149 replies to this topic

[HighlandWolf]

MechaKitsune, on 22 March 2012 - 08:24 AM, said:

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.

IF they went the lease route, they should have npcs that swap or buy leases and sell leases, but they should be true merchants..they would buy low and sell high..if yhou want ot trade in or swap leases..then you'll end up paying anyway..at least some c-bills..it is a used battleworn mech youre trying to change from into something else..theyre going to make it expensive for you
it makes it a little bit more realistic in game when trying to "trade" mechs or leases if you dont like what you chose at the beginning..its not a bad idea, but you should be able to have more than one mech if you feel like it..and can obviously afford the c-bills/materials/weapons/spareparts etc.

[Jonas]

Maybe we need to wait and see what they have in store for us. I like this idea but since we still don't know how many Mechs there will be in the game @ launch. I say there would need to be at least 16 ( 4 ) in each weight class. In the history of Battle Tech & Mech Warrior Most armies had a lot of Lights and Mediums some Heavies and few Assaults.

Also a lot of Mechs where handed down ( in family owned stables ) Hell it wasn't till Wolf's Dragoons or ( around 3020 ) new Mechs where hard to come buy, and the new ones didnt match the SLDF ones ( no FF armor or Endo steal ) or ( no ERPPC or pulse Lasers ) or ( no LBX or Ultra AC)

[MajDisaster]

I'm all for having your affiliation determining what your starting amount is. As the more well known houses or merc corps would have more C-bills to outfit their pilots with it only makes sense that the game would follow that line of thought.

[Zhanna Kerensky]

Sears, on 21 March 2012 - 06:25 PM, said:

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?

I agree with the suggestions and I would be against a lease system that will restrict the access to certain mechs at the beginning of the game and randomly chose mechs for new players with associated lease contracts (IMHO MWO should keep the focus on the battle and gameplay strategy (since it is a MechWarrrior and not a strategy trading game) and not on who is the best merchant and who is the luckiest to have been offered a lease for a certain mech type). Such an approach could be counter-productive for some fans of BattleTech and MechWarrior and it would also be a serious motivation inhibitor or party pooper to those who are not familiar with the BattleTech universe and just want to experience it full throttle for the first time and to those who would like to have fun now and then without having to make a major learning/training/time commitment to MWO.

However, the only problem that I can see regarding the lance or team awards will be that people who have generally more time to play the game and are part of a gaming clan/community will have a great advantage over solo players who - if they want to play in a lance, company or some even larger military collective for a House, or a mercs unit - will be randomly assigned for a mission/campaign together with other players who, in turn, may or may not match their skills. These solo players will likely receive lower skill scores than those that have their own unit together with their buddies, even if all are equally talented and put in the same time for MWO game training.

[Jake Valeck]

i could care less who starts with what and how much they have. the game is not pay to win. give me a locust and show you a good time. (i'd rather have a Dragon tbh )

[GrimFist]

I can't see this model working. Starting C-bills are too high.

In the end I can only see the stock mechs are the starting point the "free" point for a better word.

Everything else is P2P.

As for jumping right into a heavy. Bite me. You need to earn and learn. I'd rather see 12 lights running around vs. 12 heavies.

You let everyone pick and I see very few picking a light. Now, based on role warefare and how the game plays it may pay to be a light mech and have no kills but see all the sites and remove the FOG for your team.

I can't wait for the beta or release of this as I want to see how the balance role warfare with somebody who roles out with a company of catapults. LRM mayhem is going to hurt.

Semper Fi

[Temu]

ROFL.. comment on starting out in a chameleon for a while reminded me of playing the first Battletech computer game "Crecent Hawk's Revenge"(?) back on the Commodor 64.. Chameleon was the biggest mech you could have in the game, but only if you were training with it at the time the training facility was destroyed.

Both sides of the coin have merit, both gameplay wise AND story wise. Many Assaults would be piloted at some point by green pilots who inherited the mech from family, or were piloted by veterans who earned a "upgrade" from battle salvage.

My opinion would be lights/mediums to start with.. Hvy's often ended up being commander/veteran mechs, and Assaults often too valuable and specialized to risk until they are really needed. Sticking to lights and mediums keeps the storyline percentage of each type more in line.

[HIemfire]

Had a change of opinion with the more recent information released. Edited my originaly reply: http://mwomercs.com/...post__p__130331

[Zhanna Kerensky]

Someone is admitting to a change of heart ... always nice to see ...

[Logan Winters]

Maybe 10,000,000 is a bit much.

