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MechWarrior Online - News and Information Thread

Sethos

Banned
Any player / site 'reviews' of what has been available so far? I want to pull the trigger but everywhere I go the talk about builds and deep game stuff, not how good / bad the game is.

I got accepted into the close Beta but never got it working, crashing on launch every time.
 

kagete

Member
Are you using the Right CTRL button? I'm thinking maybe you can try going to default controls first and then get in a game. Remember that it's a toggle and if you toggle on something for group 2 it's still turned on for group 1 until you explicitly toggle it off for that group. This thing took me a while to figure out and I spent my entire first match just alphastriking.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Any player / site 'reviews' of what has been available so far? I want to pull the trigger but everywhere I go the talk about builds and deep game stuff, not how good / bad the game is.

I got accepted into the close Beta but never got it working, crashing on launch every time.

Considering it is a beta still, there is not much point in talking about good or bad. Too early to say.

Considering it is free to play, you ain't missing anything by waiting. Well, maybe the Founder's mechs but...
 

Sethos

Banned
Considering it is a beta still, there is not much point in talking about good or bad. Too early to say.

Considering it is free to play, you ain't missing anything by waiting. Well, maybe the Founder's mechs but...

Well, no game in history has went from utterly terrible to great because of a Beta :p It's easy to look past bugs and shortcomings, focus on core gameplay for an opinion piece - That's what I'm looking for.
 

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Yup. I hold that down and move the arrow keys around. I tried hitting Enter on the numbers as well.

For whatever reason, every time they wipe it resets the groupings.

After each wipe, you have to open the chat box by pushing Y or T and then pressing escape to get to the menu, then click resume. Then you can assign with Right CTRL like normal.

It's weird.
 
Yup. I hold that down and move the arrow keys around. I tried hitting Enter on the numbers as well.

Okay, you're not supposed to hold it down. Clicking it toggles the currently selected weapon on or off for the weapon group that is highlighted.

There's a stickied thread in the beta forum which explains it better:
http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/12385-weapon-groups-and-you-read-me-please/
(You have to be logged in to read it)

Or perhaps you've been doing it right and encountered the bug that Divvy mentioned.
 

Keasar

Member
Speaking of lore and such, I have heard there is a modest amount of books and novels around the Battletech universe, as a newcomer to all this, any recommendations on what to start with if the need for some reading material would come up?
 

Mupod

Member
Any player / site 'reviews' of what has been available so far? I want to pull the trigger but everywhere I go the talk about builds and deep game stuff, not how good / bad the game is.

I got accepted into the close Beta but never got it working, crashing on launch every time.

I think it's pretty damn good so far. I haven't had much interest in competitive multiplayer games for a long time but I put in 400+ matches in MWO in the last few weeks. It really just feels great to play and tweaking your mechs in the lab is as addictive as ever.

It is however very much a beta. It's completely playable but there are bugs that have gone unfixed for a while like Dragon hitboxes and only needing one jumpjet. Nothing too serious, but it's going to get a LOT better once they fix some of this stuff. There's only 3 maps and one straightforward game mode right now. Even customization is going to get far deeper once pilot skills, modules and equipment options like endo steel are in. So if you're still on the fence you'll get a much better game once OB hits.
 

Ocho

Member
I can see everything clearly. I can move the selection bar up and down and through the numbers but I can't change anything. They are always group in 1. I feel like a retard because it should be that hard.

You must move the selected box left/right and use the right ctrl button.

Edit: Oops, didn't notice new page. :(
 

Nymerio

Member
Speaking of lore and such, I have heard there is a modest amount of books and novels around the Battletech universe, as a newcomer to all this, any recommendations on what to start with if the need for some reading material would come up?

I've already asked this once too. Since then I've read the Warrior Trilogy and the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy. I'm currently taking a little break from the novels because I've just read all six books back to back. I'll start with the Saga of the Gray Death Legion next.

I can absolutely recommend the Warrior and the Blood of Kerensky trilogies, but I'd definitely recommend you start with the Warrior books.

Overall I'd say all the Stackpole books are really good.
 
Speaking of lore and such, I have heard there is a modest amount of books and novels around the Battletech universe, as a newcomer to all this, any recommendations on what to start with if the need for some reading material would come up?

FYI, we discussed this pages and pages ago in this thread.

I'd recommend The Blood of Kerensky trilogy. The Jade Phoenix trilogy is also a good choice. There are also a lot of standalone novels, some good, others not so good.

