113 replies to this topic

[Mark Nicholson]

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[The6thMessenger]

Mark Nicholson, on 21 December 2021 - 07:54 PM, said:

It's difficult to make these kinds of changes unless I'm already working on the 'Mech. Even then there needs to be time. I'd like to get back to the Timberwolf, but I'm not holding my breath. I know that for the Hellspawn it was balanced around having the shoulder pods stay. I agree it's kinda silly looking though, but then, so is the Hellspawn.



In general, the idea is that they are pre-order exclusives. However I can say that we noticed the keen interest in the Elementals, and our plan for them was always to do more than what we have done so far with them.



Mount space always has been, and always will be exclusive (to do otherwise would be to starting making LITERALLY THOUSANDS of new weapons). If there's a ballistic weapon there, nothing else gets to be there, ever. The 2 energy slots remain up top, and the 2 ballistic slots remain in the vent.

How much more do you think the arm situation irritated me? I've had the ability to fix it (along with so many other minor issues), and just never have the time.

I should add that I'm not wholly responsible for all the cool art here, and need to mention both Matt Neuman, and Alex Iglesias have been contributing. It's usually the 3 of us, and sometimes Daeron coming up with ideas for skins and bolt-ons. Alex has been doing great work turning these ideas into concept art, and being patient with how many times I ask for revisions.

Anyway, you're all here to look at cool 'Mech stuff, so have some more. The bolt-on system is a bit restrictive, so I've sometimes had to resort to interesting ways to get them all to work. In this case, the vents near the cockpit, and the middle wing are a single unit, on the back slot. This means you could choose to have only the left and right portions of the back wing, or just the middle.

Reminds me of Guardian Mode in Macross.


I wish we have Phoenix Hawk IIC.

[D V Devnull]

Hey... It's two people to talk with! (and some formatting to split my post)

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Mark Nicholson, on 30 December 2021 - 11:44 PM, said:

1. There isn't one. there's 5 bolt-on slots, and no more. for the Blood Asp, there will be 2 forearm, 2 shoulder, and 1 head bolt-on. This limitation actually gave me trouble with the shadowcat, as I didn't want the back wing to be all one massive bolt-on, so the middle back section and the head section are both a single back bolt-on, bringing it back down to 5 from what would have been 6. This also means you can have the middle wing section only, or just the side wing sections.

I hope that the Engineers which you work with are eventually able to enhance the Bolt-On System again at some point in the future, such that you would be enabled to create things exactly as you originally dreamed of making them.

Mark Nicholson, on 30 December 2021 - 11:44 PM, said:

2. I don't know the answer to this, but a way to test and find out occurred to me: check what happened with the warden pack 'Mechs.

Looks like I can help with this question, so I just went and checked. The various DWF-C & TBR-BH Omnipods are indeed now available for (C-Bills) since as of when the Standard Variants were made available to the Player Base in general.

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The6thMessenger, on 30 December 2021 - 11:52 PM, said:

I wish we have Phoenix Hawk IIC.

Hey... Don't forget the "UrbanMech IIC" as well!!! You're the one who made the Feature Suggestion Thread @ https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/249005-urbanmech-iic-clans-need-their-urbienlightenment-too-poll/ for it, after all!!!

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Now then, I'm off to the battlefields... Hope to see you on the same Team as me!!!

~D. V. "always glad to strike up a constructive conversation, Mechs and Parts included" Devnull

[AnAnachronismAlive]

While we gotta express our deepest appreciation to Mark for posting / interacting with us over the christmas-/newyear-festivities, we still should keep in mind - without holding him responsible for it in any way -, that there are far more urgent and central aspects of MWO in need for tweaking to keep it vitalized.

Reading between the lines in other MWO-related sources already indicates a rising discontent in the - despite being told otherwise before - on-going lack of engineering-ressources that are needed to adress more meaningful changes (even minor ones).

