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[Giolon]

Clan stuff will be $$$ only in start ?

I wonder if i can still use my free premium month from founder package (aka the lesson to never pay in advance for mmos)

Nearly everything is $$$ only when they first release. Typical release pattern has been:

Initial MC-only release
2 weeks to1 month later C-bill release

PGI's last publicly stated plan was to release two Clan mechs and 1 IS mech per month once Clans pre-order packs hit on June 17.

So, expect to be able to purchase a Mad Cat w/ C-bills around September-October.

 

[ThreePiMatt]

You forgot the most important part of that image posting teepo.

"Hurry, and buy your Gold Mad Cat because there are only 50 left!"

http://mwomercs.com/news/2014/04/842-50-timber-wolf-gold-khan-collections-remaining

I just saw this email. I pray to God that they were only selling 51 total.

As far as the "blockiness" of the Mad Cat design, I think its that way for two reasons; 1) that's just kind of the aesthetic choice they've made for the game, and 2)balance reasons, those skinny little girl arms would be a pain in the ass to hit.

 

[Woorloog]

I just saw this email. I pray to God that they were only selling 51 total.

As far as the "blockiness" of the Mad Cat design, I think its that way for two reasons; 1) that's just kind of the aesthetic choice they've made for the game, and 2)balance reasons, those skinny little girl arms would be a pain in the ass to hit.

Doesn't matter what kind of limbs the Timber Wolf has, it will die from getting cored or head-shotted, i reckon. That's what happened in previous Mechwarriors. And this is what happened to the Catapults too, in my experience.
EDIT the MWO Mad Cat's legs still seem to be a tad large. Compared to previous Mad Cat proportions.

 

[Lime]

Once again, the next clan mech (Stormcrow) looks much better than the Timberwolf:

 

[El'Kharn]

It does look nice, are those claws on the arms?

 

[ColonelSkills]

Yeah. Some of the variants have fists, some have the claws.

Speaking of...weird choices.

Strange place for LRMs on that arm there.

 

[Llyranor]

I tried jumping into the game again this past week, since the patch was supposed to address tonnage balancing (in the inelegant fashion of having 3/3/3/3 mechs of each class per team, but it sounded better than completely ignoring such as what they had been doing for the past months/year). Lo and behold, their 'solution' after many months of working at the game didn't work, since it broke matchmaking, so now they disabled it.

So yeah, still not playing MWO anymore.

UI 2.0 is still such a pile of crap.

 

[Woorloog]

The game's in-universe clock to be rolled back to 3049, as Community Warfare will launch later this year.
http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/160035-returning-to-3049/page__pid__3429062#entry3429062

In other news, i reinstalled the game. Don't have any other multiplayer game that's close to a game i want to play but this. (Well, aside from Dota 2 which is good but unfortunately it isn't a game i would play alone).
I had heard UI 2.0 is a pile of shit but i never expected it to be THIS bad. I thought the original was bad, this is far, far worse. Not to mention the main menu uses a lot of GPU, making my laptop uncomfortably hot... in main menu.

So, what's broken at the moment? SRMs were broken in April apparently but are they fixed, and what are current issues?
Does this game even have any GAFers left playing?

Feel free to send me a friend request, Empyrus is my name in-game, i think... (Timezone is GMT+2 btw)

 

[HariKari]

Does this game even have any GAFers left playing?

Someone ran the numbers and there's somewhere south of 500 concurrent users playing the game at any given time. Contrast that to something like War Thunder which rarely dips below 25,000, even in the middle of the night in North America.

PGI doesn't deserve the license and they continue to crank out crappy hero mechs. There was another big dust up with Niko Snow basically calling PGI detractors all banned trolls and whatnot.

Mechwarrior deserves better than this.

 

[Phades]

That was part of the reddit kerfuffle wasn't it where they basically turned their back on the main reddit sub and in turn favored HPG and some other shenanigans wasn't it?

I don't get why they feel the need to dump on the hardcore few who basically help "found" the game with them who still bother to hang around and care at all. Sure, disgruntled folks are disgruntled, but to throw explosive material on a fire isn't the way to calm things down.

