69 replies to this topic

[macmerritt]

Like some stated before I was of the opinion that all mechs should be available to all players its just that your faction would affect the cost to purchase. The Panther is a great example from earlier so I will use it again.

Its obviously a Drac mech and thus it would be cheapier and easier for Kurita players to acquire. All other factions could get it as well they are just gonna pay a different price. Without knowing about the games economy and reward system Im just gonna use the standard CBill and monetary system from TT and the RPG.

A Panther costs 2,485,710 C-bills. This is the standard price that Mercs would pay.
Draconis Combine players would pay 75% of the standard cost, 1864282.5 CBills
Mercs and Lone Wolves would pay 100%, 2,485,710 C-bills
All other factions (ie other Houses) would pay 120%, 2982852 CBills

So roughy take a Faction mech and it would cost 75-80% for that faction, 100% for Mercs and Lone Wolves, and 120-125% for opposing House factions. This obviously all conjecture and just my opinion but I think it would make it less likely to see a huge amount of non faction mechs in places that might never see them or make them slightly rarier in battles.

Additionally the idea of rare mechs like the Annihilator, Marauder II, Imp, Devastator, etc., these mechs should be available but just cost a ton more CBills than the average "common" mech. If say for instance an Awesome, a fairly common assault design might run you say 6,000,000 credits, then a "rare" mech of same weight should cost 12-18 million credits, that way these so called rare mechs maintain that somewhat special quality. Sadly yes the no-lifers will get them but them again if you really want something that bad isnt it worth working for.

[Lima Zulu]

Well, in depends on how many mech we'll get in relese - if there will be enough designs to make unique-looking factions army - it's okay, but if there will be 2 heavies, 3 mediums and 3 lights for every house, it could be fail because of balance - some mechs are really better then others. Also, devs told us about role warfare - with faction limitation it means EVERY house should have not only mechs for every weight category, but mechs for every role in every weight category - guess it will be a bit to much, at least for a start. So best option will be alot of mechs, available for every faction, but having some iconic mechs (heavy and assault) being exlusive for some houses - not overpowered, but maybe better in something - like Steiner will have unique mech with have mech with superior weapon, Liao - superior recon abilies, Combine - with best speed in class etc.

[Mechteric]

Barantor, on 14 December 2011 - 07:53 AM, said:

I actually wouldn't mind some sort of tournament for a super rare mech that was held by MWO once a year. Say you win the ultimate solaris tournament in May, you get your choice of an Annihilator, Falcon or Firefly or something like that. Other types of tournaments could be held for lances, companies, etc, but with less rare mechs but still rare enough to not be in common use.

This would allow super rares to exist, but you would only be seeing them once in a blue moon.

Sounds like a bad idea, could you imagine being one of the artists and animators who spent untold amounts of hours to create a mech only to have a handful of them actually in use in game. I do like the idea of having a unique prize from tournaments, but perhaps limited to a unique paint job or decal or something.

Edited by capperdeluxe, 14 December 2011 - 08:09 AM.

[MilitantMonk]

I feel there should be exclusive designs for each house in each weight class. Something akin to the master unit list minus the unseen I suppose. If these designs are only available for purchase to those House troops or Mercs (at a higher price) it will help define the factions better. Of course individuals could salvage them and field them, but that keeps everything pretty canon and adds a neat twist for individual flair.

Just imagine a Dragon under the Marik flag fighting on the Capellan border! That'd be a pretty unique situation, but would be possible under a House Unique + salvage system.

[Quarth]

mecs should be limited by geography. this is how the factories were supposed to work in the tabletop version of the game.

[Barantor]

CapperDeluxe, on 14 December 2011 - 08:08 AM, said:

Sounds like a bad idea, could you imagine being one of the artists and animators who spent untold amounts of hours to create a mech only to have a handful of them actually in use in game. I do like the idea of having a unique prize from tournaments, but perhaps limited to a unique paint job or decal or something.

Eve does this though to great effect though without it being an issue and depending on how many were given out for rewards depends on the player base. In Eve online there are several ships that are only in the hands of certain players as rewards.

[TheMagicMan]

It'd be cool to be able to drool over a rare mech like you would an old rare muscle car. I don't know how you would implement it though. Plus you can't run your fingers down the side of it and polish it all day

[TheRulesLawyer]

I think that mech price should be modified by rarity, not outright limit what you can buy.

Merc- Pay flat price, maybe slight discount on a house unit they have many LP for.
House- Big discount on faction mechs. small increase on non faction mechs.
Lone Wolves- Price determined by LP.

Aside from maybe a couple mechs given out for things like really high LP, tournament prizes, story events, etc I'd rather see everyone be able to buy anything. Economics should be the driving factor on rarity. Prize mechs etc should be pretty much limited to cosmetic changes as well. Exclusive skins, etc.

[Ginrummy]

Who are we kidding here?, you very well KNOW the super rares you'll have to BUY with gold...or what ever the MWO equavlent is!. The Talons SLDF stuff will be the area and expertise of wallet warriors and we all damn well know it!.

[Der BruzZzler von Wiesndoof]

In my opinion, the Annihilator can be rare. Most of the people here hate this mech. It is an old and rare mech (developed 2780), mostly limited by the Wolf's Dragoons. In MW3, the Smoke Jaguars also use Annihilators (maybe captured?). No matter, how i can get this mech. For me it's important that the Annihilator is available in MW:O.

