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MechWarrior Online - News and Information Thread

Woorloog

Banned
The Inner Sphere is under attack by unknown forces!

There's a public Clan vs IS test ongoing in matchmaking. Also check the faction tab, zoom to Rasalghue republic "northern" border...
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
#1. Man I only got to play a couple matches of IS vs Clans. Bummer.

I was involved in a beautiful 12-2 stomp, an IS win on Tormaline. We all hid among the rocks of G3 and H5, and drew them into close range. As soon as they hit G5, we sprang the ambush, and just focused them down into oblivion.

I'll tell ya, if you can get the Clans into a knife fight, the IS really can do some damage.

#2. The concept art and variant/hardpoint details for all of the new mechs are out tomorrow!. i'm just praying the Ice Ferret/Fenris isn't the size of a Griffin. Please be smallish, please be smallish....

#3. I've been thinking of a GAF clan, but you need 12 players to participate in the early CW drops. That's a tall order for us, as we stand right now.
 

Woorloog

Banned
12? Where does it say that?
Impossible for GAF. We have, what, 4-5 players?
I'm from Finland, EU, so there might be timezone issues too. Dunno where you rest are from.
Anyway, i'll form the unit tomorrow, if it is all the same for you. Perhaps we can't do the Faction Warfare right away but who knows, perhaps later?

NeoGAF Armed Forces [NGAF], how does that sound?


---

Been playing with the Trial Atlas.
Man, i've been playing with wrong Assaults before. The Victor was OK but really the Summoner does the same better (mobile jumpy mech). The Awesome didn't work for me. But the Atlas... it is nice. Slow for sure, but using it carefully, mostly for fire-support, it works well in my hands.
Need to master it, as i'm getting the S variant. (Also need to master the Centurion...)

Also bought (and sold) a Vindicator. A mech i like (Capellan jack of all trades mech, medium)... but it doesn't work for me in MWO.
I figured that i'm a support player. Unfortunately the Vindicator doesn't work for the role very well, or at least i couldn't get it work for that. The Blackjack works, twin AC2s and shoot from range. The Centurion, close range heavy support, and the Hunchback is the same. (Me being a support player explains how i do so well with the Summoner... indeed that's how most Clans use it (in BTverse), for fire support.)
 

Giolon

Member
#3.I've been thinking of a GAF clan, but you need 12 players to participate in the early CW drops. That's a tall order for us, as we stand right now.

I am pretty sure you only need a group of 12 to attack a planet, not for defense. It's all in the CW Phase 2 proposal post.
 

Woorloog

Banned
NeoGAF Armed Forces has been formed, i sent invite to K.Jack and Stefa83 (who is in my friendlist but i have no idea who he is on GAF), and Giolon seems to have unit already.
You want in, post your MWO username here. You have alternate MWO account, it can join too.
Your friends are also welcome but i think they'll get lower ranks (once i get around organizing them properly).
It doesn't matter if you don't play often, as long as you're a GAFer you can get in.

What else...?

Rules: Basic common sense. You know, about how NeoGAF operates. Not that this will be relevant anytime soon, given how few players this game has on GAF.
 

Woorloog

Banned
http://mwomercs.com/wavetwo?p=carousel

The new Clan mech details, bigger art.

The Hellbringer Prime has extra two tons of armor in place of A-pods. I understand the decision but can't say i'm happy with it, too much of a purist. I would have replaced them with two tons of MG ammo rather, utterly pointless, yes, but then so are the A-pods, or leaving the mech two tons underweight, since everyone but me customizes their Clan mechs.
They went with Mad Dog A and B, no C despite it being such an elegant creation, pure twin gauss rifles. I wonder if they will offer the C left arm, i want my Mad Dog C (pretty much the only thing where i would use dual gauss).
That laser boat Gargoyle is going to be interesting machine.


Anyway, as i noted above, i'm a purist, in an odd way:
While customization is a part of the game, it is too much of a thing the game's build around IMO. I'd rather have mech game where the mechs are balanced, each one given its own traits and quirks and abilities, all based strictly to the tabletop game otherwise (ie if it has rear-facing small laser in a leg, it will have that laser there, period). That is, a mech would be what it is but its maneuverability, rate of fire, cooling and such are subtly tweaked to make it useful machine.
I'm not saying customization shouldn't be there, just made very, very limited, and perhaps time and "resource" consuming, something that only the most persistent get to do, and even then it should be limited so that superb optimizations can't be done.
That, or go utterly to the other end. Each mech is merely a cosmetic difference, the players choose the look they like (within weight class, due to size and hitbox considerations) and build something out of it. Not really a fan of MWO's (or MW4's) approach.
Oh, well, it is still the only mech game i can play at the moment. Unfortunately.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Oh shit, the Hellbringer Prime supports ECM. First Heavy ECM-capable mech in the game.

