Mechwarrior Online

[Kitsune]

That could work.  I honestly hadn't considered serverside team balancing; I'd been imagining wretched scenarios of logging into a match and seeing something like: Team Budget: 29,000,000/30,000,000.  Mechs available: Locust with the medium laser busted.  Good hunting, Mechwarrior!

[Kageru]

Which was what I meant.  Those videos made scouting actually have a point for once, as well as long range missile strikes.  Seems to fix the whole 'lots of guns that close and rip legs off' that all the other MW games had a problem with.

There'll still be scouting, just the scout needs to be durable over fast if vision is long and the maps small. In other words you'll probably scout with an assault mech even if you have a significant number of mechs toting LRM's. And in the video it looked pretty much like everyone trundled forward into a mid field melee which supports that view.

Same as WoT. You still have long range specialists, much more so than this even, but in unlimited matches you still don't scout with a light tank.

[Ironwood]

What game are you talking about ?

[Furiously]

What game are you talking about ?

World of Tanks I believe.

[Dark_MadMax]

There'll still be scouting, just the scout needs to be durable over fast if vision is long and the maps small. In other words you'll probably scout with an assault mech even if you have a significant number of mechs toting LRM's. And in the video it looked pretty much like everyone trundled forward into a mid field melee which supports that view.

Same as WoT. You still have long range specialists, much more so than this even, but in unlimited matches you still don't scout with a light tank.

Will see. Mechs have jumpjets which is quite a difference. And yes you dont have light tanks in clan battles, but you still dont scout with heavies - you use mediums.

[Ironwood]

If it works like that video, I still say 4 Assault mechs only are going to have their shit pushed in by a competant mixed lance.

[HaemishM]

In a F2P game, isn't expecting competence out of teammates a bit of a stretch? 

[Merusk]

Yes, but fortunately the same holds true about 4 heavy assault mechs grouping together.

Hell, if WoT is any indicator those heavies will charge headlong into a group on their own thinking they're indestructible.  Or they'll want to remain grouped but find themselves abandoned by their lancemates who move forward quicker and get blown to hell one at a time so the heavy can be picked-ff by a more coordinated team 50% of the time.

[Ironwood]

I just wanna pew pew big robots.

[Dark_MadMax]

 Imho it all depends on the size of the map, range of LRMs ,etc. You can balance the game so scouts are really hard to kill by heavier mechs and therefore not instagibbed on sight. Though if WoT is any example the only protection scouts have is camo, and if it seen , no matter how fast it is raped very fast. In mechwarrior abundance of precise weapons  (lasers ,gauss, autocannons) will probably make life of a scout hell

I played a lot of MW game online (the mw3-mercs,the crysis mod ) and if you allow customization (which they do) some weapons setups on heavy chassis just give lighter mechs no chance whatsoever

[Mrbloodworth]

Anyone know the engine this is on?

CryENGINE 3

[Ironwood]

Imho it all depends on the size of the map, range of LRMs ,etc. You can balance the game so scouts are really hard to kill by heavier mechs and therefore not instagibbed on sight. Though if WoT is any example the only protection scouts have is camo, and if it seen , no matter how fast it is raped very fast. In mechwarrior abundance of precise weapons  (lasers ,gauss, autocannons) will probably make life of a scout hell

I played a lot of MW game online (the mw3-mercs,the crysis mod ) and if you allow customization (which they do) some weapons setups on heavy chassis just give lighter mechs no chance whatsoever

I would imagine having stealth on the radar would probably help enormously.  Which means the enemy also needs a scout.

[Dark_MadMax]

I would imagine having stealth on the radar would probably help enormously.  Which means the enemy also needs a scout.

Right. The passive/active radar games are a lot of fun. plus terrain can be a huge part of play (much more so than in WoT). Overall  I  think they can make it work. I just wish maps were bigger than what was shown in IGN vids (they looked really tiny). MWLL has right size maps imho

[Kitsune]

[lorenerd]The problem is that the things they show in the demos with being able to take advantage of other mechs' sensors is actually ripping off the functionality of a Battletech item, the C3 computer.  Mechs aren't supposed to be able to do that without the special electronics, thus giving a reason to spend the weight and internal space to install that computer, and having the computer was sort of a big deal when the Inner Sphere developed it ahead of the Clans.  Alternately for spotting functionality for LRM barrages, there is the TAG system and the NARC pods, both of which were commonly deployed on light mechs specifically to make them super useful in that role.[/lorenerd]

As far as heavy mechs not hitting light mechs, this ain't Eve Online.  Hitting a fast-moving target in Battletech applied a penalty to anyone shooting it, but bigger mechs had no fundamental inability to bring their weapons to bear.  They were slow enough that a smaller mech could fairly easily run around behind them to nail their terrible back armor, and a light mech could run up too close to an LRM boat for the missiles to be able to hit them, but everyone's on the same playing field when it comes to shooting what's right in front of them.  If the light mech pilot can't stay behind the Atlas, it's sort of their own damn fault when they suck down an AC-20 to the cockpit.

[Kageru]

Did they ever come up with some lore argument as to why huge trundling targets like this weren't just taken out via a missile fired from a couple of kilometers away? They can't be that well armored because for their size the weight would be prohibitive.

