24 replies to this topic

[Jack Gallows]

So, I'm sure all of us may want to gain rank in our chosen House, Clan, Merc unit, etc. But, how should they go about this, or how would you like to see it done? This is a thread to get people thinking about how things might work in game, and my idea is just one example to help get the ball rolling.

Obviously, rank may be obtained by gaining certain levels, or accomplishing certain feats in game. Another avenue, as I mentioned in the thread title, is to have it be something purchasable with XP. You have to decide, should I use my XP/skill rewards (or however they're going to do it,) to buy a rank (which should be costly and go up drastically from one to the next,) or use those points to increase my skills/etc.

It could also be handled it other ways, like the Clans holding their own Trials of Position and such. One easy way out is to not really have player ranks (or make them purely cosmetic, but incredibly hard to obtain) or what have you.

What do you think?

[Ossie]

Grinding to achieve a game-embedded rank seems silly.

I'm sure player-run squads/clans/whatever can and will be organized in some fashion, many involving a hierarchical rank structure, much like in MPBT. As far as ranks go, that would seem to work just fine.

[Corvus Antaka]

Ranks should be left to the guilds in my opinion.

[gregsolidus]

If there are ranks they will most likely be meaningless status symbols as they should be.

[rollermint]

Ossie, on 02 November 2011 - 07:25 PM, said:

Grinding to achieve a game-embedded rank seems silly. I'm sure player-run squads/clans/whatever can and will be organized in some fashion, many involving a hierarchical rank structure, much like in MPBT. As far as ranks go, that would seem to work just fine.

It can be silly if its just that but there are ways to make it worthwhile and make sense.

For example, gaining ranks within a certain House confer certain benefits like access to special services like increasingly cheaper repair/rearm rates, discount and access on armaments and House specific mechs, higher monetary/XP reward when completing objectives for said Houses. The higher your rank/relations, the better the deals.

Some have said that it should be left to guilds only but what about those who chose not to be involved with guilds or unable to commit to a guild due to RL commitments? This will give make it still fun and rewarding to keep playing the game.

[gregsolidus]

rollermint, on 03 November 2011 - 03:54 PM, said:

It can be silly if its just that but there are ways to make it worthwhile and make sense.

For example, gaining ranks within a certain House confer certain benefits like access to special services like increasingly cheaper repair/rearm rates, discount and access on armaments and House specific mechs, higher monetary/XP reward when completing objectives for said Houses. The higher your rank/relations, the better the deals.

Some have said that it should be left to guilds only but what about those who chose not to be involved with guilds or unable to commit to a guild due to RL commitments? This will give make it still fun and rewarding to keep playing the game.

Or this.

[Qin]

Personally i would like to see that the regiments themselfs can hand out ranks to people. The more options a guild/regiment has the better.
If it would tie to some level then we would eventually have only Field Marshals or equivalent running around. Would look a bit silly.

Also there are only so many ranks, so what you going to do once you want to up the level cap

[rollermint]

Qin, on 03 November 2011 - 03:58 PM, said:

Personally i would like to see that the regiments themselfs can hand out ranks to people. The more options a guild/regiment has the better. If it would tie to some level then we would eventually have only Field Marshals or equivalent running around. Would look a bit silly. Also there are only so many ranks, so what you going to do once you want to up the level cap

As I posted earlier, not everyone have the opportunity or luxury to be involved in a guild for any reason or factors : simply have no desire in guild drama, RL commitments or just plain suck in being social and prefers to be alone.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be ranks specifically but there must be continuous incentives and rewards to achieve for fighting specific Houses. Or else what would be the point? You have to keep in mind that a significant portion of the playerbase will not only have any idea of the BT lore, they probably also have no interest whatsoever in learning the specific history of the different Houses. There must be a mechanism to minimise players jumping faction all the time and keep them fighting for a specific faction instead of the FOTM faction of the month.

[Corvus Antaka]

Im mainly thinking of not wanting the rank displayed next to my name, so i dont end up being Private Colonel Pada Vinson in example. Either that, or ill have to change my name...hehe

[Helmer]

I'd would imagine the Mercenary units = Online clans in this game. You should probably be able to assigned your own internal ranking as it seems arbitrary.

Who cares that if am a 4 Star General of the "Helmers Hellions" if there are exactly 2 members of the company. Internal rank in a group shouldn't matter.

