Well, this thread completely backfired.
Maybe I can explain this better without using Liao and Kurita as examples.
In World of Warcraft, with its two-faction system, the factions are mutually exclusive. Can't talk to other faction, can't play cooperatively with members of it, etc. That's fine because it makes sense canonically and, for better or for worse, brings groups of players together on some common ground. However, it also splits the playerbase at the same time.
In EVE Online, with its four-faction system, the factions are more...malleable. You can chat and party with, group with, fight with, join corps (guilds) with, people of different factions. A Caldari can work with a Gallente. A Minmatar can, if they want to, pilot Amarr ships. I realize that in MWO, there will be no exclusive 'Mechs, so that question is already answered, but the point remains - mixed faction groups are possible. PvP is not "This vs them" and if you have friends of other races, you can all play together regardless. I'm not saying it's better or worse, I'm just saying that's what the case is. Obviously, there is an (OPTIONAL) factional warfare system which ALLOWS players to attack certain other players (Example: Gallente can fire upon Caldari and Amarr, but not Minmatar), but again, the game does not force you to fight any Caldari you come across or have a negative standing with the faction.
In Battletech, there are countless broken alliances, plenty of political intrigue, backstabbing, etc, etc. Ignoring this fact, MechWarrior Online, as stated in
Dev Blog 1: Community Warfare, will have the following options available for new players:
- Join a Great House (Pledging Allegiance to a Faction)
- Becoming a Mercenary (Joining a Mercenary Corporation)
- Fight as a Lone Wolf (Remaining Neutral)
Of these options, I would ASSUME that a Lone Wolf player can party with and queue with or join up with ANY of their friends. I would THINK that a player in a Mercenary Corp will be able to take contracts from a House that a friend would be aligned with, or whatever, even though, say, the DCMS doesn't look kindly at Mercs, they will still hire them at some point (and besides you can always jump between the roles of House warrior, Merc, or Lone Wolf).
I'm not talking about those, but I would hope that the details are ironed out eventually.
What I AM talking about is the following:
At least five factions are available upon launch (or are supposed to be):
- Federated Commonwealth/Lyran Commonwealth
- Draconis Combine
- Free Worlds League
- Capellan Confederation
- Free Rasalhague Republic
It has been stated, I believe, that they are NOT having "The Periphery" as an option, and are not going to differentiate between House Steiner/House Davion.
So. If the factions that we join are not explicitly "at war" with the other, wouldn't I be able to group up with a friend? It's not like we're in a real military and stuck on some planet or within a group of a few planets - they give us a whole map. It's not like MW4:Mercs where we need to "jump" there and "oh it'll cost me 6 cycles worth of maintenance costs to play with you so I'm not gonna jump over there" is what you hear.
There's just a matchmaking system that I AM SPECULATING puts factional forces against one another depending on what Faction World it is, or mercenary forces against each other depending upon Border World is being fought over (contract bidding, etc.)
Alright. Here's the topic's intended question: Does this mean that I log in, join a "queue" alone, and get matched with only people of my own faction (and mercs/lone wolves) or can I "invite a player to a group" and then "queue" and then get matched accordingly?
Perhaps we can fight for each other's Faction Worlds if we join as an allied party? I mean, I don't expect the equivalent of "My friend plays an Undead Mage and I play a Dwarf Hunter and we want to fight together for the same cause" but there are CANONICAL battles/situations where, yes, the Inner Sphere, despite all its infighting, comes together for a common cause (as aforementioned in this thread, the Clan Invasion).
I think that if I end up joining a faction, regardless of whoever it is, I should be able to play with close friends. I know we can start with all different weight classes and all the 'Mechs are available to all players (at a different cost) but what if all this boils down to is different "free/cheap" starter 'Mechs? What if I want to start in a Jenner and my friend wants to start in a Zeus? Hypothetically, maybe we start with 5,000,000 C-Bills, and each Faction you join gives you a discount on their 'Mechs. What do I tell him? "Oh, the Zeus is not a DCMS design, you'll have to pick another 'Mech" ?
I don't know about you, but I know many, many people who love 'Mechwarrior from the MW2 days and, for better or for worse, are not exactly inclined to the allegiance of any "house" as much as they are to Jade Falcon or Wolf. If this game really is supposed to be the "breakthrough to the mainstream," there will be countless players who haven't heard of ANY of this lore/story, and say "Wow this 'Mech looks cool, I'm going to join the Faction that has that for cheap because being a lone wolf or mercenary costs more money (IF IT DOES. MAYBE IT DOESN'T. SPECULATION.)"
My point is, can/will/should players be restricted on who they play with to maintain a canonical situation, or will the Battletech exceptions exist? I mean, not EVERY SINGLE Draconis Combine member hated EVERY SINGLE FedCom member, right?
Thanks again,
Volume
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Adridos, on 03 January 2012 - 02:58 AM, said:
