35 replies to this topic

[Woodstock]

According to Canon there should be the following numbers of mechs in each weight class available at the time the game is due to be set.

As you can see there are approximately equal numbers of each weight class (light/medium/heavy/assault)

7 x 20 tons
4 x 25 tons
8 x 30 tons
11 x 35 tons - total 30

mediums
10 x 40 tons
8 x 45 tons
9 x 50 tons
10 x 55 tons - total 37

Heavies
11 x 60 tons
11 x 65 tons
9 x 70 tons
6 x 75 tons - total 37


Assualts
9 x 80 tons
7 x 85 tons
7 x 90 tons
2 x 95 tons
11 x 100 tons - total 36

Source
http://www.mektek.ne...mech-list-info/

My suggestion for starting mech is that during your character generation you specify which class you will start with. You then get to choose one mech that your house makes from the list available. So 20 tons lights ... 40 ton mediums ... 60 ton heavies ... and 80 ton Assaults.

You can then work to change which mechs you have access to through two paths ... earning the c-bills to buy the next mech of your weight band. (another 20ton/40 ton/ 60 ton/ 80 ton) or you gain in experience until you unlock the next weight band (25/45/65/85) which then gives you the chance to buy a mech from your house mechs of that band.

A third option for jumping to another house's 'stable' of mechs would be through combat victories. if a fed com pilot kills 'X' number of dragon mechs (A kurita Mech) then he will gain the chance to buy that mech at a HUGE price. Kill 'x' more dragons and the price comes down steadily. Note though that this would not give you access to the whole Kurita line of mechs. Just the Dragon.

My hope is that this system will encourage people to value all mech classes. There wont be a sense of a light mech being the bottom of the pile and a sense of 'I have to grind through 60 tons of other mechs to reach my beautiful Zeus!

People will be able to choose their play style.

There should be an option each time you change weight band to also unlock a lower class of mech. So from medium to light. or from assault to medium for example.

This will create a system that feels fluid and natural while also giving the sense of progression and achievement.

Thoughts?

[ice trey]

I think that something like this would be nice, but if we're sticking to the era canon, you should apply the following rates

Lights (20-35t): 30%
Mediums(40-55t): 40%
Heavies (60-75t): 20%
Assaults (80+ t) 10%

It would also be great if each faction had players only start out in faction specific machines (Ex - a Steiner in a Commando, a Drac in a Panther, a Davion in an Enforcer), and then through trade, raids, or salvage, machines start spreading into each faction organically - just like in-universe.

[Woodstock]

Admittedly I doubt we will see ALL those mechs in game at launch.

Afterall there needs to be content for patches!

Not sure what you meant by those %?

[AgonyColumn]

Well, one thing I hope they avoid .. is the same error the WORLD OF TANKS game has made.
They are loosing clan intrest in the game.. there fore lowering overall activity. They are losing clan
intrest by creating an ingame system where the largest tanks win the game... period. Everytime.
It takes skill , tactic or overall ability out of the equasion.

[omegaclawe]

...to be fair, that's also how real tanks work.

[TheForce]

I heart your idea about creating characters that are stuck with one mech woodstock. Oh wait...it was my idea first...kinda

http://mwomercs.com/...__fromsearch__1

I think all houses should have access to all mechs, they should be rarer/more expensive or something. but starting off in your house mech sounds like a good idea.

Give players two characters for free, and make us pay for more.

normally i'm cheap, but not when it comes to mechs and poker chips.

[MagnusEffect]

@ Woodstock:

Not sure how much I like about a heavy grind (hated the grind in WoT), but I am definitely on board with the idea of House-specific mechs... at least for initial options

[Woodstock]

The idea was to remove the grind. by allowing people to start at a different point on the 'tree'

But I would say that your not stuck with one mech. You can move either by buying a new one from your weight band or by un locking another band and changing mech that way.

You can also change class completely allowing movement up and down.

[godmonkey]

actually bigger is not always better. Real life examples are the German tanks vs the allied or the russians. Did the germans have better tech? for sure. Were the tanks bigger? In most cases yes. But why did they loose then?

simple. Numbers and ease of maintainability. There just was alot more of the Shermans or the T-34's even if they weren't better tanks 1 on 1.

[Col Sanders]

It's mechwarrior. Who cares about the grind? I'll enjoy hopping around in a Wasp as much as I would going in an Atlas if the game is done right. As long as everyone's on the same playing level, then it's great.

[Woodstock]

Col. Sanders, on 04 November 2011 - 01:01 AM, said:

I'll enjoy hopping around in a Wasp as much as I would going in an Atlas if the game is done right.

Thats a big IF ... not saying it will be done badly but a strong IP does not always mean a strong game. sadly. We cna just hope and trust and make as many good suggestions as we can in the hopes we have an impact.

[Razor Kotovsky]

Fresh out of registration char should not have access to anything remotely worthy of shooting at.
Definitely not a Victor.

Mech classes may look like tank classes do in WoT but they are not (even without taking the whole HP contrast bullshit in the equation).

Edited by Razor Kotovsky, 04 November 2011 - 04:52 AM.

