2 replies to this topic

[Gaan Cathal]

Reading around on the forums since I've started, I've noticed a trend as regards 'tech level' (for the uninitated: some tech is newer and ergo better in the 'canon', this is described as a 'tech level') and how it should impact MWO. The two 'extreme' standpoints are the Tabletop Purist, who wants Tier Two technology to be more powerful than Tier One, as it is in the Battletech canon, and the Competetive Gamer, who wants all technology to be balanced against all other technology to ensure a varied and level playing field, insofar as such things are possible. My suggestion is something of a compromise between these, and will therefore require some 'give' from both ends of the scale, and I'm sure it won't satisfy everyone - this is the interwebs after all.

The current Mech XP trees are split into three tiers, requiring completion of the prior tier for three varients of a given chassis for progression. My suggestion is to tie Tech Tier to this, such that to load Tier 2 tech on a mech would require access to the Elite Efficiencies for that varient. This introduces an access difficulty to those technologies, which can be used as a balancing factor to permit them a slight increase in power over Tier 1 techs. In essence, you earn the right to put better gear on your mech.

The most obvious issue with this proposal is, obviously, that more experienced players have a competetive edge that may become unfair - however I would like to highlight that the tie to Mech XP, not Pilot XP, would offset this to a great degree. Using Eve as an example - in Eve you can have an old player with proficiency X in Frigates, Destroyers, Cruisers and Battlecruisers, a newer player may only have proficiency X in Frigates and Cruisers: this however only incurs a disparity when piloting Destroyers and Battlecruisers. Should the two meet in Cruisers, the extra skill points invested in the other two hulls are irrelevant to the encounter. In the same way, using the system I am proposing, a younger MWO player may be limited to using Tier 2 tech in a single chassis, while an older one may have a mechbay full of Tier 2-equipped mechs. However, if they both drop in Tier 2-capable mechs, the disparity is irrelevant to the match in question. Additionally, the more veteran player would still be restricted to Tier 1 tech when 'levelling up' a new chassis to Elite efficiencies, barring the expenditure of valuable General XP.

This isn't intended as an excuse to have stupidly over-powered weaponry avaliable for the net expenditure of 42,750 xp - the Tier 2 tech can only be so much more powerful for the system to work. The PPC and ERPPC are a good example, as long as we take them in isolation and ignore the broken nature of the 'base' weapon. You run an Awesome, say, with PPCs as the primary armament (presumably with some lasers, say, for short ranged combat when it inflicts itself upon you), and heat mechanics are such that it functions (that being an entierly seperate issue). On reaching Elite competency, you gain access to Tier 2 tech, and thus the ER PPC, and DHS. ER PPCs will allow you to extend the range of your PPCs by a factor of 1.5 at the cost of approximately the same proportion more heat (essentially a straight-line improvement for a heat cost). You can either deal with this extra heat, or find the slots for an upgrade to DHS. The upgrade is an upgrade, but not overwhelmingly so, and requires a certain degree of compromise.

Pros:
-Adds progression, which is a big deal in terms of early player retention
-Doesn't overly favour veterans (in my opinion)
-Allows for slight up-tuning of certain currently poor weapons (pulse lasers come to my mind)
-Easily extendable to account for Tier 3 (Clan) tech when required
-Acts as a mild FOTM-barrier (by some miracle, ER PPC Centurions become overpowered for a patch, everyone needs to have Elite efficiency access to abuse)
-Limits the number of variables a new player needs to deal with, allowing them to 'phase into' the game (actually a fairly big deal in terms of player retention, folks don't like being confused)
-Discourages early-game chassis diversification

Cons:
-Will need some kind of lock on 'illegal' builds dropping when introduced
-Assumes a lot of weapons are balanced at the base level, which they currently aren't (PPC, anyone?)
-Certain stock loadouts (AWS-9M) suddenly require Elite efficiency access to pilot (not really sure how you solve this one)
-Discourages early-game chassis diversification


I know this isn't 'as per Tabletop', but neither are real-time fire rates, or selective compartment targetting. For the Tabletop Purist, I suggest you view this as a chance to get MWO closer to the canon, by introducing a progression balancing factor. In a perfect world this wouldn't be necessary (unless you really favour the progression argument), but the fact is if heat is 'sorted' then ER PPC + DHS is better than PPC + SHS - even with the 1.4 DHS mutiplier. These kinds of tech level improvements are much more likely to be accepted with some kind of balancing factor, without them Tier 2 tech will be nerfed to be in line with Tier 1, likely killing it entierly, or Tier 1 tech will be a redundant joke for the use of poor newbies, many of whom will be driven off by the CB-lead imbalance.

TLDR: Balance top level tech by tying it to Mech XP, as opposed to nerfing it, or lower tech, into oblivion.

[RedHairDave]

why not, if the devs go this way, i dont mind.

[DeadlyNerd]

1 small problem here. You forgot the fact that the main problem in gaining Mech tiers is the cost of mechs and equipment.
This way Premium players will get the advantage by being able to advance through tech tiers faster due to the extra CBills they earn which is exactly what PGI is trying NOT to achieve.

First they need to change/fix the way mech tiers are gained and when they're independent of the CBills you earn your suggestion will become feasible.