Now how the great houses view you, your productivity, reliability, etc , now THAT should make a difference in the rates you can charge, the contracts you are offered, salvage rights, rates on parts or new mechs, tech you the House is willing to sell you, etc etc.

[Barantor]

Reputation - You do work/missions/fights for X house and you get new mechs/repairs/gear from said faction, increasing as you gain more.

Pilot Skill - As you do any work in any mech you gain abilities for mechs overall, things like more precise aiming in your reticule and possibly easier time recovering from knockdowns or unexpected events.

Mech Specific Pilot Skill - As you work in a specific mech you get more familiar with that mech, making your aim cone slightly less and possibly pushing the limits of that mech a bit more.

That is how I think it should work rather than "Barantor is level 22". You could be a vet of a thousand battles, but throw you in a new mech and you could still get your toosh handed to you. A guy that has done nothing but piloting a commando might not have the heaviest hitter in the world but can scout and push that mech to the limit.

This is what I would like to see.

[Jack Gallows]

Colonel Pada Vinson, on 03 November 2011 - 05:31 PM, said:

Im mainly thinking of not wanting the rank displayed next to my name, so i dont end up being Private Colonel Pada Vinson in example. Either that, or ill have to change my name...hehe

Rank display should be optional, especially if you're worried about that.

I do like the idea rollermint had as a possible way of doing it.

[Dead Man]

Perhaps leaving ranks to be handed out by units may work a bit better as I do agree that an entire Lance comprised of Generals running around would seem a bit silly.

That being said I do like the idea of having character growth, having to work your way up by earning your pilot certifications and the longer you utilize a certain class the more proficient you become. For example you start off piloting something small like an Osiris and in order to certify to a heavier tonnage you have certain requirements that must be satisfied. More so than just gaining kills to get XP it's about having the play that mech to it's advantages. Using a TAG laser so a team mate can light up a bigger mech with LRMs for example. The route to advance will be determined by the mechs you start off piloting, so a light support mech will lead to access to heavier support class mechs. Where as a light assault mech would lead to the heavier tonnage assault mechs. This way you have to understand the basics of mech combat before you move into the big boys.

So lets say once you've worked your way up a bit and now your a veteran pilot with a Madcat at your disposal, well what do you do now? You increase your proficiency using a similar advancement system, you must play the mech well and the feats to advance become more difficult but always pertain to the class of Mech your piloting. You could further expand on this by adding Mech specific certifications that by increasing grant you certifications to use more advanced weaponry.

I don't know if I want all of the certifications and proficiency advancements to have passive bonuses as I feel that might make the game too RPG like for some but I do think that the player needs a way to advance their pilot and furthermore this serves as a way to allow a prospective Merc unit to understand the kind of pilot you are. Create different emblems and medals to denote your achievements and have them worn on your uniform.

These are just some ideas I've been kicking around for the last day or so.

Edited by Dead Man, 04 November 2011 - 04:00 AM.

[Joseph Mallan]

Off the top I'd say Affiliation should be chosen by the member at sign up (I want Steiner for instance). Rank... trickier, by post count is kinda easy as I have 8:00 a day I can post. We could use a time based ranking system, with meritorious promotions for exemplary members. Mods should be House affiliated Officers off the bat (Hauptmann for instance). But that's just me.

[rollermint]

Dead Man, on 04 November 2011 - 03:56 AM, said:

Perhaps leaving ranks to be handed out by units may work a bit better as I do agree that an entire Lance comprised of Generals running around would seem a bit silly.

It doesn't have to be strictly your average militaristic rank, there are many other ways to denote "ranks" or reputation within that faction. May it be the typical MMO style reputation system, you know, the usual friendly/honoured/revered bla bla or they could be more creative, instead of General, it could be "Protector of the Commonwealth" or "Trusted Friend of the Alliance" bla bla, or perhaps medals (bronze for 100 successful mission, silver for 350, gold and yadda yadda) etc etc.

Whats important is to give progression that gives increasing rewards for players to fight for a certain House. It also promotes a sense of belonging and achievement.