And it runs 81kph. And with maxed out armor, it can still carry enough weapons i think. Going to be terrifying opponent... hope they nerf the ECM (and consequently LRMs).

But as for the maxed out armor... who the heck commits such heresy??? The whole idea of the mech is to have too much firepower and not enough armor. Loki, loco, utterly mad mech.
 

Giolon

Member
And it runs 81kph. And with maxed out armor, it can still carry enough weapons i think. Going to be terrifying opponent... hope they nerf the ECM (and consequently LRMs).

But as for the maxed out armor... who the heck commits such heresy??? The whole idea of the mech is to have too much firepower and not enough armor. Loki, loco, utterly mad mech.

The same people who max out their armor on Jagermechs. XD
 

Woorloog

Banned
The same people who max out their armor on Jagermechs. XD

Yeah, well, the stock Jager is unusable in MWO, unlike the stock Clan mechs (not that the Hellbringer Prime is that great even with extra armor It isn't terrible but not great).

*Coughs and mutters* My Firebrand has max armor...
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
I'm a bad person, so I ordered the MOW pack like a scrub. Mind if I post the pics?

mist_lynx.png


Ice_Ferret.png


HBringer.png


Gargoyle.png


Mad_Dog.png

The Ice Ferret will get the most use out of me.

That Mad Dog A is something vicious. Good lord. I want to load it up with SSRMs, just so I can one shot a Jenner.
*Coughs and mutters* My Firebrand has max armor...
What setup do you use on your FB?
 

Woorloog

Banned
What setup do you use on your FB?

Twin ERLL, twin AC5 with 2 tons ammo each, two medium lasers, XL260, max armor (minus two points i think, back has only 10/12/10 or so armor) and the rest go for heat sinks. Has Advanced Zoom, the only module i have in the entire game.
Very, very effective build in my experience, i do very well with it.
It is a good sniper, and even at close range it is a monster (it is elited). All it needs is careful aim.

Originally i had XL280 on it (i moved it to my Oxide), extra heat sink and an extra ton of ammo but less armor but i figured i don't need those, especially since the engine got other use. And it wasn't legal in tabletop terms, unlike XL260 (yes, i restrict myself to TT legal designs, so basically i need to think about the engine size).
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Twin ERLL, twin AC5 with 2 tons ammo each, two medium lasers, XL260, max armor (minus two points i think, back has only 10/12/10 or so armor) and the rest go for heat sinks. Has Advanced Zoom, the only module i have in the entire game.
Very, very effective build in my experience, i do very well with it.
It is a good sniper, and even at close range it is a monster (it is elited). All it needs is careful aim.

Originally i had XL280 on it (i moved it to my Oxide), extra heat sink and an extra ton of ammo but less armor but i figured i don't need those, especially since the engine got other use. And it wasn't legal in tabletop terms, unlike XL260 (yes, i restrict myself to TT legal designs, so basically i need to think about the engine size).
I ask because I was literally looking at my FB in the mechlab when I read your post. I noticed that I am only a couple thousand XP from unlocking the master slot. The Firebrand was actually the first mech I bought in this game, period. Yes, I bought it even before I had accrued the entire Cadet Bonus. I was so terrible back then that I shelved the FB after I bought the Golden Boy and then Loup De Doop. I just recently came back to heavy mechs, so I basic'd a couple of the inferior Jagers just so I could elite/master the Firebrand. Apparently it was my only mech for so long, that I racked up tons of XP, even while being absolutely garbage at the game.

So I tried twin AC10s w/ 4t ammo, 4 mediums, and an XL300. I got 580 damage and a kill, but it ran hotter than hell and I ran out of ammo too early.
 

Talisker

Member
Hey dudes. I'm still kinda new here, haven't even got an Avatar but I have been lurking you guys for months now. :D

I started playing MWO in early 2013 and have continued to do so ever since. Sure, the game is still in somewhat troubled waters but my love for big stompy mechs and my childlike joy about anything BT related keeps that fire burning. :)

With the continued development and announcements of clan features and stuff, I am looking for a bunch uf friendly pilots to play with. And what better Pilots are there than GAF pilots. My username is Gaggalar, and I dare say - I am no scrub. Friend requests are welcome and BTW: Hi!
 

