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MechWarrior Online - News and Information Thread
- Thread starter Orayn
- Start date
Presumably whenever they do the clan invasions.
The catapult is a perfectly reasonable substitute in the meantime.
Well, 2012 is 3049 in-game. Month to month.
The Clan Invasion began in August 3049, though it took them a few months to get through the Periphery. So, i'd say the Clan Invasion "expansion" could come as early as November (though unlikely, IMO), more likelu it'll arrive December or January.
Whether the Timber Wolf will be among the first playable Clan mechs... that's another question. It probably is, considering how iconic it is. Me, i want a Summoner, that incredible flexibility...
Also wondering how Piranha will allow players to access OmniMechs, they're going to be a hellishly big game changer at first, especially if they will be rare, which would be canonically correct. Maybe the Devs will be playing as "Clans", if the players can beat them, they get an Omni or two as reward, which they can either keep or sell onward?
BigTnaples
Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Can't wait for the clan invasion to start. Interested to see how they handle it.
The sooner I am piloting a Timber Wolf the better.
The sooner I am piloting a Timber Wolf the better.
I can't decide on what mech to get. I don't really want to spend $120 to get all four, but I'd hate to pick one and then end up not playing it much in the future. I've always loved the Atlas, but they can get pretty small. Are there any gameplay features that would encourage/discourage any of these four mechs?
It's in the settings for your forum account.
Thank you, finally found it. I'd like to thank blizzard for allowing Diablo3 to pay for itself plus get me the $60 pack for free.
michaelius
Banned
There are books describing each of main houses
They are called House X sourcebook or something like that.
Noisepurge
Member
want to plonk down that 60$ but my PayPal account has been temporarily suspended due to attacks or something :E goddamn!
If you can find them anywhere.
Here in Finland, they're rare, gotta visit specialty stores or order them online.
Also, what time of Battletech/Mechwarrior lore interests you? Fourth Succession War, the Clan Invasion, Fed-Com civil war (or the Jihad or the Dark Age?).
Novels or general lore books?
Sarna.net is a good place to start in general.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/List_of_BattleTech_novels
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Category:Books
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Essay:_BattleMech_Technology (interesting read)
If you're interested in the Clans, start with Legend of Jade Phoenix trilogy by Robert Thurston.
michaelius
Banned
I was thinking about this one for example:
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/House_Kurita_(The_Draconis_Combine)
Not sure if they can be found legally anywhere
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/House_Kurita_(The_Draconis_Combine)
Not sure if they can be found legally anywhere
Looking at the novel list... Duh, there are no Inner Sphere books set in '49.
Was kinda interested in that year, due to MWO.
Also nothing interesting happened in-universe in '49, not counting the beginning of Operation Revival.
Also... I didn't check the time line when suggesting when the Clan Invasion begins in-game.
It will begin March 2013, in-game March 3050.
Was kinda interested in that year, due to MWO.
Also nothing interesting happened in-universe in '49, not counting the beginning of Operation Revival.
Also... I didn't check the time line when suggesting when the Clan Invasion begins in-game.
It will begin March 2013, in-game March 3050.
I always suggest the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy to newcomers to the Battletech universe. If not, then the Jade Phoenix Trilogy or The Saga of Gray Death Legion.
I usually just order Battletech novels from Amazon.com and their sellers, despite me living in Denmark. They cost next to nothing (except delivery) and it's not like I need them in pristine condition to read.
Use amazon.com or co.uk. If not, then abebooks.co.uk usually have a lot of used books being able to be sent internationally.
I usually just order Battletech novels from Amazon.com and their sellers, despite me living in Denmark. They cost next to nothing (except delivery) and it's not like I need them in pristine condition to read.
Use amazon.com or co.uk. If not, then abebooks.co.uk usually have a lot of used books being able to be sent internationally.
TangoAlphaLima
Member
I own all the old Battletech novels, but I've not yet read 90% of them yet. Blood of Kerensky is the best trilogy, in my opinion, but the Jade Phoenix Trilogy is quite good as well (and there's an omnibus paperback that collects all 3 books, so it's cheap to acquire).
For foreigners that can read German, there are a handful of novels released only in German. I don't think they're considered canon, but it's an option nonetheless.
Recently, there were a few anthologies published that included the previous online-only stories from BattleCorps. I can't seem to find the hard copies on Amazon, but they've got Kindle versions of the two books:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003P9X3IY/?tag=neogaf0e-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003P9X3IY/?tag=neogaf0e-20
So how many people have signed up for the founder's pack?
I only really want to pay $60... but I just know the mech that I want - the Atlas (I can't go with anything else as my choice) is going to be by far the most popular founders mech. Like day-one, the servers are just going to be totally flooded with big ass founders atlas, and throughout the life of the product, they're just going to be a common sight.
I mean $60 is hell of a lot to pay for 3 additional mechs man!
Oh man oh man oh man... this game looks like it's shaping up to be the game of the for-fucking-ever for mech geeks.