I think there has to be some kind of start up investment, but something in the range or 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 would be better.


Besides, why would you want to give someone just starting out, access to the heaviest hitter in the game?

Gotta learn to drive before you buy a car, am I right?

[Nik Van Rhijn]

Because the dev's have said that you can start in any mech?

[El Loco]

And spoiled kids get their Ferrari or Lamborghini as soon as they get there drivers license as well

[Zhanna Kerensky]

It looks as if the mech equipment purchase will be C-bills based after all, just wondering whether or not and if so, to what extent, the concept introduced in this thread will be used ...

I just added the Awesome mech to the poll for those you would like to switch or are new to this thread ...

[Archtus]

I like the idea of giving a bank roll, with the option to test drive before you buy.

Raven RVN-4X for about 5M-6M cBills. Enough to nearly replace it in whole in the event of being completely slagged.

[Diomed]

Kip Wilson is correct in his assesment of WoT.

I have over 5500 battles, a year in game (off and on), and I have been the victim of 'Lowe Noobs' time and time again. It should be self-evident that a early unit plays nothing like, and demands more from the player, than a later unit. Just as a driver who has a few battles in his Panzer 4 has no clue how to drive a Lowe, so too a driver with a few hours in a Jenner has no business in an Atlas.

The Atlas will, presumably and hopefully, be rare. I hope we do not see teams made-up of all Atlas'. So, that being said, do you really want a low-experience pilot driving the one Atlas on your team? I sure don't.

No, everyone starts in little, teeny tiny noobie mechs and works their way up. Yes, wallet warriors can buy their way up the ladder quicker but they still have to spend some time learning their mechs. If you allow someone to jump straight into an end-game chasis you will diminish everyone's fun, even the wallet warrior's (though many of them are too stupid to realize it).

[Motionless]

'Start-up cost?' You mean they give you cbills when you create an account? Almost like a signing bonus?

Have we gotten official word on if stuff is trade-able (like TF2) or simply unlock (like Tribes:A)? If trade then no, if unlock then I suppose.

I'd go for the hunchback probably, although could go for a commando.


Edit: but they would probably go for some sort of fixed "starting package" for new accounts that give you a more balanced set. I know people like to customize, but if they're customizing things they don't understand yet they can really screw themselves.

Edited by Motionless, 07 April 2012 - 08:32 AM.

[Kem]

I think that people should start at light mechs, because an assault lance is a cream of BT and any house\army deployment. So newbie shouldn't be an "elite" right off the start, player should earn the right to pilot heavy and after that even an assault.
Just remember that thrill, when you just bought your 1st decent med or heavy! The filling that "Now I'm not a mere no-one on top of nothing, but now I'm a pilot\commander of a "cool med mech" (even if it is crap, but newbie doesn't know about it and he is happy )

[Ninja Chef]

I think this idea is great. It would force an initial balance and allow the player to potentially purchase multiple multi-purpose medium and/or light mechs. Whereas the players that purchase heavy mechs will have to work to upgrade their mechs, but they will be able to because the mechs are potentially longer lasting in battle.

I love the dragon and would choose it, however, that hunchback is calling to me. After seeing the mechlab I can imagine many possible modifications for my hunchback.

[Toothman]

Problem is a lot of the XP is chasis specific. If I have to waste a ton of time getting XP for a light mech when I'm going into an assault roll I'll be rather annoyed. A short intro would be maybe acceptable but I want my primary mech early on so I can start earning the XP and the C-bills to upgrade it. Depending on what the choices are I'll almost for sure be going heavy or assault. Because thats what I'm best at.

[Kartr]

With that kind of money I'm getting a Centurion and a Commando and upgrading both!

Also unlike WoT which uses Tiers to differentiate tanks as well as classes, MWO so far sounds like its only going to have classes. This makes it much easier for Heavies and Assaults to be balanced in regards to the smaller 'Mechs. You may be running in a scout or medium 'Mech, but unlike WoT where a light or medium tank may be near the bottom of the list and several tiers lower than the heavies tanks, therefor unable to really do damage. In MWO you will still be able to dish out damage to the heavier tier 'Mechs, they're just going to have more armor(hit points) than you and carry bigger guns.

So I don't think there's a problem letting people start with heavies or assaults since without Tiers its less important that your heaviest hitters aren't noobs, plus starting with heavies will let the heavy/assault drivers learn the play style faster instead of getting bad habits from working their way up through lights and mediums.

Edited by Kartr, 07 April 2012 - 12:22 PM.