44 replies to this topic

[Meep Meep]

Well I'm not advocating for more armor? But instead of removing it how about ratchet back some of the high alpha and dps power creep which is what the survivability tweaks were made to address?

[Quicksilver Aberration]

Meep Meep, on 29 May 2025 - 08:44 PM, said:

Well I'm not advocating for more armor?

I never said you were, you were just complaining about TTK and I pointed out that the problem is very much a gamut because quirks pass are limited in scope and mechs get left behind because the power creep is very uneven and there's just too many mechs to keep up with on quirk passes. This is the fun of PGI relying too much on quirks to balance fundamental issues.

Undoing it will be a bit arduous given the fun of the skill tree changes and DHS changes since 2018.

Edited by Quicksilver Aberration, 30 May 2025 - 08:09 AM.

[East Indy]

Quicksilver Aberration, on 30 May 2025 - 08:08 AM, said:

This is the fun of PGI relying too much on quirks to balance fundamental issues.

To be fair, quirks would be more effective if designers/design influencers would acknowledge the challenges. And they're inherent to BattleTech:

• Unequal geometry value due to essential fun factor of imaginative 'Mechs in all shapes
  
• Total breakdown between original game concept and video game execution
  
  • Original concept relies on grid-based health with random hit location, rewarding chance
    
  • Video game facilitates precision/instantaneous/high-damage hits, short-circuiting game loop
    
  • Video game lacks basic diminishing returns; two guns always better than one, thus hardpoint disparity

Some quirks have been "boring"-ly effective, but most attempts have disregarded these fundamentals and get too clever.

The good news is that AI will probably make proofs of concept easier for some enterprising dev to demonstrate that, when looking for Western mecha gameplay, players want slower, high-engagement rock-'em-sock-'em, and the right mechanics can fairly easily support that. It's funny and sad that Russ has been a guiding light for this franchise but leaving money on the table with a broken design for a decade-plus.

[Meep Meep]

Quicksilver Aberration, on 30 May 2025 - 08:08 AM, said:

I never said you were, you were just complaining about TTK and I pointed out that the problem is very much a gamut because quirks pass are limited in scope and mechs get left behind because the power creep is very uneven and there's just too many mechs to keep up with on quirk passes. This is the fun of PGI relying too much on quirks to balance fundamental issues.

Undoing it will be a bit arduous given the fun of the skill tree changes and DHS changes since 2018.

I wasn't complaining about ttk? Just making the observation that its very fast compared to earlier balance iterations? On a personal level I'm quite happy with the state of the game even if there are still warts and blemishes and cauldron seems to fix more than it breaks. But what game ever gets that perfect balance?

[Quicksilver Aberration]

East Indy, on 31 May 2025 - 07:51 AM, said:

To be fair, quirks would be more effective if designers/design influencers would acknowledge the challenges. And they're inherent to BattleTech:

• Unequal geometry value due to essential fun factor of imaginative 'Mechs in all shapes
  
• Total breakdown between original game concept and video game execution
  
  • Original concept relies on grid-based health with random hit location, rewarding chance
    
  • Video game facilitates precision/instantaneous/high-damage hits, short-circuiting game loop
    
  • Video game lacks basic diminishing returns; two guns always better than one, thus hardpoint disparity

Some quirks have been "boring"-ly effective, but most attempts have disregarded these fundamentals and get too clever.

Quirks are a bandaid, what you are talking about would require a complete redesign of the mechlab and how you build a mech, not just quirks. I'm not saying it isn't a good idea, but not something that's ever going to happen in MWO.

Edited by Quicksilver Aberration, 02 June 2025 - 06:18 AM.