149 replies to this topic

[Zhanna Kerensky]

... also wondering whether or not the developers from Piranha Games will be interested in the topic of this thread and take a look at the postings (?) ... perhaps, it would have been wiser to post it in the 'Suggestions' subforum ... ah well, we'll see, time will tell ... I am happy to see so many different views regarding the topic!

[Mautty the Bobcat]

Well to be fair, even with being able to pick any mech on start, a lot of units/clans (referring to a team, not BT Clans) that are more anchored in the BT lore will still organize themselves into specific groups. Having designated groups of people with specific mechs, and organize them to be as effective as possible which could cause quite a variety of fighting and unit composition.

[Wyzak]

I think a system that encourages/gently pushes people to occassionally play different roles will help players learn. "Cross-training is the key to victory; specialization leads to defeat." - Adam Steiner

[Sprouticus]

I say you get to pick one mech and then get X c-Bills. Who cares which mech it is....if you cant sell mechs it doesnt matter if its a atlas or a commando.

You should pick you mech based upon the role you want to fill initially in the game. Period.

[TheRulesLawyer]

Aegis Kleais™, on 29 February 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

You know, one of the things you see a lot of that I personally feel is due to a lack of tactical understanding, especially with class-based games, is when players say "Oh, we already have X amount of [class/chassis], go something else." As if diversification was any form of solution to a person being forced NOT to play a class/chassis that they excelled in.

In other words, if I come into a group in my Timber Wolf, and someone says "We have 2 Assault and 1 Heavy already, go as a Scout", my inexperience in playing (or even HAVING) a chassis that would excel in Scouting (as well as an empty Mech Efficiencies Tree in it) would not do the team any service. It's one of the reasons why I'm hoping they don't have drop weight restrictions; forcing a player to play a role they are not experienced in is detrimental to the team.

I get yah, but without a limit you're going to see way too many all assault teams in pubs. Premades are self regulating. Maybe its as simple as joining the queue with a role or list of roles and weights you're willing to play. Matchmaker puts together diverse teams. If you're playing assault with everyone else you have longer waits just like DPS looking for instances in MMORPGs.

[Gwenaelle Focht]

Sprouticus, on 29 February 2012 - 08:41 AM, said:

I say you get to pick one mech and then get X c-Bills. Who cares which mech it is....if you cant sell mechs it doesnt matter if its a atlas or a commando.

You should pick you mech based upon the role you want to fill initially in the game. Period.

True, but what if you want to be able to pilot more than just one mech with your game character ... I doubt additional mechs will all be priced the same (what would be the point of C-bills/money in the game then?) and then some of them could possibly just be bought for their standard equipment/armament (as supplies), so that more expensive weapons and equipment can be swapped between the mechs owned as I doubt equipment and weapons will all cost the same as well, and not as a mech per se. Unless one salvages another mech it will be harder for those that chose a light mech initially to afford another mech of heavy or assault weight class for the same game character afterwards, if the prices vary at that point (basically, if any first mech comes at the same price and with the same amount of C-bills and after that there will be a price system in place) ... I think that C-bills are a good solution to balance the economic aspects of the game and they have not been part of the BattleTech canon without a reason and would come in handy.

[NightFallsOnU]

I don't think we should be able to start off with anything over 55 tons.... thankfully i can still have my Centurion()

[00dlez]

Looks like Im in the majority with the centurion. Versitle and room to expand skill sets/mechs up or down the weight scale

[NightFallsOnU]