So again: while really grateful that Mark is providing feedback-loops on his really decent work (one can only imagine what PGI could have monetized with decent bolt-ons as these some years ago) and the map-changes Francois is providing, the faith in PGI or the current core-crew being allowed / able to deliver changes bigger than number tweaking via the Cauldron's input and content-rehash is currently loosing a lot of momentum.

This ain't criticism aiming for you or the other boys, Mark ... just a general description on how a lot of people feel about the current situation with eyes on the horizon, since sooner or later the excitement for re-quirked mechs and variants (which are by far the primary reason this game felt kinda fresh for the last couple of months) won't intice enough interest to keep the wheel turning.

Don't wanna drag anyone down though ... mebbe 2022 will be the game-changer. Anyhow: all the best for 2022, Mark and all other MWO-related colleagues. Stay healthy and let us all be grateful for what we have and had.

Edited by AnAnachronismAlive, 31 December 2021 - 04:14 AM.

[ilKhan_OrHan]

Mark Nicholson, on 30 December 2021 - 11:44 PM, said:

1. There isn't one. there's 5 bolt-on slots, and no more. for the Blood Asp, there will be 2 forearm, 2 shoulder, and 1 head bolt-on. This limitation actually gave me trouble with the shadowcat, as I didn't want the back wing to be all one massive bolt-on, so the middle back section and the head section are both a single back bolt-on, bringing it back down to 5 from what would have been 6. This also means you can have the middle wing section only, or just the side wing sections.

2. I don't know the answer to this, but a way to test and find out occurred to me: check what happened with the warden pack 'Mechs.

I have a pair of smokestacks on the back of one of my Blood Asp's. Without going in game real fast, I could have sworn it is a back slot having seen that bolt on slot on the back of other mechs as well. Looks like you equip back slot bolt-ons on the head now. Like the Shadow Cat mecha wings.

I checked the Warden before I asked you. Other than the one I own, I can't buy any more Warden omni-pods. So it appears you have to pay real money or wait until you can get these for MC for these omnipods. Unless PGI releases non hero/champion versions of these mech variants which you would then be able to get the omnipods for c-bills. Would you be able to confirm non hero/champion versions of these variants? Warden has a proper name but these variants do not. That leads me to believe these omnipods may be available for c-bills later.

Edited by ilKhan_OrHan, 31 December 2021 - 01:29 PM.

[Mark Nicholson]

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[ilKhan_OrHan]

Mark Nicholson, on 31 December 2021 - 03:07 PM, said:

1. The Smokestacks are indeed a back slot item. the shadowcat's new bolt-on will also fill the black slot. This has a lot more to do with space exclusion than anything else. If it doesn't take up that slot, other bolt-ons can be placed there as well, and you get 2 objects overlapping each other. This new shadowcat back slot bolt-on just also happens to include some stuff up near the head. I agree that it's not ideal, but with a limitation of 5 bolt-ons, it was this, or lose the parts near the head entirely.

2. So you didn't check, nor read the kind response from D V Devnull, who checked and answered your question. I'm had time to check as well, and the situation is indeed as Devnull has said, TBR-BH omnipods and DWF-C omnipods are currently available for c-bills. My unreliable recollection is that both the omnipods, and the whole chassis came out for c-bills in October, which would mean they were on a 3 month delay. It's likely you could expect the same of the Predator pack. Also, be certain you're looking for the Warden pack TBR-BH omnipods, and not the WARRANT hero 'Mech TBR-WAR omnipods.

He didn't quote me so I missed it. I presume this is an opportunity to get the omnipods and some extras 3 months early instead of waiting for the c-bill versions.

[Pariah Devalis]

By chance, what modifications or exceptions to the timeline do you all allow when it comes to viable future variants to offer? I ask because there are quite a few very good variants out there with improved heavy lasers that would work just fine with our current heavy lasers.

[D V Devnull]

Looks like I mentally fell behind here kinda hard... Now scrambling to catch up, and using pairs of Quotes too so that the reply will not get missed!

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The6thMessenger, on 30 December 2021 - 11:52 PM, said:

Reminds me of Guardian Mode in Macross.

I wish we have Phoenix Hawk IIC.