Woorloog

Banned
Hey dudes. I'm still kinda new here, haven't even got an Avatar but I have been lurking you guys for months now. :D

I started playing MWO in early 2013 and have continued to do so ever since. Sure, the game is still in somewhat troubled waters but my love for big stompy mechs and my childlike joy about anything BT related keeps that fire burning. :)

With the continued development and announcements of clan features and stuff, I am looking for a bunch uf friendly pilots to play with. And what better Pilots are there than GAF pilots. My username is Gaggalar, and I dare say - I am no scrub. Friend requests are welcome and BTW: Hi!

Welcome!
If you have no unit, i'll invite you to NeoGAF Armed Forces.
Not that we have many players here on GAF, Me, Giolon, K.Jack, a few others perhaps. I understand that completely though, older Mechwarrior fans here (if you look at the beginning of this thread, there were more people posting back then) were likely put off by the game's multiplayer focus, and general issues. It seems things are picking up now but i wonder if the damage's already done.
 

Nete

Member
The Mad Dog is fucking sexy. Probably the finest design in Battletech, and even Iglesias didn't need much work to MWOize it.

And seeings those stats/hardpoints, all five mechs seem to add something new to the game. Well done for once, PGI.
 

Talisker

Member
Welcome!
If you have no unit, i'll invite you to NeoGAF Armed Forces.
Not that we have many players here on GAF, Me, Giolon, K.Jack, a few others perhaps. I understand that completely though, older Mechwarrior fans here (if you look at the beginning of this thread, there were more people posting back then) were likely put off by the game's multiplayer focus, and general issues. It seems things are picking up now but i wonder if the damage's already done.

Thanks, I do not have a unit and would be glad to join the NeoGaf Armed Forces. Looking forward to that. I live in Switzerland though, so our Timezones may differ a bit.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Thanks, I do not have a unit and would be glad to join the NeoGaf Armed Forces. Looking forward to that. I live in Switzerland though, so our Timezones may differ a bit.

I'm from Finland so it is not a problem. Others seem to be from the US or elsewhere so far though. Other GAFers, [NGAF] doesn't exactly have many members, as noted... Growing... slowly, i guess.
 

Talisker

Member
I'm from Finland so it is not a problem. Others seem to be from the US or elsewhere so far though. Other GAFers, [NGAF] doesn't exactly have many members, as noted... Growing... slowly, i guess.

Very well then! I'm very curious how the game will develop in the future. I really hope the game can one day be more than just a deathmatch-simulator and actually have a metagame. We are seeing first glimpses of it, so the hope remains.
I have already put too much money into it to invest in the newest clan collection, I will however continue to support it by being an active player.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Oh, man, this is awesome! I beat a Dire Wolf practically alone in a Summoner, by exploiting the Dire's low mobility. Feels great! Too bad i got killed by a Blackjack and a flight of missiles right afterwards.
 

Woorloog

Banned
The UI is terrible, it took me rather long to figure out how to modify ranks and where to sent invites... very, very unintuitive.
IIRC PGI said will take a look a the UI at some time... it is unfortunate they couldn't make it good right away...
 

Talisker

Member
It's pretty apparent, I think, that the UI was build by a programmer and not a UI designer. It's a travesty really. But then again, few action-type shooty games have loadout- and customization-options as complex as MWO has, so there wasn't really much to use in terms of reference or guidelines.

There is Smurfy of course, but PGI has stated that they would rather not copy that (frankly, brilliant) design to not take away from what the community has created there, which is a valid point too in my opinion.
 

Giolon

Member
It's pretty apparent, I think, that the UI was build by a programmer and not a UI designer. It's a travesty really. But then again, few action-type shooty games have loadout- and customization-options as complex as MWO has, so there wasn't really much to use in terms of reference or guidelines.

There is Smurfy of course, but PGI has stated that they would rather not copy that (frankly, brilliant) design to not take away from what the community has created there, which is a valid point too in my opinion.

I have not seen them say this. I have seen them say they didn't think that UI would work on the lowest resolutions they have to support (1024x768 or whatever) with all the components listed. The mech details view is lifted basically directly from smurfy and was implemented at player request.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Double XP is awesome. Just got 3k in a loss. Had over 8k in a win earlier. Time to level the assault mechs I hate so much.

Also, I just started testing a 2x ML, 2x MPL, 4x SSRM4 build on the Timber Wolf. I really expected it to be a trash build, but in the first 2 matches I've done 730 and 880 damage. These things tear people up, and the fact that clan SSRMs have a range of 360m just makes it worse. It's going to hurt, going back to the 220m range of IS Streaks. I don't think I can.
 

Talisker

Member
I have not seen them say this. I have seen them say they didn't think that UI would work on the lowest resolutions they have to support (1024x768 or whatever) with all the components listed. The mech details view is lifted basically directly from smurfy and was implemented at player request.
I could have sworn... Oh well. It's crap but they are working on it.

