33 replies to this topic

[Vovochka404]

Again my question is missed

[Adridos]

Garth Erlam, on 08 October 2012 - 01:27 PM, said:

Q: Have you ever eaten at the Red Wagon in East Van ??? If so , which do you prefer , pulled pork pancakes or the pork bellies ?? [whiskey tango foxtrot]
A: I haven't, but regardless of eating there the answer is pulled pork sandwiches. [Garth]

Q: Are there any plans to actually knock down trees instead of simply clipping through them? [bunk3rk1ng]
A: It will be added but we do not have a solid date yet. [Garth]

Q: The 55 ton mech you are planing to add will be an IS? [Odanan]
A: We will be adding a 55 ton Inner Sphere Mech at some point, yes. [Garth]

Q: I still want to know what style crust the PGI team prefers when you guys all order pizza. [Gun Bear]
A: The entire team? No idea. Me? I get 'original' because I am not tolerant of lactose in any form. [Garth]

Q: There have been rumors floating and even a thread made at the suggestion of making the "Somethingawful Goons" the clan forces when they are implemented. Is this the case? [Shibas]
A: No, that is not the case. A goon told you that, didn't they? [Garth]

Q: will you add some life to the maps (driving cars..wind that effect trees, random rain, maybe some airplanes chasing each other in the air? maybe sounds of mg and artilleryfire from far away? and so on)? [Virisken]
A: We actually already have this - if you look in the background of River City, you can see and hear machine gun fire as well as explosions. So, yes. [Garth]

Q: Why did the Urbanmech cross the road? [AC Rimak]
A: To get to the curb for pickup? [Garth]

Q: Will there be changing weather condtions? For example, On the ice map you can occasionally have blizzards or on the forest a heavy rainstorm...etc...caustic map has acid rain... [Bakra]
A: There already are! In Frozen City, there are occasional blizzards that blow through, making it really tough to see. [Garth]

All of these were known and answered before or completely off-topic.
Guys, try to ask something we don't know already/ really want to know next time, please.

[Spleenslitta]

I made questions about the stock Spider 5V that has only 2 medium lasers in it's center torso. I asked if they would change the weapon hardpoints a bit since that leaves us with very few options for that mech.
It didn't get answered.

I asked if they were serious about looking at 3rd person like they said in this interview http://www.mmorpg.co...On-Preview.html
they had with MMORPG.com.
That could be a gamebreaker and they didn't answer it.

I asked about if they would fix the Flamer, MG and AC 2 so that they become viable weapons that can actually perform their roles.
And don't say the MG's are anti-infantry weapons only because there ain't no infantry in MWO and the gun weighs 0.5 tons and the ammuntion 0.5 kgs per round which is a rugged slugsize when fired in such big quantity.
Did they answer that? No they didn't.

Get your act togheter and start answering some questions that actually matter.

[Garth Erlam]

Belorion, on 08 October 2012 - 05:38 PM, said:

Because there can be only one?

I'm glad someone got that

And yes, Spleenslitta, we didn't answer your question. There are many reasons: weapon changes are ongoing, I'm not a designer, Paul was busy while I was writing these, etc. It's often a matter of timing for the answers, so it's never a guarantee I'll go spend two hours hunting down an answer. I just don't have that time, sorry.

[Adridos]

Garth Erlam, on 09 October 2012 - 08:17 AM, said:

And yes, Spleenslitta, we didn't answer your question. There are many reasons: weapon changes are ongoing, I'm not a designer, Paul was busy while I was writing these, etc. It's often a matter of timing for the answers, so it's never a guarantee I'll go spend two hours hunting down an answer. I just don't have that time, sorry.

Don't worry, we understand.

That's why we'll make sure there will only be "hard to answer" questions next time.

[JustMe SR]

Garth Erlam, on 08 October 2012 - 01:27 PM, said:

Q: Have you ever eaten at the Red Wagon in East Van ??? If so , which do you prefer , pulled pork pancakes or the pork bellies ?? [whiskey tango foxtrot]
A: I haven't, but regardless of eating there the answer is pulled pork sandwiches. [Garth]

Q: Why did the Urbanmech cross the road? [AC Rimak]
A: To get to the curb for pickup? [Garth]

[Tuhalu]

Garth Erlam, on 08 October 2012 - 01:27 PM, said:

Q: Why did the Urbanmech cross the road? [AC Rimak]
A: To get to the curb for pickup? [Garth]

Because all the chicken mechs were egging him on.

[Norris J Packard]

Garth Erlam, on 09 October 2012 - 08:17 AM, said:

I'm glad someone got that

And yes, Spleenslitta, we didn't answer your question. There are many reasons: weapon changes are ongoing, I'm not a designer, Paul was busy while I was writing these, etc. It's often a matter of timing for the answers, so it's never a guarantee I'll go spend two hours hunting down an answer. I just don't have that time, sorry.

Garth, I am glad you answered my question and that joke was hilarious.

[Kdogg788]

When is Ask the Devs 21 going up? Should we ask here if there is no new thread?

-k

[Watchit]

Kdogg788, on 10 October 2012 - 08:39 AM, said:

When is Ask the Devs 21 going up? Should we ask here if there is no new thread?

-k

[Nash]

Garth Erlam, on 09 October 2012 - 08:17 AM, said:

[...]Paul was busy while I was writing these, etc. It's often a matter of timing for the answers, so it's never a guarantee I'll go spend two hours hunting down an answer. I just don't have that time, sorry.

So it's not your fault but Paul's...

Shub'Niggurath damn it! *g*

[Koniving]

To expand on two questions and answers from someone who has his eyes open and constantly has been beta testing for map holes, exploits, and easter eggs (explore the outer lower path on frozen city, you'll find a futuristic cruise liner out there. Not sure if it's a titanic reference, but it is a unique object not found anywhere else in the map).

