31 replies to this topic

[Habokku]

I noticed that in today's continuation blog there was made mention of 'mech variants.

This excites me greatly, as I love the inherent variety of each 'mech's stock loadouts.

This doesn't mean we won't have a 'mech lab, of course, but I for one am excited at the prospect of seeing a 'mech and not knowing exactly which variant I'm looking at immediately. I have a penchant for stock 'mechs and enjoy running a 'mech as it comes from the factory. Maybe a tweak here or there in the 'mechlab, but leaving the overal design relatively intact. That's just how I like to play though.

Just my thoughts, what does the rest of the community think of this info?

<S>

-Havoc
A.K.A. Habokku

[Mason Grimm]

Yes, I edited your title. Trying to make it a little more clear for folks surfing quickly from their iphones while at work.

Or something.

[Rayge]

This is an excellent point. I wish we could get confirmation, but I do believe this means that we will not be seeing laserboat catapults. There are some very, very good implications here, and some fairly negative ones.

Honestly, bottom line is that I believe it will make it much easier to balance for the devs, so that's good news.

[Dr Killinger]

As far as I'm concerned, as long as we don't have omnimechs, we don't need a mechlab. As far as classic Battletech is concerned, mechs were very expensive and difficult to customize to the extent that we have seen in previous mechwarrior games. It's part of the reason the clans rocked the Inner Sphere so hard when they appeared.

This not only stops boating and other exploits, but adds a flavour to the game that I yearn for in my lore. Instead of everyone in a Dragon with 10 Medium Lasers, we can actually have some difficult choices to make. Do I want to give up that LBX-5 and gain a larger missile rack? Nah, I personally prefer to stick with the prime variant. I think this will promote some very individual gameplay. I think my customization itch will be scratched with modules and player points, etc.

[Rayge]

Dr.Killinger, on 03 February 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

As far as I'm concerned, as long as we don't have omnimechs, we don't need a mechlab. As far as classic Battletech is concerned, mechs were very expensive and difficult to customize to the extent that we have seen in previous mechwarrior games. It's part of the reason the clans rocked the Inner Sphere so hard when they appeared.

This not only stops boating and other exploits, but adds a flavour to the game that I yearn for in my lore. Instead of everyone in a Dragon with 10 Medium Lasers, we can actually have some difficult choices to make. Do I want to give up that LBX-5 and gain a larger missile rack? Nah, I personally prefer to stick with the prime variant. I think this will promote some very individual gameplay. I think my customization itch will be scratched with modules and player points, etc.

I think it will really help with mech identity. Skilled mechwarriors are going to see LRMs launched from a mech and say to themselves, 'thats an x variant jenner, I need to do x to kill it'

[GargoyleKDR]

We will have a MechLab. Brian Ekman stated:

Quote

Like previous MechWarrior titles, the MechWarrior Online economy revolves around managing one or more giant mechanized robots, called BattleMechs. Each `Mech has a role on the battlefield and is fully customizable by the player using an intuitive menu system called MechLab. Customizations include weapons, armor, along with other accessories, and modules. Players earn an in-game currency, called C-Bills which is used to buy new `Mechs, equipment, ammo, and perform repairs.

In DB4.2 it was also stated

Quote

This is the basic layout of the tree for any of the ’Mechs or variants that we launch with (or when we initially introduce the base model and chassis of any brand new ’Mech).

The "base model" and "chassis" terms are important here. Chassis could relate to a variant, or it could relate to a framework that we can use to customize along the lines of Brian's statement.

Either way, Brian's statement lead us to believe that we'll be able to customize as long as we have the C-Bills to pay for it. Combine that with "variants" and suddenly we have a green field of possibilities. However, it isn't a free, or probably even cheap process to customize a Chassis to suit your play preference.

[osito]

I am thrilled to see some variants included. There is always a mech load out i hate and one i prefer. like for instance stock archer against kurita variant, or the one with both lrms and srms.

[ShoveI]

I am also one of those that wants to keep the mechs and their variants fairly true to form. A few tweaks to weapons and armor is allowed but radically altering the mech configuration is something I really don't want to see available. For example, taking off all the weapons in a stock catapult and making a laser boat just shouldn't be possible, but maybe taking out a single laser and adding more ammo for the lrms or an extra ton of armor allocated would be an option.

What would be the purpose of even having the variants in the game if we can just make them all the same during customization anyway?

[Lorcan Lladd]

ShoveI, on 03 February 2012 - 01:54 PM, said:

I am also one of those that wants to keep the mechs and their variants fairly true to form. A few tweaks to weapons and armor is allowed but radically altering the mech configuration is something I really don't want to see available. For example, taking off all the weapons in a stock catapult and making a laser boat just shouldn't be possible, but maybe taking out a single laser and adding more ammo for the lrms or an extra ton of armor allocated would be an option.

What about stock boats?
Say, like the Piranha, Black Hawk and Supernova.
Are those something you'd want to see?

Edit.
Oh, I hadn't noticed, they're Clan 'Mechs.
Please disregard that.

Edited by Lorcan Lladd, 03 February 2012 - 02:01 PM.

[Habokku]

Mason Grimm, on 03 February 2012 - 12:50 PM, said:

Yes, I edited your title. Trying to make it a little more clear for folks surfing quickly from their iphones while at work.

Or something.

Thankya kindly there Mason, I didn't mean for the title to be unclear there

Funnily enough, I noticed the edit while browsing the forum from my iPhone.. though I was waiting on dinner instead of being at work.

Appreicate the edit for clarification purposes.

