48 replies to this topic

[SGT Unther]

IMO the Flea is a better choice, and it's cheaper than the Spider and I know of a Flea model can hold something like 5 medium lasers.

[Mel Mad Dog Winters]

MacKerris, on 23 December 2012 - 06:11 PM, said:

I will be getting one or three. However I am not going to hold my breath as far as them working the way they should....at first.

Yeah, that about sums up my mood. If it were table top Battletech and I weren't going to play a fast jump-capable medium, then I might pilot a Spider. If I'm going to go lighter, for my tastes, I might as well have a really fun ride that can * really * jump.

However, this is MWO.

I love jump jets. So much in fact that I played with comparably crappy jump jets in this game waiting for the devs to eventually fix them while very few mechs were even jump-capable to begin with (and no mediums to date). When they eventually did fix the jump jets, they thought it better to put in ruined "fixed" jump jets that were actually worse than the sub-par ones we had to begin with.

It is one of the three basic movement modes from the board game: walking, running, and jumping. Also, while some people could care less about them, many old fans of the IP love mechs that can jump. The lack of attention to jump jets thus far... I find it frustrating.

So who took Pilot Name as a name, on 09 January 2013 - 12:43 PM, said:

I think a new breed of lag issues will surface once the Spiders drop by haha, but I'm mostly hoping for the jumpjets to function properly for the Spiders by the time they come out.

This is my hope. Really, I'm waiting for the one variant of the Trebuchet that supposedly will be jump-capable. However, since the Spider is all about jump jets, I have this hope that maybe, just maybe, they might actually buff them a bit.

bantapoo, on 10 January 2013 - 01:14 AM, said:

i dont like this trade of hardpoints for jumpjets.
they need to have more hardpoints, not flying around at low speed. it's not a freaking plane

I agree with the hard point topic, but... Where does the rest of your comment come from? "A freaking plane...?" I'm guessing that you are just trying to stress that hard points are very important, and, I'd have to say you are right.

However, jump-capable mechs are an entire "class" of mechs that have been a part of the IP since the beginning. Not only do they present extra tactical options (when working well enough in whatever incarnation of the IP you are playing), but when done right they can make for a damn fun ride. So, decent working jump jets are important (I feel IMHO), just as much as remembering to have other Battletech 'things' in the game like lasers, autocannons, and missiles.

I think what needs to be done is to make them worth taking and also make them 'good' in a way that seems 'appropriate'. Sadly, currently, they are not.



So, I'm hoping reservedly that the arrival of the Spider will spell some much needed 'love' for jump jets. I will no doubt play the Spider until such hope is confirmed or destroyed or the Trebuchet comes out—whichever happens first. I will probably watch my K/D ratio plummet as I get slaughtered over and over again in my Spider by other lights with ECM and streaks.

[SixstringSamurai]

nostra, on 09 January 2013 - 08:57 PM, said:

The firepower and rather underwhelming stats on display now aren't likely to draw much attention, but the Spider has always been one of those highly-underestimated 'mechs in both the Battletech miniatures game and the Battletech universe. I'm holding out hope for the Spider chassis, might even replace my old Commando with it.

There's a certain game out there right now that this holds very true. However, mine has 4 small lasers so it's not exactly true to the source material but its movement hex count is just awesome. When you combine it with a stock Panther and some LRM support its pretty dang awesome. Like I said before its JJ ability is where its strength lies. So if that translates well it will be a pretty awesome Jenner replacement.

Edited by SixStringSamurai, 11 January 2013 - 12:29 AM.

[Sir Roland MXIII]

People seem to be ignoring and/or glossing over the fact that Sarna itself states the Angel ECM variant is not amongst the ones MW:O is releasing, mainly for two reasons -

A: Angel ECM doesn't yet exist in this time, and the fact that the ECM we have basically is Angel ECM, is an anomoly, and a mindboggling mistake.
B: The variant with Angel ECM doesn't exist yet either. The variant in question was invented during the Jyhad, almost twenty years from 'now'.

