Mechwarrior: Online [F2P Classic Mech-sim/Battletech]

[Sohtaraz]

Well to be fair the reason why they say the apply for closed beta is to measure the interest towards the game, as well as to trying to figure out just how many people will actually start playing it for server farm sizes etc.

Not to mention it gets people to sign up on the webpage meaning you will have less cluttered registration during launch, as well as getting extra people to look at the founders pack for funding reasons.


Edit: And why does the board hate me so?

[Ramrod]

i'll personaly be playing on the NA server. too many friends in america and australia to play in europe

I wanted to address this because it is a good point, but I figure it will be better served over in the LFG thread here.

[Cortlendt]

They will be moving to production hardware in July I think. Meaning that they will be able to stress-test a lot of users.

[Ramrod]

Yeah, apparently they delayed the Founders preorder beta key handouts from July 17 to August 7 because of the delay with getting the new hardware in place.

[Afoxi]

A FEW LUCKY FOUNDERS GET BETA KEYS EARLY!!!

HEY!
HEY!
HEY LISTEN!
GUESS WHAT?
HEY!
GUESS WHAT?

So i opened my email right

[Cortlendt]

In a meanwhile, try to get into the World of Planes (not warplanes) beta. It is quite worth it.

[Ramrod]

Looks way better than Warplanes.

[Afoxi]

Planes is boring. Warplanes is better considering I have almost perfected jet dogfighting in canyons.

[Ramrod]

Planes is probably boring because it's a sim, which is exactly why I think Warplanes looks shite: it isn't one.

[Cortlendt]

Planes is boring. Warplanes is better considering I have almost perfected jet dogfighting in canyons.

You live in the darkness...

[Afoxi]

You live in the darkness...

Actually no. While you're fighting one battle where you may or may not be shot down within the first 2 minutes, I will have flown my 4th battle, and with planes that have never ever left the drawing board.

[Jopax]

I'm in the beta!

But the WoWP one, can't be arsed to download the damn thing tho, plus no bandwith X(

Is it worth it Afoxi?

[Inquisitor Lok]

Well you know jopax.. if i *happened* to be in the beta, id say you should add me up so we could play a few games :P But than again... that would only be if i was in the beta i guess :P

[Afoxi]

I'm in too many betas atm and haven't played WoWP for a while, but I can say the WoWP Alpha was really good.

[Ramrod]

New Mech, you Fedrats.

[Aesaar]

Huh. If we get the Firestarter and the Hollander, we'll have the entire MC1 IS lineup. I think the Hollander's a 3055 mech, though. And I'd rather we get the Wolfhound for our next light.

The JagerMech isn't my thing. 6 tons of armor on a heavy mech is pathetic.

[Sohtaraz]

Woah yay Jagermech how I love thee!

[Ramrod]

Hollander is indeed 3055, and a Wolfhound would be awesome.

[Maktaka]

Bah, folkels need to be linking to the announcement page and Sarna wiki article like the cool, attractive people were doing earlier in the thread.

[Ramrod]

Shush, you.

I made some things for you scum to show your allegiance in your sig, if you so wish.

[Cortlendt]

Why not Rifleman? I like it more.

[Ramrod]

Is that a real question? Long read that will explain things better than I can.

[Norsehound]

Ughf, why can't Harmony Gold die already? They've caused nothing but headaches and trouble to two groups who have much bigger and growing fanbases- US Macross fans and Battletech players. And for what? Plenty of promises for new movies, cartoons, half-assed production artwork and with nothing to show for it. Look at their Wikipedia page: over half of their listed productions are Planned, Delayed, Canceled, Proposed. They can't come forward with anything new to legitimize their claims yet they block new Macross releases states-side and deny Battletech fans the rights to have their old favorites return. What the hell? About the only thing they accomplish is duping people into believing there will be future robotech productions and re-releasing old products for an easily fooled and foolishly loyal fanbase.

I don't get it.

I got into Battletech by way of MW2 (Timerwolf FTW!!), but I'd love to give an original Warhammer a spin. Seemed like a decent heavy mech that performs well when you treat it with respect and don't spam the guns. Not many other classic designs do it for me the same way the Warhammer does.

[Cortlendt]

My bad, I could have guessed.

[Ramrod]

Nah, Cortlendt, it was my bad, I didn't need to be so harsh. Considering how few MechWarrior games there are now, and that fan-made mods (MWLL, MW4 Mekpaks) DO include the Unseen, it's not something we think about too often.