 

[Woorloog]

500?
I wonder if Mechwarrior Living Legends or MW4 Mercs with MekPaks have more concurrent players... at least they can't have that many less, can they? (Unless they were affected by GameSpy closure)

How long before we hear the game's getting shutdown?

Microsoft still owns the Mechwarrior IP, i've understood, they just licensed it to Smith&Tinker who hired/licensed it to PGI or something, right?
I wouldn't oppose a Xbone exclusive Mechwarrior game... (I think the controller has enough buttons for a mech sim, the controls are not complex (pretty sure MWO's all the important buttons can be fit on a controller with no issue) and the rest isn't super complex either really...

 

[Phades]

They tried that before, that's how you got the mechassault games.

 

[Woorloog]

They tried that before, that's how you got the mechassault games.

Played only the second one and it was awesome (without Awesome)!
They were gross simplifications but really fun despite that, and they did feature most different weapon types and features heat system. A more full sim would work on a console just as well really.

Let's say you need 4 weapon groups (traditionally the game's have had 6 but i'd imagine four are enough), both triggers and bumbers, sticks control zoom, crouch and movement, jump jets to A, reticule targeting to X, devices, like ECM/radar range to B or D-pad, Back for power, Start is both menu and large map, Y for "next target".
Alternatively a mech game could use Mech Assault style controls, one trigger switches weapon group, one fires them (pretty sure some of the Battletech books actually describe the firing controls to work a bit like this, of course this depends on the mech).
EDIT i just realized i omitted melee attacks. Uh... fitting them is hard, on the other hand almost no Mechwarrior actually includes them, probably because animations would be complicated.

EDIT and this, the Mech Assault 2 Battle Armor, was frigging awesome!

 

[Phades]

There were too many broken weapon mechanics to list with that 2nd title, never mind snowballing effects in matches given how power ups work (really, powerups in a mechwarrior title? What is this, quake?).

This would be beyond the broken world geometry that was routinely exploited....


Anyhow, my point was that should they "try again", you are likely to get something that plays closer to a COD title (maybe perhaps even unreal tournament), since that is what "appears" to be "popular" instead of a well done simulator (i understand steel battalion was good though...).

 

[Woorloog]

Never played it online so no comment on that. Some local dueling, that's my MP experience for that game. Broken things can, or at least should be fixed.

For a console Mechwarrior, you need a competent team and executives shouldn't dictate what the game should have, instead it should be made to be a true Mechwarrior and players will find home there. MW is a niche IP, it should be budgeted and treated as such. CODifying it would cause it to flop (OTOH, Mech Assault that is CODified might actually work, but it isn't quite what i want). Since Phil Spencer gets named a good guy, perhaps this could be possible actually.
My point was, originally, that i'm mech-starved enough i wouldn't mind Xbone having a exclusive mech game. Would actually get a reason to get that console (need something more than Halo).

Anyway, back to MWO.
Now i remember what hate about this game: The C-Bill grind. I still have my foolishly bought Founder's Premium Time left but i have no idea if i will stick around to playing this for month straight (probabilities are i will not).
I want a new mech but can't get one quite yet, or anytime soon probably (have around 5 million, i calculate i need roughly 13 million to buy and modify a medium). Perhaps i could buy one Hero mech with the MC i have, should one go to sale, for grinding purposes but i want variety, i can't stand playing with one mech for long time.

Also, performance. It is odd. It is better than last year but... why the hell does the game run so much worse online compared to Training Grounds?

 

[Giolon]

So, what's broken at the moment? SRMs were broken in April apparently but are they fixed, and what are current issues?
Does this game even have any GAFers left playing?

Feel free to send me a friend request, Empyrus is my name in-game, i think... (Timezone is GMT+2 btw)

I'm still playing at least a couple nights a week usually. The AC range nerf seems like one of the better balance changes they've made in a long while. SRMs have gotten better, and in the next patch June 17 is supposed to have a big fix for them. June 17 is also the arrival of Clan mechs.

