27 replies to this topic

[Revya21]

After the ragnarok incident i was wondering: what's the general opinion on non canon mechs and variants?

Also, i would really like to say that the devs have done an incredible job so far. In many ways they have gone beyond what i expected, and that's coming from just what has bin reviled so far; especially with the mech designs. That said what would your opinion be on a "piranha battlemech" so to speak. With the passion, work and dedication they have shown so far, I would actually be thrilled to see what they could come up with and I'm sure it would be incredible.

[Slyck]

Just a couple years, but then we might see it.

[Revya21]

Lol i mean an original design by the devs but still the piranha is interesting

[Belial]

If the lore of this time period wasn't already so well established then it might be okay.

[Listless Nomad]

yeah - I'm sure they'd do a fantastic job. However, the lore of this franchise is so entrenched with so many people that it likely wouldn't take hold. It's like trying to add new guns to ww2 shooter games. It just comes off as odd or out of place.

[80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie]

Well, there are a lot of great looking 'mechs that aren't exactly canon. Take for instance the M$ rendition of the Conjurer (or Hellhound, really)



You can't tell me that is a bad looking 'mech. But at the same time is too different from the canon model its based off of. Should be a separate (new) 'mech entirely, but isn't considered so. Not every non-canon 'mech is bad...



...compared to the canon version

Edited by mwhighlander, 03 April 2012 - 08:06 PM.

[Gigaton]

mwhighlander, on 03 April 2012 - 08:05 PM, said:

...compared to the canon version

The original canon version is unseen, as are rest of the 3055 TRO Clan second lines.

Edited by Gigaton, 03 April 2012 - 08:11 PM.

[ice trey]

Non-canon Battlemechs work when the game is blazing new trails. When Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance was released, the canon had not yet been fully fluffed out, yet. Battletech was able to piggyback on Fasa Interactive's art budget and bring Microsofts' custom designs into the tabletop game, albeit with some changes so they fit with the rules.

However, since this game drags us back to an established time period, I would think it would feel silly to incorporate custom 'mechs. I mean, I'd much rather see them persist at working on bringing the canon designs to life, because there are just so damned many, and for anyone that's ever dabbled in the Battletech universe (Whether it was the computer games, the card game, the saturday morning cartoon, the RPGs or Miniatures games, the novels, the comics, or anything else), the new custom 'mech would stick out like a sore thumb.

For anyone that doesn't dabble in the board game or the universe, there are books on books' worth of 'mechs that are available in this time period. Besides the old 3025'ers, there are Clan Mechs, Star League Mechs, Wolf's Dragoons Mechs, newly designed 'mechs like the Mauler and Wolfhound and often forgotten early period 'mechs like the Merlin and Chamelion, as well as the first batch of Solaris VII mechs... Not six months after this game starts we'll be seeing the basic Clan Omnimechs, Clan Second-line 'mechs, and even some designs that were published later on but meant to be available in 3050. All of this is easily more than the MWO staff will be able to churn out for us, even with Mr. Iglecias as a concept artist.

It would be wasteful to design non-canon battlemechs. All the popular ones seem to be being made for the core product, but they're doing a great job at tweaking the look of even uglier designs from the 80s. I have no doubt in my mind that even the Urbie, Falcon, or Quickdraw would end up looking spectacular after a few minutes of redesign by this team.

[William Petersen]

Slyck, on 03 April 2012 - 07:49 PM, said:

Just a couple years, but then we might see it.

I was about to be confused as to why you were implying that the PRA is not canon. Then I saw what you did there. XD


I think there are plenty enough Canon chassis to implement before they even start considering adding their own.

[EDMW CSN]

I say ? Don't worry about it. There are just too many mechs out there not counting their variants, I mean there is even a LRM support Hunchback and LRM missile Awesome as well, how many more do you need ?

[Kip Wilson]

Sying this as a Battletech fan since 1986, I think it'll be fine if PGI decided to add in a few in-house designs. Just make sure to include the fluf. Battletech is rife with all kinds of limited run, one-off, frankenmech, prototype, XTRO designs.

If I'm not incorrect, the Uziel was uniquely a MW4 (or was it 3?) design that eventually migrated into canon. Maybe if PGI's designs are popular enough, it'll happen for them too.

[The Cheese]

Vote +1 for the protomechs.

[Stormwolf]

Stick to canon mechs, there are hundreds of them to pick from.

