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Suggestions to the Developers.
Well it's been roughly two months now since I started playing MWO and since this is a Beta and the Developers are basically asking us for our opinions I figure I may as well put in my two cents. Firstly I'd like to say these are just my own observations and opinions and I reserve the right to be wrong, also I've been playing Tabletop Battletech for over 20 years so please don't assume I'm a noob.
Weapons:
One thing that has jumped out at me is there is a few differences in the weapons that seem strange so here's a few suggestions.
Ultra AC/5.
The UAC/5 seems rather overpowered compared to the TT version and that seems rather strange considering it's just a souped up AC/5 with a little longer range. In MWO it seems to be the weapon of choice, even over Gauss Rifles and AC/20 and that to me, screams wrong.
Suggestion: Base it on the AC/5 stats with about a 20% range bonus and the same recycle time except the player can fire it before it's “Fully charged” but with a 10% jam chance each time they fire it early. Once it's jammed, that's it stuck until the game ends.
Flamers.
Having seen some of the comments on the Forums it seems I'm not the only person who thinks these funky and fun weapons aren't all they could be. I get the impression that the Dev's are a little worried about people going full on Flamer Spam and shutting down massively powerful Assault machines with Jenners, so here's a suggestion.
In tabletop play there is a Cap on how much heat can be added to a unit from external scources, the equivalent of an ERPPC firing, if you add in this cap it stops the Flamer Spam but does make them effective for harrassment.
LB10-X
I like the LB10-X but does it always have to fire Cluster rounds? Yes I know that's its big advantage over traditional AC's but how about this.
Suggestion: Alternating ammo. Players can choose to load either Solid or Cluster ammo in the Mechbay, if they choose only one type then that's all they get but if they load in more then one type the LBX will alternate between types automatically until down to just one type.
ECM.
Yeah, I'm jumping on this bandwagon. I've seen whole teams hidden until they were on top of me by one Raven and I can tell you, that's waaay to powerful, so try this.
Suggestion: ECM will hide the carrying unit and any units in a 180 meter radius until such time as any unit FIRES! Any unit that fires a weapon loses the concealment and cannot get it back unless it holds fire for 10 seconds. ECM will double Lock-On times for LRM's and Streaks and block NARC but a unit equipped with a Beagle Probe cancels out the effect of the ECM for itself only.
Weapon Effects.
There's one thing I find REALLY irritating as I stomp around in my 80 ton Awesome is that someone can tap me with an AC/2 and it feels like I'm in an earthquake and the smoke completely obscures my view allowing even more shots that add to the smoke and eventually I have to back off just so I can see.
Seriously since when were units equipped with smoke guns!
Tone down the jolts and the smoke PLEASE, an AC/2 shouldn't even give an Assault a tremble, a Gauss rifle or AC/10 or higher yeah, lots of Missiles, sure, it shouldn't stop be from even seeing someone shooting at me.
Which brings me to my next pet hate.........
Recently I died when a Catapult K2 came up behind me and put a volley or two right into my ***, I say two because I never even registered the first one despite the fact that the 'Cat was a mere 10 FEET behind me!
Every bit of fiction states that Mechs are equipped with 360 sensors, yes I know this is hard to replicate in game and the Dev's wanted to give light Mech's an advantage against the big stompers but this is ridiculous.
So here's a thought, let them sneak up behind me, let them line up their nice precision shot but as soon as they pull that trigger, they pop up on Radar! In fact I think it would be a good idea that that be a standard feature, a 'soft' lock feature that happens when a unit is in Radar range and fires a weapon but doesn't allow Lock On. Don't fire for 10 seconds and you disappear again, it still allows the lights the advantage of sneaky shots but more of a dance in and out similar to TT instead of just shadowing along like a kid in a playground and plinking they seem to do now.
MAPS! MAPS! MAPS!
I know you guys are working your ***** of but this is a real killer. I mean 7 maps is ok particularly when they are as big and intricate as they are but quite simply, we need more. Looking back over my Tabletop selection here's a few ideas,
River Delta: Lots of Foliage, lots of water, really awkward sight lines.
Box Canyon/ Canyon: Lots of twisting turns, a few tunnels and REALLY high walls which encourage Jump Jets as they allow you to get up on top of the ridges, just imagine the ambushes Light mechs could pull.
A different Urban map like Military Base/Dropport.
Large Mountain: I mean a seriously big single mountain with paths and ledges, perfect for King of the Hill matches, high enough that you can kill YOURSELF if you step off wrong.
Large Lake/Wide River: Underwater might be awkward but if you can pull it off it would be really interesting.
And for some new game modes.....
Ok, I've seen lots of people asking for a Team Death Match environment, for those players I suggest a simple new game mode,
Solaris 7
Simply put it is an 8 player game mode set in the Arenas of Solaris 7. The Coliseum Map, the Factory Map, maybe even Ishiyama (which could be modified into the Box Canyon I mentioned above). Full TDM play with a Winner bonus in C-Bills to the last Mech standing.
Surgical Strike:
Basically a variant on the Conquest system just with three bases in one teams half of a map that can be destroyed and one side is the Defender, the other the Attacker, it's simple but can be interesting as it requires a bit of Tactics on the part of both sides.
Headhunter:
A simple variant on the standard Assault path. At the Load stage one Mech on each side is randomly 'Flagged' as the Commander for the team, your fellow teammates can see who it is but the opposing team can't. Objective, kill the commander, once either side drops the Commander's mech, the game ends.
Now I know some people will say that all the commander has to do is run and hide but if they do that and they get cornered it's a really easy win for the opposition, plus it makes things easier for your opponents as you are taking away one of your teams mechs.
Right, I think that's enough suggestions for now, I'll let people begin their abuse of me and the Dev's (hopefully) go 'Hmmmmm'.
