6 replies to this topic

[Morashtak]

It would be nice to have a sense of accomplishment as well as a goal to shoot for over the long run beyond the standard K/D ratio and other data. This could be done by starting in a “no name” militia unit and through accumulating Loyalty Points (LP), achievements and other awards distinguish oneself as a MechWarrior™ that is going places.

First, an observation;

For larger Houses there are a few similarities in how the units are distributed;

• Militias – Planet or system specific
  
• Regional Corps – assigned to an area of planets
  
• Senior Corps – generally the most prestigious, assigned to protect core and home planets

For the Clans one would need to “find” a similar structure.

With that in mind;

You would start as a lowly grunt in a dirt poor, planet militia. When one is done fulfilling the requirements in the militia unit(s) then an option becomes available to join a Regional unit (available via a drop down menu in the Warrior tab). Once there one can again accumulate all the necessary LPs, etc and become a force in the unit(s) available at this level.

Of course, if one wishes to stay in a particular unit they only need to ignore any notification and not choose another unit of higher prestige level. But, if they are looking to go above and beyond then they can choose to rise in the ranks of the Senior units.

With this option players can eventually join a unit that they have emotional attachment to without feeling that any one player or a group of players are running the unit. They could still drop as a unit (if the Lobby allows it, fingers crossed) and have a sense of camaraderie.

For officer ranks and LPs they would have to stay active as per the dev blog regarding this.

The one problem I can see immediately is how long should it take for the requirements of each “level” to be fulfilled? One month? Two? More? “Depends”?

[El Loco]

Interesting idea... and something I have thought about as well. For keeping it simple, your suggestion is really good. This way, you have three tiers in the ranks system as well. The only problem I see, and can't solve either, is: Alright, so you climbed to the top rank in your planetary militia, say Captain... now you join a regular House unit as a regular 'Mechwarrior, i.e. you'd have to drop your rank. Same holds true when moving on to a prestigious top tier unit. Sounds a little bit weird, doesn't it?

As for how long it should take you to climb the ladders... that should depend on skill and time investment. A rather unskilled player with lots of time should be able to climb in ranks as fast as a skilled player with limited time. Plus, climbing through the higher tiers should take more time. Getting to the top rank in you elite unit could take you 9 months at least... that should also result in enough motivation to continue playing.

[Morashtak]

El Loco, on 05 May 2012 - 04:44 AM, said:

... so you climbed to the top rank in your planetary militia, say Captain... now you join a regular House unit as a regular 'Mechwarrior, i.e. you'd have to drop your rank.

Only in the sense of you being the FNG (frakkin' new guy). You would always have the "highest rank held" achievement but would have to stay active to keep it. For the individual units climbing the ranks would be seen as seasoning; you're gaining respect and growing in their eyes hence gaining ranks.

Example of what a player's Warrior tab might look like if they caught the "gotta get them all" bug;

Quote

Promotions and Highest Rank Held


Graduated the Academy 15-Aug-3049
Earned the rank of Lieutenant 15-Sep-3049
Earned the rank of First Lieutenant 15-Dec-3049
Earned the rank of Hauptmann 15-Feb-3050

---------------------------------------------

Rank Held and Unit Earned With;

Militias;


Accrington FTM
Denebola FTM
Gacrux FTM
Neerabup MTM
Teyvareb TTM


Regional Corps

6th Donegal Guards
7th Donegal Guards
17th Skye Rangers
22nd Skye Rangers


Senior Established Corps

17th Arcturan Guards
19th Arcturan Guards
3rd Lyran Guards
5th Lyran Guards
6th Lyran Guards
3rd Royal Guards
4th Royal Guards

So as seen, this player has the rank of Hauptmann but has decided to climb the ranks of the most prestigious senior units. His new unit will see him as knowing nothing more than a Lieutenant even though his shoulder insignia says differently.

The player will have to stay active to keep his highest rank active or lose any perks that come with it.

Edited by Morashtak, 05 May 2012 - 08:13 AM.

[Gun Bear]

As cool as it sounds I think its overly complicated. There has been mention that as you gain reputation points in (a) faction(s) you gain ranks and authority.

