54 replies to this topic

[Opus]

I have been frustrated over this lone wolf concept, for 2 weeks now.

I have been pouring over my old TT books, revisiting all my old characters, and re-reading Sarna.net pretty hard the last 3 weeks since I joined here. I even pulled a few of my favorite Novels down. Then a brilliant concept struck me; Read the Dev Blogs; And it is spelled out pretty clearly in Blog 1 on Community Play and Loyalty points.

Basically you can play as a lone wolf, but you will not reap the same rewards as other players, because they tattoo'd their ___'s with a House, or Merc stamp. So to be a Lone Pilot has major draw backs. Rank, and "How" rank is going to effect in-game results is unknown to a point. It is known you can upgrade with Mech Modules, and Pilot Skills, if that is Rank dependent; Lone Pilots are screwed - they will always be a step behind Major House pilots. MercCorps; I assume will be similar...

In Canon, there are few Mech Pilots outside Solaris, that made an Impact in total I.S. history. Unless your a Pirate

And since Border Planets are going to be Similar to MW:LL battlegrounds, or Faction Controlled rewarded BG"s as similar to Wow. You have to have, or participate as log in Pick-up for team driven events.

That leaves the Outer Periphery regions, if this is a Persistent Sandbox Universe, they should be there. Several problems present themselves here; How do you get there? And who do you fight, if there is no PVE, or another team to fight for plant control???? Standard "MMORPG Gaming" theory is; "You have to sleep sometime Byiatch". We'll wait till you offline, and take your bicycle then....., err Planet then...

SOOOOoooooooooo to make a long story longer, I don't see enough to make me want join a Faction House, or MercCorps, but I am still in wait and see mode, if there is a way to make this work....

Dunno, Thoughts?





Faction Worlds
[color=#CCCCCC]
The battle for control over faction planets is a simple war of attrition. The faction with the most influence over a particular planet occupies it. By virtue of simply competing in online matches, faction players contribute influence points to target planets.[/color]

Border Worlds
[color=#CCCCCC]
Mercenary Corporations can bid and fight for occupation rights of border worlds throughout the Inner Sphere. Merc Corps must bid on a planet’s occupation rights via a system of contracts generated by the game.[/color]
[color=#CCCCCC]
A match or series of matches are set up between the defending Merc Corp and the challenger. The victor is determined from the results of each match, and takes control of the planet. They are rewarded with an immediate contract payout, and will continue to earn rewards while they occupy the planet.[/color]

Loyalty Points and Ranks
[color=#CCCCCC]
Loyalty Points are used to determine how devoted you have been to a particular faction. The more loyal you are, the greater the reward. LPs are earned by engaging in activities that further the goals of a particular faction.[/color]
[color=#CCCCCC]
For Example: Killing an enemy faction player would earn 1 LP.[/color]
[color=#CCCCCC]
Loyalty Points decay over time if a player is not active. Participating in negative actions can also decrease LPs.[/color]

Faction Players
[color=#CCCCCC]
As a Faction Player, loyalty points are earned by playing and winning matches. As the player accumulates loyalty points, they will gain a military faction rank at pre-determined loyalty point totals. If a player loses LPs by decay or negative actions, they will be demoted.[/color]
[color=#CCCCCC]
Gaining ranks earns special privileges and items, including membership to special units, unit skins, and bonuses to C-Bills and XP. These are all non-permanent and subject to the player maintaining a certain rank level. At the highest possible levels, players can begin to influence their faction by controlling which planets are targeted in territory conquest.[/color]

Mercenary Corp Players
[color=#CCCCCC]
As a Mercenary Corporation, all members’ earned loyalty points go to the Merc Corp. The Merc Corp must have a minimum amount of loyalty points with a faction before they are able to engage in planetary combat on behalf of that faction. Loyalty points also determine the type and level of contract a Merc Corp is permitted to bid on. These loyalty point restrictions mean that a Merc Corp’s membership, must remain active in order to maintain the required level of LPs.[/color]
[color=#CCCCCC]
Ranks are created within a Merc Corp by the Merc Corp leader. The naming of the ranks is entirely up to the Merc Corp leader who can assign Merc Corp level permissions to each rank.[/color]

Lone Wolf Players
[color=#CCCCCC]
As a lone wolf, the player can earn loyalty points through participation in random matches, however these LPs have no positive or negative implications. A lone wolf player does not have any ranks[/color]

Edited by Opus, 12 February 2012 - 08:49 AM.

