31 replies to this topic

[Turbo Corvair]

Since it seems that "officially" playing for a great house rather than a merc unit is going to be the equivalent of "pugging" or playing "unguilded" I suppose those of us looking for structured team play and unit cohesion will likely be forced to create a house unit via the mercenary unit system.

I would like this thread to become a place to discuss in general the need or desire to form such "loyal" house units via the mercenary unit system. This might also serve as a petition to request that the developers add a more legitimate system for us to create loyal house units that will be player run.


Assuming that this is the way things play out I'm interested in participating in forming such a unit. I am an experienced guildmaster but I'm not willing to take on that role alone again (EVER!).

So, I'm seeking other like minded (mature) individuals to help me form a DCMS unit of our own. I have already selected (but am flexible on) a particular canon regiment to form under, either playing as a "company" within one of the existing Battalions or creating a new battalion so as not to suffer interference from any lore, storyline, or house "special unit" issues.

The Regiment I have in mind has three battalions listed in the Draconis Combine field manual, we would be forming the fourth battalion in that regiment.

I am a big immersion addict, and interested in creating a playing environment conducive to that mentality.

I have inquired online about having both Kurita and unit specific iron on patches created for members of this unit and if the cost is reasonable I might send one of each patch to each member who demonstrates loyalty and honorable service to the unit for a reasonable probationary period (maybe around one month).

My vision is to build a close-knit team of players who focus on teamwork and communication (preferably voice comms). Members will be assigned to "lances" of four or so mechwarriors each based primarily on matching up approximate play schedules. Ideally we will have at least two full lances of very active and consistent players, and several lances (maybe a 2nd company) of supplementary players who might have a more erratic or casual play schedule.

In the interest of maintaining a very close-knit group I'd like to keep our total membership (not including "reservists"- less active friends and family of members) between 16 and 32 active players (four to eight lances).

I would appreciate if anyone interested in not only joining, but helping to form and manage such a unit please reply here and/or send me a private message. If there is any interest I will start a thread in the recruitment forum.

[Paladin Brewer]

This has already been discussed here and there, but I know my guys (9th Sword of the Dragon) plan on going merc at first but only taking HK contracts, until the MWO guys remember that house units are more important than merc units

[Soviet Alex]

There's still a lot we don't know about the benefits of house vs. merc. For me, I think the Loyalty Points might be the biggest issue. Even if a mercenary company works exclusively for House Kurita, they'll be further down the equipment food-chain than a DCMS unit. And mercs fight over control of worlds which give the owning company benefits, whereas house units fight over different worlds that give the whole faction benefits.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

Mercenaries in the Combine?
Blasphemy.


Or in other words:
I agree since to have many mercenaries working for the Combine is unrealistic in-universe.
Personally, I'll most likely be joining one of the Ghost Regiments.

Edited by Alizabeth Aijou, 14 April 2012 - 10:43 AM.

[Equinox Astiri]

I'm all for the Swords of the Dragon (5, 7 9) hmm, and the 1st Genyosha. House, not mercs. Haha like Aijou said,
"Mercenaries in the Combine?
Blasphemy."

[Paladin Brewer]

I assume by Swords of the Dragon you are referring to the Ryuken? (I'd say "Dragon's Sword" for a slightly better translation). Anywho there are no "7" and "9" Ryuken regiments.

The point of the post is that they have said there will be member created house regiments at launch. If you join House Kurita you can choose canon regiments to play with, but there is no real command structure, you can not create these units. Only merc units can be player run and operated at launch. So it's less about the Canon "merc hate" and more important what allows players to have their own functional units.

[Equinox Astiri]

Gah. I mean light... Bad bad typing, pulled the wrong info from my head. haha

Ya makes most sense. (Functional unit setting.)

[SwordofLight]

Well, I think before I join a specific House unit, I'd like to get my skills in the game up to the point where I fit with the cannon. SOL does not = NOOB, and thats what I'm going to be for quite a while.

-Don

Edited by Sword_of_Light, 20 April 2012 - 04:16 AM.

[Paladin Brewer]

Sword_of_Light, on 20 April 2012 - 04:15 AM, said:

Well, I think before I join a specific House unit, I'd like to get my skills in the game up to the point where I fit with the cannon. SOL does not = NOOB, and thats what I'm going to be for quite a while.

-Don

They have already said you will have to "earn" entrance into canon units. You will not be able to just join any regiment you like from the get go.

[Soviet Alex]

Paladin Brewer, on 20 April 2012 - 01:29 PM, said:

They have already said you will have to "earn" entrance into canon units. You will not be able to just join any regiment you like from the get go.

We don't know yet whether entrance into a canon unit means joining an actual unit run something like a mercenary faction, or if it just means "here's a shiny uniform for your profile & a new paint-job for your mechs."

[Paladin Brewer]

Soviet Alex, on 20 April 2012 - 03:44 PM, said:

We don't know yet whether entrance into a canon unit means joining an actual unit run something like a mercenary faction, or if it just means "here's a shiny uniform for your profile & a new paint-job for your mechs."

Yes we do, they have already said as such. Player made faction units wont even be in the game at launch. But the canon faction units will be there, but you have to earn your way into elite status regiments.