[Halflight]

rollermint, on 03 November 2011 - 04:05 PM, said:

As I posted earlier, not everyone have the opportunity or luxury to be involved in a guild for any reason or factors : simply have no desire in guild drama, RL commitments or just plain suck in being social and prefers to be alone.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be ranks specifically but there must be continuous incentives and rewards to achieve for fighting specific Houses. Or else what would be the point? You have to keep in mind that a significant portion of the playerbase will not only have any idea of the BT lore, they probably also have no interest whatsoever in learning the specific history of the different Houses. There must be a mechanism to minimise players jumping faction all the time and keep them fighting for a specific faction instead of the FOTM faction of the month.

Basing everything around contracts would prevent that kind of continuous jumping of ship you mention. Variable length contracts with longer lengths being more lucrative. Breaking one would have serious and long-reaching ramifications to make sure there is an incentive to honor it. This would preclude being able to sign on with a house directly though so unless *everyone* is a mercenary, it wouldn't really work.

Rank should be fluff titles that are assigned by Merc units internally. They don't really mean anything outside of their units other than identifying the the relative level of authority an individual has in their unit.

Relationship is how you are viewed by the houses and other potential employers. It would affect the breathing room you have while negotiating and the types of things you can include in a contract. For instance, salvage rights wouldn't be something immediately on the table, but it would be after raising relationship a little. Long and effective service with the same employer would confer bonuses, as would your history for following through on contracts and executing missions successfully. Working for an enemy would have a very small negative effect because it's accepted that Mercs follow the money and they treat equitably with all their employers. Breaking a contract, regardless with whom or for what reason, would have the greatest negative effect. This would be a guild-level measure, not individual. Your relationship is dictated by that of the unit you belong to.

Prestige is a personal measure and isn't affected by your associations with the unit you belong to. It looks at personal achievements (such as tonnage of kills, successful engagements, major battles you've participated in, etc.) and could be used for solo negotiations of contracts (if these are available) or if you are able to sign on as a house regular, your salary, bonuses, perqs, etc. This would be available to Inner Sphere pilots only.

Honor would be similar to Prestige but applies only to Clans. I don't know enough about them to even guess at what this might focus around.

I know that's all pretty loose and undetailed, but there's no way to know what the developers have in mind. I got the impression that all gameplay would be centered around Mercenary units so I keep thinking in terms of contracts and no iron-clad house allegiances. But I know that could be could be completely wrong. An explanation of those workings is what I hope will be among the first things that are revealed.

[Frantic Pryde]

Hmmm...I'm kinda torn on this one. I remember back in mpbt:3025 your ranked up as you gained xp. The cool thing was that people generally followed the system. If you had 3 privates and a sergeant, the sergeant would give the orders and generally his lance mates would listen. This community is cool like that

But that the same time, that can make things screwy in the "guilds". Units need to be able to have their own leadership structure.

I hope they come up with some sorta clever middle ground.

[Paladin1]

It seems to me that we're struggling to find a way of expressing more than one item. On the one hand, we have our pilot's rank, which should reflect that person's amount of responsibility. On the other hand, we have our pilot's experience, which isn't always linked to their rank, so what I would suggest is a two tiered system.

The first tier, Rank, would be dependent upon the individual House, Clan or Merc unit. I would suggest a limited number of ranks based upon the total amount of players within a group so not everyone is a General/Khan but that could be hashed out later. I would suggest that Officers get some kind of bonus when they're used as Commanders, but that's just my own personal view of the terrain.

The second tier, Experience, would be broken up into four broad categories (Green, Regular, Veteran, Elite) with each category broken up into sublevels. For example, a Level 3 Green pilot would be more experienced than a Level 2 Green pilot, but less experienced than a Level 1 Regular pilot. These experience levels could be linked to missions, kills, time in combat or anything else but it wouldn't be something that would be open to interpretation by the players but instead would be set by the Devs.

So under this system, you could have a Green Lieutenant who's just gotten out of OCS or a grizzled Veteran Sergeant who's been in more battles than he can remember.

[Dihm]

Aren't they doing a pilot experience and mech tech tree system, and leaving the ranks to the Merc units? Would swear I read that in the FAQ or interviews.

[MaddMaxx]

Ranks are mostly Internal to any Fighting groups structure. Earning higher Rank was usually of sign of participation and dedication. Took me 2.5 years to earn my Sig. Very fun times those. I hope MWO can gets us back there again.

Edited by MaddMaxx, 04 November 2011 - 07:08 AM.