299 replies to this topic

[Sid Vishus]

punishment no its just blatant profitearing

[Wizard Steve]

The solution to this "problem" is to make mechs cost three times as much and efficiencies require three times as much XP.

Simples!

[RIFT]

To become Elite or a master at something you need to be proficient in it many ways...not just one.
Everything in life cant be handed to you....work for something and be proud of what you have done.

[RacerX]

Personally I hate it. Forcing the grind just grindings sake is a waste of time. Gears of War did this famously. They would come out with new DLC, like the Horde DLC for GoW3, but you had to grind something like 200 hours just to earn enough gear points just to unlock the silly thing. So, instead of making the game a richer expereince it simply stagnated.

I feel that the grind stagnates a game. It is a waste of time.

On the other hand if you want to shortcut this with MC then you are blowing a healthy wad of cash just do so. Which I don't think is right either. Let's map this out. I want to play many mechs so I spend $$ on MC. Said mechs will remain non-specific. I want to max out my Catapult line but don't want to play the other Catapults.

So I play my other mechs and gather a bunch of Mech XP. I then use MC to convert MXP to GXP. I purchase three catapults with more MC. I then apply my GXP to all the slots in my Catapults. Sell the Catapults I don't want for less than 50% C-bills. And then rinse and repeat.

It is easy enough to create an $$ to MC converter in Excel so I'll leave it up to you to figure out the expense for what you want to do. You'll have to decide which is worth more to you. $$ or time.

[Moogy]

Well for new players it is an interesting way to get them to try out new styles of play. For people that have a specific style and only want to play that... it is kind or problematic.

They could implement a trophy concept for playing each mech that could be also available through exp for players wanting to only play one mech...

[Khobai]

yep. grinding is simply a game mechanic that was invented to get people to keep playing a game that lacks replayability. mechwarrior online has replayability so theres absolutely no need for a grind.

[Jabilac]

While I don't think requiring 3 Variants is bad idea I wouldn't mind seeing a way to bypass this requirement at the cost of Mech XP... Like 4x or even 5x the EXP required for each upgrade past the basics if they don't have three Variant with basic's unlocked.

[StimCity]

Yes, because having to manage cbills to buy mechs twice to unlock the next tier is a royal pita.

And as a founder I already have a massive head start - it should be a desperate but achievable grind for people not wishing to pay, but for someone that has invested a lot more user friendly.

Oh, slightly off topic, but repair bills on bought mechs should be lower

[Shismar]

I'd prefer the choice of three mechs of the same weight class over three variants as it is now. I know I'll never touch those "leveling" mechs again after I am at master.

For a new player it makes more sense because they find out how other variants play. I still voted yes as I think the mechanics could be implemented feeling less grindy.

[Bubba Wilkins]

It's a reasonable mechanic to get the 2x modifier and the higher tier bonuses as well as provide an incentive to spend some of that MC cash.

If you are not able to adapt and use multiple variants, how can you claim to master any given chassis?

[Hovertank]

They should just increase the XP cost for each achievement by 3 times and remove the outlandish requirement to buy 3 chassis.

[Zynk]

I do not think having to master 3 different variants is a problem.

But when a mech does not have 3 true variants like the Shootist.

In this case when there is no true variant (on Shootist swapping 2 MPL's for 2 ER ML's or a AC20 for a Gauss is not a variant IMO) then require that 1 off mechs to have 1½-2 times the experience needed for the 3 mech's to master.

Basic = 14250
Elite = 21500
Master = 21500

To master 1 mech requires 57250 exp and 171750 to master 3 different mechs.

So for 1 off mechs it would be 171750 * 1½-2 = 257625-343500 exp range.

I would not like to see 1 off mechs not be added because it does not have 3 variants.

Edited by Zynk, 19 November 2012 - 01:19 PM.

[Hurnn]

I think it's stupid to have to buy 3 when the variants on many models are literally 1 hardpoint different.

[Scytale]

To those worrying about mech bays - I believe when you have unlocked all basic for a given mech you can then sell that mech without deleterious effect on the other variants you own.