However, how the hell did I miss the announcement of the KING CRAB! so sneaky!
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
x2 XP weekend was great. Decided to use it to elite my first 3 assault mechs, and I chose the Warhawk. The mech is way better than I expected. The Dire W on the other hand? Got halfway through basics and just sold them, I hated piloting that mech.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Man this 6x SSRM4 Mad Dog I run is one of the scariest mechs in my mechlab.

Why not SSRM6? With a couple of small lasers, medium lasers and three heat sinks, 4 tons of ammo.
EDIT this is keeping the stock armor. I never touch armor values in Clan mechs (aside from assigning the extra point of armor to CT in Kit Fox, the extra point comes from rounding differences due to doubled armor values).
 

Giolon

Member
Why not SSRM6? With a couple of small lasers, medium lasers and three heat sinks, 4 tons of ammo.
EDIT this is keeping the stock armor. I never touch armor values in Clan mechs (aside from assigning the extra point of armor to CT in Kit Fox, the extra point comes from rounding differences due to doubled armor values).

The cooldown is so long on CSSRM6 I find it hard to take as a sole weapon source.
 

Woorloog

Banned
The cooldown is so long on CSSRM6 I find it hard to take as a sole weapon source.

Hit and run? Of course doesn't work on all maps, and since the map is random... eh, i can see possible problems.
Does SSRM6 have cooldown module by the way?
But regardless, i figure people would be horrified from 6xSSRM6 Vulture attacking them. That's some 70+ damage right away, though of course it isn't focused on any single place.

EDIT it occurred to me that one might want to use Artemis with Streaks due to the "bug" where Streaks lock-on faster if a Mech has Artemis even though Streaks themselves do not benefit from Artemis.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Why not SSRM6? With a couple of small lasers, medium lasers and three heat sinks, 4 tons of ammo.
EDIT this is keeping the stock armor. I never touch armor values in Clan mechs (aside from assigning the extra point of armor to CT in Kit Fox, the extra point comes from rounding differences due to doubled armor values).

Streaks 4s are way less hot and the 1 second difference in cooldown is significant.

I mean I can run this with Streak 6s:


It runs super hot and will run out of ammo halfway through the match. You can only fire all of the Streaks twice on Tourmaline. The second alpha puts you at 98% and it takes an age to cool down. Even chainfiring over heats quickly, just 22 seconds and I hit 99%.

Or I run this:


It can really hurt people at range with the 4x MLs. On Tourmaline it takes 5 full Streak salvos to hit 97%, an you cool much faster, while I can chain fire for exactly a minute straight on this map.

So yeah, I've tested the two builds, and that's why.

Does SSRM6 have cooldown module by the way?

No, which is stuuupid. Given the state of PPFLD and all of the complaints, why would they give the Gauss Rifle and ERPPC cooldown mods, yet only the SSRM2 gets one? That makes no sense.

Oh, also, the missile spread on the Streak 6 is ridiculous, while the Streak 4s stay in a tight bunch.

And yes Artemis is mandatory, as well as an Active Probe.

It's so fun to basically one shot every light I come across. Major components are lost with the first burst, and it's over with the second.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Man, the missile tube placement looks odd.
BTW, do you have a pic of the hands for the Mad Dog? I've never seen them before anywhere (might be that i haven't looked closely enough).
I wonder if they look creepy like the Stormcrow's (they were pretty creepy, right? I think i saw a pic of them somewhere).

EDIT i think they should fix the Artemis thing for Streaks, everyone who doesn't know this or can't afford it is at disadvantage. I'd imagine implementing two different lock-on systems wouldn't be too difficult, just have the other lock-on to use different colored/shaped graphic, like a square.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Man, the missile tube placement looks odd.
BTW, do you have a pic of the hands for the Mad Dog? I've never seen them before anywhere (might be that i haven't looked closely enough).
I wonder if they look creepy like the Stormcrow's (they were pretty creepy, right? I think i saw a pic of them somewhere).

EDIT i think they should fix the Artemis thing for Streaks, everyone who doesn't know this or can't afford it is at disadvantage. I'd imagine implementing two different lock-on systems wouldn't be too difficult, just have the other lock-on to use different colored/shaped graphic, like a square.

Here you go:

Looks more like a spear than a "hand".

Hey leave my lock on times alone. But I think it was PGI themselves who said the Streak lock on speed was unintentional, but two different locks is too had or impossible to do.

What they need to do, for the sake of an even playing field, is make the speed gain via Artemis official, and document the fact in the game's UI so everyone sees it.