In fact, I have to admit that for years I didn't know the Archer was one of the Unseen. I knew the Warhammer, Rifleman and Longbow were all originally Macross Destroids, but I have no idea how I missed the Archer, which is also one.


EDIT: Also, nine of the last twenty-five posts in this thread were mine. I think I should stop spamming for a while.

[Norsehound]

The history of the unseen is kind of interesting in relation to Battletech lore.

Quite a few of them appear as IIC versions within the Clans, which I'm familiar with the most because of their appearance in Mechwarrior 2 (Warhammer IIC, Marauder IIC, Rifleman IIC). All of these machines are supposedly second line but did get an artistic makeover to distinguish them from the original designs. Yet in most places they're lumped together with the other Unseens and remain un-seen as a result, in spite of the new art.

More recently there was "Project Phoenix" to illustrate new designs for the unseen as a way to retroactively change the original designs. Personally I think they failed on all of them, with the possible exception of the Marauder, to the degree that I made my own redesigns.

Also related, but it appears Land-Air-Mechs (Transforming air-mechs... Valkyrie/Veritechs in other words) were also re-designed and the rules for such may be reimplemented for those who want to use them.

[Aesaar]

Land-Air Mechs are the worst thing in Battletech. Should have never been included. It's a good thing they got mostly retconned out of existence.

Of course, I'm someone who thinks the Warhammer is the only good looking mech to ever come out of Japan.

The TRO Marauder looks horribly awkward. I linked a redesign last page that looks incredible, though. My question is: If that design or one like it was used instead, would it still have legal issues?

[Carl]

If that design or one like it was used instead, would it still have legal issues?

What legal issues, the devs of MWO online have reptedly stated they can use the opriginol harmony gld designs if they want, there are no legal issues for them with doing so.

[Aesaar]

Carl: Have they? The only thing I remember concerning that was that the initial issues and delays they had were not because of HG. Seems to me if they were allowed to use Unseen designs, they would have already.

[Ramrod]

Yeah, Carl is projecting and is not saying anything with any connection to any facts anywhere. The devs said "Harmony Gold has nothing to do with the delays. There is no legal battle." That's all. Literally, that's the only thing they ever said. There has never been any elaboration on the subject by the PGI devs beyond that little tweet and the "look forward to a future announcement" line they put in the FAQ (15th from the end).

[Magus Zeal]

It looks like they took the Jagermech and combined it with the unseen version of the Rifleman.

Not that that's a *bad* thing. Some versions of the JM-6 fulfill an AA role very well. But tbh I always liked the reseen Rifleman.

Also, there is a serious legal issue with incorporating the original unseen. Remember all of the C&Ds HG sent out after the original MW5 trailer?

[Goobers]

Given how heavily their redesigning things there may indeed not be any legal issues if they use the unseen artwork as a base. Of course there is also no reason why they can't use the reseen artwork and get the fanwank mechs that way, heck they may even make them look good.


And the Jagermech has always looked like a Rifleman, the only real difference between them is the round vs square torsos.

[Axyl]

I WANT A BETA KEY!!!

Seriously though, this game looks so freakin' excellent. Just the extra polish MW:LL needs imo. Different game-type, but OMG I have never hated the word "Pending" so much in my life!..

Even Founders Member early access is still a month away..

*twitches*

[Rivy]

I'd buy this kind of bling for my mech, no matter the cost:

Gents...

EDIT:

Upgraded version now smoking his PIPE !

[Ramrod]

Yeah, I've been playing around in Photoshop too...

more userbars

Atlas


Awesome


Cataphract


Catapult


Centurion


Cicada


Commando


Dragon


Flea


Highlander


Hunchback


Jagermech


Jenner


Raven


Spider


Stalker


Trebuchet

[Norsehound]

Land-Air Mechs are the worst thing in Battletech. Should have never been included. It's a good thing they got mostly retconned out of existence.

Mmh, Iunno. While I'm not saying there needs to be more of them and they should come back to the mainstream I think it was an interesting blip in Battletech technology. LAMs were horrible aerospace fighters and not really good battlemechs. It's a challenge for a player to use such an inefficient machine adequately in a battlefield situation. But then, I think impractical war machines like the KV-2 are rather interesting too.

If Alexander Iglesias, aka Flyingdebris, is show-running possible redesigns and reboots I have absolute faith he'd do justice to the familiar designs while making something new and something different.