[theginganinja]

I dunno, I still like the idea of starting out with one or two of the "worse" 'Mechs in each weight class, then letting you unlock "better" ones (e.g. Marauder and Atlas for heavies and assaults) as you gain experience in those weight classes. You could experiment with the playstyles, adjust to different classes if one is overly represented in the game you are in, and still have the rewards for specialization. Plus, newer players and those that don't play as much won't be completely doomed due to having no access whatsoever to the larger 'mechs and trying to specialize in attack or something. It would also let players get a better idea of what the final playstyle for each class would be like - only having access to lights and/or mediums at the beginning would show you how scout and other similar classes will work, but you'll get no sense for the style that would be required to effectively use the heavier 'Mechs

[Razor Kotovsky]

The whole "unlocking" idea is just a bag of laughs.

How do you get a mech? You salvage, steal and buy parts until you can put it together.
And then you have to learn to pilot it. This was the hard part in books.

It is not an option for a house pilot however. They are supposed to deserve it with their service and stuff.
This sounds like unlocking though, yeah...

P.S.: WYSIWYG editor just kills me.

Edited by Razor Kotovsky, 04 November 2011 - 05:01 AM.

[Havoc2]

I think there needs to be some kind of "grind" in order to unlock higher tier 'Mechs (ala MPBT:3025) otherwise anyone w/o previous BT experience will simply choose assault.

I'm interested to see what the devs do with this, without the "play to win" that the devs insist will not take part in this game, using real $$ to buy your next tier will certainly not be in this game.

I imagine that progression in this game will be similar to all the single-player missions of MW2 - MW4. You start off with a light 'Mech (DEFINITELY want to see House specific 'Mechs to start if we choose an affiliate House) then progress up through either salvage or purchase.

[Razor Kotovsky]

Endgame option destroys the whole purpose of event sandbox developers say they want to achieve.
"Oh hey i got an IS-7, game done."

NBT HC forced to always have mediums and lights on the roster because:
a) they nicely fit in a dropship
are cheap as you can actually lose a mech forever
c) excellent for scouting

So, taking in the account that if you serve a House it provides the mechs for you, permanent destruction is a viable option.
Mercenaries have to rely on salvaging and purchase. Since mercenaries are the best of the best of inner sphere they should have no problems~~~

And ofc lighter mechs should be supposed to have their roles.

Edited by Razor Kotovsky, 04 November 2011 - 05:20 AM.

[Woodstock]

The race to the IS-7 (WoT reference) effect is not something we can control. The way that can be prevented though if is for the dev's to create very valid roles for ALL classes. I would say also that Inner Sphere vrs Inner Spher battle should not be limited by number of players but Battle value of the mechs. Also the objective of the battles can not ... really CAN NOT be kill everyone.

Because then all that happens is ...everyone goes straight for the biggest mech. There needs to be multiple objectives, multiple win options.

E.g. you need to gain superiority over this sector. you can either:
A) Kill everyone. (heavies and assaults)
Cut off enemy supply routes. (command mediums and lights)
C) Paint all enemy mechs for orbital bombardment (lights)
D) Occupy and hold all 5 locations through the city (this would help lights and med become very useful)

If like with WoT you just have kill everyone or capture the base ... you get people just killing everyone. Its easier than capturing the base. (though that does happen from time to time) The result is a grind game to gain the biggest toughest tank. and scout tanks are laughed at, and often earn you insults for taking up a slot better suited to a heavy tank. Oh and artillery is the lowest of the low because they can kill heavy tanks. people moan about this and moan about that and generally you get a 2Dimentional game that is already losing people.

If you can create a game that NEEDS all classes of mech then the tech tree and unlocking I spoke of becomes a mechanic to try out new mechs not a grind. Cos it would be cool.

Yes you might love your Zeus Assault mech ... but if you have an endless supply of chicken would you not wanna try beef sometime?

Experience can be about customising your mech, not getting out of it.

[Marauder3D]

The key here lies in a non mechwarrior series game: the crysis mod Living Legends. If you take an assault and wander out on the battlefield unsupported, you are going to get taken out. Assaults should accelerate and turn like an iceberg. Once a Hollander or Shadowcat gets in your rear arc, if you don't have friendly help, you are finished.

Most MW games just made assaults heavily armored lights with more guns. They have no weaknesses, so to speak. As long as the game devs ramp up the problems with driving a 100 ton monster, I think we'll be alright.

And if you haven't played MW:LL, do yourselves a favor and check it out. Just need Crysis Warhead off of steam and the mod is free as always. High learning curve, team based game.

Cheers

[Barantor]

Part of the key to not having an IS-7 grind is to give objectives with rewards that don't involve killing the whole team. If it is a race to secure an objective then the slow Atlas is going to arrive too late to the party. If it is an escort then that lumbering Hauptman is going to be left in the dust while the enemy kills the escort object.

Make the game have missions, not just arena style killing and you will see all sorts of mechs.

If they go by the LoL (League of Legends) style then different Mechs will have different roles just like Champions have in LoL

[Razor Kotovsky]

But IS-7 can keep up with mediums...

What Marauder3D said.
Assaults are only good at slugging at other assaults and *gasp* structures.