Someone ran the numbers and there's somewhere south of 500 concurrent users playing the game at any given time.

How can you even calculate this based on the fact that IGP releases absolutely no numbers on the game? I'm skeptical.

Anyway, back to MWO.
Now i remember what hate about this game: The C-Bill grind. I still have my foolishly bought Founder's Premium Time left but i have no idea if i will stick around to playing this for month straight (probabilities are i will not).
I want a new mech but can't get one quite yet, or anytime soon probably (have around 5 million, i calculate i need roughly 13 million to buy and modify a medium). Perhaps i could buy one Hero mech with the MC i have, should one go to sale, for grinding purposes but i want variety, i can't stand playing with one mech for long time.

Also, performance. It is odd. It is better than last year but... why the hell does the game run so much worse online compared to Training Grounds?

Actually, one of the biggest things that helps w/ the C-Bill grind is Premium Time. Instead of making 50k-150k on a match (bad loss - good win), you'd be making (90k - 300k (or higher w/ a Hero/Founder/Phoenix mech)) per match. Due to my various purchases (Phoenix mechs, Kit Fox pre-order bonus) I've been playing w/ Premium time non-stop for nearly the past 4 months. It's a lot better. I may even continue paying for it once it all runs out b/c it just makes the grind that much less of a bear - and given the F2P business model, I'm sure that's intentional. I just look at it like my MMO subscriptions - yeah some of them you can play for free, but I wouldn't want to.

As far as performance, there's a couple config options they added a few patches ago that have made a big difference for me in terms of both increased performance and increased image quality.

The following configuration variables have been exposed for tuning in your user.cfg file. To add these to your user.cfg file navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online (or your custom installation location) and if it doesn't exist, create a file user.cfg containing these settings as desired. Don't forget to set the value desired.

- gp_option_ShowCockpitGlass=0/1 (off/on)
- r_DepthOfField=0/1 (off/on)
- r_HDRGrainAmount=0.0-1.0 (film grain amount)

Turn all of that shit to OFF. Also, I get better performance from DX9 than DX11.

My handle on MWO is Dark Radiance. Feel free to look me up. I'm usually on in the evenings PDT.

 

[Bizazedo]

The prices seem insane for Clan 'Mechs.

 

[Woorloog]

I'm running low graphics, low rez (1280x720), DX9, those user.cfg tweaks. Usually i get playable framerate (roughly 30 or even more), except for Alpine Peaks which is under 30 always (oddly enough, it worked well before i quit some year ago).
But in Training Grounds, i can easily get 40+, even 60 FPS easily. In actual matches, 40 at most. Really odd. Does the game client calculate all physics for everyone constantly or something?

As for C-Bills... I ain't paying for anything in this game. I made a mistake with buying a Founder's Pack, i have no use for it really, and the way Premium Time works means i won't activate my PT until the game in such state where i can expect to play every day for a month (as it is, no chance). MC i have i'm saving in case there will be a MC only mech i really want but so far, this hasn't happened. No hero mech is good or interesting enough. Mech bays are an option but since i don't have C-Bills for mechs, i don't need any more than the base 4 everyone has.

So i guess i will keep grinding, i figure it will get better once i get a mech that fits my style better than my current ones.

My mechs:
-A Blackjack, equipped with twin AC2s, basically a long range harasser, though i do get occasional kill, usually by getting the killing blow due to rapid fire... Fun little mech mobile with JJs, pretty sturdy for a medium even with XL engine. Unfortunately it doesn't really have a place in current meta.
-A Catapult, set up with 2xLRM20 with some 7 tons ammo (and it still isn't enough) and a pair medium lasers. It used to have 2xSSRM2s (they were very useful back when SSRMs hit CT 90% of time) but i had to get rid of them to get my Catapult some jump jets, reach good positions was too difficult with the movement changes implemented around when i quit. Okay support mech but... i'm tired of it, especially the fact i can't hit anything well with the mediums as they can't be aimed very high.
-A Quickdraw, my brawler mech. 4xML, 3xSRM4. Relatively fast and mobile with 80KPH and JJs, but Quickdraw's large CT makes it hard to survive long. I like how it looks but unfortunately it isn't nearly as fun mech to use.

