69 replies to this topic

[Paladin1]

Mason Grimm, on 14 December 2011 - 02:53 PM, said:

I see everything!

Wait, why didn't the censotron catch that one? Are the settings getting a little loose?

[Tahawas Pitts]

While I agree that there should be some sort of limits on what mechs the individual house units may have unless all these merc commands are suddenly coming into existence in 3049 they should have as wide if not wider a selection of mechs. They are more likely to have fought against each of the individual houses in recent years then say Davion and Steiner units against each other for one example.

[Paul Rice]

Mason Grimm, on 14 December 2011 - 05:50 AM, said:

This would cause several issues;

1) Players would be flocking to house factions so that they could play the mechs that they love even if they don't agree or identify with the House/Faction ideology. (roleplaying factor)

2) Playeers who opted NOT to play for a specific mech faction would not (initially) have access to it (compromise or give up)

3) It could push the player base more towards mecenary companies because they tend to have a greater range of machines available due to their being able to travel between houses, thus leaving the house factions bereft of players; messing with the ingame faction mechanics.

These don't bother me too much, personally.
1 - Except maybe in cases like the DCMS where the pilot's motives are heavily shaped by the culture, I think it's actually pretty realistic from a role-playing standpoint for pilots to all have different reasons for fighting. Maybe a Davion mechjock is only fighting because he has daddy issues, you know? I see your point about how players picking based on mech designs could be dumb, but I think people will have dumb reasons no matter how they're moderated.
2 - salvage is all i've got there. It's tough, but I think players can handle it.

3 - Perhaps letting the house players have other perks, such as cheaper general mech prices, house-provided repair/parts/salvage/travel costs, or some other type of support/security would offset that? The variety of a ragtag merc unit is appealing and more or less canon, but so is the fact that life is a little harder for mercs in general.

[Mekkillah]

Paladin1, on 14 December 2011 - 05:57 AM, said:

I realize that this is a game, but the quickest way to make this game suck is to let everyone have access to all the different `Mech designs. That's not how it works in canon and that's not how things work in real life. You're not going to see a Russian force fielding an M1A2 Abrams and you shouldn't see a Marik force fielding a full lance of PNT-9R Panthers. If you do, there's something wrong.

Well, actually. i'm a bit behind on my lore. but there was a marik unit that was equipped partially with Panthers. i think.

[Insidious Johnson]

Paladin1, on 14 December 2011 - 05:57 AM, said:

I realize that this is a game, but the quickest way to make this game suck is to let everyone have access to all the different `Mech designs. That's not how it works in canon and that's not how things work in real life. You're not going to see a Russian force fielding an M1A2 Abrams and you shouldn't see a Marik force fielding a full lance of PNT-9R Panthers. If you do, there's something wrong.

And yet, there is always 'something wrong'. I'll bet in less than 5 years, the Chinese will have a clone of the US Stealth drone downed by electronic jamming in Iran. Maybe less. In the late '90's after tons laptops went missing from Los Alamos, Bill Clinton declassified ( someone define treason really quick here for me ) reams of various technologies for the express purpose of selling them to the Chinese. Yeah, something is always wrong, when it is far from expected. But, "far from expected" showing up on the battlefield keeps the monotony of the mundane safely at bay... for the duration of that fight only. Lately that seems to be the routine in the real world, so also the effects of timelines, causes, and effects determine the norm of the moment... not expectations.

[jojobear]

I think the devs should focus on making an action game, not a collectable card game.

[Vile Joker]

I think that even if the devs don't make mech rarity and issue, they should at least make Mech matching in missions/instances a very important thing. Otherwise the whole thing will turn into a gigantic slugging match between entire teams of assault mechs with the new people stuck in their little lights and mediums getting farged over everyone else.

[Blastcaps]

long as rare means it's not totaly limited numbers, otherwise you end up with what you get in eve with say the guardian vexor, 3 left in game at this time, worth billions and WILL get suicide ganked the moment it's shootable, if on other hand you mean rare as in set number in game, several get blown up and then rumors of a cache of "losteck" gets found to have some truth to it with some of these in so people have a shot at getting one, but they have to hunt down the cache to claim them, well there's likely to be more than one group hunting them, wether lonewolf, merc, faction or pirate if 2 groups arrive on planet it gives the oppotunity for conflict over the cache....

[EGG]

Most of the small issues with having faction-specific or faction-inclined mechs are frankly going to show up anyway when the clans enter the game. The differences in clan mechs will dwarf any questions of "FedCom has an Enforcer, why are we stuck with Panthers?".

The player division mentioned has already started in fact as there's a forum of guys trying to figure out if they want a Linebacker or Hellbringer rather than the initial Urbie.

I'd rather have some small differences between the IS factions than having everything samey-samey.

For other unusual mechs (quads, HCT/AXM, ex-SLDF), if they make it into the game, I'd prefer for them to remain rare and therefore semi-special, however that's managed by the dev team.