Are there any plans to add penalties to the heat scale before the ultimate shutdown, such as reduced movement speed, reduced weapon accuracy, etc.? [pesco]

Garth's answer was pretty vague. A few patches ago there already were heat-related punishments. Although this was after shutdown. Two of them are known aside from self-destructing.

1) As you begin to reach levels of approximately 98 or higher, there was a chance you'd hear internal explosions as your ammunition cooks off if they were in the same areas as your heat sources (i.e. large lasers, ppcs, missile launchers). This was especially true for the torso and/or legs (yes I stash ammo in the legs) when flamers were used against you. (Now, they tend to cook off before you get this high, so it's hard to tell).

2) If you were to override immediately after shutdown in some cases of being near 100 or at 100% heat, a glance at your heatsink status screen (inside cockpit) before and after sometimes revealed that a heatsink or two was destroyed from reaching the heat level and overriding. This was especially true in Caustic Valley; which caused sequential heat failures due to having fewer heat sinks. This occurred even without being attacked (I was bored guarding base).

Speaking of Caustic Valley and heat: While it is not certain whether geysers raise your heat levels, avoid the central crater if you're in a light mech or have few heat sinks. While it is generally "just" a trap for larger mechs, light mechs that have few heat sinks or ammunition configurations (as they have little need for heat sinks) will suffer incremental heat rises even while stationary and without any action. (This was tested with up to 10 heat sinks). If you're on the crater when you shut down, you're going to die when you override. Someone brought this to my attention and sure as day, it's true. That said, you can lure enemy light mechs into a trap if you're desperate for an escape. Make sure your heat is low, or you're in a heavier mech first.

The second Q and A I'll expand on a bit from what I've seen is this one.

Q: Will there be changing weather condtions? For example, On the ice map you can occasionally have blizzards or on the forest a heavy rainstorm...etc...caustic map has acid rain... [Bakra]
A: There already are! In Frozen City, there are occasional blizzards that blow through, making it really tough to see. [Garth]

Weather effects do happen. As mentioned in frozen city, sometimes there's fog (now most of the time, but it used to be rare). Sometimes there's a blizzard or snowstorm in certain areas, but other times/matches there isn't.

A noticeable area to be in is along the outer-ring. There is a rarely guarded path to either base. (Rarely guarded because it takes forever and a day to travel even at 139 kph and thus few people use it.) Travelling this, there's rarely any weather effects beyond the fog, which sometimes seems weaker than others. Once in a blue moon, though -- ultra rare compared to anywhere else -- it will snow in this outer ring. Although there is a problem that in some spots of the cave away from the entrance, it will snow inside.

On Caustic Valley and Forest colony, there are occasional "rain" storms. If you can call them that. On Caustic it seems deliberate that the rain is pathetically weak at a few drops per inch. (Forest Colony seems like it could use a much more torrential rain complete with thunder and lightning strikes).

I haven't seen or noticed weather effects on River City.

(But related to another question and answer, while there aren't any active vehicles or people running for their lives, there are various vehicles on the ground. There's weapon fire in the air, but as of yet no really noticeable aerospace fighters or airborne shows beyond weapons fire and smoke.

I would like to see a more populated area that's under immediate attack without time to clear the streets, but I doubt we'll see a sports car turn a corner to see a mech, then take off in full reverse to get away.

During the lag sessions of the stress test, however, a few of the street lights on river city actually dislodged from the ground and fell over. The actual cause of this is unknown, however, as they were not touched or shot in any way. The lights on them were also still functional.)

Looking forward to everything you guys are working on, but especially eager for the new mechs. There's 20 mechs drawn, and Raven's been released out of order (and without a third variant). Bring me the stalker! Or one of the various mediums conceptualized we need more mediums on the field. The easily disabled weapons are scaring off the hunchbacks and centurions.

Edit:
1) The geysers remind me of face-hugger eggs when they aren't blowing up hot water.
2) The Caustic Valley map, and the desert map concept art differ greatly. I hope the next desert map is more true to the concept art -- the sharp pointy rock formations look like a cool addition, especially if a faster mech where to accidentally run into one's pointy ends. That, and I think I see hints of lava in it or something inferno-like.
3) I'm glad PGI is constantly reworking the maps to address balancing issues. However, instead of being a variant and releasing it as a replacement map for the predecessor, why not do several variants and have them as different maps of the same area that randomly come up? Although in such cases it may be more prudent to add more variety to each variant such as where the water flows, rearranging mountains, not always having the same landmarks. Different water depths per variant. Things of that nature.

Edited by Koniving, 14 October 2012 - 05:57 AM.

[Kmieciu]

Kenjiro Takeda, on 08 October 2012 - 03:38 PM, said:

This question even I can answer...

While purchasing a hero mech may require a certain rank/level with a particular faction or some other such restriction, there will not be a mech which is purchasable by "real money" only...one of the key pillars of PGI's philosophy towards MWO is that there will NEVER be ANY item/mech which is not earnable through traditional, free gameplay. This philosophy is one of the biggest reasons I am a hard-core supporter of what PGI is trying to do here...that and my absolute maniacal devotion to any and all things BattleTech.

/em gets off of his soapbox and wanders off, muttering incoherently to himself.

It turned out that Yen Lo Wang can only be bought by real money (MC).
It`s the only Centurion variant that`s able to mount AC20, and the only variant than can mount 300-rated engine (other variants are capped at 260).
It also has faster torso twist speed.

Takeda - it looks like the Devs betrayed your trust...

Edited by Kmieciu, 30 October 2012 - 01:52 AM.

[MrMasakari]

Thanks again as per usual for taking the time to answer our questions ^^