EDIT: Or in other words, you don't lose the perks that you have for any given mech if you sell it.

Edited by Scytale, 19 November 2012 - 04:14 PM.

[Sawa963]

Gorith, on 18 November 2012 - 09:25 AM, said:

It's not punishing players it's a way to keep people from maxing out mechs to quickly. Remeber for them for make money with players paying mainly for cosmetics and cbill/xp boosts the grind must be fairly substantial.

I'm fine with substantial grinds; but why can't the grind be enjoyable?

I'd much rather they remove tier restrictions and raise the exp requirements 100x so I can actually enjoy playing the mech I want to play. Right now you're forced to spend a fortune just to unlock a variant you don't want, then you're forced to play it just as much as your favorite variant -- and then you repeat the process three times. If you max out your favorite, you feel like you're wasting time by not leveling up the variants.

Sure, there are people that will argue this is a necessary and reasonable requirement; but I'd bet my left ball nobody actually enjoys it doing it.

[OldGrayDonkey]

Sorry, while I dislike the concept and feel it needs rethinking, I can't call it "punishing" the player. Punishment is something you don't chose to do, and you don't have to do it if you don't want to.

Still think it needs to change though.

[p4r4g0n]

Speaking as a player who just started this month and who's only preparation was replaying MW4 recently, I vote "NO" cos:

• The grind isn't that bad compared to some other games especially if you're in "enjoyment" mode rather than "let's get this over with" mode; and
  
• Playing all three Jenner variants changed my mind about my preferred Jenner variant.

Having said that, a couple of tweaks to the system would help particularly when the differences in the variant are minimal or non-existent.

Example:

Any reason xp cost of efficiences couldn't be increased by 50% when you have 2 only meaningful variants?

[Arthur Heath]

Buying the 3 variants can be useful to be honest. I know nothing of Hunchbacks and I am not the type to just get the thing everybody says I should get. I have no way of knowing what my "Favorite" variant is, so by having me do 3 of them I can learn at least 3 variants of it, I am learning though not to modify them to much though, since it takes long enough to save up enough to buy the next one(I am on #2 now) since I experimented with DHS on the first one. In short it feels like "Forced" to somebody who knows exactly what they want, but to someone else its more of a chance to figure out what they want

[Solis Obscuri]

I think it makes sense to have to use more than one variant of a chassis in order to have "mastered" it.

[Lamont]

To those that say that you have to try out all the variants to be a master, I disagree. All your really doing is becoming a jack of all trades. To master a particular variant, you spend time on just the one you want to master. For example, I used to work at a factory. I had a "bought" job that I had worked at that particular station every workday for years. I got really good at it. Over the years I found the right way for me to perform the job even though it deviated from the work instructions. I even got the the point where every break I would switch hands to help prevent carpel tunnel. I did have to use both hands on the job, but each hand had something different to do to perform the job. After a while, they switched us to teams and job rotations where we had to switch off every break to a different station in our team. There was seven different stations in our team and while I learned the other 6 stations, I sure as heck didn't master any of them. Having to work 6 different stations in one night you can't invest the time and effort to master any of them. Did I eventually get faster at the other stations? Sure, but mastering them? Absolutely not.

I personally don't want to master 3 different variants, I just want to master the one I like. This system wouldn't be so bad if it was by weight class instead of by varient. Mastering say light class by trying out a Jenner, Commando, and Raven wouldn't be as bad. Heavy and assault only has the 2 chassis so this type of system wouldn't work yet, but with them adding more chassis over time, this kind of system could work in the long run. I still would rather just play the mech that I love the most and just have it cost alot more exp to master it out.

As far as this existing system designed to get us to spend money, I have already bought 3000MCs and bought my first mech with it and have 6 bays to work with. I'm more than happy to spend money on a game that is enjoyable to play. I've different MMOs now for 11 years. I'm used to paying money for those type of games as well as the grind involved with those games. I don't mind a grind as long as I'm still having fun playing the game. Having to buy and master out 2 other variants just to master out the one I want to play is not my idea of fun.