Mark Nicholson, on 31 December 2021 - 03:07 PM, said:

We came SO close, it was the 'Mech on the slate right after the Dervish when new chassis production got put on hold in favour of MW5 production.

Well then, Mark... here is to the hope that we will get to see you at the forefront when New Chassis Production resumes. You have been putting out some positively exceptional artwork, and the "Phoenix Hawk IIC" & "UrbanMech IIC" could both definitely use that touch.

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Mark Nicholson, on 31 December 2021 - 03:07 PM, said:

2. So you didn't check, nor read the kind response from D V Devnull, who checked and answered your question. I'm had time to check as well, and the situation is indeed as Devnull has said, TBR-BH omnipods and DWF-C omnipods are currently available for c-bills. My unreliable recollection is that both the omnipods, and the whole chassis came out for c-bills in October, which would mean they were on a 3 month delay. It's likely you could expect the same of the Predator pack. Also, be certain you're looking for the Warden pack TBR-BH omnipods, and not the WARRANT hero 'Mech TBR-WAR omnipods.

ilKhan_OrHan, on 31 December 2021 - 09:48 PM, said:

He didn't quote me so I missed it. I presume this is an opportunity to get the omnipods and some extras 3 months early instead of waiting for the c-bill versions.

I'll admit to both of you, Mark & OrHan, the egg is metaphorically on my face for that one. I should have reached back and grabbed the other Quote in the process, so you both have my apologies there. Sorry!!!


And to you specifically, 'ilKhan_OrHan', you've indeed got the picture now. They start with a Pre-Order & Initial Release which grants access to New Mechs/Variants just a few months in advance, then release for (MC) after two months beyond that, and finally for (C-Bills) after the third month on any Non-Hero Variants which are generally meant to be easily accessible to the general population. Certain particular released "(S)pecial" Variants however will always tend to remain behind the paywall, unless they find that they're something which should end up given as an Event Reward or otherwise. But such a kind of Event Reward has been turning extra-rare these days, so if they ever do that again then I'll be an extra heap of thankful here. I kinda thought it happened to be really cool when they granted all of the following...

• Centurion's CN9-A(NCIX) from a 2016 November "NCIX Tech Tips" Promotion
  (It might be possible to do something like this again if they contact Linus Media Group at some point!!!)
  
• Hunchback's HBK-GI "Grid Iron" from the 2016 Kerensky Bowl Event
  
• Stormcrow's SCR-Prime(S) granted by the 2017 "Trick Or Treat 3" Event
  (If my memory is not a mess, that one originated from a Steam Performance Pack perhaps???)
  
• Roughneck's RGH-PH "Powerhouse" from the 2017 Holiday Bonus
  
• Sun Spider's SNS-VG "Vanguard" from the 2017 Holiday Bonus
  
• Corsair's COR-BR "Broadside" from the 2018 Holiday Bonus
  
• Warhammer IIC's WHM-IIC-BL "Bludgeon" from the 2018 Holiday Bonus
  
• Wolverine's WVR-Q "Quarantine" from a 2020 Promotion
  (If my memory is still right, this was related to the COVID Pandemic initially making us all take shelter!!!)
  
• UrbanMech's UM-R60L(S) "Snowball" from the 2020 Holiday Bonus
  
• Phoenix Hawk PXH-1K(S) "Fireball" from the 2020 Holiday Bonus
  
• Mauler's MAL-2P(S) from the 2021 Holiday Bonus
  
• Marauder IIC's MAD-IIC-A(S) from the 2021 Holiday Bonus

...in Hero Mechs and/or "(S)pecial" Mechs either as an Event Reward which one had to put the effort into earning, or a Gift Code that people could simply pop in. (And that list does not even account for all of those "(C)hampion" Mechs which have come out of Events for people to earn, which would stretch the list a bit... But I am still totally thankful for having the chance & ability to acquire them anyway, and would look forward to seeing more Event Rewards & Gift Codes for those too!!!) But these are only all the ones which I could know about from times where I have actually been present on MWO to get them. So if any others have happened, then I am unaware of them and apologize to anyone who will be pointing out the missed items. As it is, my mind still wonders if there was any "(S)pecial" Names which Matt/Daeron/Mark/Francois/etc. might have wanted to name the two 2021 Holiday Bonus Gift Event Mech Variants which were made available to earn!

