102 replies to this topic

[RL Nice]

This guy said that there's "no customization". What!?!?!?

Edited by RL Nice, 05 October 2012 - 02:22 PM.

[Noth]

If you only consider the customization found in MW3 customization, then yes the game has no customization. The customization has restrictions in this game to keep mechs and variants unique and limit builds that break the flavor of the mechs and for balance.

[Lt muffins]

There is relatively no customization

Compared to MW2 and the tabletop game there is a much reduced customization ability.

Technically "valid" BT build (just as an example) {reason why they won't give us full reign over the mechlab}

Spoiler

Example A THE DARK HOLE

Mass: 100 tons
Tech Base: Mixed
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: Clan Invasion
Tech Rating/Era Availability: X/X-X-X
Production Year: 3070
Cost: 19,983,333 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,496

Chassis: Unknown Composite Structure
Power Plant: Unknown 200 Compact Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 21.6 km/h
Maximum Speed: 32.4 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Unknown Commercial
Armament:
40 (CL) SRM-6s
Manufacturer: Unknown
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications System: Unknown
Targeting and Tracking System: Unknown

================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Composite Structure 152 points 5.00
Engine: Compact Fusion Engine 200 13.00
Walking MP: 2
Running MP: 3
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: (CL) Double Heat Sink 10(20) 0.00
Heat Sink Locations: 1 HD, 1 CT
Gyro: Compact 3.00
Cockpit: Small w/ Full Head Ejection System 2.00
Actuators: L: SH+UA R: SH+UA
Armor: Commercial (BAR: 5) AV - 120 5.00
CASE Locations: CT, LT, LA, RA, RL 0.00

Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 31 18
Center Torso (rear) 5
L/R Torso 21 15
L/R Torso (rear) 4
L/R Arm 17 11
L/R Leg 21 14

================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(CL) SRM-6 CT 4 1 1.50
11 (CL) SRM-6s RT 44 11 16.50
10 (CL) SRM-6s LT 40 10 15.00
8 (CL) SRM-6s RA 32 8 12.00
7 (CL) SRM-6s LA 28 7 10.50
(CL) SRM-6 RL 4 1 1.50
2 (CL) SRM-6s LL 8 2 3.00
@SRM-6 (60) CT - 4 4.00
@SRM-6 (30) LT - 2 2.00
@SRM-6 (30) RA - 2 2.00
@SRM-6 (45) LA - 3 3.00
@SRM-6 (15) RL - 1 1.00
Mech Shoulder Turret RT - 1 0.00
Free Critical Slots: 0

BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 2 Points: 15
2 0 0 0 0 4 0 Structure: 5
Special Abilities: CASE, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA, SRM 4/4/0

Edited by Lt muffins, 05 October 2012 - 02:30 PM.

[Stickjock]

I like how the video is from PRE-NDA drop... UI Mech Lab changed remember... everything (MC/C-Bills) shown down below...

[RL Nice]

Well he has clearly never played a MechWarrior game before so he definitely isn't saying that there's "relatively" no customization.

He also says and does a few other things that show he has no experience with this game at all, including firing LRMs at a Raven at close range without locking on.

Edited by RL Nice, 05 October 2012 - 02:34 PM.

[Mongoose Trueborn]

It should be a rule that you have to be able to actually play video games in order to review them.

[Noth]

Here's how the customization currently works. You have the hardpoints so that ballistic hardpoints only hold ballistic weapons, energy only hold energy weapons, etc. You cannot split crits from weapons between two different areas. Engines are limited by base engine and tonnage (essentially slow mechs stay slow).

[CobraFive]

RL Nice, on 05 October 2012 - 02:21 PM, said:

This guy said that there's "no customization". What!?!?!?

Well, for new players there is no customization.

Its a mistake a lot of new players are going to be making, and I do foresee a lot of people leaving before even giving it a chance. Its a very real problem that the game needs to fix.

[verybad]

I think that some of the people posting in here are looking at this from an insider rather than an outsider sort of view.

Customization...Changing weapoins isn't considered customization in many games...changing the way your chartater LOOKS is what many people think of as customization. Right now a few mechs change a few thigns when weapon change, but it's not really that niticable in many cases.

Fanboy responses to honest reviews from people that aren't used to mechwarrior just make the community look like a bunch of jerks. His review is what many newcomers might view it as.

PERSONALLY, I'm loving the game so far, but i've played every single game of Mechwarrior, I know about heat, I know about weapon placement, I know about torso twisting. For a lot of newcomers it's a dissorienting experience.

Rather than looking at his review from your own experience (and iff you're on this forum, you're likely to be pretty damned experienced with mechwarrior), view it from a non biased vantagepoint.

CobraFive, on 05 October 2012 - 02:41 PM, said:

Well, for new players there is no customization.

Its a mistake a lot of new players are going to be making, and I do foresee a lot of people leaving before even giving it a chance. Its a very real problem that the game needs to fix.

^Quoted for truth.

The trials need soem sort of taste of customization for it to make an appeal for newcomers.

[RumRunner151]

It takes 50 to 250 games to unlock 1 mech. LOLOLOL NO. I stopped there. This video is from a couple patches ago at best.

[verybad]

It doesn't take anywhere near that long after the last economic update (a loss is probably worth about 75K Cbills without a founders adjustment), but it certainly could have before that last adjustment.

People are acting defensively towards this persons review. This review isn't all bad. It says quite a few good things about the game in fact. However, the inability to take honest criticism is a very clear flaw for us.