In Robotech they were fast moving and agile mini-tanks intended for environments with lots of cover, Hawken seems the same, Games workshop titans had void shields and the environment was actually sort of "industrial-tech", in Patlabor they were industrial construction tools...

[Kitsune]

Well, actually artillery could and would ruin your day in the wargame.  There's even a mech-mounted artillery missile system, the Arrow IV, that could fire at targets from multiple maps away.  But battlemechs aren't that slow; even the assault mechs can do 50 on a run, while lights that can reach 120 aren't uncommon.  Hauling ass isn't great for accuracy, though, especially against other moving targets, so most people dial it down to walking speed in firefights, both in the wargame and in all of the Mechwarrior games I've played.

[Fordel]

It basically comes down to Giant Robots are awesome, therefore they are the best and will be our focus.

[Sheepherder]

Yeah, as far as I am aware it's pretty much "For some reason, nobody in the future has run the cost/benefit of five hundred howitzers or one mech."

[Lantyssa]

[lorenerd]The problem is that the things they show in the demos with being able to take advantage of other mechs' sensors is actually ripping off the functionality of a Battletech item, the C3 computer.  Mechs aren't supposed to be able to do that without the special electronics, thus giving a reason to spend the weight and internal space to install that computer, and having the computer was sort of a big deal when the Inner Sphere developed it ahead of the Clans.  Alternately for spotting functionality for LRM barrages, there is the TAG system and the NARC pods, both of which were commonly deployed on light mechs specifically to make them super useful in that role.[/lorenerd]

Most 'mechs had basic sensors, including seismic.  A powered-up 'mech would give some detectable signature under normal conditions.  Beagle Active Probes increased ranges and sensitivity, while ECM packages scrambled them.  C3 went beyond these capabilities and gave extensive targeting information shared between a lance, represented by using the most favorable range modifiers of the closest 'mech to the target.  TAG was generally used in conjunction with artillery, while Narc was a direct fire missile which increased the number of missiles hitting a target after a successful attack.

None of these technologies were a part of the 3025 game, though, and it did have indirect fire for LRMs.  Knowing the 'mech was there was sufficient.

[Simond]

It basically comes down to Giant Robots are awesome

Plus chicks dig them.

[Kitsune]

Yeah, as far as I am aware it's pretty much "For some reason, nobody in the future has run the cost/benefit of five hundred howitzers or one mech."

If you really want cost/benefit, fill the battlefield with anti-mech infantry.  They'll run up to it and throw sticky bombs at the legs and joints.  Sure, 90% of them will die like dogs, but it's still a massive savings.

[UnSub]

Use unmanned drones to swam the mechs.

I sense a mech-based argument incoming. Excellent.

[Father mike]

Use unmanned drones to swam the mechs.

I sense a mech-based argument incoming. Excellent.

Can the arguement include railguns?

[Simond]

Use unmanned drones to swam the mechs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7C27_lQdQQ
Now what? 

[Sheepherder]

If you really want cost/benefit, fill the battlefield with anti-mech infantry.  They'll run up to it and throw sticky bombs at the legs and joints.  Sure, 90% of them will die like dogs, but it's still a massive savings.

Anything manpower intensive isn't cost effective.

Cost effective would be using 42 light machine guns to saw the leg off an Atlas.  I knew I kept MW4:M installed for something.

[Kitsune]

If you really want cost/benefit, fill the battlefield with anti-mech infantry.  They'll run up to it and throw sticky bombs at the legs and joints.  Sure, 90% of them will die like dogs, but it's still a massive savings.

Anything manpower intensive isn't cost effective.

Cost effective would be using 42 light machine guns to saw the leg off an Atlas.  I knew I kept MW4:M installed for something.

Manpower is crap in 3025; most people are barely even serfs.  Handing a bunch of homeless guys a crate of sticky bombs and herding them out into a battlefield is pretty easy, whereas military tech is irreplaceable.

[Fordel]

This is BattleTech, not Warhammer. The general population is generally living at the same level we do currently, not tilling the dirt farms with their bare hands.

[Kitsune]

This is BattleTech, not Warhammer. The general population is generally living at the same level we do currently, not tilling the dirt farms with their bare hands.

On the nicer worlds in the nicer states, yes.  But planetary feudalism is the order of the day, and there are plenty of worlds where people are dirt.  Especially in the Periphery and places like the Capellan Confederation, the North Korea of the Inner Sphere.  Even in the states that are shown as being fairly progressive, like the Federated Suns, Lyran Commonwealth, and Free Worlds League, there are planets with no perceived value where if you're born on it you're pretty much living on a planet made up entirely of West Virginia for your entire life.

[Sheepherder]

It's not as cool as the thought of a line of 42 dudes sawing through the leg of an Atlas with machine guns.

[Ironwood]

More Videos Pls.

Leetle theengs.  Heeting each ozzer.

[Calandryll]

Early access launches July 17th!

http://mwomercs.com/news/2012/05/259-operation-inception

[HaemishM]

Hmmm. Leads me to believe they are going to have some kind of subscription type service (premium accounts). Might be worth it for the $30 level.

[Merusk]

Yeah, looks very much like they're going to follow the WoT model.  C-bills, XP boost for premium subs. 

[Falconeer]

Where can I push a button and give them money already?

[Evildrider]

Where can I push a button and give them money already?

This, I'm prolly gonna go the 60 dollar route even.