On that note, it's pretty dumb that not one item in the 'Upgrades' tab gives any kind of description. Way to help new players understand the mechanics PGI.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Silly hand.

Excuses. Though PGI is working with CryEngine they have customized heavily so perhaps they're real excuses...
Make the Streak's "fixed" lock-on time as fast as it is with Artemis, boom, no problem with lock-on times. Ideally the whole Streak missile system should be overhauled, the actual SRMs should work like Streaks do now, and the Streaks should work differently (perhaps include some kind of aim-ability for them, like Mechwarrior 4 had).

Overall, the game's UI and documentation both are atrocious, as is their new player experience. Make that lack of one. At times i feel like the game has been made easier in order to get new players, which is of course not, once again, addressing the core problem...
Hopefully things start getting better with PGI-IGP split but... man, i don't believe that.

EDIT to expand on that "SRMs as actual missiles", i'm starting to think i would have liked if the game had been set later on, so that we'd get MRMs, various IS versions of Clan weapons, and other stuff. Or perhaps even better, timeless game so that mechs and tech from all eras is usable, TSEMPs from Dark Ages, MMLs from Jihad, and whatever else.
EDIT i forget, there ain't no ammo switching (i wonder if we will ever get it), so MMLs wouldn't work...
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Well, PGI's need to sell new mechs guarantees that we'll be seeing multiple time jumps, and very soon. They're already running out of viable Inner Sphere mechs in the current timeline. I expect the "Clanbuter pack" to drop not long after CW kick off, along with a jump to 3052.
 

Giolon

Member
Well, PGI's need to sell new mechs guarantees that we'll be seeing multiple time jumps, and very soon. They're already running out of viable Inner Sphere mechs in the current timeline. I expect the "Clanbuter pack" to drop not long after CW kick off, along with a jump to 3052.

Well, we already know the King Crab is coming.

Updated proposal for CW Phase 2 has been posted: http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/172535-community-warfare-phase-2-update-sept-24/

Reading this is making it hard for me to keep my excitement in check. PGI has been delivering on promises left and right lately, so my optimism is out in force these days. However, this is a big, long-delayed feature and if it turns out to be as big of a let-down as UI 2.0 did...well, it's not going to be pretty.

Of note for particular people here: 12-man groups are no longer required for attacking a planet (and never were for defense).
 

Talisker

Member
Well, we already know the King Crab is coming.

Updated proposal for CW Phase 2 has been posted: http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/172535-community-warfare-phase-2-update-sept-24/

Reading this is making it hard for me to keep my excitement in check. PGI has been delivering on promises left and right lately, so my optimism is out in force these days. However, this is a big, long-delayed feature and if it turns out to be as big of a let-down as UI 2.0 did...well, it's not going to be pretty.

Of note for particular people here: 12-man groups are no longer required for attacking a planet (and never were for defense).
Having read that post, I have to admit that the hype is slowly rising on my end as well. That and the announcement of the King crab, first Mad Dogs in the field, finally a new map. I may log in again tonight after a longer absence and see if the fire is really still alive.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Having read that post, I have to admit that the hype is slowly rising on my end as well. That and the announcement of the King crab, first Mad Dogs in the field, finally a new map. I may log in again tonight after a longer absence and see if the fire is really still alive.

Yeah CW could be something special. Did you join our group yet?


Me and that Streak Dog though....

 

Woorloog

Banned
I see i need to log in and adjust people's ranks and something...
Been playing other games, gotta keep some breaks to avoid burn-out. Kind of waiting for the loyalty gifts on October 21st...

EDIT oh and any specific faction people want? We're Cappies at the moment because i am one. Which is a shitty thing by the way, tying the player faction's allegiance to its founder's/leader's allegiance.
Perhaps it would be best if we chose either general Clan or general IS, no specific allegiances, no?
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
I'm the only one with enough Clan mechs for the 1/1/1/1 drop deck. So that's out.

We should just be an IS Merc Corp.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
They are going to fill empty drop ship slots with trial mechs.

I guess that fits with the Wave 1 release. The trials will probably be Kit Fox/Nova/Summoner/Warhawk. There's no way they put the Timber and Dire Wolves out there for the plebeians.

Well then I'll let you guys decide whether we're Clan or IS. I can play both sides well, and have no RPG lore attachments to being one or the other.
 

Talisker

Member
I logged in last night just to see some of the UI changed and mess around on the new map for a bit - and to say hi and join the GAF unit of course.

I also vote Rasalhague purely because out of all the terrible and evil IS factions Rasalhague is the least terrible. Also space vikings. But it's not like I have an extremely strong preference.
 
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