MechWarrior: Online - Catch all

misplacedbravado wrote:
Certis wrote:

I seem to recall (from many, many years ago) that some merc groups were actually clanners scouting out the situation well ahead of the clan showing up. Could be wrong.

That was Wolf's Dragoons.

Wolf's Dragoons and to a lesser extent, Snords Irregulars were both sent back from clan space by Khan Kerlin Ward to "gather intelligence and to test the strength of its forces" . Add in the fact that the Eridani Light Horse never actually went with the General, but were always beholden to him. They waited for him to come back and reform the star league. The Northwind Highlanders were actually the leftovers of the Blackwatch arm of the first Star League. So...yeah...now that I proved how much of a junkie for Battletech I am....Who wants to buy me a Devastator when the game releases?

I wonder how they're going to handle the addition of the Clans. Omnimechs and clan tech are just better, so I wonder how they're going to balance player-controlled clan factions against the IS factions.

Or it'll just be 8 on 5 or something.

cube wrote:

I wonder how they're going to handle the addition of the Clans. Omnimechs and clan tech are just better, so I wonder how they're going to balance player-controlled clan factions against the IS factions.

Or it'll just be 8 on 5 or something.

Cost of parts and chassis...You already see it in EvE...Tech 3 cruisers cost a bunch and are just better...but you gang 3 or 4 Tech 1 cruisers on it and it still goes down.

cube wrote:

I wonder how they're going to handle the addition of the Clans. Omnimechs and clan tech are just better, so I wonder how they're going to balance player-controlled clan factions against the IS factions.

Or it'll just be 8 on 5 or something.

You also have a lot of Inner Sphere scavenging and using Clanner tech, too. I could see it being higher-tier stuff.

So - is there a way to get a good primer on the backstory development?

I picked up the original Battletech box set a gajillion years ago, and few of the later technical readouts, but I never read novels or stayed abreast of the situation. I picked up a few things from the Mechwarrior games, and conversations, but I'd love to review an overview of all the houses/clans/timelines.

I'm still pending for a beta, but now I'm pumped for some BattleTech stuff. This or MW:Tactics needs to hurry up and get finished.

I'm reading the Total Warfare rulebook to stay primed for it.

HedgeWizard wrote:

So - is there a way to get a good primer on the backstory development?

This is the official "New to Battletech?" page, the highlights of which are probably the Universe Guide (50-page PDF) and the Eras page with the timelines linked there.

In-game, it's 3049, and the plan is to advance in "real" time, right?

I'm not saying I'm in the beta, but when I am I'll be in as Liquidmantis.

[size=4]Check your email and spam folders, people![/size]

So if I were to get into the beta...I'd be in as "knight templar".

IF we were in beta, we'd be so terrible about hiding it. I like the 'Man on a Buffalo' as the name I might choose.

Mechwarrior Online wrote:

And of course the elusive System requirements:

MechWarrior Online Minimum System Spec:

CPU:

Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz

Athlon II X2 245e

GPU:

GeForce 8800GT

Radeon HD 5600/5700

RAM: 4 GB

OS: Windows Vista 32-bit

DirectX: DX9

HDD Space: 4 GB

MechWarrior Online Recommended System Spec:

CPU: Core i3-2500 AMD Athlon II X4 650

GPU: GeForce GTX 285 Radeon HD 5830

RAM: 8 GB OS: Windows 7 SP-1 64-Bit

DirectX: DX9

HDD Space: 4 GB

Mechwarrior Online wrote:

MONTREAL - May 22, 2012 - Calling all MechWarrior® fans! An exclusive MechWarrior Online™ Founder’s Program goes on sale June 19th. It will offer die-hard fans of this beloved franchise valuable benefits including: in-game currency, a custom BattleMech™ ("ELITE" level only), up to a two-month free premium account, a permanent "Founder’s Tag" and more. Dubbed "OPERATION INCEPTION," the Founder’s program gives fans a limited one-time chance to secure exclusive MechWarrior Online game content via two ranks:

$60 ELITE Founder's Package Includes:
• Exclusive custom "Founder's BattleMech." This 'Mech includes a lifetime, per-match C-Bill booster.
• $80 value of in-game currency* for in-game item purchases.
• Two-month premium account to MechWarrior Online at launch: Earn XP & C-Bills faster.
• Founder's Tag - sets your status apart from the crowd & get noticed in-game and on the forums.
• Early access to the game along with Founder's assets availability starts August 7th.