Maybe i need to kill a Wolf's Dragoon mercenary to get the Annihilator. Fact is, i WANT the Annihilator!

[Riptor]

The houses werent the only supplier of mechs nor did they had that tight of a hold on their designs. Alot of the mech manufacturers produced for the open market.. and some even produced exclusivly for certain Merc units (Gray death IS light battlearmor, or the Marauder II for the wolf dragoons)

Just sayin that there was a lot of hardware produced in one faction that got shipped to other factions... for example there was a time when the lyrans heavily relied on the free world league to import military material.

[Dihm]

Grey owens, on 14 December 2011 - 10:05 AM, said:

Who are we kidding here?, you very well KNOW the super rares you'll have to BUY with gold...or what ever the MWO equavlent is!. The Talons SLDF stuff will be the area and expertise of wallet warriors and we all damn well know it!.

Which actually works well, because being rare doesn't make it more powerful, just different.

[Thorn Hallis]

Riptor, on 14 December 2011 - 10:38 AM, said:

Just sayin that there was a lot of hardware produced in one faction that got shipped to other factions... for example there was a time when the lyrans heavily relied on the free world league to import military material.

Maybe, but we are in 3048/49, where 99% of all factories built mechs/armor for their respective houses. The clan invasion changed that, which is still a year to go.

[Paladin1]

I'm so against this idea of "everyone should have access to it, it should just cost more" that seems to be prevalent here, and here's why.

If you're House doesn't produce a design, even if you're allied with the House that does produce that design doesn't mean that they're going to sell you one of those `Mechs, and let's just forget all about a hostile House having access to buying an enemy design. It doesn't work like that.

For example, let's say you're a House Marik fan who wants to pilot a DRG-1N Dragon. Now, even though House Kurita is allied with House Marik, that doesn't mean that Kurita is just going to sell Marik anything that they want, or anything at all for that matter. The alliances in the Battletech Universe are more like military cooperation than anything else.

That's what made the Steiner-Davion Alliance so noteworthy because it was the first time that two Houses traded more than just battlefield information and even then the amount of designs that were traded back and forth were minor until later in the FedCom days when the two began standardizing their forces.

So no, even paying a premium for any `Mech you want isn't a realistic expectation. There needs to be a reason behind the force builds, otherwise we're going to see Fed-Com regiments full of Maulers, Axmen and Centurions and no one wants a rebirth of the Khar'Toon. It took us almost 20 years to kill it, let's not dig it back up.

[Paladin1]

Riptor, on 14 December 2011 - 10:38 AM, said:

Just sayin that there was a lot of hardware produced in one faction that got shipped to other factions... for example there was a time when the lyrans heavily relied on the free world league to import military material.

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...

[Barantor]

I'm with no all access to mechs too, if only because when we get to the point that folks are spending money or lots of time you don't want to see full merc units full of a rare/super rare mech.

I think contest/drawings/tournaments is a good way to not only involve the community but give access to these super rares in a way that is fair to everyone.

[Mason Grimm]

Paladin1, on 14 December 2011 - 01:53 PM, said:

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 FEMALE DOG IN HEAT to kill her mother and steal her brother's empire, but that's another rant for another day...

I see everything!

Edited by Mason Grimm, 14 December 2011 - 02:54 PM.

[TheRulesLawyer]

Paladin1, on 14 December 2011 - 01:48 PM, said:

If you're House doesn't produce a design, even if you're allied with the House that does produce that design doesn't mean that they're going to sell you one of those `Mechs, and let's just forget all about a hostile House having access to buying an enemy design. It doesn't work like that.

Fair enough. Its not how it would really work. However sometimes you have to make concessions to game play and fun. Otherwise some factions are going to be severely handicapped.

[Nalin Gregor]

I hope they do NOT limit by weight class. Everyone should have the chance, nay, everyone has the RIGHT to operate in a lance that weighs no less than 390 tons. And that is on the light side. If they ARE going to limit the mechs you can have, they should limit your starting mechs to some basic ones, with some light and mediums thrown in that are semi house specific. Mech's you purchase in game, should be house specific, at a normal, or slightly reduced cost, and the more exotic mechs should cost more to represent shipping/smuggling fees, etc etc. But then, you should absolutely have the ability to salvage ANY mech you come across in battle. And then, have mechs that cost real money that anyone can buy. But no, you shouldnt be able to play a few missions, and then BAM spend earned C-Bills to get some ridiculous mech. But I am all for being able to buy myself an Atlas, and once the clans come, switching over to Lostech/Clantech. Especially the Timber Wolf and Atlas II.

[Merodda Glenholm]

I think that they should limit mech types to faction/area/canon ... but you have to remember that in Mechwarrior, SALVAGE is always possible.

So just because you can't get one from the House/Merc shop, doesn't mean that it is not possible for you to capture it during play.

Granted, most battles will end up with the enemy mechs in molten radioactive pieces due to reactor meltdowns, or with the mech so badly damaged only certain parts (weapons, ammo, reactors, gyros and equipment) survive but a headshot has always been a time honored method of capturing an enemy mech. After all, it is easier to fit a new command console than it is to virtually rebuild a mech from scrap.

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

And you can just bet that any raid/capture mission on a mech factory planet will give your team the chance to win a mech built there.

Edited by Merodda Glenholm, 14 December 2011 - 04:25 PM.