As you can see, no heavy alpha strike builds. Not a fan of those, even though they would be undoubtedly more effective at getting kills.
I think i will ditch the Catapult and replace it with Trenchbucket as my missile boat. And i will probably get a Centurion again. They should serve me until Clan mechs arrive.
Might get a Locust if i can figure out a really cheap build (basically no advanced tech, Endo-Steel is acceptable upgrade) that works for a solo player.
EDIT the last one seems impossible. It seems speed is really needed, and thus one would need a XL engine. But a 190XL would be pointless for anything else than lights... i'm no real light pilot, the Locust just happens to be a rare light mech i like along with Raven, Owens and Cougar.

 

[Giolon]

The prices seem insane for Clan 'Mechs.

It's $10/mech, which is the same as the Phoenix pack prices, even ignoring all the other tchotchkes and premium time they're putting in the packs. Remember, you get 3 variant chassis + mech bays for each of the mechs listed. The problem is, there are up to 24 variants to buy now...which takes the total price absurdly high.

FWIW, IS mechs cost anywhere from $3 (Locust) to $18 (Atlas) and higher for Champions and Hero variants ($31 for a Boar's Head). Mech bays cost ~$1 each. Even at a la carte prices, it's still at most $18.33 / mech with included mech bays.

I have a problem with their mech pricing overall, but the clan mechs are absolutely in line with what they've been charging all along. What I really want to know is how much they will cost individually once all these pre-order deals are gone. I'm expecting at least 50% more than an equivalent IS mech.

If you want to wait and buy them with C-bills, they're releasing 2 per month starting with the bottom of the list.

@Woorloog: You know about Speed Tweak and doubling Basic skills by finishing Elite off on a mech chassis right? You're fighting at a disadvantage against everyone else w/o those. The doubled Basics can make builds that'd otherwise be unviable work well.

My current go-to mechs:

CPLT-K2 (K3-style): w/ Adv Zoom module, this is my sniping mech. Got 900 damage in a match recently w/ it.
BLR-1G: Built this to prove that AC/2's were fine even after their range & DPS nerf. (Hint: they are, even moreso now that the other ACs have been hit by the same range nerf). Their velocity makes them nearly pinpoint accurate even over 1000m away. So good. This is my current highest earning mech @ 330K in a match(Phoenix variant w/ Premium).

 

[HariKari]

How can you even calculate this based on the fact that IGP releases absolutely no numbers on the game? I'm skeptical.

One of their network engineers made a post or two. The game is not healthy, I'll put it that way. Not hard to see.

 

[Woorloog]

Don't have any Elite perks, except perhaps for the Centurions (i used to play a lot with them but eventually got bored). Otherwise, i don't think i've had more than one mech chassis per type (might have had a couple of Cicadas but never got far with them, didn't fit my style though the mech is one of the best looking ones). Too similar, boring. For example, the missile Catapult variants bring nothing new compared to C4, and i don't like K2 at all (it doesn't make a good brawler, and i'm no sniper, not with energy weapons at least).
All my mechs have all basics unlocked though, that doesn't require much time. Previously, i've managed just fine even without basics unlocked. Arguably my disregard of meta makes me unpredictable... I wouldn't advice anyone on relying on unpredictability though, high risk, not so high reward most of the time.

Anyway, my builds are rarely based on speed, and if i need more speed, i'll sacrifice some weapons or something to get that. Perhaps that is partially why i'm no light pilot, speed is their lifeline, especially for combat lights i'd play.
Ah, well, i'll stick to mediums, as there ain't any heavies i really like in the game at the moment (Timber Wolf and Summoner are the heavies for me).

I don't think i've ever bought a single assault. That class is just no-no for me. Too expensive, slow, unmaneuverable. They just don't fit my preferred playstyle, which is using a sturdy, maneuverable if not fast mech for brawling. Zombie Centurions are among my favorites. Perhaps they'd fill my liking of LRM fire support mech well enough but they'd be a tad expensive for that without bringing anything interesting on the table compared to the Catapult. EDIT actually, i think i used to have an Atlas. That didn't last long. I need to check my mech XPs and perks...