The only thing that would make this even better is if Carmack released his VR helm - and you wear one of those and pretend you're wearing a full blown neuro-helmet. Too bad that controller... which looks fucking awesome otherwise - has that built in LCD screen. Wonder if its touch based. I thought it might've been a spot for an iPad or something similar before. I think that'd be the cleverer way to go really... i'd buy a cheap iPad2 or some such to hook it up exclusively to that beastly looking thing.
I only really want to pay $60... but I just know the mech that I want - the Atlas (I can't go with anything else as my choice) is going to be by far the most popular founders mech. Like day-one, the servers are just going to be totally flooded with big ass founders atlas, and throughout the life of the product, they're just going to be a common sight.
I mean $60 is hell of a lot to pay for 3 additional mechs man!
Oh man oh man oh man... this game looks like it's shaping up to be the game of the for-fucking-ever for mech geeks.
The only thing that would make this even better is if Carmack released his VR helm - and you wear one of those and pretend you're wearing a full blown neuro-helmet. Too bad that controller... which looks fucking awesome otherwise - has that built in LCD screen. Wonder if its touch based. I thought it might've been a spot for an iPad or something similar before. I think that'd be the cleverer way to go really... i'd buy a cheap iPad2 or some such to hook it up exclusively to that beastly looking thing.
I loved the Warrior Trilogy, pretty much I just became a Stackpole reader for the most part.
And <3 the Trebuchet redesign.
I went in for $60. As for mech choice, keep in mind the Atlas's cockpit is in fact in it's head. Now of course if I were in the beta I couldn't talk about about anything like that, but let's *assume* that his head is really easy to blow off. Ahem.
Battlemech # 13 announced:
TRO
Of course it is Trenchbucket... You can't have Centurion without it's long range counterpart.
I went for the Elite pack and chose the Catapult. I kind of wanted the Jenner instead, but my love for the Timberwolf design knows no bounds.
But I think this is kind of a steep price for something that's F2P. I'm basically paying the same amount as I would for something with both Singleplayer and Multiplayer components with manuals, boxes or whatever. In the case of MW:O I only receive some temporary bonus, a special digital 'mech, and digital Disneyland money. But it's a Mechwarrior and I thought the IP was completely dead, so I'd give anything to support the revival of it.
But I think this is kind of a steep price for something that's F2P. I'm basically paying the same amount as I would for something with both Singleplayer and Multiplayer components with manuals, boxes or whatever. In the case of MW:O I only receive some temporary bonus, a special digital 'mech, and digital Disneyland money. But it's a Mechwarrior and I thought the IP was completely dead, so I'd give anything to support the revival of it.
I would hope that sort of balancing issue gets sorted out pretty quickly. The asynchrony between cockpit size and the limited armor capacity for the head is a pretty big issue when you're talking about point and shoot rather than roll of die.
If it doesn't get sorted, then you get mech choices based on what should be a triviality of the cockpit graphic size.
Yeah... really... Kickstarter games normally throws in a bunch of sweet boxed goodies... it kinda boggles my mind in that context that they haven't done this. Haven't even mentioned thinking about doing this.
The manual from old battletech/mechwarrior games were some of my most cherished things as a kid - looking at all the technical drawings of the mechs and their descriptions filled me with endless glee.
T'was a sad life for kid Zap.
TangoAlphaLima
Member
I haven't yet, and I'm not sure I will. Despite being a big Battletech/Mechwarrior geek with oodles of miniatures, novels, sourcebooks, technical readouts, toys, etc., I've lost a lot of gaming time lately due to family and work duties, and I've got a second child due in August. I understand why they force Founders to sign up before the game is released, but I just can't justify it at this point, seeing as I have no idea how much time I'd be able to devote to the game for the foreseeable future. I'll probably just go F2P to start, and if I find myself heavily invested in the game, I'll throw some money their way with the in-game purchases.
Went for the $60 one myself, I mean I was totally ready to drop that much when they originally announced it as a regular retail game so might as well. I mean, if I had seen a Kickstarter to make a PC-only sim mechwarrior I'd have been all over it. It's still shocking how many of the $120 packages they've sold, but i guess that's miniscule to some older Battletech fans.
Picked the Catapult...as much as I like the Atlas' design I never really enjoyed driving that slowass monster in the past games. But I still vividly remember what Mechwarrior 4's online was like early on - EVERYONE was in a Daishi. So I figure I'll be able to deal with the herds of Assault mechs with a Catapult pretty easily. Plus the Founder version looks awesome.
Now we just need the Clans to hurry up and invade so I can get my Cougar.
Picked the Catapult...as much as I like the Atlas' design I never really enjoyed driving that slowass monster in the past games. But I still vividly remember what Mechwarrior 4's online was like early on - EVERYONE was in a Daishi. So I figure I'll be able to deal with the herds of Assault mechs with a Catapult pretty easily. Plus the Founder version looks awesome.
Now we just need the Clans to hurry up and invade so I can get my Cougar.
Is that the sales figures? That's depressingly low.
EDIT: Then again they don't have an open beta yet, I imagine that'll grow considerable when that launches.
It's only been a little bit over 24 hours and it's a PC game that is going to be free to play, so I don't think the sales are that bad overall.