If you've got a Half Price Books store near you, that would be a great place to check for Battletech/Mechwarrior books. The prices are reasonable at half of the publisher's list price and they're likely to have at least a handful of Battletech novels.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Watched a leaked gameplay vid from Youtube. Looked nice.
Though gotta say standard lasers won't be my weapon of choice (though i didn't need a leaked vid to say this). Other than the large variety anyway.
Going to roll with medium pulse lasers.
Also, not keen on SRMs, they looked like it is easy to miss with them. A damn shotgun weapon just like MW4's SRMs. Maybe the Streak version is something i'll like. Too bad SRM-2 is the only one with Streak version as well.

Trying to figure out a theoretically good, balanced Centurion.
Use of Endo Steel and Ferro Fibrous would be nice but if i use those, i cannot mount a Gauss Rifle in the right arm. If i use both of those, i cannot fit even a LB-X AC10 in the right arm, hell, not even UAC5. Hmm.
So, one or the other then only, i guess.
If no either one and XL engine, that gives me 27.5 tons left for playing with.
A Gauss Rifle with two tons of ammo, 17 tons. A medium pulse laser on the left arm, total 19 tons. If i keep the missile launcher as it is, that leaves me 1.5 tons. Hmm.
Good thing MWO is sticking with the TT construction rules mostly, easy to desing mechs on paper.
EDIT this is not actually a balanced centurion but a long range heavy hitter.
 

Mupod

Member
Watched a leaked gameplay vid from Youtube. Looked nice.
Though gotta say standard lasers won't be my weapon of choice (though i didn't need a leaked vid to say this). Other than the large variety anyway.
Going to roll with medium pulse lasers.
Also, not keen on SRMs, they looked like it is easy to miss with them. A damn shotgun weapon just like MW4's SRMs. Maybe the Streak version is something i'll like. Too bad SRM-2 is the only one with Streak version as well.

Trying to figure out a theoretically good, balanced Centurion.
Use of Endo Steel and Ferro Fibrous would be nice but if i use those, i cannot mount a Gauss Rifle in the right arm. If i use both of those, i cannot fit even a LB-X AC10 in the right arm, hell, not even UAC5. Hmm.
So, one or the other then only, i guess.
If no either one and XL engine, that gives me 27.5 tons left for playing with.
A Gauss Rifle with two tons of ammo, 17 tons. A medium pulse laser on the left arm, total 19 tons. If i keep the missile launcher as it is, that leaves me 1.5 tons. Hmm.
Good thing MWO is sticking with the TT construction rules mostly, easy to desing mechs on paper.
EDIT this is not actually a balanced centurion but a long range heavy hitter.

Large lasers aren't so great right now. Not useless, but it's hard to keep people in the specific ranges they are more effective than MLs. Medium pulse lasers on the other hand are great, probably too good even.

You're dead on about SRMs being a shotgun, but they just feel so good when you do land that hit. SSRM-2s are better for damage than you'd think since they tend to hit the same spot over and over rather than spread the damage out like regular SRMs. They are a bit buggy right now though.

Ferro fibrous and endo steel aren't in yet, which is IMO why mechs like the centurion are lacking a bit atm. Otherwise I'd check your build myself.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Large lasers aren't so great right now. Not useless, but it's hard to keep people in the specific ranges they are more effective than MLs. Medium pulse lasers on the other hand are great, probably too good even.

You're dead on about SRMs being a shotgun, but they just feel so good when you do land that hit. SSRM-2s are better for damage than you'd think since they tend to hit the same spot over and over rather than spread the damage out like regular SRMs. They are a bit buggy right now though.

Ferro fibrous and endo steel aren't in yet, which is IMO why mechs like the centurion are lacking a bit atm. Otherwise I'd check your build myself.

I'm not worried about the weapon issues, because they will be tweaked. That is, reload etc times, i suppose, if they intend to follow the TT rules as much as possible.

I'm also aware the current build is lacking many things but since i ain't taking part in the beta, my theoretical builds are meant for the "final" game.

EDIT let's see about a mid-long range skirmisher...
 

Sethos

Banned
Might be breaking an NDA but man, decided to download the Beta again and hurray it works. I had no idea what I was doing so selected the Commando mech ( Believe it was ) and just randomly launched. Was running around this dusty map learning the controls and figuring out how to only fire my laser, nothing else ( Couldn't figure it out :( ) so all of a sudden, all my teammates are dead when I see chat "Ninja cap Seth" ... I'm like, no idea what to do, first match. One promptly responded with "-.-" while another guy actually helped me, told me to follow the red dot on the compass.

