73 replies to this topic

[Outlaw2]

Go back and read what they said about Border Planets.

InnerSphereNews said:

Border Worlds

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.
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.

Mercs have "occupation rights". Mercs outright occupy the planet, and are charged to defend it from any chanllengers. This sounds almost identical to WoT and GA's system.

However its sounds like ANY merc can challenge the occupying merc. So for example, a merc loyal to DC can be challenged by another merc loyal to DC ...(DC not caring as long as the most capable Merc gets the contract and defends it in their name). Which again..all of it resembling WoT and GA's system very closely.

Edited by =Outlaw=, 13 February 2012 - 12:57 PM.

[osito]

At some point i would like to see merc units do some land-holds. I do not think they will be in game at launch though. The devs already said at start of game 1 battle of 12 vs 12 will decide fate of planet but they would like to make it more difficult as time goes on. So i believe most merc land-holds will be added on in updates later along with more difficult planetary assaults. I do think that some land-holds already in verse at the timeline will be in like the dragoons will have outreach as of 3030 i believe? and probably gdl and kell will have land-holds. Just mho.

[Kael Tropheus]

Actually in canon it only happened a few times and only to the most loyal of mercs who then pretty much became a House unit and ceased being mercs. The Dragoons and Snord's boys and girls(I know one and the same) got around this. Mercs really could only hold planets in the Periphery and they ended up being borderline pirates usually, and of that there is plenty of fluff on.

Render has a pretty good idea and that seems pretty plausible to me.

[Outlaw2]

Kael Tropheus, on 13 February 2012 - 12:54 PM, said:

Actually in canon it only happened a few times and only to the most loyal of mercs who then pretty much became a House unit and ceased being mercs. The Dragoons and Snord's boys and girls(I know one and the same) got around this. Mercs really could only hold planets in the Periphery and they ended up being borderline pirates usually, and of that there is plenty of fluff on.

Render has a pretty good idea and that seems pretty plausible to me.

I think thats the idea the devs are going with this.

Mercs gain loyalty points (LP), which allows them better contracts. I would assume this means access to more important and lucrative border planets to occupy. As a merc unit gains more LP, they basically become a house merc. Eventually they are so in deep with one particula house (and enemies with the others..aka low or negative LP), you could say that they are essentially an extension of the house's own forces.

Edited by =Outlaw=, 13 February 2012 - 01:02 PM.

[Dread Render]

... I do not see how they will be able to do this. If that is true can we build a house on the planet and live there till it gets taken... like in UO? lol

[Outlaw2]

Render, on 13 February 2012 - 01:08 PM, said:

... I do not see how they will be able to do this. If that is true can we build a house on the planet and live there till it gets taken... like in UO? lol

I'd recommend you go read up on World of Tank and Global Agenda's 'territorial conquest' modes. Then reread the devs earlier blogs. It should make more sense to you then.

Edited by =Outlaw=, 13 February 2012 - 01:24 PM.

[Evernigh]

Ok how to start first off like it says in the blog their are 3 types of world the core world (ignore these the devs controle these) secondly faction worlds (all the worlds that factions and mercs will be fighting over getting contracts off the houses to fight on for the house) and thirdly merc planets nothing to do with the houses these are on the edges think of them as in 0.0 in Eve. Now then contracts of these I think their will be 2 types these will be House contracts attacking or defending plannets for a house faction these will take place on the second type of world. Secondly Merc contrats for the third type of plannet now then Merc unit A holds a plannet they gain bonuses extra cash reduced repair costs that sort of thing from owning it. Now then Merc unit B,C and D all want this plannet they put up a bid to take it the one putting up the highest gains the right to assault the plannet for example B bid 1.5mil C 1 mil and D 2 mil merc unit D would then win the right to assault this plannet. These plannets will have nothing to do with the Houses as they are all outside of House teritory. The bidding system will be their i think because their will be more merc units than plannets to fight over and controle. Once a merc unit has gained the right to assault the world a time is organised and the fight begins. The best way i can think of is that they put up a 5/6 hourly time that they can fight and then the defenders say when they would be able to defend and so the fight is set the players turnup and the match takes place.

[Kael Tropheus]

That would be an extremely unfriendly system for casual gamers and groups. I cant see it working like that. I think benefits will be immediate as far as resources and repairs go . But the border worlds which are part of a House as it has been said will continually be fought over in the form of an instance like mechanic. It will have real effects on the map as if a Davion merc unit wins its fight(s) and captures the Kurita border world. If no one takes it, then it still belongs to House Davion until someone else takes it. I am curious to know if another Davion merc unit takes a defense contract to defend it, do they then get the benefits?