[Doolie]

I'm thinking along the same lines... wait and see if it's worth siding up with someone.

-D

[twistedcop]

well I am waiting to see if my fleet jumps ship from navyfield to start up our own outfit here if not then I will see who shows interest in me I wont ask for a home I will wait for the invite

[Anvil Dragon]

Other than arena combat or duels a lone unit in a battlefield is rather limited except for scouts.

Planets will have to be explored. Resources, ruins, enemy outposts... Fairly random what you may find with only a few hints and a satellite map to begin. Information has value, might be other scouts too. Replacing some of your munitions with seismic charges, specialized sensors...

Do try to get back with the information.

[Damocles]

equality fails

[that1fail]

Fires an AC20 at Damocles.

[Damocles]

But can I have one to shoot back?

[Alistair Steiner]

Well, Lone Wolf seems to be more for casual players who don't care about the BT universe. They just want to log in, suit up, and blow stuff up. They're the filler for unequal numbers. At least, that's how I see it.

[Kenyon Burguess]

lore wise, lone wolves dont have a place in the periphery either. pirates never lone wolf raids, and the different groups in the periphery have rather large militaries to join. your just a one man merc corp in MWO with none of the benefits of being able to own a planet is all.

[M4NTiC0R3X]

IMO: They're pushing players to pick teams, which is okay w/ me. In the real world a lone wolf could not come up w/ the same resource as an entire army therefore I think there should be a match type for lone wolves & bots to keep things fair. Fact is: team w/ the most uncoordinated players loses. Personally - I want to be a clan member - if not... Steiner = Irish = Best.

Pro teams won't include PUGs anyway - those are the juicy battles everyone dreams about ~`8D

[Nick Makiaveli]

Alistair Steiner, on 11 February 2012 - 03:42 PM, said:

Well, Lone Wolf seems to be more for casual players who don't care about the BT universe. They just want to log in, suit up, and blow stuff up. They're the filler for unequal numbers. At least, that's how I see it.

This is what I am thinking. It's for players who either don't want to fool with the Houses and rep or don't care. Merc could work the same way for those people. Log in and see who you are fighting for today and go forth (depending on how that works). Houses are for the rest of the RPers etc etc.

The above is shortened from my full thoughts, so please hold the flames.

[Opus]

Alistair Steiner, on 11 February 2012 - 03:42 PM, said:

Well, Lone Wolf seems to be more for casual players who don't care about the BT universe. They just want to log in, suit up, and blow stuff up. They're the filler for unequal numbers. At least, that's how I see it.

Or Maybe they are sick of House snobs?

Be careful when you say somebody like myself, who hasn't picked a side - claiming we don't care.

That is an extremely arrogant statement

Edited by Opus, 11 February 2012 - 04:56 PM.

[Derick Cruisaire]

Like it or not. Battletech is a unit based game. That predisposes it to favoring group orientation but does not exclude individualism. The predisposition just makes things more dificult for the individual. Which is probably as it should be. There are not many successful one-man-armies afterall. I personally like the underdog aspect of being a Lone Wolf. Perhaps at a later date I may entertain the idea of joining a faction or starting up a Merc Corp. But for now I say Lone Wolf and proud!

Alistair Steiner, on 11 February 2012 - 03:42 PM, said:

Well, Lone Wolf seems to be more for casual players who don't care about the BT universe. They just want to log in, suit up, and blow stuff up. They're the filler for unequal numbers. At least, that's how I see it.

That seems rather generalized. I'm sure there are plenty of casual players who care about the Battletech universe. But, for whatever reason, choose not to join a faction.

[Maximilian Thorn]

http://mwomercs.com/...casual-players/

I see Lone Wolf as a benefit to play the game faster with more variety then Faction or Merc Corp players.