[Makoraias]

I think it would help if the dev's put up a poll to gauge how many people would/would not be interested in non-canon mechs. Then they could continue to add mechs according to what the players want.

Or maybe a player-made poll would suffice?

[Edit] Of course, if the poll said that people wanted non-canon mechs, they have to obviously follow certain guidelines. Not all non-canon mechs would be added to the game or even considered, mind you. If they added in all the non-canon mechs, I'm pretty sure hell would be unleashed.

Edited by Makoraias, 03 April 2012 - 11:25 PM.

[SweetJackal]

The mass produced mechs and their variants are widely documented for the era that the game will be in. Straying from that for stock, mass produced mechs isn't recommended.

That said, there is LosTech, Protomechs, one off mad designs and the like all around that aren't documented. Though the history is firmly set, not everything is recorded. Rather, a lot of the past advances have been lost in Battletech. Not every mech to move off of the designer's board is tallied, not every single conflict and (para)military unit written, not every cache of LosTech found.

So this always gives any creator leeway at any point in the canon while still holding true to itself. The Ragnarok Incident is more of an exception to that rule because of how poorly it was handled and tying anything into The Word Of Blake is just a recipe for upsetting the hardcore fans as that is about the most hated part of the BT timeline.

Edited by SuckyJack, 03 April 2012 - 11:48 PM.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

Given the time it takes to produce a mech for use in game and the number available I can't see it happening. There are plenty of people waiting for their "favourite" mech to be introduced, some from a few years down the line for this to be viable. Not to mention the clamour for the "unseen" in some form or other.

[LordDeathStrike]

sure lasers and missiles are good too but i like to have a cannon or 2 on my mechs......
















if you didnt c wut i did there, you may need glasses

[Tadakuma]

ice trey, on 03 April 2012 - 08:29 PM, said:

Non-canon Battlemechs work when the game is blazing new trails. When Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance was released, the canon had not yet been fully fluffed out, yet. Battletech was able to piggyback on Fasa Interactive's art budget and bring Microsofts' custom designs into the tabletop game, albeit with some changes so they fit with the rules.

However, since this game drags us back to an established time period, I would think it would feel silly to incorporate custom 'mechs. I mean, I'd much rather see them persist at working on bringing the canon designs to life, because there are just so damned many, and for anyone that's ever dabbled in the Battletech universe (Whether it was the computer games, the card game, the saturday morning cartoon, the RPGs or Miniatures games, the novels, the comics, or anything else), the new custom 'mech would stick out like a sore thumb.

For anyone that doesn't dabble in the board game or the universe, there are books on books' worth of 'mechs that are available in this time period. Besides the old 3025'ers, there are Clan Mechs, Star League Mechs, Wolf's Dragoons Mechs, newly designed 'mechs like the Mauler and Wolfhound and often forgotten early period 'mechs like the Merlin and Chamelion, as well as the first batch of Solaris VII mechs... Not six months after this game starts we'll be seeing the basic Clan Omnimechs, Clan Second-line 'mechs, and even some designs that were published later on but meant to be available in 3050. All of this is easily more than the MWO staff will be able to churn out for us, even with Mr. Iglecias as a concept artist.

It would be wasteful to design non-canon battlemechs. All the popular ones seem to be being made for the core product, but they're doing a great job at tweaking the look of even uglier designs from the 80s. I have no doubt in my mind that even the Urbie, Falcon, or Quickdraw would end up looking spectacular after a few minutes of redesign by this team.

Actually I did't think the Mechwarrior 4 added non cannon mechs to the mix, nearly everything that was in it was in a TRO or Field Manual.

In regards to non-canon mechs, well genreally if they fit into the universe the will make it in as a canonical mech. An example of this is the Merlin, which for years existed as an example in the Mech design tutorial for the original edition (maybe 2nd edition) of the tabletop games rules book.

It was eventually made a canonical design in the TRO 3058 and was a new design originating out of the Outworld Alliance. Given the time frame this game is set in, and the sheer number of canonical designs in existence then I don't see any need to create or use non-canonical designs fro this game.

[Oswin Aurelius]

The Cheese, on 03 April 2012 - 09:35 PM, said:

Vote +1 for the protomechs.

Oh dear god, why? XD

[Michael Rosario]

Eh... I'll accept non-cannon mechs... so long as I get to bring in a few from Critter-TEK. I wouldn't mind seeing the Whamhammer, Mafrogger, or the Dodgerman.