137 replies to this topic

[Incunabulum]

Why are so many people in love with them to the extent that even thoug MW:O is still in beta they keep asking when clans will be introduced.

For me, even though clan tech is teh awesomes, who the heck can have a hardon for a society with a rigid class system that eschews scientific and technological advance for the ability to be the best dueller around, to the point that they suck in large-scale warfare?

It can't be about the possibility of conflict - the smallest IS polity has more going on in this area than any of the clans.

[Mavairo]

I came into mechwarrior during Mechwarrior 2. I cut my teeth on mechs such as the Mad Dog/Vulture and Timberwolf / Madcat.

I like the clan mechs aesthetics better by and large than I like the inner sphere mechs.

Also, I wouldn't count the clans ability to make war out. They did kick the innerspheres backside pretty hard until the innersphere changed their tactics, and got their tech back up to snuff.

[Atlas3060]

Well the easiest snarky comment I can make is some folks like the idea of being a Clanner.
After all you get to be the biggest (Censored) in human space and not get punished for it.

I only like the Bears because of their background, having the first (and only?) married couple found a Clan. They treated it like a huge extended family and supposedly that's how Bears are to treat each other.

That's all good in theory anyway.

[Hayden]

Incunabulum, on 16 August 2012 - 12:39 PM, said:

Why are so many people in love with them to the extent that even thoug MW:O is still in beta they keep asking when clans will be introduced.

For me, even though clan tech is teh awesomes, who the heck can have a hardon for a society with a rigid class system that eschews scientific and technological advance for the ability to be the best dueller around, to the point that they suck in large-scale warfare?

It can't be about the possibility of conflict - the smallest IS polity has more going on in this area than any of the clans.

As a guy firmly stuck in 3025, I think the dev team is missing the boat by starting the game so close to the clan invasion. They could have easily spent a year or two in the 3025-3049 era, which has the advantage of being much easier to balance than the mess after 3050. The clans are too popular not to include, but I think by chomping at the bit for clans so early the community misses out on some of the most easily balanced elements of BT canon. I suspect the timeline will only go forward from the release date, and so I and others like me can kiss off the 4th Succession War, War of 3039, and the numerous other small scale conflicts taking place in this time frame.

[Jost]

Incunabulum, on 16 August 2012 - 12:39 PM, said:

Why are so many people in love with them to the extent that even thoug MW:O is still in beta they keep asking when clans will be introduced.
For me, even though clan tech is teh awesomes, who the heck can have a hardon for a society with a rigid class system that eschews scientific and technological advance for the ability to be the best dueller around, to the point that they suck in large-scale warfare?
It can't be about the possibility of conflict - the smallest IS polity has more going on in this area than any of the clans.

It's not the possibility of conflict. It's the OP tech and the imaginary superiority. Most often, clans are preferred by people with (justifiably) low self esteem.

[Faeron Wolf]

Incunabulum, on 16 August 2012 - 12:39 PM, said:

Why are so many people in love with them to the extent that even thoug MW:O is still in beta they keep asking when clans will be introduced.

For me, even though clan tech is teh awesomes, who the heck can have a hardon for a society with a rigid class system that eschews scientific and technological advance for the ability to be the best dueller around, to the point that they suck in large-scale warfare?

It can't be about the possibility of conflict - the smallest IS polity has more going on in this area than any of the clans.

Better than the corrupt feudal economic slavery the Inner Sphere finds itself in..

[Mihr]

Always been drawn to them even though I'm not partial to the way their society is structured. The alien nature of their society and the general "bad guy" draw of them has had me hooked since my first TT and eventual MW2 play. I would never fit in a clan, way too easy going and kind natured for the brutal, battle focused society which makes the interest in it that much more.

Happily going to play IS until the clan tech and mechs hit then, yeah, I'll be swapping.

[Deathsiege]

As a comedian once said,"Why is it I can go to school wearing a football jersey and everyone high-fives me but, if I show up in a Star Wars shirt I get beat up all day long?" Geeks and nerds need some back up, thus the Clans. Merc's for life! Go team!! lulz

[TG Xarbala]

Faeron Wolf, on 16 August 2012 - 12:56 PM, said:

Better than the corrupt feudal economic slavery the Inner Sphere finds itself in..

Actually not much better at all. Merely another flavor of slavery. Combine this with the sheer amount of genocidal actions the Clans take against each other when their fragile cultural constructs finally give way (see: Wars of Reaving, wherein the Clans prove more murderous and more politically backstabbing than the Word of Blake) and you see why it's a worse life living under Clanner rule than it is even under House Liao's. Unless you're lucky enough to get conquered by the Ghost Bears anyway, and nobody cares more for their civilian populations than the Ghost Bears. Not even the Davions, who keep most of their people illiterate since they're too busy pumping funding into their militaries for astonishingly vague moral platitudes like "liberty and freedom" instead of trying to keep their people educated, healthy, and fed.

Basically, the Clans are another flavor of douchebag. They're self-righteous, manipulative, stronger, and with a culture that explicitly keeps them locked in stasis now that the warlords in charge are convinced they're "good enough." They haven't had any real technological developments since the Golden Century and they've begun to decay since. The Invader Clans only start to innovate (culturally or technologically) because the Inner Sphere taught them to re-examine how terrible their methodologies really were outside of their fragile homeworld dynamic.

