206 replies to this topic

[Shadowscythe]

KageRyuu, on 16 June 2012 - 10:37 PM, said:

People need to stop making so many assumptions, and entirely silly or fearful assumptions at that.

For a fact we know that the Devs are taking a lot of inspiration from the Table Top, while also adopting the Hard Point system from MW4 (unlike MW4 thankfully a weapon still takes up critical space). I also remember them saying that they wouldn't be making all variants only those that couldn't already be made with modifications to other variants, so clearly the variants they offer us will have different hard points. Lastly, don't worry about what someone is doing to their mech, the TT has a balancing feature that is based on the make up of the mech, it's called Battle Value. Now if the Devs are taking a lot of inspiration from the TT like they said they are, then hopefully they'll realize the easiest way to ensure enjoyment of the game by all is to use the BV system so that teams of equal BV can pit their skills and not just their mechs against one another.

Additionally, there is only one variant of the Hunchback that has jump jets, and it is not currently available in the time line, so given what they said about mechs having jump jets, that being "only mechs with at least one variant that has jump jets will have access to jump jets" paraphrased of course, one comes to the conclusion that until that mech would normally come out (3058, or 9 years from now, 3049) the Hunchback as well as any other mech who doesn't currently have a variant with JJ will not have JJ available for modification.

Q&A 6 quote

For mounting equipment (such as AMS, BAP, ECM), will we be able to place it anywhere there is critical space, as the devblog indicates heat sinks can be placed, or will those items have hardpoint limitations as well? –Solis Obscuri

[DAVID] For the most part, you’ll be able to place non-weapon equipment anywhere, subject to critical slot and tonnage restrictions. Though there are some restrictions. Some are derived from the tabletop rules, like CASE being allowed only in the torso locations, while others are specific to our game, like jump jets being allowed only on variants and locations that include jump jets by default.

That sounds like only that specific varient will have jump jets. not all the varients of that mech.

[PixelPixie]

perhaps once a module is unlocked or something then it is unlocked for all mechies that use that module.. now if there are afew different module upgrades then you need to unlock each ..personnally i think it should gear off the stock chassis, variants well are built off that so if stock comes with say a 200m range theremal sensor you need to spend c-bills and unlock the 300m range but once unlocked its valid for all mechs.

unless they decide that each size of mechs,light,med,heavy or *** have there own strting equipment and cant transfer to lesser or larger mechs..so that 300m rangetheremal upgrade for say that light mech wont go into your meduim

just thoughts..

but personnaly once you acquire the c-bills and xp to spend on something it should just unlock across the board..
its all about how well you pilot not tweaking out the machine....much.

love pixie

[Sierra19]

I was under the impression you got the "base" model when you purchased a mech, and then had to unlock/buy upgrades/modules for it. Take the Centurion CN9-A. It starts with a LRM10, medium lasers and an AC10, as well as "stock" engine, armor, and structure. Now, I'm assuming you'll have to use xp to unlock the LBX-AC10, or UAC10, as well as the XL engine, TSM, and Ferro-Fibrous armor. I don't think once you upgrade a particular mech model, you don't get another mech, just the upgrades on the current mech.

[WoollyMimmoth]

I simply assume that one of the major differences between the variants will be their XP tree. I mean that I think you won't get the same bonuses for different variants. If I'm right then HBK-4G will presumably give bonuses to Autocannons, an HBK-4P give bonuses to lasers and an Awesome AWS-8Q will give you AWESOME bonuses to PPCs (see what I did there).

Why would you then try to turn a Hunchback into a dedicated PPC carrier, you would probably miss out on any weapon bonuses from that variant and have heat problems. Why bother when you can just buy a real PPC carrier like the Awesome? Sure it more expensive, but not that much more expensive, and not that much slower. This is what I hope they will do anyway, but it's just wild speculation - like everything else in this thread.

However, like other people have said before in this thread. You can't stop people from configuring variants with similar loadouts if the variants have the hardpoints for it. But why should you, if people want to be boring and predictable then let them. No skin of your nose, right. I certainly wouldn't try to do something like that, because where would the fun be in it. I see that what the OP is suggesting might be possible but I don't really see the problem.

Finally, like other people also have said, there is a great lack of concrete information since we haven't even had a chance to test the game yet. I suggest that this discussion be shelved until the open beta. We can (and should) reopen the discussion if it becomes a problem then, not before.

[RG Notch]

Bryan Ekman, on 19 April 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

Even though you can and will be able to recreate some variants using MechLab, XP will not accumulate for a particular chassis unless you actually purchase and use it. A Jenner JR7-D is still a JR7-D, even if you make it look like a JR7-F. The serial number on the chassis still says JR7-D.

Obviously they aren't necessarily concerned about us making the variants identical for play style, they just need us to buy the variants so we spend money, both C-bills as a money sink and real money for obvious reasons. I see no reason from the devs perspective to limit our flexibility to play as we want as long as we pay as they want. I don't begrudge them the money as long as they don't force me to play with some of the dumb variants the game has saddled us with.

[Sable]

I don't agree in limiting customization. One thing i loved about mechwarrior 2 over later versions of the game was he amount of customization you had. I understand why they limited it to types of weapons so it would follow along the lines of what the mech was designed around visually. Having an AC 20 shooting out of what used to be a small laser seems kinda silly. One reason i prefer clan mechs is because they had omni hardpoints. I'm starting to get off topic. Basically i don't think a mech should be limited because YOU think it should be limited. I'm tired of rigid games where there only ends up being 1 effective way to build a mech.

[wanderer]

Sprouticus, on 19 April 2012 - 06:27 AM, said:

This is pulled from another mechlab thread. I wanted to talk about what the mechlab will mean to the MWO leveling system, and how it will IMO break it or make it absurdly meaningless.

But the problem is that variants can be customized, the XP/leveling system gets borked.

Not at all. If anything, it means the skill tree for a given 'Mech is going to likely mean a great deal.

If you take a stock Hunchback and turn it into a PPC-armed monster...and then look at it's tree.

Say that tree has a lot of ballistic upgrades. This means your Hunchback will not be as good as the guy who took that -P and armed it accordingly instead. Or if they're even more specific and that -P only gets upgrades to LASER skills. Again, that pilot's going to be swapping those PPC's out and PPC Hunchbacks will be rarer birds.

If skill trees for a given variant are tailored to make that kind of 'Mech better, it encourages you to stick more to the spirit of the original.