[Morashtak]

Gun Bear, on 06 May 2012 - 04:28 AM, said:

As cool as it sounds I think its overly complicated. There has been mention that as you gain reputation points in (a) faction(s) you gain ranks and authority.

Nor should it be too simple or people will lose interest. Then again, no one is being forced to join any unit that they do not wish to with this system.

Also, for Mercs - Once they have risen through the ranks of the Regular and Veteran MercCorp levels they would join a unit in the Elite level (say, GDL or WD). There they would stay having a sense of accomplishment that they earned their way into their favorite MercCorp.

As for those generic LP's these are still to be fully detailed but feeling as though it will just be for getting cheaper parts and modules. Ranks and authority would be conferred through this system in greater detail (i.e. Major in a militia is no big deal while a Major in the Royal Guards is a big deal) while land or other prestige awards (just as examples) would be earned outside this system. This would just reflect ranks and affiliation(s).

[Nighthound]

Nice thought ..... I just see one problem with that ... you as an individual would have exacltly zero control over with whom you drop.

Now if I understood you right.....
I would start as a graduate and I am being posted on one of the Borderworlds and are charged with protecting that World or attacking a few enemy Worlds within reach.
.... So far so good ..... who decides on which Planet I am stationed? What if I have a dozen friends and we are all over the place? What if I come late into the Game and there is no enemy to fight, because no new players are posted on the opposite side?

Now I have accumulated enough Points to advance into a Regional Corp.
.... What about my friends? Do I have to leave them behind or do I have to wait for them until they themselfes have enough Points to advance? Again who decides in which Unit I advance into?

After a long time I now am able to enlist in one of those prestigious Units.
..... Are there only Professional players in those? Where does the feeling of belonging come into things?

I don't want to discredit your Ideas but I would modify them a bit because, although I and my friends want to play for a House we want to play together as often as it is possible.

So how about the following Modification :
You start as a Lone Wolf, you get your first Mech and you get a List of Planets that need attacking or defending (there are dropseats to be filled). After that you would get another List, possibly a bit more restricted because you can not jump all the way from one border to the other, or with a bit of waiting time depending on the distance, or depending on how many times you attacked that faction (do you have enough LP to yoin one of their drops), or somesuch (do you get the idea?). You can do this all day Long for the rest of your MW:O career.
OR you and your buddies can decide to establish a Merc Company and from then on forward you are given Missions and shoot it out with the other Mercs out there.
OR you could decide to form a Militia Company and join one of the Houses. You would still be stationed randomly so there still is the chance that there are no enemys to fight although (and I hereby answer my own question from above) you could be able to jump around a bit.

Now advancing within this system would be a tat more complex because you have to take all players of that Unit into account, but it could be done.
Individual Points would go into rank and would only be a kind of badge with no ingame consequences what so ever.
Total Unit Points together with amount of Players in your Unit decide if you are a Company or Battalion or Regiment and decides how far your influence radius is ... how many Planets you can defend/attack (how big is your List of targets). I include amount of Players in this because I don't think anyone would want a 4 Player Brigade.
Average Unit Points would or better could determine how prestigious the Unit you fight under is. Average here is imporatant because it limits the amount of decay if one or two are on vacation.

How about it? Good? Bad?

Edited by Nighthound, 06 May 2012 - 06:42 AM.

[Morashtak]

Nighthound, on 06 May 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

Nice thought ..... I just see one problem with that ... you as an individual would have exacltly zero control over with whom you drop.

This comes down to how the Lobby is going to work. Speculation is that we will hope to be able to form a group and drop as Lance- or Company-sized groups. Standing by for more details.

How this would apply to faction groups - Pre-mades would all have to be of the same faction and/or filled out with Lone Wolves. Since the House Factions and MercCorp factions (should this happen) are different I can't see a mixed group tho' some type of alliance system could be implemented down the road.

Nighthound, on 06 May 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

Now if I understood you right.....
I would start as a graduate and I am being posted on one of the Borderworlds and are charged with protecting that World or attacking a few enemy Worlds within reach.
.... So far so good ..... who decides on which Planet I am stationed? What if I have a dozen friends and we are all over the place? What if I come late into the Game and there is no enemy to fight, because no new players are posted on the opposite side?