EDIT Oh, yeah. What's the biggest Hero mech sale there's been? Just wondering what are the chances we'll get a good sale in the future. EDIT oh, just in April there was a good sale. Hmm.

 

[ColonelSkills]

EDIT Oh, yeah. What's the biggest Hero mech sale there's been? Just wondering what are the chances we'll get a good sale in the future. EDIT oh, just in April there was a good sale. Hmm.

There are sales of some kind seemingly every other week. They tend to announce it on their facebook page, along with a hero or champion mech seemingly as often.

Just recently they had a tournament since they finally instituted a private match system (that hilariously relies on premium time to work). All the meta cheese was on sale for a bit. No idea if it's still going.

They typically have a sale on a themed group of heroes when they do it. I imagine there will be one before long.

I do wonder if a new map is even in production.

 

[Woorloog]

So, is there any way to see my perks for mechs i don't own anymore?

 

[Giolon]

So, is there any way to see my perks for mechs i don't own anymore?

Nope, hello UI 2.0! It's a PITA, really.

 

[Woorloog]

Also getting stuck on "Connecting" after matches, constantly. Also many crashes.

EDIT also FUCK ALPINE PEAKS. That map has horrible performance very often for some reason, and it is just plain boring, ugly and annoying, especially for a brawler player like me.

 

[Phades]

Also getting stuck on "Connecting" after matches, constantly. Also many crashes.

EDIT also FUCK ALPINE PEAKS. That map has horrible performance very often for some reason, and it is just plain boring, ugly and annoying, especially for a brawler player like me.

Welcome to what folks I played with complained about ~7-8 months ago. Enjoy. ^_^;

They did release a better map after that one though.

 

[Woorloog]

I remember hating Alpine Peaks when it was released too.
Every other map in the game feels pretty good, or at very least decent. Most maps provide opportunities for both brawlers and snipers and others too. Alpine Peaks? Snipers, fast mechs. Everything else is trash there.
The game needs a preferred map system: you can thumb up a couple of maps and thumb down another couple.

Also, i want a grassland map. You know, hilly grasslands, perhaps farms, blue sky with some clouds. Something akin to what Tukayyid is described as (just put there enough hills brawlers can play on it).

 

[Giolon]

I remember hating Alpine Peaks when it was released too.
Every other map in the game feels pretty good, or at very least decent. Most maps provide opportunities for both brawlers and snipers and others too. Alpine Peaks? Snipers, fast mechs. Everything else is trash there.
The game needs a preferred map system: you can thumb up a couple of maps and thumb down another couple.

Also, i want a grassland map. You know, hilly grasslands, perhaps farms, blue sky with some clouds. Something akin to what Tukayyid is described as (just put there enough hills brawlers can play on it).

The game has private lobbies now, though some features can only be used if one or both team captains have premium time. You can choose which map you want to play. You can even do stuff like 2v2 matches or 5v3, set tonnage limits, whatever. The downside is, you get no c-bills or XP for playing in them, but it can be a ton of fun. Most of my old merc unit practically stopped playing public matches and just screw around in private lobbies most of the time. Also, strangely the module management interface in lobbies is 10x better than it is in the regular mechlab. Go figure.

The next map they've talked about coming out with is a jungle map. Not quite the grasslands, but hopefully it'll be good.

As far as bad maps go, Terra Therma is worse than Alpine Peaks goes as far as I'm concerned. Ridiculously gigantic, incredibly short sight lines, limited navigability due to the mountain peaks everywhere.

 

[Woorloog]

Don't have friends playing this so private lobbies are pointless for me.

As for Terra Therma, it works for a brawler like me* rather well No long sight lines? Excellent, no need to worry about snipers that much then, or LRMs for that matter (got the map with my Catapult in it, wasted half my missiles on the mountains). Provided my mech has jump jets. The only downside is that the map's too big. Also has odd performance, sometimes it runs better, sometimes worse, though this seems to apply to most maps...