The Clans kicked the Sphere's bum pretty hard until the Sphere started bringing their logistical and numerical superiority to bear, and only by keeping the Sphere divided and unable to swamp them with sheer numbers has the Invader Clans managed to maintain the territory they have now. Before the Invasion, the Clans were used to fighting ritualized Trials, not real wars. Their skill and technological edge kept them on the advantage until the protectors of the Inner Sphere realized that 1) Clan culture was so stupid it could be used against them as a lethal weapon and 2) for every Cluster (Battalion) the Clans deployed, the Inner Sphere could deploy a Regiment, with vehicle and aerial support.

Even Clan Wolf was dumb enough to rely on a supply train to the Homeworlds after the Clan Invasion. They honestly didn't think improving the infrastructure of their conquered territories to Clan-level to provide for their own supplies was a good idea. That's right, they'd rather import Dire Wolves across a thousand light-years from home rather than build them in the territory they actually securely owned, that wasn't vulnerable to neighbors on-planet or a single jump away deciding to Trial for 'em.

And Clan Jade Falcon decided committing genocide against an entire caste (Scientists) was the safest alternative when it became apparent there were intrigues afoot.

The Wars of Reaving was CGL wiping off the insincere patina of romanticism off the Clans and showing them raw, desperate, and with their true colors flying. It's almost like the survivors of FASA got sick and tired of people treating the Clans like they're better than they actually are. They already have Davions for that nonsense, so it was a good move. And unlike the Jihad, all of the dirty Clanner politics made perfect sense as it unfolded.

[Kaarde]

I'm in agreement with the lad above. I rather wish the devs had set the date of the game a bit earlier so we could have a year or so of play prior to the incoming of the clans.

[JFlash49]

The superior fire power i suppose. everyone wants to say "my guns are bigger than yours" and be able to decimate your opponent in seconds. I love clan tech, but i wont go crazy cause its not there (mostly because my favourite mech is the awesome) i can wait the year.

[Faeron Wolf]

I'll always be Clan Wolf In-Exile (Steel Wolves Merc Unit)

While the Clans have glaring weaknesses I really cannot respect any bodies of the Inner Sphere military rather than the merc units

[Skadi]

Diiiiirrreee wooooollllfffff
*drool runs down mouth*

[TG Xarbala]

Faeron Wolf, on 16 August 2012 - 01:40 PM, said:

I'll always be Clan Wolf In-Exile (Steel Wolves Merc Unit)

While the Clans have glaring weaknesses I really cannot respect any bodies of the Inner Sphere military rather than the merc units

CWiE inflicted the Hellstar on us, the most boring `Mech to play as or against, and that's unforgivable.

[Walsung]

Faeron Wolf, on 16 August 2012 - 12:56 PM, said:

Better than the corrupt feudal economic slavery the Inner Sphere finds itself in..

not the free rasalhague and the clans are worse then all but kurita and capella

Atlas3060, on 16 August 2012 - 12:50 PM, said:

Well the easiest snarky comment I can make is some folks like the idea of being a Clanner.
After all you get to be the biggest (Censored) in human space and not get punished for it.

the art for the clans was much better then most IS stuff. It's why people get boners for the unseen because they were the only IS mechs that you looked at and thought ....cool; piranha has done a great job with some pretty crappy source material. But other then that if you Role play you only tend to RP the clans once and not for long, they are mostly liked by munchkins because there tech is so much better.

Nicholas was a mad man. The only reason I can see for his position is respect for his father.

(on a side note you'd think that after 80 years of research and reverse engineering the IS would have managed actually improvements to their weapons and not just different flavours of crappier (with a couple of exceptions).

[Faeron Wolf]

TG Xarbala, on 16 August 2012 - 01:47 PM, said:

CWiE inflicted the Hellstar on us, the most boring `Mech to play as or against, and that's unforgivable.

4 ER PPCs don't hate it because you get popped out of your cockpit in a volley or two

[CCC Dober]

OP: It's rather simple. Back in the days of the Star League, life was good. The Clans hail back to that time and the leader of their Exodus was none other than the 'boss' of all Star League Defense Forces, good old Kerensky. This was done as a matter of preserving the Inner Sphere from sure destruction. It was a tough call and most daring on top of it. There are still Clans that remember their duty, but the Clans as a whole are not united in purpose anymore.

This is what makes things rather interesting and the fact that they have evolved culturally and technologically, as well as adapted to their new, harsh environments, where the Inner Sphere has barely restored status quo in all that time. You might understand why people like the Clans a lot if you read up on what happened at the end of the first Star League. That's where it all started and the invasion is/was where things turned full circle (as always with Comstars guiding hand of course).

[Faeron Wolf]

The primary reason why I like the Clans is the culture of them, the sense of duty and honor.

They worship skill in battle and (mostly) positive attributes in their warriors. That is why I like them, because I'm huge on history and they draw some great parallels to historical societies.

[Nanorider]

I agree with TG Xarbala and Kaarde!

[Koorisch]

The only reason the clans are even in the IS is because the jerk of a son Aleksandr got, Nicholas Kerensky is the root of all this.

I mean, he even had his own brother thrown into a ambush all alone because he was afraid that he would gain more power than him.

And the whole deal with him calling for the destruction of Clan Wolverine because they called him out on all his BS.