@ Kristov: Agreed 100%. I want a critical system only, honestly, but I expect them to do a hardpoint/crit mixture. Even that would be significantly better than heatsinks, engine speeds, ECM equipment, etc, not taking up critical spaces like in MW4. Perhaps they should have sort of an "auto-build" for new players who don't want to fiddle with crits assigning ferro fibrous and such, but i think MW3 did it fine (it would just "reserve" criticals away if you picked FF armor or Endo-Steel).
@ this whole "pilot skill affecting BV" thing...There is no possible way to measure it accurately. I don't care what kind of perfect algorithm you have, what happens when people intentionally suck for 15 matches to lower their ELO to have the ability to stomp noobs, or what happens when you have someone who has played MW2, 3, 4, in planetary leagues and NetBT for years, but he only has played MW:O for two hours - he'll be better than at least 90% of the people he comes across until the skill-matching system sorts him. It just won't work. It's better than nothing for sure, but it still won't work. People will find whatever 'Mech is "best for the BV" and be using that, or people will just join games in a Daishi/Dire Wolf because they want to be the big bad that no one else can kill, even if it means they take up 1/2 their team's allotted points.
One possible suggestion: Have a "draft" system. First off, this would require the devs to make sure there are free 'mechs with varying roles, BVs, weight classes, tonnages, whatever, on top of what the players have in their garages/hangars/mechbays/whatever. Maybe each week there will be a free variant of every weight class available or something. You could have captains pick a draft order, or you could randomize it, or base it on in-game faction rank, or whatever.
Another possible suggestion:
I know it wouldn't WORK, because people can intentionally fail or screw up to mess up the measurements (and they will), but here's an idea:
Training simulator or academy. Have different piloting exams, gunnery exams, field tests, whatever...Have it affect, say, a pilot's "portfolio" - shoot X amount of targets in alotted time, or run past here with your torso twist aimed here in X amount of time, or pilot your 'mech between these cones, fastest time gets higher scores...And then when you are picked for a contract, whoever is hiring you will see "Oh, this guy has a B+ in piloting, and a A- in gunnery according to "Standardized Test that all Mechwarriors take in this game." You can do a Portal 2 Challenge map style comparison of your scores to everyone else's scores, see how you match up against the competition, and people will hire the best accordingly, based on skill and price...Or it can be like, say, Gran Turismo where you need to perform well to pilot your new 'mech or equip a certain weapon, like acquiring licenses before you can drive faster cars. Like, "Oh, I need to get my 65-ton license" and they have you do some standardized mission - eg: "Destroy objectives at nav alpha, beta, gamma, delta within 70 seconds" and they give you a Hellbringer (or something, probably worst example since it's Clan).
I know this would take like 127637846 man-hours of development time they don't have, but it would be a fun way to measure against other 'Mercs and a great way to learn a bit about pilots you've never played with. Obviously people would rig the system, and just practice and get better at these "challenge" maps which might have no bearing in actual combat, but at least you know that the guy knows how to use jumpjets and won't say "hey guys i shot all my guns and now i cant move, ffs this dang graphic bug my hud disappear stupid AMD drivers" when they overheat and shut down...
Bringing this back to the topic at hand, you could use these pilot measurements and standardized skills to affect BV if you must, or affect customization and scratchbuilding - "You must score a B or better on this test before you are authorized to mount PPCs on this 'Mech" (though honestly it makes no sense when I think about it that way.)
Anyway I just mean the best pilots get the best contracts for the best money and then they can scratchbuild all they want to. I'm hoping that I can buy a stock 'Mech, have a cute little "STRIP" button in the corner of the 'Mech lab, buy a bunch of parts off of the market, have them show up instantly (trolololo wait 4 and a half days for delivery from Outreach), be able to fit them on my 'Mech, and go play with it (maybe in 2 weeks since I'm boating ERLL or maybe 5 minutes if I swap the SRM6 for a LRM10). I would obviously rather not need to wait in "Real" time, but that's another topic. Maybe just have changes be made to a 'Mech when you come back from a mission in another 'Mech. Like, you go and jump and do a campaign or battle for some planet, come back after, and the changes are done. Maybe a similar thing for repairs - pay to have it repaired and it will be ready when you're back from your mission in your other 'Mech. It would encourage people to play different weight classes and have multiple 'Mechs in their garage which would continue to add variety.
Edited by Volume, 27 December 2011 - 07:56 PM.