You're only choosing the unit. In a sense you are choosing a planet but you'll drop as a faction so think of it as you've been thrown together ad hoc with other players of the same faction for whatever reason one could imagine.

You only defend/attack a generic planet in that sense. The name will be fought over and a system in place to see who wins control but it's not as tho' one will chose a militia and parade up and down the square for months at a time.

Nighthound, on 06 May 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

Now I have accumulated enough Points to advance into a Regional Corp.
.... What about my friends? Do I have to leave them behind or do I have to wait for them until they themselves have enough Points to advance? Again who decides in which Unit I advance into?

As above; same faction, same drop. No need to make this too complicated.

Advancement - You do. This could be real simple for the militia/green units - They need bodies and will take anyone. The drop down menu would list them all. As one looks to advance into the higher ranks a more complicated system of points based on k/d, damage done, ranks, awards and achievements could come increasingly into play cumulating into having to be the best of the best of the best (sir!) to unlock the menu choices for the Royal Guards, Wolf Dragoons, etc.

Nighthound, on 06 May 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

After a long time I now am able to enlist in one of those prestigious Units.
..... Are there only Professional players in those? Where does the feeling of belonging come into things?

"Professional"? More like too much time on their hands.

Seriously, it's a "Gotta Get Them All" thing, much like filling up all your reputation bars in that big MMO. You're still in the faction you chose just accepting/choosing assignments to different units for the fun of it (should one wish to). Rising to the level to join the unit of your dreams is really the goal with this system. A feeling of accomplishment should be apparent when one finally sees their favorite unit unlocked and playable.

Nighthound, on 06 May 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

I don't want to discredit your Ideas but I would modify them a bit because, although I and my friends want to play for a House we want to play together as often as it is possible.

I hope I addressed this in the earlier comments. Same faction, same drop (I am hoping).

Nighthound, on 06 May 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

So how about the following Modification :
You start as a Lone Wolf, you get your first Mech and you get a List of Planets that need attacking or defending (there are dropseats to be filled). After that you would get another List, possibly a bit more restricted because you can not jump all the way from one border to the other, or with a bit of waiting time depending on the distance, or depending on how many times you attacked that faction (do you have enough LP to yoin one of their drops), or somesuch (do you get the idea?). You can do this all day Long for the rest of your MW:O career.
OR you and your buddies can decide to establish a Merc Company and from then on forward you are given Missions and shoot it out with the other Mercs out there.

OR you could decide to form a Militia Company and join one of the Houses. You would still be stationed randomly so there still is the chance that there are no enemys to fight although (and I hereby answer my own question from above) you could be able to jump around a bit.

Now advancing within this system would be a tat more complex because you have to take all players of that Unit into account, but it could be done.

It would appear that making a unit that is directly tied to a House is available - One can accumulate LP's by fulfilling contracts offered by a House. As the LPs add up certain perks open up. Should a MercCorp jump ship to another House those previous LPs erode and all accumulated House-specific perks disappear. At least this is I am am understanding the Dev Blogs.

Nighthound, on 06 May 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

Individual Points would go into rank and would only be a kind of badge with no ingame consequences what so ever.
Total Unit Points together with amount of Players in your Unit decide if you are a Company or Battalion or Regiment and decides how far your influence radius is ... how many Planets you can defend/attack (how big is your List of targets). I include amount of Players in this because I don't think anyone would want a 4 Player Brigade.
Average Unit Points would or better could determine how prestigious the Unit you fight under is. Average here is important because it limits the amount of decay if one or two are on vacation.

How about it? Good? Bad?

At first glance this last point would look a bit complicated but for MercCorps this might have some advantages for the smaller units. The larger units would be active fairly often and this would balance out retrograde forsmaller less active units. This is a matter for a somewhat related but different thread concerning LPs and MercCorp units. Will be interesting to see how/if we can make a faction specific MercCorp that is seen as a "regular" unit and not a band of mercenaries.

Edited by Morashtak, 06 May 2012 - 09:27 AM.