[Ryuu Tetsuhara]

Paladin Brewer, on 20 April 2012 - 06:58 PM, said:

Yes we do, they have already said as such. Player made faction units wont even be in the game at launch. But the canon faction units will be there, but you have to earn your way into elite status regiments.

Interesting, but how do you reckon will they implement this scheme in the game? I would be very surprised, if the developers go around and, let's say, "hand-pick" 500 players with House Kurita allegiance based on their respective scores after so and so many weeks of playing MWO, offering/telling them, for instance, to be specific parts (DCMS soldiers sorted by position/rank and subunits) of one of the Sun Zhang (Academy) Cadres or the An Ting (Academy) Legions? A ranking systems based on in-game statistics that leads to recommendations of certain players (to be considered "elite" enough to join a specific House unit) could be created, but, frankly speaking, these stats are not necessarily significant as good commanding abilities, for instance, are not based on the best shots to kill rate or scouting skills and also circumstantial (not everyone will have the same chances to prove his/her abilities in battle, depending on who else is playing with them). A recommendation system based on "word of mouth" or a dislike/like feedback system after each battle would also fail because then the whole thing becomes a "best buddy network" contest and has nothing to do with putting the most qualified players in outstanding House unit positions.

In my opinion there is virtually no way to allow for a fair system to appoint certain players based on their performance and skill sets for specific positions in renowned House units ... then again, life is not fair anyway.

[Paladin Brewer]

I'm sure it will simply be that each unit has a level/XP/whatever requirement to join it, simple as that.

[Wizywig]

I think there should be great benefits for everything:

If we have a "persistent world" paradigm, we can do the following:

Any affiliations to a house, will ensure discounts for "house specialized mechs/weapons". Repairs (depending on house control), and ammo. So if you always participate in battles in favor of house XYZ that house will offer you it's discounts (repair costs come from last-played battle affiliations) etc.

So you can form merc units/etc which affiliate themselves with a house (thus always fighting for one) OR merc units which have no affiliation.

There should be a minimum pay and a maximum pay. If you are good, you can get paid maximum (or close to) pay by a house to fight for their side. If you are heavily affiliated with a house, they will always pay you minimum but offer house-only perks (bonuses, better prices, etc etc etc). And units can be given extra perks if they are seen as loyalist units.

Perhaps the most interesting should be special house mechs. These are mechs available only to certian houses, and only if your affiliation is maxed with that house, and you go into maximum notoriety with their all other houses (which you gain at equal intervals as you gain affiliation with the target house). At that point the house trusts you enough to sell you their mech.

There should also be a special "notorious" prices/payouts which you gain for fighting for houses you have poor standing with. This way switching sides will take time to gain trust and will not be something people do frequently. Also it will discourage people from "farming" for house mechs as it should require about a year of heavy play to switch from one house to the next a few times over.



And there you go, this will be a great way to create factions, to allow switching of factions, to give perks to each faction, etc. Would be really fun seeing some house-specific mechs vs other house-specific mechs on a battlefield duking it out over supremacy.

[Lord Ikka]

Turbo, what you're suggesting is pretty close to what a number of the other Regiments are doing. Us (9th Sword of the Dragon), the Night's Scorn, the Ryuken-Ni-Sorei, and such have all basically decided to become Mercs simply to preserve our units' command structure. If you're not wanting to start your own unit, I'd suggest looking at existing units that are already in existence and find on that fits your style. I'd recommend looking at this forum and the housekurita.org site for recruitment/regiment info.

[torgian]

It seems to me that forming a merc unit affiliated with the House Kurita would be easy enough to do... what we're talking about here is mere mechanics, not necessarily the fact you're playing a merc unit and not a house unit.

You can still roleplay the fact that you're a House unit, but mechanically it's a merc unit simply because it allows more flexibility for the players.

As for the OP... I like how you're thinking. If you make your unit, let me know I wouldn't mind joining. Heavy team play and such is to my liking.

[Darius Otsdarva]

Well until the institute a design that allows units to be player governed certain groups will obviously form merc units. This is for the sake of preserving command structure. WIth demand and time however I am sure the opportunity will come for player run house units.

[Kyrie]

K-wa all,

Depending on what PGI announces as the the final design for CW, we might indeed by pushed into forming "house" merc units for the DCMS. I am hanging out in the TS server in the DCMS channel talking to people who fly the HK flag. Count me in regardless -- Glory to the Dragon!

[Lord Ikka]

When the Community Warfare stuff comes out, we will see what happens. The best option would for us would be letting Merc corps take specific jobs from a House. With enough jobs done in the name of a House, the Merc company becomes affiliated with the House, and that gives the company more perks similar to the House regiments. Basically it would make the House "merc" units still player-run but allows them to be RPing the House they enjoy.

[Kyrie]

Hai! I agree completely Ikka-san. There are also other complicated possibilities to consider.

If initially the emphasis is placed on implementing merc-side, and we all go merc; we might regret it when we have to pay a penalty to switch back to true DCMS upon its true implementation. All things must be considered according to what we learn from PGI. :-)