13 replies to this topic

[Sym]

Research and Development: Call it crafting or tinkering, I'll call it Research and Development or "R&D". I think this could be just another element to MWO to make our Mechs a bit more unique than anyone else's.


- People against R&D, will argue to stay with cannon. I also agree with adhering to the BT universe. So my question to you is: where do you think XL engines, double heat sinks, upgraded weapons and Mech variances came from? They were nothing more than a component that someone tinkered with and found ways they could improve upon it. The BT novels mentioned it as well as the BT source books.
Example: The Extralight Fusion Engine is mechanically similar to a Fusion Engine but uses much lighter radiation shielding. Replacing the dense tungsten carbide of standard fusion engines with a crystalline polymer similar to that of double heat sinks, the XL fusion engine is half the mass for the same performance.
http://www.sarna.net...ion_Engine_-_XL
This can be easily done in MWO and kept in moderation to keep it from becoming "Over Powered" (OP).

- Attaining Salvage: Upon successful completion of a mission, you may or may not be awarded in form of a damaged or fully functional component.
Given the vast number of mech components in the BT universe, it would take time and actual game play to collect 'X' ammount of salvage to start any type of research. In other words, no instant gratification. Any unwanted salvage can be sold for C-bills.
Note: This is not to be confused with an Economy consisting of buying, selling or trading. This is definitely NOT the desire of this topic!

- The cost of R&D: Researching any component will require C-Bills, a minimum level requirements and 'X' amount of real time to research the component. Research failure would be extremely high and would result in the loss of the component and C-Bills spent. Success rate would be determined by MWO devs maybe something like 5%.
Note: the R&D of a damage component would be much more difficult to perform thus costing more C-bills, exp and time.
I am not sure how the Devs of MWO intend to do experience but I'm sure we will have some kind of experience or research points to use in MWO.

- The effects of R&D, would be vast. For example, armor could either weigh less or give additional armor points (1-2 max). Weapons could weigh less, increased accuracy, fire rate, range, decreased minimum ranges, or better heat dispersion or any other attribute associated with weapons. Almost anything component could be researched. New attributes from the researched component would be random with the outcome ranging from a +/- 0-5%. A newly researched component could even result in both a positive and negative attribute. To limit the OP factor, a component could only be researched once, meaning that that item could not be researched again to achieve multiple positive attributes.


The purpose of proposing "R&D" is to give the "Full Mechlab'ers" and "Number Crunching" folks another avenue of customization. It would just be another way to slightly customize your own Mech without creating OP boats and more importantly, gives your own variant.
Example: A Warhammer WHM-6R containing a R&D component would be list an additional suffix i.e WHM-6R-XP1(XP=Expiremental 1= Number of enhancements) which would be how you would see it in your Mech bay.

I am excited that MWO is about to be released but I'm hoping that there will be more than just the "WoT" mech grind or stagnant everyday game play of standard battles. I am hoping for more versatility.


If you disagree, please state why and not just because it would suck.

[Insidious Johnson]

no crafting.... period. Few mmo's have ever done it well. The last thing I want to see is mechwarriors crafting... or gathering. Besides, you won't have the tonnage to spare for pick-axes, forge materials, or freaking bundles of silk with IS tech... clanners would be imba crafters.

[Sym]

Oh hell no, I am not talking about farming.

I am talking about the possibly of slight modding of a mech component with any salvage recovered after a successful mission.
Non buy-able, non trad-able.

[That Guy]

I am against this because it starts giving long time players a statistical advantage over new comers. this is should be skill based game, not a stat based one. Its bad enough with the mech efficiency tree, we dont need weapons are armor getting arbitrary stat boosts too

nothing worse that playing a game where the enemy is both better at the game than you, AND has "better" equipment (ML with +2 range, damage and cooldown). the main reason i dislike WOT and many MMO/RPG games

[Sym]

That Guy, on 06 May 2012 - 02:46 PM, said:

nothing worse that playing a game where the enemy is both better at the game than you, AND has "better" equipment (ML with +2 range, damage and cooldown).

Oh, you mean the clans. I see your point.

[Kenyon Burguess]

crafting would seriously screw with the balance for the devs. merc groups who could create powerful weapons and items would dominate the field and drive the other players away. example:UAC/20...once those hit the combat zones, unless everyone gets equal access, the team that had them would dominate every fight at short range. not to mention that factions would be unable to create items like the merc groups.

[Kaemon]

'Crafting' is almost a dirty word in most MMOs due to some rather poor implementations in other games (thankfully this is not a thread about that so I can put that threadnaught back into dry dock).

I think actually crafting could be implemented, but would need to follow the basic tenets they've already laid out for purchasable items.

- They cannot be more powerful than items of the same sort already available
- They cannot be purchased (I'm not enough of an ***** to try to argue for crafting and a player economy in the same thread )
- They cannot allow any one group/player any Tactical Advantage™ over any other group (clans are a special exception here)

So throw what you know about crafting out the window and let's start over:

[Gun Bear]

The Great Houses, Clans, and Corporations handle R&D. We fight, salvage, and and worry about staying alive and in the black! Leave R&D to the people who can afford it!

[Morashtak]

Gun Bear, on 06 May 2012 - 05:00 PM, said:

The Great Houses, Clans, and Corporations handle R&D. We fight, salvage, and and worry about staying alive and in the black! Leave R&D to the people who can afford it!

R&D costs for the U.S. Military;

"No segment has a stronger connection to public R&D investment than aerospace, defense, and national security. The U.S. and many foreign governments invest massive amounts on defense and security-related R&D every year. As an illustration of the scale, the U.S. government will spend more on defense R&D in 2011 (about $80 billion) than our estimates of total R&D (government, corporate and academic) for every country in our global analysis except the top three."

"...about $80 billion..."

80,000,000,000

That's a lot of C-Bills.

OP: Suffice to say that I heartily agree with those that say your average MercCorp has neither the C-Bills or resources (scientists, buildings, etc) to do anything beyond much more than "Hey, look! That's some new kind of PPC!"

[Bullwerk]

The BT universe is filled with massive corporations involved in the military industrial complex whose whole reason for existing is to research and develop new systems for mechs and new mechs themselves. Hell the Great Houses have whole institutions (NAIS) dedicated to this. Some pilot and his techs tinkering with a mech might make small improvements based on personal preferences but this isn't that same as developing something new. Heck the pilot skills themselves already encapsule this sort of work.

[Ramien]

The only way I could see to make a 'crafting' system work in a Mechwarrior game would be for the system to be loosely based on salvage, and only have the net result of allowing a player to purchase standard items cheaper than normal - if you fight against House Liao a lot, you might get a discount on the mechs or equipment they normally field, instead of playing the standard price for your stellar nation or merc group, for example.

Even that's so far from crafting that it would really need another name, though.

[Zakatak]

No thank you. We're just grunts that go to battle, not the scientists behind the machines. A good haul of salvage is enough for us.

Unless "crafting" means I can bring a 1.5 million ton Texas-class to battle instead of a mech. 900 gigajoule autocannons? Why certainly!

Edited by Zakatak, 06 May 2012 - 09:47 PM.

[Siilk]

No player-driven R&D, period. XL engine did not came from old tech tinkering in the back of his garage, it came from years of governmental/corporate research and LosTech analysis.

[Paul Inouye]

This is an MMO mechanic. MWO is not an MMO.

We are focused on Mech to Mech combat and the progressive movement of the online community in terms of the war in the Inner Sphere.