Heres some Ideas:
tl;dr: there are two possible game types below, Extraction, and Crash Landing, they could be used as possible game types for MWO.
**Extraction** (The incredibly tactical, very careful game type)
A small task force is rescuing a survivor/VIP/fugitive/Commander/other important type of person from enemy forces. There are two teams, the extraction team, and the attacking team. The escort team must cover the important person, who is a scout/defector/other story related person of that type with vital data on him. In order for the data to be read, the task force must wait until extraction arrives. The data is related to prototype designs for mechs/weapons/equipment as well as vital war plans from the other side.
How it Works:
In a standard 8v8 game, one pilot on the escort team is randomly selected as the VIP. The VIP and all the task force pilot their normal mechs. However, the VIP has some sort of special quirk or ability randomly selected, which he stole from the enemy (such as ECM on a non-ECM mech, a more effective, longer ranged AMS, special armor that is semi-resistant to a certain damage such as taking less damage from lasers, stealth armor undetectable by enemies (think ECM but on a single person scale) or a experimental weapon such as a heavy gauss rifle or even clan tech like streak SRM 6 or Ultra AC10 etc. note: the quirk should should fit the mech the VIP is piloting, there shouldnt be ultra AC 10s in a all laser mech, or advanced AMS on a non AMS mech
The escorting team must keep the VIP alive until a timer runs out showing how long it takes until extraction. The attacking team must attempt to kill the VIP. In order for the extraction team to win they must either keep the VIP alive and hold off until time runs out or kill all enemy mechs. In order for the attacking team to win they must kill the VIP (they dont have to destroy all mechs). This makes it crucial that the extraction team stay in a well covered place and learn teamwork in defense.
The timer can be adjusted for the map type. If you have a small map like frozen city the timer might be around 6-12 minutes. If you have a map like alpine peaks the timer might be 10-15 minutes. Since the VIP is both extremely vulnerable since all of attacking team will be focusing him/her down, he/she MUST be very careful. The extraction team does also have a advantage with the VIP since the VIP has some kind of equipment that will help a lot in defense.
**Crash Landing**(The very scary, suspenseful twitchy game type)
A attack force was sent to a planet, however, on their way there the transport/dropship the mechs were in was shot down/broke apart/crashed. The surviving mechs must attempt to survive against a forward scout group that happens upon their position.
How it works:
This is a smaller gametype, with preferably 4v4/6v6, possibly even 3v3. The two teams are the survivors, and the scouts. All players pilot their own selected mech (possibly increase the chance of player selecting lighter mechs be on the scouting team for realism?)
The surviving mechs are barely holding up after the crashing, with a random probability of having pre-round damage (to reflect being in a crash) Damage ranges anywhere from a mech being unscathed to having light scratches and minor damage, to moderate damage, to critical, to crippling and starting without a mech limb/broken weapon/low ammo.
The scouts on the other team are either normal mechs, or a higher probability of being light mechs for balance (see paragraph about lighter mechs being selected to the scout team above). The scouts have no augmentations/problems, and are perfectly normal.
As a possible way to balance the surviving mechs being damaged, The crashed ship has extra ammunition, or equipment, etc. scattered near the spawn. They should be low tier upgrades, such as a refill to a ballistic weapon, maybe some armor repairs.
Higher tier upgrades can be found further away for the spawn, such as possibly a replacement mech part like a leg or side torso that can be used by pre-crippled mechs/after combat for complete repair of a specific area. Other examples could be a augmentation like the ones the VIP has in the extraction gametype.
The game can be played on larger maps though it would feel more suspenseful if it was placed on larger maps, making it harder for the scouts and survivors to attack each other should they play stealthily.
Conclusion: those 2 examples are game types that I thought of. Please reply with feedback on the game types. If you are a PGI reading this, all that I ask is that you put this into consideration as a possible game type, maybe with tweaks or a similar concept. Thanks.
Edited by stryker175, 20 February 2013 - 01:38 PM.