I just gunned it and as I was getting close, no more missiles and only my weak laser I saw this huge ass mech defending the base. Figured it'd be a loss as I barely damaged anyone apparently. I just gun towards him and give him a laser shot across the head and bam, the thing falls like a ton of bricks. Everyone was surprised I think.

So I stood there for 30 seconds, boom match won.


Holy fuck this game is awesome. The feel of the mechs, the damage system, no respawn as default match system. I'm buying this, no question.
 

Fireye

Member
Holy fuck this game is awesome. The feel of the mechs, the damage system, no respawn as default match system. I'm buying this, no question.

This isn't final yet, there's a lot of stuff yet to be implemented with regards to matchmaking and modes.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Holy fuck this game is awesome. The feel of the mechs, the damage system, no respawn as default match system. I'm buying this, no question.

A Founder's Pack you mean (or Premium account later on)? Because this is free otherwise.
If you choose Founder's Mech, i'd advice against the Atlas. Maybe. Have you played Mechwarrior series before?
 

Sethos

Banned
A Founder's Pack you mean (or Premium account later on)? Because this is free otherwise.
If you choose Founder's Mech, i'd advice against the Atlas. Maybe. Have you played Mechwarrior series before?

Yeah wanted to buy a Founder's pack. Played Mechwarrior back in the days, MW3 I think but wasn't really playing as much as a young guy going "Whoa, robots and lasers". Didn't really care about setups, progress or mech / mech names.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Yeah wanted to buy a Founder's pack. Played Mechwarrior back in the days, MW3 I think but wasn't really playing as much as a young guy going "Whoa, robots and lasers". Didn't really care about setups, progress or mech / mech names.

Okay, so you are practically a beginner.
So, again, i advice against the Atlas.
It is slow and expensive (to repair, i assume). Sure, it can mount a lot of weapons and armor but it is also large, a prime target.
Of course if you're self-sacrificing sort and enjoy being a "tank", i guess it could suit you.

As for what might be good for you... Do you prefer any particular playstyle? Close combat, ranged, fast, support, etc.?
EDIT gotta remember this game will have the "role warfare" concept, skills and modules will enhance your performance in certain tasks.
 

Sethos

Banned
My primary style of play is a bit is more of a turtle player who's staying back, trying to keep mobile ( However speed and agility isn't my forte, I do like heavier mechs, just not container ships ) but also hanging out in hiding getting ready to pounce. Not exactly sniping but as an option I love having the ability. Also be able to take a pounding as my entire persona is more geared towards lone wolf.

Does that sound like an actual role or just me muddling up a bunch of roles :p ?
 

Woorloog

Banned
My primary style of play is a bit is more of a turtle player who's staying back, trying to keep mobile ( However speed and agility isn't my forte, I do like heavier mechs, just not container ships ) but also hanging out in hiding getting ready to pounce. Not exactly sniping but as an option I love having the ability. Also be able to take a pounding as my entire persona is more geared towards lone wolf.

Does that sound like an actual role or just me muddling up a bunch of roles :p ?

So... A jack of all trades that works as independed harasser and striker with weapons for all ranges? A battlecruiser, so to speak.

Lone wolves do need speed to escape bigger opponents.

Sounds like the Dragon might be an ideal choice for you...
Default Dragon is pretty bad but with tweaking it could be well suited for you.
Cataphract might be also something you'd like though it will need some tweaking as well.
Too bad neither one is ammunition independent which would be ideal for a lone wolf.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT posting my Centurion Skirmisher here because i don't want to double post. Might be something you like or might not, this is rather technical description though.

XL Engine 270, 7.5 tons
Endo Steel, 2.5 tons
10 double heat sinks, free, all engine-integrated.
Gyro+cockpit, 5 tons.
UAC/5 with two tons of ammo, 11 tons. (Max range about 600 meters)
LRM 15 with two of ammo, 9 tons. (Max range is a bit over 600 meters)
2 Medium Pulse lasers, 4 tons. (Max range is mere 180 meters but they're back up weapons)
CASE for the ammo, 0.5 tons.
10.5 tons of standard armor. (Maximum for 50 ton mech)

This is a long range desing mostly but can defend itself at close range. Quite fast and strong for its size, and relatively good damage potential as well, as long as you have enough ammo.

Variants:
1)Replace pulse lasers with 4 standard medium lasers. This may make overheating an issue but gives the lasers longer range and total damage potential is higher.

