead we got this weird thing that tries to be both but really is neither, and we are salty and bitter and negative and it turns away new players but that wouldn't happen nearly as much if we were happy in either Battletech Online or RoboSlamFestNascarTrumpForPresidentLand.
PPS. Zito is correct. Your writing style is problematic. You aren’t writing nearly enough, the wall of text is only 1/3 of what it should be.
Edited by Dex Spero, 26 January 2017 - 11:07 AM.
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