For new players that don't buy a mech, there is no customization untill they grind to one.

This may seem fair, but the truth of the matter is, customization is one of the things that keeps players of mechwarrior playing the game for a long time. A newcomer to the game could feel that there wasn't enough there to get them to play 30-50 games and get a "mech they can make" Without a sense of ownership, how are you going to bother putting in that initial time, or buying into the game? There's no taste of the lab, so there's no desire to expand it...

It's very important for the success of this game that reviews from outsiders be looked at and understood, not poo-pooed by members of the community that already bouhht in (like myself) already know about mechlab, already love the game.

We're not good reviewers for a growing game. We're biased.

Edited by verybad, 05 October 2012 - 02:59 PM.

[MechZ1lla]

verybad, on 05 October 2012 - 02:45 PM, said:

The trials need some sort of taste of customization for it to make an appeal for newcomers.

Agreed. If you don't have some sort of hook for new players, customization being a good portion of it, the learning curve alone (at least we do know tutorials are coming) is going to turn off a lot of prospective users/buyers. The one thing that really stuck in my craw was getting that invite "by mistake*" and finding that I couldn't even change my loadout, or group my weapons before a drop. Being an old mech jockey myself, I soldiered on and made the most of it. But to mangle grammar, "I ain't everybody."


*: Mistake? Really? I find this highly suspect. You needed more exposure, plain and simple, and hoped that enough people would cash in, which I did. Maybe I did so foolishly, but time will tell. I'll keep the faith until then.

[Gun Bear]

Some people take no time to check the forums and no time to ask other players about the game mechanics and then get angry when they know nothing. The game isn't even finished yet - why can't people keep that in mind?

[verybad]

We need a mechlabble Urbanmech for newbs. Puttign in the Urbie for this reason would be so utterly awsome...

It's a mech players will want to get out of, but it will show them the options, and it could probably be made into a decent Gauss sniper relatively easilly.

Gun Bear, on 05 October 2012 - 03:00 PM, said:

Some people take no time to check the forums and no time to ask other players about the game mechanics and then get angry when they know nothing. The game isn't even finished yet - why can't people keep that in mind?

MOST gameplayers don't go to forums. That's just statistical. We're fans, for the game to expand and thrive, it needs people to be sold on the game from outside.

I honstly think this review was very balanced. The reviewer wasn't tremendously experienced with the game, and that makes his insite very valuable.

The reviewer isn't for US, it's for people outside the game.

Edited by verybad, 05 October 2012 - 03:04 PM.

[MechZ1lla]

verybad, on 05 October 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

We need a mechlabble Urbanmech for newbs. Puttign in the Urbie for this reason would be so utterly awsome...

It's a mech players will want to get out of, but it will show them the options, and it could probably be made into a decent Gauss sniper relatively easilly.

Heh...I think that would cause a few people to collapse in a fit of collective apoplexy. It was a horrible mech. Although I will admit the Urbie-only matches we had in MWL were endearing in their own way.

The one mech I would LOVE to see, and doubt we ever will, was the Deimos that MekTek cooked up. I had that as a desktop image for a very long time...

[Butane9000]

That's from an older beta build. It's using the old user interface. I believe he isn't a founder and therefore has to use trial mechs which is why he says no customization.

[JP Josh]

i think the prob is that new players have to grind to get any of the good things i say give em just a taste of what mechlab is say like give em a freebie mech to play with wich they can customize. enough currency to buy jehner for starting out to new players would make alot of people stay for the game. or we could give em enouph to buy a flea i think its the cheapest mech in mwo yet (still to be added to beta) feel free to expand on my idea.

[Belal]

You have to remember this game has to grow to succeed, as stated above that means you need "hooks" to keep new players that are trying it out. I'm a hardcore mechwarrior lover, but I enjoy coop and rpg/story modes, every once in a while with friends on my team I like pvp. To bring more people, it needs to appeal to a larger customer base. If you've already paid for the game and play it alot, your opinion is biased, and they have no real need to create a hook for you. Personally, I check back with the game here and there to see if they've decided to add features like this, but so far I see 80% of posts on this forum (from Elite Founders in alot of cases...) just attacking any suggestions. This is BETA, its all about suggestion. To customize or design you own mech (my favorite part of the game) you either pay money or spend many hours in the game before you can even look at customizing a mech, all mechwarrior games have glorified the ability to fully customize the layout. I'll pay full new game price for a real mechwarrior, this is just using its name and cookie cutting some of its idea's, a true mechwarrior game would be like any of the first four, not a totally new thing that has a few recognizable features. Oh well, back to world of warplanes and WoW, check back in another couple of weeks.

[verybad]

Winterknight, on 05 October 2012 - 03:04 PM, said:

Heh...I think that would cause a few people to collapse in a fit of collective apoplexy. It was a horrible mech. Although I will admit the Urbie-only matches we had in MWL were endearing in their own way.

The one mech I would LOVE to see, and doubt we ever will, was the Deimos that MekTek cooked up. I had that as a desktop image for a very long time...

Considering some of the Gausscats are the same speed as Urbies, I think it could function pretty usefully in this game. It's certainly slow, but it has a lot of available tonnage for a light to throw around into builds.

[LogicSol]

yea, its gotta be an older build or just outright math fail.
60K x 50 is 3 Million CB, almost enough to buy 2 commandos.
You only need 30 loses to buy one, or about 20 wins. That's a night of playing for most gamers, and 2 for most casuals.