2)Reduce engine rating to 250, this will free one ton. Remove all lasers, freeing 4 tons. This will allow the mech to mount a single (ER) Large Laser. If ER, all weapons can hit the target at about 570 meters away.

3)Remove half of the lasers, freeing 2 tons. Increase both LRM and UAC ammo by one ton each.

4)Reduce armor by 0.5 tons, add another CASE and move some of the ammo to it. Just so that you don't lose all your ammo at once.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT not sure why i call it skirmisher. Let's see about a Striker Centurion...

XL Engine 270, 7.5 tons
Endo Steel, 2.5 tons
10 double heat sinks, free, all engine-integrated.
Gyro+cockpit, 5 tons.
LB 10-X AC with two tons of ammo, 13 tons.
2 SRM 4 with 3 tons of ammo, 7 tons.
2 Medium Pulse lasers, 4 tons.
CASE for the ammo, 0.5 tons.
10.5 tons of standard armor. (Maximum for 50 ton mech)

Short range combatant, with heavy punch at short range. Fast and sturdy, good damage.

Variants:
1)Replace pulse lasers with 4 standard medium lasers. This may make overheating an issue but gives the lasers longer range and total damage potential is higher.

2)Reduce armor by 0.5 tons, add another CASE and move some of the ammo to it. Just so that you don't lose all your ammo at once.
 
I see people talking about which mechs they want on the last page.

I am going to be playing on the Combine side just so I can try to get my hands on a Hatamoto-chi

hatamoto-chi_3.jpg


Always loved that design. :D
 

Sethos

Banned
Appreciate the extensive post Woorloog, definitely sounds like my kind of role as well. However I will have to look into all the weapons, their capabilities and proper fitting. While a template is great to work from, you definitely need that knowledge on the game to properly understand advantages and drawbacks, to make up the perfect build for your playstyle. It does however seem like a big task right now, need to find a beginner's guide to everything.

Also a bonus question - Is it possible to tweak the in-game settings via an .ini? Right now there's only global settings, High, Very High etc. and I suspect Very High adds FXAA because the game looks fairly edge smudged. Would love to be able to turn that off ... Unless I'm missing an obvious "Advanced" menu I couldn't find?
 
Why I see people asking not to compare MWO with WoT? I joined beta recently and can't help but noticing that games truly have similar concept: customizable 'vehicles', crew XP, fast paced fights, bases, etc.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Probably because World of Tanks is a soulless grindfest with only a tiny shred of the team coordination and role based rewards that they have planned for this.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Appreciate the extensive post Woorloog, definitely sounds like my kind of role as well. However I will have to look into all the weapons, their capabilities and proper fitting. While a template is great to work from, you definitely need that knowledge on the game to properly understand advantages and drawbacks, to make up the perfect build for your playstyle. It does however seem like a big task right now, need to find a beginner's guide to everything.

Depending how well you know the tabletop rules and how extensive your knowledge of previous Mechwarriors' (even MW4 which changed weapon statistics quite a lot) is, you can plan quite well just based on those (because the fundamentals are the same). Obviously not perfectly but you can make a solid base and then tweak it as needed for the actual game. I doubt i'll need to modify my Centurions much for the actual game, though they might be somewhat light on heat sinks. Might drops some armor or something for ECM, that would be nice to have. Beagle Active Probe too.

I really doubt you're going to find a beginner's guide, feel free to prove my doubts wrong though. Just a feeling...

The Centurion builds i posted were an extensions of my earlier musings (the Gauss carrying Centurion), didn't really mean them as examples or... umm, dunno, guides. Wonder if people who haven't played Battletech TT/Mechwarriors/MWO before understood them...

Also, i may have figured out how OmniMechs will work in MWO. NOTE: This is just speculation.
Just like the tabletop game. That is, the players cannot change anything but weapons and other pod-mounted equipment. They won't have hardpoints, you can make any one of them a missile boat if you so wish... but naturally not all chassises suit a missile boat that well.
 

zugzug

Member
I don't get how they are going to make this similar to World of tanks with the EXP requirements needed to get the next tier when you already come with a lot of mechs just seems the life expectancy of this game is much shorter until everyone is maxxed out on everything.

Then it just becomes tier 10 versus tier 10 matches all daylong?
 

Nickiepoo

Member
I don't get how they are going to make this similar to World of tanks with the EXP requirements needed to get the next tier when you already come with a lot of mechs just seems the life expectancy of this game is much shorter until everyone is maxxed out on everything.

