2 replies to this topic

[w0qj]

How about combat pets (and cosmetic pets) for MWO ?

Elementals of different kinds for Omnimechs

Pollux tank or different helicopters for IS mechs

Elemental IIC for IIC mechs

~All above combat pets can add up to 1% to 3% of your total DPS, depending on the quality of (Rare/Very_rare/Epic) the combat pet? Motorization opportunity!

~Standard Variant (free) combat pets can be issued as promotions 2-3 times each year to Free-To-Play players, also as a way to whet their appetites for the more powerful combat pets (paid by MC).

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Cosmetic pets would be like the Elementals on the Warden Booster Pack... different cosmetic (non-combat) pet for different mechs...

[D V Devnull]

I got three simple letters that stand in the way of your "Combat Pets" idea...

TTK (as in, "Time To Kill")

...which absolutely does not need to – and 'should not'/'must not' – get pushed to be any much quicker than it is at the time of this post.


However, with that said... There would be one way to give your idea an opening into being part of MWO gameplay. It requires two things...

• This part would need to happen first... There would need to be a Buff given to the Baseline Armor/Structure of the entire catalog of Mechs that MWO has now. Kick it all the way up to either 3x (or 4x) what the TableTop amounts are. That will severely slow down TTK to the point that only properly focused fire will have any chance of being effective. Some very serious Teamwork would then be needed to win a Match as the game would be far more forgiving in terms of how wrecked someone gets over making even a small mistake.
  
• While many would be reluctant to let the second part happen, the first part would make it necessary anyway... Make all those badly-lobotomized Lock-On Weapons – both in LoS & IDF forms – more capable of standing toe-to-toe with the entire catalog of Non-Locking Weapons which MWO currently has. With the extreme addition of Mech Health added in order to slow down TTK in the extreme, the Lock-On Weapons should then be made able to properly help a Team versus any other Combat Style and/or Weapon Type which exists. Any given player's Team should not have to wait for longer than they can provide Tactical Data required for either LoS or IDF assistance to be able to get the Fire Support for which they're sticking their Mech out to receive. Plus, fixing this issue would also re-attract anyone to MWO who is flatly incapable of handling frenetic combat, such as those with physical disabilities (as in, the kind which force them to play using IDF Lock-On Missiles almost exclusively) which ruin their personal ability to properly aim most Non-Locking Weapons in the MWO catalog.

...and with that, then your idea of these "Combat Pets" which you would like to add into MWO could then easily slip in and add a whole new dimension of combat to the battlefields. Heck... At that point, I would personally welcome it for the mischief which it would introduce!


For the necessary note of it, without my recommendation of those two changes being implemented, a far worse situation could (and likely would) result. With the additional Damage being caused to Mechs by the implementation of those "Combat Pets" on the battlefields, the TTK would sink just enough to put MWO in danger of being far too fast-paced and disorienting for a number of types of people. I've seen the group known as The Cauldron manage some positive adjustment in regard to slowing TTK down, but with their seemingly-scared unwillingness (and that's just my opinion... it's explicitly NOT meant to start any thread-hijacking arguments) to do the two things together which I have mentioned above, implementing these "Combat Pets" to aid in fighting could also easily send things off the wrong way again at this time.


Again though, w0qj, I do think that you really have an interesting idea with the "Combat Pets" for aiding in making things less dull. I'm merely voicing a possible concern about the effects of your idea. Please avoid considering my thoughts in this post as any form of vote against your idea!

~D. V. "may like to see such a 'Combat Pets' idea happen, but worries what effect it might have on MWO as well" Devnull

[LordNothing]

pets, if implemented, should be no better than the vehicles in mw5. a mere annoyance when used singularly. but thats not how you want to use pets. you want to use coordinated deployment of pets in a team setting. to use as a distraction, an diversion, or to add confusion to a push. also combat pets are not the only option. like being able to have recon aircraft or dedicated infantry spotters. would be awesome. even crates of ammo, deployable turrets, etc

i think consumable rules should be in play, pets are consumables, you can summon one before going into a cool down, and you cant deploy any more until its over. you create a situation where you drop your first pet asap and keep it out of trouble. deploy your second after the cd but before you intend to use it. would make for an interesting push in fp, where you got 12 mechs and 24 pets. but then in pug hands you will have players holding up to release multiple pets before fighting. hard limit to 2 pets is a good idea.

in fp pets might be tied to your current mech so if you die they get removed from the game somehow. flying pets can be sent off map (if they survive you get salvage points). non-combat ground pets can rtb for salvage. combat pets might be ordered to engage at will (accepting no more player orders), or be handed off to the lance/drop commander. others (deployable turrets for example) can simply self destructed or quietly despawned.

the cbill cost would be really expensive like north of 100k (the mc price would be the same as the other 'premium' consumables), as they are disposable like any other consumable, you would always need to buy new ones. pets that survive might contribute a lot to your salvage bonus, perhaps as much as 50% their cbill value or more depending on damage. using them should be like consumables where when used well, you can actually turn a profit. pets would likely get their own nodes and would require skill tree investment like any other consumable.

Edited by LordNothing, 13 August 2021 - 03:32 PM.