<S>

-Havoc
A.K.A. Habokku

[Habokku]

Lorcan Lladd, on 03 February 2012 - 02:00 PM, said:

What about stock boats?
Say, like the Piranha, Black Hawk and Supernova.
Are those something you'd want to see?

Edit.
Oh, I hadn't noticed, they're Clan 'Mechs.
Please disregard that.

No worries there Lorcan,

Most I.S. designs (with a few obvious exceptions such as the Awesome) favor a blend of weapons for a variety of ranges and uses.

I'll use the example of my personal favorite 'mech, the Highlander.

It's standard load out is a heavy ballistic weapon, usually in the form of a Gauss Rifle or AC 10) (though the AC 10 is probably the more common version, it was normally equipped with a Gauss Rifle, as the original Highlander as it was produced in the Star League era had a Gauss as it's main armament.) backed up by a combination of long and short range weaponry in the form of an LRM 20, an SRM 6, and a pair of Medium Lasers.

I love the utility of this design, it's got at least two or more weapons for use at any range needed. If they're at stand off to medium ranges, you can bring the LRM 20 and Gauss Rifle to bear. Once the target start to close in to short range you start to bring the Medium Lasers in to play along with the SRM 6 and can still maintain some Gauss Rifle shots till they're really close. (Assuming we have minimum ranges for Gauss, PPC, and LRM launchers)

Sure it's not optimized for one range, but that's ok. It's got weapons to deal with any situation and that's what I like. I know not all 'mechs are built this way, I mean look at the Hunchback, or the Jenner, they're both built for close in work.

I'm excited to see the prospects for variants, and hope that we have a 'mech lab that limits the ammount of customization we can do to a given chassis. Omnimechs are where crazy levels of customization can occur. Battlemechs aren't designed to be radically changed unless you've got a LOT of time and capital to invest in a total overhaul of the chassis (ranging from weeks to months and multiple millions of Cbills depending on what is being done).

That's my opinion anyway, take it as you will.

<S>

-Havoc
A.K.A. Habokku

[Morashtak]

With the right variants in the game can see where some will be saving their c-bills as they'll find a variant that's "close enough" to what they consider a perfect load out. Then when they get a wad saved up they'll blow it on building their dream machine in a Mechlab.

[CPTAmerica]

It will definitely make the Hunchback and the Centurion a little more of an unknown. Do you keep your distance from those Hunchbacks because they are supposed to have only short range brawling weapons or, is it the variant with the LRMs? Does that look like a regular Centurion to you or, is it carrying an AC/20 in that arm?

I love it!!

[Habokku]

Morashtak, on 03 February 2012 - 02:43 PM, said:

With the right variants in the game can see where some will be saving their c-bills as they'll find a variant that's "close enough" to what they consider a perfect load out. Then when they get a wad saved up they'll blow it on building their dream machine in a Mechlab.

This ^

I'm all for people building what they want, provided they're willing to save up and then pay for said improvements.

Well said Morashtak.

<S>

-Havoc
A.K.A. Habokku

[Alaskan Viking]

I don't know if it is hard to customize mechs on the table top game, or in the novels and lore, but in Mechwarrior PC games, customizing your mech was half, or more, of the fun.

[Karyudo ds]

Alaskan Viking, on 03 February 2012 - 02:58 PM, said:

I don't know if it is hard to customize mechs on the table top game, or in the novels and lore, but in Mechwarrior PC games, customizing your mech was half, or more, of the fun.

No it wasn't hard... actually to be more specific it wasn't a rule option period. You didn't like the mech, you picked a different one. There was HOWEVER full rules for building mechs. I think some sourcebooks had campaign rules for modifiying mechs as well and omni's had some rules about it. Only ones though. I think customizing in the PC games came about with there being few choices to work with compared to Battletech. If I want some random unknown mech and the game didn't have it, you could that way. I would rather see the full on mechlab go the way of the dino and for PGI to make EVERY SINGLE MECH.

Though I don't think that's likely so whatever. I would rather have limited customization but I'm not opposed to full customization...I just want to know what the heck I'm fighting with using the eyeballs I already have.

[That Guy]

this varients thing has me a little concerned. in order for a mech to be come "elite", you need "all varients" to be leveled. does that mean that we need to buy 5-6 centurions and max them each out in order to become elite, while you only need a single enforcer?

http://www.sarna.net...28BattleMech%29 (yeah, some of those varients are post 3050, but the point remains the same)

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Enforcer

the devs just love trolling with small (but important!) details dont they?

[CPTAmerica]

That Guy, on 03 February 2012 - 03:20 PM, said:

this varients thing has me a little concerned. in order for a mech to be come "elite", you need "all varients" to be leveled. does that mean that we need to buy 5-6 centurions and max them each out in order to become elite, while you only need a single enforcer?

I definitely understand where you are coming from. There are also 'mechs out there which have variants designed for specific roles. This would mean that a SCOUT role player might have to take a variant designed for ASSAULT/DEFEND or the other way around in order to advance his favorite machine. This either takes them away from continuing to earn XP in their designated role or, it puts them in a very poor 'mech chasis for the role they are playing.

[TheRulesLawyer]

Alaskan Viking, on 03 February 2012 - 03:24 PM, said:

You know, every Mechwarrior player I know loves the mechlab, if you don't want any mechlab whatsoever, I advise you stick to the table top?

Just 'cause the previous games got it wrong doesn't mean this one will too. In any case you can modify in the TT, its just far more limited and difficult than MW games would have you believe.

[Solis Obscuri]

I'm intrigued by that statement. Having variants would be fun, and it would avoid having people try to break/exploit the system through full-up customization, like the MW:2 & 3 Mechlabs allowed.