[3Xtr3m3]

The game is Free to Play. But I see this as an excellent place for Piranha/Microsoft to make money. If you are willing to PAY for them, they will have a nice selection of autodefenses.
If you are a cheapskate and are unwilling to pay...you get walls and gates to defend your new acquisition.
If you are willing to pay for them...you get bigger walls, bigger gates, moats, radar, and most importantly.....autoturrets.
Long and short of it is. The more you are willing to pay for defenses, the better you have.

[Kael Tropheus]

And BruceP, that kind of concept(and I like yout plan) is why I do not think there will be a persistent stationing of mechs on worlds and planets will be instances.

[nightsniper]

This has been a problem for units as long as planetary play has been around (15 years any way). Here again we return to the issue of size and scope of the game also the number of players. If you look at the other successful MMO's online you will see registered users in the Millions with an online presence in the 10's of thousands. Something many experienced players never expected but the growth of actual businesses around team play and game domination. If you have not seen this take a look at WOT with groups numbering in the hundreds playing 24/7. With clan wars having a battle announcement but depending on the number of territories you can have 50 -100 battles a night every night. Really no joke!

The lesson we may want to take notice of is the day of a lance having an influence more then a single battle is gone a unit with out diversity of time zones is likely to wake up every morning to a real surprise. (good example is BSGO) where you territory taken now lost overnight. This is the reality of online gaming and the more popular the game the more it occurs. The Developers no matter the model will not restrict play to just Eastern Time zones or even US time zones it is a global world with Pacific time zones and European time zones just as dominate.

My suggestion is that if you want to command a unit then start recruiting and promoting now. Have a web site and invite players globally do this by visiting the MMO's and Post if you can or look for groups that have web sites in their recruiting that are not yet diversified. If you don't have the resources or time then look to research units that are taking these steps and sign on early, you will be far more likely to receive a rank advantage by joining early then waiting to see what develops and who is top.

Last bit of advice to everyone don't think your all set you may wind up to a rude awakening to find an online federation has joined MWO and taken all your resources it has happened in other games MWO is not likely to be a lot different

[DarkTreader]

Y'know, if they're going to have all of this set on a single match (to start with, at least), they could always have it set something like this:
To use a happy fun example from canon:

The GDL takes Helm. At that time, they establish that their 'assault' period is the 4 hour block between 8p and 12a, EST.
The GDL holds Helm. They do their thing, kill d00ds, be awesome, y'know, like they do.
House Marik decides it wants Helm, so it initiates a Planetary Assault during that 4 hour block of time. Up to 12 players can then 'tag in' to the match, in a first come, first serve nature, to see who will be participating in the match. The GDL comes online shortly thereafter, they see that they have a PD in the works, and rally a block of 12 who also tag in for defense. Once all 24 players (max) are available (i.e. online and not in a match), the PD will pull all of those people automatically to the 'waiting area' for the match to begin.

Win Conditions:
GDL: a) Beat House Marik's mechs. 'nuff said. b ) Have players tagged in for the match while House Marik has none/not enough, for the full PD block of time.

House Marik: a) Beat the GDL mechs. b ) Have players tagged in for the match while the GDL has none/not enough, for the full PD block of time.

PDs would require a minimum of 1 lance (4 mechs) to occur, so if Marik or the GDL can't field at least 4 Mechs, they're losing their schwag.

[AdamBaines]

Why do people forget that the planet is still "owned" by the house? Yes a Merc may take a contract to take a planet for Steiner from Marik and that merc unit my occupy it, but it is still Steiners. A merc unit cannot just say.....hum....im going to invade.....that planet and put it under Merc X's Banner. That's not the way it will work out. Now, I have been known to be wrong.....and often.....but I feel pretty confident that is not the way it will work.

[Evernigh]

And why are people still confusing the issue here these border worlds are not House owned worlds they having nothing to do with the houses at all the worlds that a merc unit takes for itself is a compleetly seperate part from the Faction world the houses will be fighting over. Yes mercs will be fighting for fations and the such for faction worlds but they will never own these worlds they will just be fighting for the Factions. The border worlds are compleetly seperate and will be faught over specificaly by Mercs and only Mercs and the mercs that win will own these worlds. Again they have nothing to do with the Factions (Houses).