As far as the Spiders we WILL get? Aye the Jump Jets, Machine Guns, and Flamers all need work. This is beta, that's to be expected. Also, there are bound to be more hardpoints available than there are weapons in the base loadout. So while the Spider may not seem fantastic on release unless all those previous three variable get fixed when it comes out, I don't doubt that down the road the Spider will be a lot more like it is on the table-top - IE, more like it should be.

I plan to have three. It's the only non Raven light 'mech that I look forward to. Will it work for me? Ask me again in a week or so.

Edited by Sir Roland MXIII, 11 January 2013 - 12:47 AM.

[So who took Pilot Name as a name]

And that's why I don't expect to see a Venom either... hell, that thing is a 9 variant. So we're talking further up the road than the Angel ECM suite lol

In other news, I believe my thoughts on making an annoying tagger out of the 5K will be cancelled as I appeared to have forgotten one important ''feature'' of ECM: that it disables TAG when within the ECM bubble of, what, 180m? So unless I can equip something else than 2xMG (90m range) with it, it's useless... Sure I could stay far and focus on tagging rather than shooting, but then why bother hooking up MGs in the first place? I'd end up being a better ''help'' for the team if I'd go for a 5D/V with 1xML and 1xTAG. And that's quite a laughable loadout.

Edited by So who took Pilot Name as a name, 14 January 2013 - 02:28 PM.

[Stingz]

SGT Unther, on 10 January 2013 - 09:22 AM, said:

IMO the Flea is a better choice, and it's cheaper than the Spider and I know of a Flea model can hold something like 5 medium lasers.

Armour of the Flea is non-existent, trying to fit 5 lasers onto 20 tons is gonna be hard.

[Devil Fox]

I think the Spider will be DoA... doesn't mean I haven't got all the cash to buy 3, then DHS and XL the buggers for video production and testing. Jump jets need work, speed cap imposed by netcode limitations (hence engine size formula's), and their hard points are the failing points of this 30 ton machine. Throw in ECM and no missile hard points just means it will lose the light fight even if it only harasses heavier machines.

Due to limiting hard points, whilst we can say the Spider is a pure recon in essence, to take a tag on anything but the 5D (at least you can get larger weapons on it to boot) is detrimental. At present I'm focused around a scout dual MPL 5V with all the extra's, then an ac5 variant 5K then dual LL 5D (which might also turn into a ERPPC/ERLL jump sniper).

As for claiming there's no ECM on the coming variants, the 2D Commando didn't have ECM or any Cicada's. So the cannonicity of ECM on a variant is not maintained (otherwise the Raven's would be all ECM), thus it's a wait and see approach until the patch notes are released on the variant details.

[Alistair Winter]

How long untill the game is patched and the Spider is available? Does anyone know?

[Sennin]

Sir Roland MXIII, on 11 January 2013 - 12:46 AM, said:

People seem to be ignoring and/or glossing over the fact that Sarna itself states the Angel ECM variant is not amongst the ones MW:O is releasing, mainly for two reasons -

A: Angel ECM doesn't yet exist in this time, and the fact that the ECM we have basically is Angel ECM, is an anomoly, and a mindboggling mistake.
B: The variant with Angel ECM doesn't exist yet either. The variant in question was invented during the Jyhad, almost twenty years from 'now'.

As far as the Spiders we WILL get? Aye the Jump Jets, Machine Guns, and Flamers all need work. This is beta, that's to be expected. Also, there are bound to be more hardpoints available than there are weapons in the base loadout. So while the Spider may not seem fantastic on release unless all those previous three variable get fixed when it comes out, I don't doubt that down the road the Spider will be a lot more like it is on the table-top - IE, more like it should be.

I plan to have three. It's the only non Raven light 'mech that I look forward to. Will it work for me? Ask me again in a week or so.

- Spider SDR-5D

- Tonnage: 30
- Top Speed: 129.6
- Armor: 112
- Weapons & Equipment:
- Center Torso: 1 Medium Laser
- Right Arm: 1 Flamer
- Hardpoints:
- Left Torso: 1 AMS
- Center Torso: 1 Energy
- Right Arm: 2 Energy
- Jump Jets: 8 (8 Max)
- ECM Capable?: Yes
- Module Slots: 2
What was that about ECM?