The CN9-A Centurion isn’t about any one thing, it’s about every thing. AC/10? Check. LRM-10? Check. Two Medium Lasers? Check. There’s no area of weapons this baby is bad at – you’ve got the LRM-10 to chew ‘em up at range - and believe me, ten long range missiles can ruin your day fast, am I right guys? – then your AC/10 reaches out and slugs ‘em upside the head, then if they make it through that they get two medium lasers in the face at close range, with that AC/10 still kickin’. In short, there’s pretty much no-where you can be that this baby can’t – and won’t – hit you. And just look at it. It’s tall, but lean. It’s like an ancient, armoured warrior. Sure it’s a little slow, but wouldn’t you be slow if you had that kinda weaponry? And it’s got that awesome helmet, am I right here guys? That alone makes you want to strap in and kick some Jenner’s around. There’s a reason this thing – even though it’s a medium ‘Mech – has always been a force in Solaris matches.
It’s got heart guys, and that’s not easy to see right away, is it? ‘It’s just a machine, how could it have heart?’ I hear you saying. But look at it. And look at its history. Yen-lo-wang, that famous of famous ‘Mechs, absolutely wrecked the circuit when Justin Xiang-Allard was at the helm. Good guy, great pilot! The Centurion though, it’s just so… it’s regal guys, it’s a knight in gleaming armour waitin’ to charge a dragon. Or a Mercenary, whatever. To sum up, the Centurion has a long and storied history not just here on Solaris VII, but all across the inner sphere. It’s ancient, it’s cool, and guys, I love it. And I think you will too.
-"Bulldog" Cherry, Solaris VII Sports Network


sorry to rip this off the site but I can't say it any better.... Hats off to you guys for this the Cen has never looked better!!!!!!

[Thrall]

Truth be told if this is all the mechs provided in the game period - I've already almost lost interest.

To stay on topic though if Black Knight was available I'd pick that hands down - or an Awesome if available as a second choice. If not available I'd have to consider... Catapult, provided I already have made some decent allies that can work well with a lange range mech/support otherwise I'd use an Atlas and add PPC's/LRM's onto it once I get an opportunity.

[cinco]

first of all, the more c bills available, the harder to maintain the economy.

c-bill start off should be only a million and the atlas, with parts purchases should only cost half a million.

Thrall, on 18 March 2012 - 04:17 PM, said:

Truth be told if this is all the mechs provided in the game period - I've already almost lost interest.

To stay on topic though if Black Knight was available I'd pick that hands down - or an Awesome if available as a second choice. If not available I'd have to consider... Catapult, provided I already have made some decent allies that can work well with a lange range mech/support otherwise I'd use an Atlas and add PPC's/LRM's onto it once I get an opportunity.

you are incredibly stupid if you think they're not going to continue putting mechs into the game.

Edited by cinco, 18 March 2012 - 04:21 PM.

[Mason Ventris]

That sounds reasonable.

[greydeth]

If given that much in starting 'c' bills I would probably get a 50-55 ton mech like a bushwacker up grade it and have some leftover for future repairs that will be needed.

[Tronchaser]

I think you guys may be approaching this from the wrong angle.. you're approaching it from the "I've played MW since it 1st came out and every game since", instead of the "I can pilot a big *** robot and blow crap up crowd".. that crowd doesn't care about roles (other than having the most guns).. if you let them have assaults from the beginning, they will! And I know, I know, a better balanced team should win. But what happens when BOTH sides are sitting there in 10 assaults and 2 medium/heavies and you're the one "scout" mech.. play your role I suppose. But it's gonna be hellish if the drops really work out that way.

Limit the newbies, I say!

..and for the love of Pete, I hope they regulate ingame names. Nothing is more annoying to me than seeing some dumbass name from a n00b (different from a newbie).

[cinco]

starting c-bill: one trillion

atlas cost: 12 c-bill

[HighlandWolf]

well, in the books all pilots had to be trained in the mech they were going to use after the general training at the beginning of their careers. You had to be qualified..so maybe that should be a part of it....this sounds like a good idea but would need to be refined a bit obviously..i mean house pilots couldnt have mechs produced in other houses..so that might dictate what house you go in..mercs would get less start up money..but have greater freedom to choose

kind of like the idea though...just with tweaking

was also thinking that if a mech comes with stuff you dont want on or want to change you could sell or in the case of house pilots trade in for credit...and get a weapon you do want assuming you have the space/tonnage available then
i say that because there are varients to every mech..and everyone has their preferences ..even though each varient has its own weaknesses

Edited by HighlandWolf, 21 March 2012 - 04:55 PM.