• Faction Worlds – Are fought over by Faction players. These planets buffer core and border worlds, and do not play a significant role in major historical events. Rewards for controlling these planets are directly linked to global bonuses and abilities associated with a player’s Faction.
  
• Border Worlds – Are fought over via a contract bidding system by player run Mercenary Corporations. These planets change hands on a regular basis, and have no impact on historical events. Rewards for controlling a boarder world are significant and go directly to the occupying Merc Corp.

See Two compleetly seperate things the faction worlds will be faught over by mercs and Faction players Mers being contracted by a specific faction to fight for them. The Border world will be faught over specificaly by the Merc units an the "Contract/Bid" will determin who gets to challange the current owner of said world to fight for it and take it.

Edited by Evernigh, 14 February 2012 - 10:49 AM.

[petrel]

"Rewards for controlling a boarder world are significant and go directly to the occupying Merc Corp" IMO sounds pretty clear that in whatever form (with or without House oversight), control of the border world is with the Merc Corps so essentially the world would belong to the Merc Corp at least for the purposes of collecting resources.

"A match or series of matches are set up between the defending Merc Corp and the challenger" IMO sounds like an automatic scheduling system which would predictable enough to plan for with set time slots for battles.

[Solis Obscuri]

Hellen Wheels, on 12 February 2012 - 05:13 PM, said:

Fixed that for ya.

We take your planet.

And sell it back to ya later.

That's the Pirate 2AD Way.
=H=

Good luck holding that planet with one 'mech.

But in all seriousness, when I read

Quote

A match or series of matches are set up between the defending Merc Corp and the challenger.

I'm inclined to think those matches are scheduled somewhat in advance, not instant action style.

I'm not sure faction worlds are going to function quite the same way, though, since it reads like those might turn out to be continuous action zones until somebody racks up enough points or a free-for-all fora period of a few days, with a winner determined on points, or something. At any rate, I think the devs area expecting the great houses to have more resources available around the clock than any merc unit, which seems like a pretty reasonable assumption, particularly since I expect all houses will make extensive use of mercs to bolster their numbers.

Edited by Solis Obscuri, 14 February 2012 - 06:16 PM.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

With regard to Border worlds - merc corps can only bid on contracts. If a corps wins a world. They may then have to fight several battles to hold it. They then log off. There is nothing to stop the game excluding that world from contracts until they log back on again. Allthough there are only 4 world types (at launch) there can be thousands of "border worlds". After all they only exist in the "metagame" and we have no idea at the moment how many corps will exist, how big they are, what time zones they will cover etc.
With regard to faction worlds I agree with Solis. "Ownership" will probably depend on the overall result of multiple matches over perhaps a 24 hour period. Don't forget this is going to be a global game with people playing 24/7`, it's not NA only. If this takes off you could see the Russians from WoT coming on-mass, and there has always been strong support in Germany. If China and Korea take it up then native English speakers could easily be a minority.

[Bluey]

Im a damn pilot why do I care for ?.Its just like in real life a pilot cant be 100% active in 24 hours.
Guys in America will hold the line say 7 hours and they will go to sleep and guys in Europe*including me* will wake up
and take my position on trench.

Its a job for mech commander to let us know.

Edited by Bluey, 15 February 2012 - 04:43 AM.

[Rastan]

Cyote13, on 12 February 2012 - 04:48 PM, said:

Well they said that the Mercs are going to be filling contracts, hopefully when it comes to planet conquests it will not be a click fest.
Even an invading force jumping in at a pirate point will be at least hours out from landing and usualy longer.

I trust the developers to come up with a balanced system even if it takes a few tries.

I think this is very sensible way to go about it.
Perhaps you could have contingent contracts that automaticly go out to merc's.

I hope they make HEAVY use of merc's, contracts, etc
It will help bring players together while also providing player -2- player business opertunities.

[EDMW CSN]

If you want to be safe, better to have a diverse time zone in your Merc, unit or corp. Many games and gamers acknowledged this.

From ancient games like Shattered Galaxy. (Some regiments are extremely strong thanks to their closely knit core players in certain time zones but weak in other time zones. Some regiments are decent throughout due to aggressive recruiting and training programs to pad their off peak hours, so while not the best, the regiment can field a moderately competent force at any time zone) to even Red vs Blue in EVE-Online.

You can have a very very competent core group of players but they all will need sleep, hence you will suffer some where else. Of course if your Corp have excellent players for every timezone and pretty much dominate every single planetary encounter. Then the devs might step in.

Edited by [EDMW]CSN, 01 March 2012 - 02:30 AM.