BigTnaples
Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Those sales are a nice start, it's still in closed beta, and it's a F2P title. Founders packs are really a small part of the big picture. F2P games are driven by micro transactions, not the "Founders" who support the game before it is even released.
As an Elite founder I look forward to supporting the game even more post launch. Hell, depending on the beta I may still yet upgrade to Legendary status before August 7th.
As an Elite founder I look forward to supporting the game even more post launch. Hell, depending on the beta I may still yet upgrade to Legendary status before August 7th.
TangoAlphaLima
Member
As others have stated, the numbers are probably pretty good considering it's only based on preorders of premium content. I doubt there are many other F2P titles, if any, that raised this kind of cash before release.
Those prices are pretty ridiculous. I'm very interested in this game yet I'm not buying in.
Actually, it's not so much the prices but the idea of a monthly subscription for increased C-bills and how the founders mech thing isn't an account-wide boost.
BigTnaples
Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
The value is is actually pretty damned good.
Especially considering in other f2p titles 60 bucks can get you one new chassi....
Having a single very good mech that earns extra credits is a great bonus. Premium accounts are account wide bonuses. Which you get several months of with elite and legendary.
Especially considering in other f2p titles 60 bucks can get you one new chassi....
Having a single very good mech that earns extra credits is a great bonus. Premium accounts are account wide bonuses. Which you get several months of with elite and legendary.
I guess I expected it to be a bit more friendly, like Tribes or (dare I hope) Valve's stuff.
The Legendary Package in particular is disappointing.
I will never, ever play a game like that.
The Legendary Package in particular is disappointing.
I will never, ever play a game like that.
This is preliminary and subject to change, but dev mentioned that the 80$ worth of C-Bills could get you about 8-10 mediums (less if heavies/assaults).
They also likened the cost of a founder mech to "15$ or more" (this does NOT mean that they will be for sale individually, but maybe they will).
I went Legendary. Supporting MECHWARRIOR! Elite is the better short-term deal, I think. Legendary is really for those who want the 4 founders (there was high demand for this). Ultimately, it'll pay off in the longterm, because you end up with 4 C-bill boosting mechs (+25%).
You can actually work this out using tabletop prices, since that's what the in-game prices will be based on.
A Hunchback is ~3.5 million C-Bills, so nine Hunchbacks is 31.5 million. An Atlas runs around 9.6 million, and a Commando is only about 1.9 million.
michaelius
Banned
How long are those packs to be going on sale ? I
I think the initial.clan invasion will be the developers themselves using OP clan mechs to troll some players good. Then when the player wins they can salvage the clan mechs... Allowing for a slow inflow of clan mechs into the player economy so that not everyone is in a mad cat within 5 months of release. Hell they didn't even have their main battles until 3052. Would be fun if they let us play as clan after that point.
Yeah, thinking along the same lines.
Omni tech really
Doubt the players will get to play as Clans though, if for nothing else but the Clan military structure. The game is 12vs12 at first, Clan vs Clan matches would have to be (at most) 10vs10 or 15vs15.
michaelius
Banned
Clan tech doesn't have to screw balance - it all depends on what "weight" it will get in match maker.
BV system dfor tabletop did it quite nicely.
BV system dfor tabletop did it quite nicely.
If they do eventually let players play as clan (they gotta do something to keep interest and the steam up after all - like releasing 'expansions')... I'd say a different advancement system would be an obvious start. After all, clan players don't deal in C-Bills... they're a military heirachical system, so they'd deal with some kinda military honour points progression.
Make it tougher to climb up the clan ladder than the IS ladder - failures are steeper, and less mech variety.
As for IS players getting clan tech - the natural limitation is repairability... maybe you need spare parts to repair stuff - which for normal tech is in ready supply, but for rare/limited tech can be quite hard to get a hold off?
I mean... the asynchrony of clan vs IS stuff is kinda built both into the lore and the gameplay of the board games - I don't think they need to artificially limit clans to make it a more balanced game... but instead having two seperate economies with one side been porous (i.e. clan to IS), and different types/sorts of progression makes for a naturalistic balancing system that both respects the lore and the dynamism of player run economies (i.e. if you need to down clan mechs in naturally unbalanced fights - it'll keep parts rare - but because they're rare, the parts, even the spare/scrap parts will sell/be worth a lot for other IS players).
Never thought of a honor point system for Clans. That would be perfect.
The IS vs Clans could make this game really unique and interesting, far more so than it is at the moment, if properly done.
Also, as for the economy, i forget about it completly, always. I'm considering this game too much from FPS/Mechwarrior series standpoint, not from MMO standpoint.
There is one reason i want to play as a Clanner: Trials. Trial of position especially, might be interesting to try it out (ideally the Jade Falcon version though the "getting to the mech" part might have to be left out).
Oh and they'd make interesting alternate game modes to Deathmatch and Conquest (or whatever the modes are called in MWO).
There isn't one. Each match you win gets you pilot XP and XP for the 'Mech variant you were using, but the Founders 'Mechs don't affect that at all.
So the progression is for each mech?