[Joseph Calvert]

This is all a nice bit of dreaming. So why is everyone going nuts. It's the pilot that's going to make the mech.
WoT when it comes to combat is not a good comparison to this game.
Your light mech's weapons are going to damage an assault mech.
Where as in WoT a low tier tank has little or no chance to damage a tier 8,9, 10 tank.

As far as the argument that if your companies assault gets scrapped right off the bat your team has lost, well that depends on the rest of the company.

I've seen a lance of mech's working together as a team, take down twice their number and almost 3x their tonage.

Edited by Joseph Calvert, 21 March 2012 - 05:10 PM.

[Sears]

I think all the weight classes should be available from launch, and in a similar way to how it's polled. The key to balance, and the games longevity will have to rely on the role warfare. Working up to weight classes would just delay the problem rather than solving it, and punishes the people who's play style suits the assault and who are fans. They just have to make having teams of Atlas's a bad move. And with Roles being chassis non-specific there's not a lot stopping a team from having all the roles taken up by atlas's.

So how about a Lance performance bonus or something, so if your teammates perform well in their roles the whole team gets a juicy bonus, if Joe Bloggs rocks up and says he wants to be a scout but is piloting a tanked out 100 tonne mech his role performance would surely drop. It would encourage teamplay more perhaps?

[cardinal vice]

I'm relatively certain that we will see a type of 'lease' for our first mech, regardless of tonnage, and a relatively small bank account to start with, if any.

Basically, everyone will start with the same small amount and revenue progression will be similar, no matter what role and model you choose. Larger mechs will be slower to modify, simply because there are more options, but otherwise the cost of mech lab work will be similar for all units.

Contracts or mission rewards will be scaled depending on the size of your chassis... repairing and reloading a larger mech is a bit more intensive. We'll be able to use the remaining balance of our loot to customize and pimp out the ride.

I would not be surprised if the lease was interchangeable as well, so if you really aren't enjoying the choice, you can turn it in and start fresh in a different mech. I'm sure you'll have to pay for repairs and refit the chassis to its original configuration before you can swap, but it is a logical penalty that will not break the bank.

Now if you would like to own more than one mech in the hanger, I'd guess an additional slot would be extremely expensive in c-bills and/or available thru the real-life cash store.

There may be a number of variables, but a large 'start-up investment' for each player will not be introduced at launch.

[MechaKitsune]

cardinal vice, on 22 March 2012 - 03:11 AM, said:

I'm relatively certain that we will see a type of 'lease' for our first mech, regardless of tonnage, and a relatively small bank account to start with, if any.

Basically, everyone will start with the same small amount and revenue progression will be similar, no matter what role and model you choose. Larger mechs will be slower to modify, simply because there are more options, but otherwise the cost of mech lab work will be similar for all units.

Contracts or mission rewards will be scaled depending on the size of your chassis... repairing and reloading a larger mech is a bit more intensive. We'll be able to use the remaining balance of our loot to customize and pimp out the ride.

I would not be surprised if the lease was interchangeable as well, so if you really aren't enjoying the choice, you can turn it in and start fresh in a different mech. I'm sure you'll have to pay for repairs and refit the chassis to its original configuration before you can swap, but it is a logical penalty that will not break the bank.

Now if you would like to own more than one mech in the hanger, I'd guess an additional slot would be extremely expensive in c-bills and/or available thru the real-life cash store.

There may be a number of variables, but a large 'start-up investment' for each player will not be introduced at launch.

I largely agree with this line of thinking.

My guess is you will pick a weight class, and you will be "leased" a basic varient of a mech representative of that class. From there you earn your C-Bills and grind your way towards your next mech. That could be another mech in your weight class, or maybe one in another class if you dont feel this is the one for you.

I would also assume you can switch your lease mech to a least of another class at any time if you don't like the feel of it.