73 replies to this topic

[Grease Monkey]

In reading all of the speculat...err...posts on the forum I had something come to mind.

Lets say I start a Merc Corp at launch and l am able to get a lance worth of my friends to join me, the first night out we take a few planets and we all go to bed happy. After we log off another merc corp decides it want the planets we took and decide to attack. What happens since none of us are online to defend our prizes? I see three options...

1: Point and click conquest, opposing merc corp just clicks and is notified the planet is undefended and takes it.

2: Lone wolves fill the all ranks and defend our planets without any of the defending merc corp in combat. While im on the subject, will lone wolves pay come out of the merc corps pocket?

3 (and the least likely IMO): Theres an option to set up notifications via email, txt, etc... that our planets are under attack and we have X amount of time to log on and defend them.

Thoughts?

[Trireaper]

People will attack because you're not there to defend them
But your teammates will defend it
/guess

[HanaYuriko]

When GEnie Multiplayer Battletech was online, players would actually call each other and wake them up at night to defend a world. This in a time when playing an online game usually meant paying for long distance phone calls!

[AdamBaines]

Id say that becasue they are not "your planets" but the plants you helped take for your employer, alot of the defending of that planet would also fall to the new house (your employer). Also as you said lonewolf fill-ins, other mercs and etc.

[Sug]

Maybe lance-sized merc units will not be viable for that reason: too small to adequately defend a planet 24/7.

Similar to how a 4 man guild can't do 25man raids.

Can't do more than guess at this point. Though if we're thinking of unit size in terms of Lance/Company/etc just think about the cannon units that have planets. They're mostly multi-regiment units.

Edited by Sug, 12 February 2012 - 04:39 PM.

[Grease Monkey]

Let me clarify a little. Not one of the members of the merc corp are online, not only that but we have no idea we are under attack (except in the case of #3). Unless I misunderstood the planet class system the planets are in fact mine, or the merc corps really. The houses will have no interaction with merc planets unless the devs change the class of the planet. dev blog #2 I believe

[Cyote13]

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.

[Hellen Wheels]

Grease Monkey, on 12 February 2012 - 04:26 PM, said:

2: Lone wolves fill the all ranks and defend TAKE our planets

Thoughts?

Fixed that for ya.

We take your planet.

And sell it back to ya later.

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

Edited by Hellen Wheels, 12 February 2012 - 05:16 PM.

[Strum Wealh]

From the FAQ:

Quote

Q. Will MechWarrior® Online™ have any online persistency?

A. Yes, this is where our plan for the Inner Sphere comes into play. All players in Merc Corps will be fighting for control over various border planets. The state of these planets is persistent.

Also, from Dev Blog 1:

Quote

At its core, the territory battle is a fight for resources – planets. Planets are divided into three types. Each type requires a more active level of participation by the player and as a result earns a greater reward.

• Core Worlds – Are managed by the dev team. These are worlds that necessary for future planning and part of major historical events.
  
• 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.

It’s important to state now, that worlds can change from Border to Faction to Core, or any combination thereof, at any time by the development team. This will be necessary to facilitate dramatic changes in faction territory control as we progress through some tumultuous times within the BattleTech® universe.

-----

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.

-----

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.

From there, it seems (IMO) that one could indeed go to bed one night and wake up to find that ownership of a given planet has switched hands... though, it should take a substantial and concerted effort on the part of multiple units (like... a Faction) to achieve something like that for most large/populous/important worlds.

Though, the last paragraph quoted from the Dev Blog could also imply that a Merc Corp's planet(s) could not be taken easily (if at all) without the matches mentioned taking place...?

(Though... such concerns are, IMO, another reason to hope for NPC vehicles that can, with help from players' 'Mechs, act as effective planetary garrison units... )

[Omigir]

Your planet gets its C:\ formated if you lose it. o__O

[Kenyon Burguess]

that last paragraph reads that two merc groups need to set play dates to determine who rules the world. seems kinda iffy as a way to do world fights. what if the owner never wants to fight for the world?

[Bluewolf1118]

I would think that a lone merc corp of only 2 or 3 lances would have a hard time taking a planet, let alone defending it at all. You probably won't be able to take a planet unless you are a true military force to be reckoned with, not just a company that excels at raiding and harassing, and if your group is big enough to take the planet you will probably have enough people in the corp to hold it (Time-zone differences will probably mean at least a portion of your force is up at all times).

[ItsGonRain]

Geist Null, on 12 February 2012 - 05:25 PM, said:

that last paragraph reads that two merc groups need to set play dates to determine who rules the world. seems kinda iffy as a way to do world fights. what if the owner never wants to fight for the world?

I'm guessing it will be along the lines of World of Tanks when it comes to outcomes. A date is scheduled wherever planet notifications are. At set point one of a few things will happen.

1) Both parties don't show and is considered a draw
2)Attackers show up but defenders don't. Attackers win by default
3)Defenders show up but attackers don't. Defenders win by default
4)Both parties show up. Battle commences

[osito]

I don't think the merc groups get to really hold a planet as theirs. a contract will be set up for you(the mercs) to take the planet. If you do end of contract the planet now belongs to your employer. so If another merc unit wants it and challenges for it, i believe a new defense contract will be put for a bid. If your unit is still online you probably get first dibs on contract if not then another unit can bid on the contract. That is just my opinion of what could happen.

[The Smith]

Make friends in Asia, while your asleep they can hold your planets.

[verybad]

Well, if all your base are belong to us, then we win, and u lose. AHAHAHA!!!

[Gravaar]

One option could be to have random quick fights for the people not interested in taking a world, but have a REAL time to travel to a defended world with a notification sent to all defenders that a contract is out on them, and/or you own it you babysit it or lose it, with time to organise defence when the Jumpship/Dropship enters the area (assuming its not a stealth mission)

[Kael Tropheus]

I think Osito has the gist of it. I am not sure how the planetary benefits will work if unit A takes a planet and unit B defends it since they won the contract to defend it. I seriously doubt that a unit will control the planet full time. Thats half the point of merc contracts after all is to keep pumping them out. I havent seen anything so far to make me think there will be an actual location your force will be at during any time but an actual battle.

Win a battle, hold the benefits for a while, get a new contract elsewhere. House units will likely be similar. Yeah you captured it for the empire but you dont actually fight to hold it unless you get assigned or win the contract to do so.

[Outlaw2]

ItsGonRain, on 12 February 2012 - 05:59 PM, said:

I'm guessing it will be along the lines of World of Tanks when it comes to outcomes. A date is scheduled wherever planet notifications are. At set point one of a few things will happen.

1) Both parties don't show and is considered a draw
2)Attackers show up but defenders don't. Attackers win by default
3)Defenders show up but attackers don't. Defenders win by default
4)Both parties show up. Battle commences

This.

Im surprised this is the only post stating the most likely set up. Its also similar to how Global Agenda does their own. Matches are scheduled dependeing on that area's (in this case, planet's) predetermined "prime time". There is a NA and a EU+RU map version with corresponding prime times. I would expect something similar for MWO.

Edited by =Outlaw=, 12 February 2012 - 06:59 PM.

[Listless Nomad]

Well if merc planets operate somewhat like faction planets- then it's likely that multiple battles will have to be fought to conquer it. So you might go to bed and wake up to find that your control of the planet has slipped to 70%, but not completely lost it. It's all speculation at this point and I'm sure the devs will come up with something decent. It is the one downside of being a merc company. If you only have around 4 friends in your unit - it's unlikely you'll be able to hold a world. That may be more the domain of the big units. Keep the faith though - I don't think the devs will let the little units not have fun.