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And with that really long blurb from me, my Mech Techs are yelling at me to jump back in this Mech we're working on. Guess it's time for me to scoot again, but I really hope that I haven't messed up the formatting somewhere. Editing this post afterward would drive me crazy!

~D. V. "brimming at the mental seams with thoughts about Mechs and their Releases to players" Devnull

[Mark Nicholson]

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[James Nostra]

This is for Mark:

Is there any outside chance of us Clan player getting Rapid Autocannons aka Clan RAC's?

Or for that matter, ER Pulse Lasers?

[w0qj]

+1
This sounds very much like a proposed MWO timeline expansion to me!

ie:
May I suggest this, which is achievable already within the existing MWO engine, given enough manpower/resources (OK, everything but the combat pet part anyways):

- - - - - - - - - -
Let's dream big!

MWO Timeline Expansion (the first one since the Civil War timeline expansion)

Omnimechs for Inner Sphere!
New Mech chassis such as Stone Rhino!
New Atlas Hero with ballistic Left Torso *and* Right Torso!
IS gets advanced ATM, Lasers

Clan gets advanced ER-Pulse-Laser, MRM, RAC, and PPC! New mech chassis!
Angel ECM! Bloodhound Active Probe!

Premium Combat pets (Elemental, Elemental IIC, Pollux tanks, helicopters, etc.)!

More brand new maps!

Deepened Faction Play experience!

Love to dream big

James Nostra, on 02 January 2022 - 09:52 AM, said:

This is for Mark:

Is there any outside chance of us Clan player getting Rapid Autocannons aka Clan RAC's?

Or for that matter, ER Pulse Lasers?

[AnAnachronismAlive]

W0qj, hold your horses. While we'd all love MWO to have such a future, we are currently in a very sensitive phase of "stabilisation" of an aged game that suffered severe playerbase loss over the last 3 years. Don't wanna bust any dreams here, but we should not expect huge new content creations - as much as everyone of us would love that - in this engine / iteration of MWO anymore especially with the limited IP-cycle PGI acquired lately.

What we can hope for is a reasonable revenue-content-cycle that will improve the current game experience bit by bit, that can keep the current playerbase engaged and hopefully identify / acquire new target groups to keep the servers running and make minor iterations profitable enough to keep a minimum crew with partial engineering ressources (and I am somewhat doubtful about the second part => PGIs abilities / ressources regarding CE-coding tbh). Anything bigger in terms of re-hauled game-modes, meta-game like unit-achievements or bigger UI-changes etc. are nothing more than sweet dreams that won't become reality until some kind of MWO2 in a new engine - be it PGI or someone else - may show up on the horizon. And I currently fear this is kinda unlikely ... as sad as it makes me to say.

Enjoy the time ye had and still can have, enjoy the achievements the core-crew on MWO will be able to deliver to us over the next couple of months (hopefully 2-3 years). Certainly some new variants incoming, mebbe even some mechs gonna be published they already been working on in better days or some weapon iterations, but in the end we gotta stay realistic. The Battletech IP been lying in slumber for roughly a decade for a reason before PGI took our beloved space opera up back then.

O7

Edited by AnAnachronismAlive, 02 January 2022 - 03:47 PM.

[Drake67]

I would like to see the Agincourt from MW5 in MWO.

[Mark Nicholson]

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[Big-G]

Mark Nicholson, on 03 January 2022 - 04:56 PM, said:

At this point, I kinda would too. At the time we made them, it was understood that they were to be exclusive to MW5, and I wouldn't put much hope in that changing.

It's been really neat to see how much attention that particular hero variant has gotten, as it's one I designed the loadout for (Everthing but the Kitchen Sink), and I can't recall where the idea came from for the name and english longbowman look, but I loved alex's concept for it the moment I saw it.