(See Link Above)

[Opus]

Maximilian Thorn, on 11 February 2012 - 04:59 PM, said:

http://mwomercs.com/...casual-players/

I see Lone Wolf as a benefit to play the game faster with more variety then Faction or Merc Corp players.

(See Link Above)

That's what I was hoping for; aka prove yourself before you claim a house. What house or MercCorp, hires a mech pilot sight unseen?

[Razed]

It would certainly be an interesting game dynamic if we all got dumped into one pool at the beginning and then the Houses and merc companies got to pick teams after a few weeks or so. Who would do the actual picking I don't know but it would make for interesting play.

I can understand the lore based argument, that being: "Lone wolves don't really exist in the canon so choose a team or suffer the consequences." If you're looking to create a hardcore BattleTech universe you essentially can't have unaffiliated players because they don't really have a place. I don't see any reason why this game has to be such a tightly controlled grognard-fest. I believe there is enough Inner-Sphere for everyone. There will be plenty of Factional interest between the Houses and the Mercs to support a rich RP experience for those who want that. I don't see why there can't be an equally rich experience for those who don't want to be affiliated as such. If house players get a bonus I think lone wolves should get a comensurate advantage as well.

[Derick Cruisaire]

@ Razed. Perhaps the advantage is already there. Lone Wolves are eligable to participate in any battle. Regardless of Faction or Merc Corp affiliation And ,it would appear, suffer no consequences for fighting on side A's team in one battle, and side B's team in the next. This could mean that a very dedicated Lone Wolf may gain experience slightly faster than his/her faction counterpart because of a larger availabilty of possible battles.

[Naduk]

Opus, on 11 February 2012 - 02:17 PM, said:

And since Border Planets are going to be Similar to MW:LL battlegrounds, or Faction Controlled rewarded BG"s as similar to Wow. You have to have, or participate as log in Pick-up for team driven events.

That leaves the Outer Periphery regions, if this is a Persistent Sandbox Universe, they should be there. Several problems present themselves here; How do you get there? And who do you fight, if there is no PVE, or another team to fight for plant control???? Standard "MMORPG Gaming" theory is; "You have to sleep sometime Byiatch". We'll wait till you offline, and take your bicycle then....., err Planet then...

this game is NOT a mmo or mmorpg
you do not spend your time prancing around planets picking flowers and crafting and grinding

Mechwarrior Online is a match based PvP combat game with some rpg elements
match results affect an over all universe and planetary conquest meta game

you do not load up your mechs into a space ship and go about exploring the galaxy
you dont recive quests from npc's

play older mechwarrior games to understand
or
something like League of Legends as the developers have cited it as a inspiration/resemlance to their own pricing and game launching models

please read through the FAQ's and dev blogs
this game is NOT a MMO and there is NO issues with players being a lonewolf

[EDMW CSN]

Lone Wolves are essentially one man merc corps. While they do not gave bonus LP for working for a House unit or Merc unit (that is under a house), they are free to join any faction battle they wish. This would help because if any specific House has a lower player count at certain time zones, Lone Wolves would be the first to be shipped to the front lines.

So essentially they can play pub games a lot faster without waiting for their House or host merc company to attack a certain planet. Of course while they can magically teleport across the IS to aid anyone, their downside is no LP and no benefits other than raw experience.

Of course, if the game gets huge, there will definitely be multiple battles at every front per House thus there will be no lack of fights. So there would be no point being a Lone Wolf and join a House instead and get some LP.

Edited by [EDMW]CSN, 11 February 2012 - 07:03 PM.

[Outlaw2]

I think too many people are getting fixated on the "lone wolf" title and letting their imginations run wild on the type of gameplay to expect.

A lone wolf is simply a neutral player...wouldn't say causal player exactly...but Im sure a higher percentage of causal players will be lone wolf.

I think the main advangtage of being a lone wolf will be faster queue times, since they can fill in for any faction. Which is perfect for a causal player that just wants to log in, play a few games, then log out.

Edited by =Outlaw=, 11 February 2012 - 08:27 PM.