Then it just becomes tier 10 versus tier 10 matches all daylong?

There are no 'tiers' in MWO, being maxxed out only gives minor buffs.

Appreciate the extensive post Woorloog, definitely sounds like my kind of role as well. However I will have to look into all the weapons, their capabilities and proper fitting. While a template is great to work from, you definitely need that knowledge on the game to properly understand advantages and drawbacks, to make up the perfect build for your playstyle.

The game encorages you to experiment with your role anyway so don't get too hooked up on finding the perfect build too much. Piloting other roles and weights gave me good insight into how to fight against them anyway.
 

chiablo

Member
Assuming this doesn't break someone's NDA, I have some questions:

How many maps and mechs are in the game so far?

Is it possible to get the founders mechs without buying the expensive founders packages (i.e. seperate purchase, or grinding experience)?
 

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Assuming this doesn't break someone's NDA, I have some questions:

How many maps and mechs are in the game so far?

Is it possible to get the founders mechs without buying the expensive founders packages (i.e. seperate purchase, or grinding experience)?

First question breaks NDA, maybe someone braver than I can answer that.

No, you can only get the founder mechs from the preorder packages.
 
I think I found an answer to part of my first question...

http://www.ign.com/wikis/mechwarrior-online/Battlemechs

3 mechs from each category, so a total of 12. Meaning that 1/3 of the available mechs are locked into the founder's package.

Is there any in-game voice chat?

You can still get the Atlas, Catapult, Hunchback and Jenner mechs by playing the game, it's just the specific founder's variants of those mechs that are exclusive to the founders. The founder's variants are basically re-skinned mechs that gets you more XP and C-bill rewards.

As long as they offer the packages it should be possible to upgrade to a higher tier.
 

chiablo

Member
You can still get the Atlas, Catapult, Hunchback and Jenner mechs by playing the game, it's just the specific founder's variants of those mechs that are exclusive to the founders. The founder's variants are basically re-skinned mechs that gets you more XP and C-bill rewards.

As long as they offer the packages it should be possible to upgrade to a higher tier.

Ahh, ok... that makes a lot of sense. I was worried that those mechs were completely locked out.
 

Woorloog

Banned
The game will have 16 mechs at launch, 4 of each category (likely, since only one is unrevealed and only 3 assaults have been revealed so far).
 
The game will have 16 mechs at launch, 4 of each category (likely, since only one is unrevealed and only 3 assaults have been revealed so far).

Yup, though have they said that 16 is the set number they are going for launch? Seeing how they are making it sound like this game will be in beta of some form for some time, I assumed we might be seeing more mech reveals still.

And damn loving playing the Jenner, kinda wish I didn't take Catapult for my founders....
 

Woorloog

Banned
Yup, though have they said that 16 is the set number they are going for launch? Seeing how they are making it sound like this game will be in beta of some form for some time, I assumed we might be seeing more mech reveals still.

And damn loving playing the Jenner, kinda wish I didn't take Catapult for my founders....

Yes, i think they've said somewhere it is 16 mechs. More after launch (would be stupid not to add more later on).
We still need a jump-capable assault mech.
 
And damn loving playing the Jenner, kinda wish I didn't take Catapult for my founders....

So you can confirm that you can no longer change your founders choice? I haven't tried yet, so I'm uncertain if that's been scrapped since last week. (Busy as fuck, been unable to log on for a week)

I can't wait for Ferro/Endo/DHS additions because my Jenner is shitting free critical slots and I'd love to free up the weight for more sinks and maybe even move the SPLs to MPLs or something.
 
So you can confirm that you can no longer change your founders choice? I haven't tried yet, so I'm uncertain if that's been scrapped since last week. (Busy as fuck, been unable to log on for a week)

I can't wait for Ferro/Endo/DHS additions because my Jenner is shitting free critical slots and I'd love to free up the weight for more sinks and maybe even move the SPLs to MPLs or something.

Are we supposed to be able too? I thought it was a permanent choice
 
Are we supposed to be able too? I thought it was a permanent choice

Yeah, I just logged in to check. You no longer can.

Before they rolled the content out last week, you could go to mwomercs.com/founders and click on the "Choice of 1 Founder's Mech" and change it any time you wanted.

Now that they've handed them out it looks like that option's been removed. Unfortunate. :(
 

Woo-Fu

Banned
Probably because World of Tanks is a soulless grindfest with only a tiny shred of the team coordination and role based rewards that they have planned for this.

...and yet I'd rather play WoT. MWO has a long way to go.
 
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