But if they did make them available in MWO, it would definitely tie the two together and make more players of MW5 want to get into the more online gameplay version.

[AnAnachronismAlive]

Hey Mark,

if you do not mind us asking - and since this thread derailed a little in terms of content focus anyhow - would it be possible to implement some kind of "smoke grenades/pots/screening" like via utilizing the existing artillery strikes but without damage and grey smoke with a bigger diameter? Or would that take too much of a toll in terms of performance etc. should 12 / 24 players smoke the map simultaneously (the client could limit to one or two active per team max or alike to lessen potential ressource burdens)? Might allow for another useful strategic tool to use and might even give alternate vision-modes another reason for existence. Can not judge the coding work needed in that regard though.

If you feel like this ain't the place for such questions / some kind of open Q&A in general (since it might evolve into opening the box of pandora) => just lemme know, since I assume such questions have been discussed in detail with the Cauldron already and certainly been part of the plethora of proposals in the command chair section (features / new features).

Thinking about it twice => let us stick to the predator pack / new variants / mech-related questions. Will become a thematic mess else.

Thx

Edited by AnAnachronismAlive, 04 January 2022 - 04:06 AM.

[Drake67]

I like the Idea of the hanging Item Cbill bonus items and the events to earn more of them. Any chance of seeing some standing and warhorn Cbill items? I know that there some standing Cbill items available with certain packs through the store. A 30% hanging Item would be nice. The ability to have any mech achieve the hero Cbill status. I personally like playing the C4 Catapult for it's missile bonus. The only thing I could think of is make it a event item so it limits the availability.

Not to get totally off topic the rival mechs were mentioned to be available for CBills in about 3 months. Will these be only standard variants or will the Hero variant be available for MC? Looking at buying another Rival pack for the Ambush but I also have over 21K in MC and would rather just spend some of that for a Hero variant. While I am at it was the decision not to include standard variants with the Rivals pack because of the free mechs?

Which brings to question about the lack of cockpit items with the Rivals pack? I am guessing it has to do with the time constraints you mentioned before.

Well the suggestion for the Agincourt was to simply add another mech in the game like you did the Sun Spider, something that wouldn't take a lot of resources to complete( or at least in my limited understanding). I love my Butter Bee, but it doesn't work as well as the C4 with it's quirks. Add another 5 tons with the load out of the Agincort with the C4's quirks would be awesome for me anyway.

Edited by Drake67, 04 January 2022 - 08:09 AM.

[Pariah Devalis]

Roodkapje, on 05 January 2022 - 11:00 AM, said:

Also : Do we really need ANOTHER Shadow Camper Cat for all those annoying ER PPC campers ?

Just to be clear, you look at the new variant and long range poking is what you get out of it? I'm asking, because i don't want to come off negative, but I do want you to utilize critical thinking skills. What does this variant bring to the shadow cat? At what range bracket does that have the most impact? What sort of gameplay do the new options more closely benefit? Consider the mechs free tonnage and critical space, as well.

Consider it closely. Because I think if you do, you with your complaint about long range shadow cats poking might be pleasantly surprised. But I'm not going to spell it out for you. Go, you, utilize that organic computer to its fullest potential!

Edited by Pariah Devalis, 05 January 2022 - 11:26 AM.

[martian]

Roodkapje, on 05 January 2022 - 11:00 AM, said:

Also : Do we really need ANOTHER Shadow Camper Cat for all those annoying ER PPC campers ?!

Do not worry, once the novelty wears off, the new Shadow Cat will disappear.

And anyone wishing to run ER PPC Shadow Cat can already do it after just one visit to the store.


[off-topic redacted]

Kodan Black, on 05 January 2022 - 11:17 AM, said:

Nah, most of the original mechs (including the Marauder) were just stolen Macross designs. There is a whole legal drama out there to read up on if you feel bored.

They were not "stolen". FASA licensed the Unseen from a company which they believed was entitled to licence them.

Edited by Ekson Valdez, 07 January 2022 - 12:01 AM.
removed off-topic content