*My Quickdraw is set up as a brawler, and since the triple SRM4s are its major weapon, and MLAS effective range is 270m, i'm practically limited to 270m range to be effective. Unfortunately brawlers are rare, especially assault brawlers, so usually i don't have any meat-no, metal shield i can follow to battle safely, since the Quickdraw is rather massive for a 60 tonner, for no real reason but PGI's apparent stupidity.

Speaking of that, the mech sizes in this game are really odd. Some lights are incredibly small, the Stalker is really small for an assault mech, and the Quickdraw and Centurion are rather large for their tonnage. I know there is variance in this in canon but the way MWO portrays many mechs sizes... i don't like that. Not a big deal really, but a minor annoyance.

 

[Giolon]

A series of dev posts just went up:

Falling damage changes (i.e. more): http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/160405-fall-damage-system-overhaul/

Jump Jet heat changes (i.e. more heat): http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/160395-jump-jet-heat-ramp/

SRM Fix (huge fix for June 17): http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/160440-srm-update/

Lesser topics: Matchmaker 3/3/3/3 progress, Clan Logo artwork vote next week

Still to come in the next few days supposedly: Clan balance info, Command Console info, Clan Targeting Computer info.

 

[HariKari]

Still to come in the next few days supposedly: Clan balance info

They can't balance the weapons they have now. How are they going to balance an entire faction that was simply better?

 

[Giolon]

They can't balance the weapons they have now. How are they going to balance an entire faction that was simply better?

They've already laid out several posts over the past 6+ months on how they plan to. This is likely just updates and tweaks to their plan and answers to unanswered questions since they're releasing in ~2 weeks. It seems like you're more interested in snark than actual legitimate questions, so I'll leave searching out that info to you.

 

[HariKari]

They've already laid out several posts over the past 6+ months on how they plan to. This is likely just updates and tweaks to their plan and answers to unanswered questions since they're releasing in ~2 weeks. It seems like you're more interested in snark than actual legitimate questions, so I'll leave searching out that info to you.

I'm well aware of their proposed methods - the ones totally devoid of any sort of creativity. Probably because I was a part of shaping the game far, far before there was any sort of founders. "Better add more ghost heat" seems to be their preferred method. Not impressed. I would prefer a matchmaker that actually reflected how the IS combated the clans via weight of numbers.

No need to get so defensive. But while you're there, care to justify MW:Tactics?

I'm not surprised the game has shaped up to be the way it is, given that nearly every problem PGI has was there before the NDA lifted. Calls for better communication and more nuance to balancing went unheeded. It's why the game is practically dead today. When you can't field enough competitive teams to fill out a tournament bracket, you're in trouble.

As it stands, they plan to water down everything about the clans, just like the rest of the IP.

 

[Woorloog]

The Clan tech balancing is interesting, i think. On one hand, the Clan tech weapons and equipment are good, even if they're slightly nerfed. But on the other hand, the OmniMechs have limited customization, that may be limited enough they need increased firepower to be good (my concern is, will the Clan mechs be essentially only fancy glass cannons?).

I think what PGI is doing for the Clans is actually pretty good (provided they don't go crazy and actually tweak Clan weapon sizes and mass as they suggested, fortunately they're well aware it will break designs). Not ideal, but then there's a shit ton of stuff in this game that's far from ideal.

Gyro effects, balance and ability to know down mechs would be nice to get back...