[RJF Grimuar]

It would be just swell to winning back the desktop capes of various fractions collected from various TRO and the SB, etc. ..

PS Sorry, i know English so VERY BAD....

[Schnuffs]

If only they would incorporate the pie cannon.....everyone luvs pie.

[Dragorath]

Which comes to my mind is a specific point regarding spare parts. Of course you can get everything as mercenary, if you work for a house and have enough house points, but what if you go to a different house. Wouldn't be that easy to get spare parts etc. there. So you could have the best from everywhere, but try to hold your mechs together. So they would be kind of bound to a house unless they use everywhere standard mechs only e.p. Wasp.
And house factions will have only a more or less specific range of mechs, but they would have access to some rarer mechs of their faction and also get cheaper spare parts etc.
This way it would be nice to balance things.
Salvage is here the point of interest if you want some real fancy stuff. So yes rare mechs will be rare all the time.

[Paladin1]

Mekkillah, on 14 December 2011 - 07:29 PM, said:

Well, actually. i'm a bit behind on my lore. but there was a marik unit that was equipped partially with Panthers. i think.

Not to my knowledge. The Panther is pretty much an iconic Kurita design and when it is seen outside of the ranks of the DCMS, it's usually a result of battlefield salvage.

[MaddMaxx]

Quote

"And I am sure that they have already mentioned that salvage will play a part in the game."

It is actually interesting to note that "Salvage" has not been mentioned yet in either Blog, or Q&A Answers. Now Q&A 2 Questions has a few instances of Salvage based questions so let's hope we get an answer.

The assumption of Salvage is still unfounded when searched for under this Forum. Hope still springs eternal though. :}

Edited by MaddMaxx, 15 December 2011 - 06:55 AM.

[Barantor]

Paladin1, on 15 December 2011 - 06:38 AM, said:

Not to my knowledge. The Panther is pretty much an iconic Kurita design and when it is seen outside of the ranks of the DCMS, it's usually a result of battlefield salvage.

To the point that the kell hounds almost treat them like disposable mechs when they salvage them in the 'Warrior Trilogy' by Stackpole. I think they know that they won't be getting parts easily, so use the heck out of them.

[Riptor]

Quote

I'm going to want to see some proof of this claim. I may be a hard core Davion, but I only know of one instance where Steiner was allowed to purchase military equipment from Marik and that was only because Hanse Davion blackmailed Marik into doing it by offering to cure Marik's son of cancer at NAIS. That lasted only as long as it took that usurping, genocidal Steiner bitch to kill her mother and steal her brother's empire, but that's another rant for another day...

I will look for it. All i know is its on the Sarna wiki in one of the steiner mechs descriptions... gimme a moment

Ah.. here it is:

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Battle_Hawk

Doesnt really say when it was built but it has pulse lasers so it should be rather recent.

[guardian wolf]

I think that yes houses should have faction specific mechs, but no, we should NOT be able to BUY these mechs. We should only be able to get them through salvage, or by raiding Mech factories, but those kinds of raids have to be extremely dangerous. If your going to have a salvage based system, then you have to make these raids against factories be dangerous to the point it's only really worth it if the target is of extremely high value. Also, the heavier the mechs produced there the higher the threat level. No one should be able to launch a raid on Defiance Industries, with only two lances of light mechs, like 3 fleas, 3 fire ants, and 2 cougars.

[Tannhauser Gate]

Judging by what the devs are already doing to create an immersive canon-centric world for the game, mech availability will probably follow suit. I think they will ultimately all be available to everyone but difficulty obtaining one over another will be based on faction and LP. Possibly even certain iconic models available to paid accounts.

The game is already going to restrict mechs based on time period. Players are already encouraged to cast their allegiance for a faction. Factions play a major role. Space is being divided up according to canon. Canonical news is being fed to the players to cast the game in the proper setting. The present calendar is already being matched to game dates. Mechs will be customizable. To change tack and suddenly allow all players a virtual candy store on mech choices would be unexpected and take away from the immersion the devs are working hard to create.

So yeah. I think mechs will availble according to faction you belong to, according to your LP, according to where or who you are buying it from. And ultimately I think they will be available to everyone but factions will be providing their pilots with their faction mechs according to canon.

Edited by lakedaemon, 15 December 2011 - 10:16 AM.

[Kresten Youngblood]

I agree that the house troops should be able to have all the mechs that are in the house stable. The poor merc corps will have the time and means to get those specific mechs after battling with house troops. Last i checked in the mrec handbook, they have their own table of mechs and they should start the game with only those mechs available to them. After a few battles and with the salvage they will be able to increse the mechs that are avalible. Let the game run for a few and see what is given to us before we start complainng about mechs

[Type ZERO]

I think limiting access to "buying" mechs should be limited according to the canon.

However, as it was mentioned before... There is always salvage opportunities. =)