29 replies to this topic

[wanderer]

gilliam, on 03 November 2011 - 09:25 AM, said:

Lyran Archer?

Actually, I prefer the good ol' -2R (and later, the -4M, which does what the -2R does only better). The Lyran ones drop ranged firepower for those darn SRM racks, and you don't get the knock-down-crushing-opponent triple-tap of an LRM 20 hit that way, much less the staggering effect 20+ missiles to target lays in on opponents. If an Archer is inside it's LRM minimums, it's either moving to physical combat or in trouble for being where it shouldn't.

[gilliam]

Creel, on 03 November 2011 - 09:37 AM, said:

The devs have said that there will be pilot level skill trees, and you'll bring your pilot's strengths and weaknesses to whatever mech you pilot.

I just hope it's not something that will have enough of an effect that I HAVE to max out certain skills to be effective in a Raven and have that shoot me in the foot if I want to play a Griffon for a few days when I get tired of NARCing targets.

wanderer, on 03 November 2011 - 09:41 AM, said:

. . .

I guess not. Theres a guy on the battletech forums called Lyran Archer. A lot of his posts has him talking about "my archers" and how great this that and the other Archer model is. I was asking if you were him.

edit: spelling fail

Edited by gilliam, 03 November 2011 - 09:46 AM.

[wanderer]

gilliam, on 03 November 2011 - 09:45 AM, said:

I guess not. Theres a guy on the battletech forums called Lyran Archer. A lot of his mosts has him talking about "my archers" and how great this that and the other Archer model is. I was asking if you were him.

Oh, no. I'm va_wanderer over on the Battletech forums, and I don't consider the Archer to be the apothesis of 'Mech technology- just one of my favorites to drive, since I've had a lot of success in them. Been doing this too long to ever think there's a "One 'Mech to beat em all", cause there isn't!

[Corsair114]

Lets hope the map/battle area design are suitably complex as to make it so there is an actual need for scout 'mechs. Instead of being able to simply eyeball it and say "Ok, that's decent cover, but you're pinned once behind it, that's all open ground with no reason to go there and, oh look, a patch of hills/buildings where you can snipe out of but easily slowdown or tie up brawlers once they close in. I'd bet my **** they're in there. Ok, send in our three lances of 100 ton assault 'mechs."

Otherwise, once you get a feel for maps, this is exactly what's gonna happen. Maybe.

[RoundTop]

There are several "support" aspects that could play into this game (although details are thin right now)

1) light mechs (this has been mentioned) will be able to provide some form of advantages about line of sight/fog of war/etc
2) LRM mechs (Long-Ranged-Missile) have been mentioned in this thread. In the board game they can perform indirect fire over buildings/hills. It remains to be seen if this will be included. if it is, then it will be likely paired with light mechs.
3) Direct fire support. Not likely much at launch, as the longest weapons is the AC/2 for the inner sphere. As of 3052-3055 you will see ER PPCs, ER Large Lasers, and Gauss Rifles showing up. As it gets to 3060+ you may see the Light Gauss Rifle (for absurd range)
4) Electronic warfare. As of 3055, C3 was developed by the Draconis Combine. It is a shared targeting system which allows better adjustment for fire based on the closest unit. This system was countered by the Guardian ECM suite. Both of these systems would be interesting to implement.
5) Detection. Beagle Active Probe came out for IS in the late 3050s, but was in the clans. Not much reason for it in this game as it is designed to detect landmines, hidden units, etc. Unless there are specific scripted missions, I don't see it being used.

[SwordofLight]

What I meant with my comparison of World of Tanks was not actually what I like about it, but what I hate - and why I no longer bother with its Clan Wars and just play random battles. In order to participate in CW without getting owned, you need the biggest thing available in the game - so your teams are all tier 10 tanks, with the occational tier 8 artillery or tank destroyer.

What I fear is that MWO will turn into that - you'll have teams comprised entirely of 100 ton mechs, period. Because if you're not fielding that lance or company, the other guys will just whipe the map with you. Which is what happens if you dont field 15 tier 10 tanks in WoT Clan Wars.

So there has to be some mechanism - which since MWO is vaporware at the moment, I cannot speculate - but there needs to be a limiting mechanism so that this game isnt just about who fields the heaviest metal, but necessitates strategic and tactical thinking. I've always described Battletech as chess with particle cannons, what I want from this game is the chess part - the particle cannons are a given. I want to think - if I want to twitch, I've got CounterStike.

-Don

[Werewolf]

Like S_o_L says, there needs to be a limiting factor implemented on how battles actually happen.
MPBT back in its days had the lance-size as a means of limitation, so why not go a step further and
impose a lance dropweight like it was given in MechCommander?
I mean, it sounds as if tactics is where player socialization comes in, so it's only fair to implement a
rule that supports this socialization aka lance-building capabilites of the player behind the keyboard...

[Kirsdarke]

A bit off topic here but how about 'one-off' mechs? Yen-Lo-Wa ng anyone?

*edit* yay for censorship -.-'''''

Edited by Kirsdarke, 04 November 2011 - 03:39 PM.

[simon1812]

support class? this is not an fantasy mmorpg, but I undertand what u mean, it is up to you or up to what your team needs and what are you good at. I just hope dev dont over do it, traditionally I always tried to equip my timberwolf (oh! big surprise XD) with a balanced weaponry something that allowed me to do a little of everything but focusing on close combat , I understand team work but I dont like to feel like a wimp that sorely needs to rely on others to win.

[Inappropriate849]

Good point about the lack of archetypes in MWO. That's an important part for Piranha to manage expectations for those who are not familiar with MW. The holy trinity of tank/healer/dps is something which everyone who has played any recent MMO expects, and it can cause confusion or even outright rejection when mechs don't fall neatly into those buckets. Therefore it is important to ensure that the FAQs and marketing material explains that MWO has a different approach - and of course why and how it is better.