I don't know if anyone here wonders why the OmniMechs have limited customization (except for the ability to modify hardpoints), considering canonically they are regarded as superior when it comes to customization, but i'll explain it anyway:
What the game omits, when it comes to the IS mech customization, is that they have to be practically rebuild to be customized, this takes time and money and expertise that is skipped for this game, not to mention the mech's gyro has to be re-calibrated or modified to work with changed loadouts. Canonically, customized standard BattleMechs are rare.
The OmniMechs have two things that make them superior to the standard BattleMechs: They have modular weapon and equipment systems, and gyros that can be adjusted on the fly (indeed, the former would be completely pointless without the latter). No need to gut them to modify them.
Realistically, there's nothing preventing an OmniMech owner from gutting it and changing it completely (there are some omnis with standard variants actually), but since usually mech modifications are about changing the weapon loadout to fit another mission or pilot better, there is not need for extensive mech overhauls. But of course, if you're going to make radical changes, it is not worth using an OmniMech as they're usually far more expensive and require specifically made weapons and equipment, the Clans need doubled logistics chains as they use standard mechs too.

 

[ColonelSkills]

"Better add more ghost heat" seems to be their preferred method.

On this note, I do wonder how some clan prime variants are going to function.

The Nova, for example.

I would have loved to see their quirks take on something slightly more substantial than "minor increase or decrease to twist yaw speed" or other such things.

Settle the age old Nova debate about it's lack of torso twisting hardware, give it a crazy set of quirks like "can't twist" (or maybe has like 10 degrees of twist), but as a trade off, "is not effected by ghost heat at all".

12 MLs would still generate ridiculous heat but it wouldn't suddenly cause you to go nuclear.

Probably not balanced at all, but the current game isn't anyway, and it would at least be somewhat interesting.

 

[Woorloog]

Bought a Griffin 1S. Quad MLAS in the right arm is nice (also have LRM-15 for long range support). EDIT build: GRF-1S Grifball
If it had a CT or Head weapon, it would make a good zombie.

EDIT swapped the LRM to twin SRM six-packs. This thing just replaced my Quickdraw as my brawler: it is just as fast, more agile, smaller, and actually has just as much firepower. Slightly less armor but the small size more than compensates this.

 

[Giolon]

Bought a Griffin 1S. Quad MLAS in the right arm is nice (also have LRM-15 for long range support). EDIT build: GRF-1S Grifball
If it had a CT or Head weapon, it would make a good zombie.

EDIT swapped the LRM to twin SRM six-packs. This thing just replaced my Quickdraw as my brawler: it is just as fast, more agile, smaller, and actually has just as much firepower. Slightly less armor but the small size more than compensates this.

I often find that on mechs like that where I've got all the firepower in one arm, that I do a really bad job at protecting it and lose it early. Like I tried to love my Wolverine 6R as JJ capable HBK-4SP, but I just can't hold onto that damn right arm T.T

The two delayed dev posts PGI promised are here:

Clan Targeting Computers / Command Console functionality (increased zoom, range, projectile speed, info gathering, crit chance for CTC; increased zoom, sensor range, info gathering for CC) : http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/160509-targeting-computers-and-command-console/

The CTC functionality sounds cool and like it might be worth bringing for the weight. The CC however, sounds like a shittier version of the BAP and at twice the weight (thought 1/2 the space...) it doesn't sound worth equipping.

Clan and IS Weapon Balancing Update (Clan ER PPC splash damage, Clan LRM min-range delayed, Gauss Rifle group fire limited to 2): http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/160443-clan-and-is-weapon-update/

The Gauss Rifle limit seems short sighted when people will likely just stack 2 Gauss + 2 PPC to do similar damage.

The Clan ER PPC-style splash damage is under consideration for IS PPCs too but they want to see how it plays out first. If they did go through with changing IS PPC's, I feel like they'd have to increase the projectile speed back up to compensate.

On general balance, it seems to me like since they nerfed AC ranges last week, game balance has been in the best state it's been in a long time, and I think the JJ heat and fall damage changes could do wonders for the pop tart meta that's been going on. It's too bad they won't arrive before the Clan mechs so we could see the effects they have w/o the Clan monkey wrench that's going to be thrown into the works.

 

[Woorloog]

Which is why i use the Griffin GRF-1S. I have some SRMS on the left torso, so i can't stripped from all of my weapons as easily. Sure that happens but the danger of this forces you to play smart. If i don't make bad decisions, i usually do pretty well with my Griffin.
Very nice mech overall.