[Jopax]

Well LAM's are an interesting idea, and like Norse says, stuff that's unique and somewhat difficult to use but when used properly can lead to some awesome results. Having a mech that can have a mobility of an aircraft without the need for transports and without the disadvantage of being trasported directly into combat can be quite useful in certain situations. Highy mobility precision strikes against slower oponents or against targets that just can't defend themselves against such short ranged strikes (arty batteries and sttuff like that).

As for the Jaeger, I'm not a huge fan of it's looks, but the idea of so much dakka on two legs is too appealing, especially some more exotic variants (dual gauss rifles :> (also, anyone else dislike the effect and sound for the gauss rifle, there was one video I think Carl linked, they both sound and look like an 80's laser gun of the extremely cheap quality)).

Also, I want the Tarantula, not because it's fast or has armor or firepower, but because it would be freaking awesome to skitter around the map going 130 in a four legged laser spewing machine

[Aesaar]

My issue with LAMs is that no rational military would ever think they were a good idea. You're combining the role of a fighter with that of a tank, two things which require completely different things to be effective. Use a VTOL, it'll be better at both jobs. Sure, you could say many of the same things about mechs (and I have), but no amount of rationalisation will lead me to believe a transformer somehow made it to production. LAMs are part of Battletech's early instalment weirdness, back when they got half their stuff from Macross, but they just don't fit the setting anymore.

And I seriously doubt there's a way to make a LAM look good. It'd be like trying to make a Gundam look good.

[Magus Zeal]

The artists could totally use the reseen designs, or alter the unseen artwork enough to be visually distinct. That's what Catalyst did for the reseen, they bear some resemblance but look different enough.

LAMs were meant to be experimental tech, like a lot of things. The one place that 'mechs cannot perform in is air combat, and ASF have a lot of power over 'mechs in providing air superiority, bombing runs, recon, and more. However the tech never fully worked out.

Also, I want the Tarantula, not because it's fast or has armor or firepower, but because it would be freaking awesome to skitter around the map going 130 in a four legged laser spewing machine

No quads until after the Clan invasion. Then we see the Tarantula, Scorpion, and Goliath. And a few years later (around the time of the Civil War), the Barghest emerges, so we have something for all weight classes.

[Aesaar]

So our next light is the Spider.



Meh. I wanted the Wolfhound. The Spider is woefully underarmed.

[Busby]

Well it looks cool. And that's what really matters.

[Norsehound]

Compared to how the spider originally looked I think it's an improvement.

Which is why I want FD to go back and do his own versions of the unseen/reseen/whateverseen because I know he'd give the design a fresh and satisfying look while also being far enough away from the old designs as to not grab HG's attention.

[Afoxi]

http://au.pc.gamespy.com/pc/mech-war...1225461p1.html

Way to go, gamespy!

[Akranadas]

Don't see an issue with someone posting their own opinion about a game. It's a shame that gamers see this type of thing as an affront to their hobby and must attack the author for it. It's comments like one in the article that bring down the gaming community.

I can understand where the author is coming from. I only have a passing interesting in this game due to the thread here, but looking at game play videos does little to get me excited about playing it. I'll have to play it to get my own opinion (never having played a mech warrior game before) before anything else.

[Maktaka]

The videos from a while back that showed the same battle as viewed by a light, medium, heavy, and assault mech were quite good at explaining gameplay I thought (light one at the start is here). It doesn't seem like the author of that article has even seen them though, which is especially odd seeing as Gamespy and IGN are the same company. Really though, any game that has as much going on before the fight as Mechwarrior is going to be hard to encapsulate in a video though. To get the full idea of the draw of the game they would need to release a battlemech lab online app to play around with builds and videos showcasing the differences between the various grades of lasers and autocannons and the like, just to see what loadouts you could make and what they could do, like Blizzard did with Diablo III. I can't see them spending time on that though, not when it's F2P and will be available to all soon enough.

[Akranadas]

Especially when something like Hawken appears so similar but at the same time is basically a traditional FPS.

[Rivy]

Only 2 lasers ? I like how that mech looks, but I can't play a BB gun on legs !

[Afoxi]

Looks like Center Torso only slots too, which means no Dual Large Lasers bullshittery. =\

[Jopax]

My main gripe with the Spider is the torso mounted weaponry, why have the arms then, they would be much better for aiming at multiple targets and easier target switching, plus it's just too wierd like this, makes it quite hard to imagine how it would aim at stuff that aren't in a very specific place in front of it :/

[Inquisitor Lok]

New Map: Caustic Valley


Looks interesting.