eZZip, on 21 April 2012 - 04:51 PM, said:
First off, how about using periods and commas? Second, there is already a leveling component in the game for the pilot and you probably won't start off with enough money to get multiple mechs customized to your satisfaction. People absolutely should not have to play significantly longer (i.e., getting to a high level) in order to get more advanced equipment, since that inevitably leads to frustration via games with players getting owned by those with better equipment.
Never do this. The same argument can be made for travelling to different 'planets' (maps), waiting between games (time between contracts/enemy action/new operations/etc.), and repairing your mech. It's generally a terrible idea to actually prevent people from playing your game.
I pretty much 100% agree with this.
Tuhalu, on 21 April 2012 - 06:17 PM, said:
In general, I agree, but you are taking a fraction of my suggestion as if it was the whole thing. "Never" take a comment out of context
My suggestion would not prevent people from playing the game. By the time you have sufficient rank in your faction and sufficient skill in that particular mech, you should have enough C-Bills to not only pay for the upgrade to your current mech, but also buy one or two more. At worst, the time delay should encourage a player to try a different mech (although they might just buy a replacement until the upgraded one comes back from the shop!). It should never prevent that player from playing unless they have somehow wasted all their money. In fact, the game should prevent you from sending your only mech away for a factory refit.
My argument was more for making it an "end game" event to have a mech with factory refit parts (as opposed to buying one brand new). Before then, there are some quite heavy refits you can do inside a regular mech bay/lab.
But you are preventing people from playing, because a time delay prevents a person from playing the mech they want. If I log in and want to play a hunchback, I am going to play a hunchback. If I upgrade my hunchback and the game tells me "You can't use your hunchback for another 3 days," that is basically the equivalent of the game giving me a giant middle finger.
We aren't roleplaying in a persistant BattleTech MMO here, we're playing an online arena based game that simplifies a lot of the mechanics already involved. I don't have to wait hours while techs swap my guns/armor, and I certainly don't place an order with a factory and wait until they produce my mech. Why should I have to wait for them to upgrade/replace a chasis.
Not allowing a person to endo-steel up their mech until they own multiple mechs, or making people wait real life time in order to do so does nothing for balance. All it does is create a "grudge" between players who want to upgrade their mech but are waiting on it, vs. the people who already have the upgrades. It's the same reason why I hated Battlefield bad company 2's multiplayer. 90% of people past level 14 use magnum ammo, because it is arguably the best perk. So every single time that I got killed by a person with magnum ammo when I was below level 14 made me angry. (and ultimately made me quit playing)
In MWO all that needs to be done is that Endo-steel needs to be balanced with regular chasis. Endo-steel makes you more durable, but eats up your precious crit slots. I expect the upgrade purchase to be a moderate cost, not something on the level of buying a whole new mech.
Grinner, on 22 April 2012 - 05:36 AM, said:
The problem I have with Endo Steel available on any 'mech is that it makes ferro fibrous armor obsolete. Both occupy 14 critical spaces but Endo saves more tonnage. If any 'mech can mount either, why would any 'mech ever mount ferro? Granted you might see a few light'mechs that mount both because tonnage is at such a premium for them, but most mechs will have one or the other, and if either is available, Endo is the clearly better choice. The advantage of ferro should be that you can mount it on any chassis. Endo should give that extra edge to those chassis or variants that come equipped with it, at the expense of reduced critical space for weaponry, heat sinks, and equipment. I think this would make more sense canonically, be more balanced, and would give a reason for players to actually use ferro.
You're right, and this is a case where I'd rather see the dev's stray from TT. Instead of Ferro being "worse endo" I'd prefer if Fero was "light endo" Aka, reduce the tonnage savings of ferro and also the crit space used. That would make both have a place in mech customization.
Edited by LackofCertainty, 22 April 2012 - 03:42 PM.