Also tried that trial Cataphract. I'm surprised how good it feels, previously i couldn't stand Cataphracts. Perhaps the fact the trial version has a standard engine is the reason it feels good? Certainly a mech i will consider in the future.

Next, i will get myself a Wolverine (the R model). Too bad there isn't a Wolverine trial...
They really should make the trial system so that half of the trials are rotated weekly. You still have enough time to test them but also get to test new ones faster.

 

[Woorloog]

Timber Wolf preview, go watch!

 

[Giolon]

PTS is also up today w/ clan mechs. If you bought any before today, they'll be available for you to use on there.

Some tidbits from my time on it this morning:

• Kit Fox C right arm is available allowing ECM (and 3 AMS but only 1 energy slot and some twist and arm range penalties)
• If a clan mech has all matching omnipotent equipped (I.e all prime, all A, all S, etc.) instead of mixing and matching, they get a small XP boost.
• Individual omnipods affect quirks.
• All ammo can be loaded in half tons.
• SRM hit registration seems totally fixed with the "Buckton" fix implemented.
• Clan weaponry is different colors - LL is teal, ML is yellow, Missiles blue
• Clan mechs have a different HUD

It may just be perception, but time to kill seems higher (which is good), probably due to the longer beam duration on clan weapons and the burst fire of ACs.

 

[Woorloog]

I wonder why IS MG can't have half-ton ammo allotments (pretty sure originally it was the only weapon allowed to have half-ton ammo allotments) in MWO.
EDIT or will this be enabled with the Clan update?

 

[Giolon]

I wonder why IS MG can't have half-ton ammo allotments (pretty sure originally it was the only weapon allowed to have half-ton ammo allotments) in MWO.
EDIT or will this be enabled with the Clan update?

Everything in my last post is on the PTS only atm . Tuesday is when it all arrives to the live servers. If you want to check out the PTS, it's running until like midnight PDT tonight I think?

Download it here: http://mwomercs.com/news/2014/06/882-public-test-for-clan-content

 

[Woorloog]

I won't bother with the test server, i haven't pre-ordered (no money and not shelling out money for this game anytime soon, waiting till get the major issues fixed and certain features added). Besides, the DL would take too long most likely.

As for that IS MG ammo comment, it was just something i wondered in general.

 

[Lime]

I like how the HUD is basically just changed to a teal green. I thought it would look different in terms of layout and info, but apparently it's just a color swap

I'm kind of just following the game from a distance at the moment. I wish it would become more diverse and interesting in terms of meta-game, but it's still just death matches with grinding.

 

[Woorloog]

Actually the HUD is more than color swap. Small details, like the weapon indicators are more rounded and different shape, and the arm reticule is a square.

EDIT obviously like different layout are out of question, people are accustomed to certain layout, and PGI has wisely kept it the same.
The small changes do change the feel quite a lot, combined with Clan cockpit interiors.

 

[Giolon]

I like how the HUD is basically just changed to a teal green. I thought it would look different in terms of layout and info, but apparently it's just a color swap

I'm kind of just following the game from a distance at the moment. I wish it would become more diverse and interesting in terms of meta-game, but it's still just death matches with grinding.

It's more than just a palette swap, but the layout is basically the same:

I don't think you'd really want to force people who are used to the HUD being laid out one way to adapt to something else just b/c you changed mech types (however, HUD customization is something I've wanted to see for a long time, but I doubt it'll happen any time soon).

 

[Woorloog]

Apparently IS has also access to half-ton ammo allotments with the next patch and on the test server.
http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/16...ne-17-update/page__view__findpost__p__3457268

 

[El'Kharn]

One of their network engineers made a post or two. The game is not healthy, I'll put it that way. Not hard to see.

Links to those posts?
Otherwise no.

 

[Woorloog]

To make it clear, since i can't find this anywhere, do hero mechs come with a mech bay or not?

Also, what are hero mechs people here enjoy and/or think are the best?

 

[teepo]

Links to those posts?
Otherwise no.

i believe the network engineer said that at any given time, 500 are looking for a match. that doesn't include those messing around with the mech lab, already in game, etc