$30 VETERAN Founder's Package Includes:
• $40 value of in-game currency* for in-game item purchases.
• One-month premium account to MechWarrior Online at launch: Earn XP & C-Bills faster.
• Founder's Tag - sets your status apart from the crowd & get noticed in-game and on the forums.
• Early access to the game along with Founder's assets availability starts July 17th.

OPERATION INCEPTION assets and early game access will be available for ELITE or VETERAN Founder's Package players starting August 7th.

Just wanted to share some info that I thought ya'll might find interesting.

Seems like fairly beefy specs for a free-to-play game.

Mixolyde wrote:

Seems like fairly beefy specs for a free-to-play game.

I'll be honest, I don't quite get this critique. In my mind, there's plenty of gorgeous F2P games out there, why wouldn't they want to go that route and require a bit more horsepower?

F2P has kind of moved out of the realm of only low end graphics. For instance, games like Tribes Ascend, Blacklight Retribution, and Warface all use very modern engines with pretty high level graphics.

MannishBoy wrote:

F2P has kind of moved out of the realm of only low end graphics. For instance, games like Tribes Ascend, Blacklight Retribution, and Warface all use very modern engines with pretty high level graphics.

They have to if they want to compete against the idea that free is cheap.

AnimeJ wrote:
Mixolyde wrote:

Seems like fairly beefy specs for a free-to-play game.

I'll be honest, I don't quite get this critique. In my mind, there's plenty of gorgeous F2P games out there, why wouldn't they want to go that route and require a bit more horsepower?

The critique itself is based on the idea that if only NUMBER_OF_PLAYERS * .01 = NUMBER_OF_PLAYERS_WHO_SPEND_MONEY, then you want NUMBER_OF_PLAYERS as high as possible.

But, MannishBoy raises a great point. We've reached a sort of critical mass of graphic-intensive F2P games, and of beefy-hardware audience where Mechwarrior: Online doesn't really have to compete against every other F2P game out there, just the other high-end ones. Not to mention that the franchise itself has such a dedicated fan base, prospective players will probably buy new systems just to play this if it's good enough (I know I'm thinking about it for this and/or Hawken).

Mixolyde wrote:

But, MannishBoy raises a great point. We've reached a sort of critical mass of graphic-intensive F2P games, and of beefy-hardware audience where Mechwarrior: Online doesn't really have to compete against every other F2P game out there, just the other high-end ones. Not to mention that the franchise itself has such a dedicated fan base, prospective players will probably buy new systems just to play this if it's good enough (I know I'm thinking about it for this and/or Hawken).

I think on PC, this is how MP that's done with non-AAA budgets will happen. That way you can incrementally roll out gameplay features over time while also getting a revenue stream to support the continued development.

This could also be a big piece of next gen consoles as well. Especially in the downloadable XBLA/PSN area.

Other nice looking F2P games to mention: Firefall and Planetside 2.

The above average specs are a good sign to me. It shows that the free to play model is being seen as profitable way earlier in the design process. They are confident in their product enough to raise the barrier to entry a little higher on the requirements side.

The specs are still under your average gamer's capabilities these days, so I doubt they are really cutting out much of their target audience.

When I came back after my year of hell last year, I spent about $1200 building a new PC, 25% of which went into my monitors. So, for just the PC bits, it was around $900. We've gotten to a point where the price/performance marker for your average PC(I am not a spendy individual when it comes to computers, this is the most I've spent on a new computer in 10 years) is so low, that I feel that developers should expect folks to have a little more beef in their computers.

That said, I can understand folks who aren't primarily PC gamers to worry a little about it.

Keep in mind, the specs are in line with a top-end 6 year old gaming rig. So they're really not that bad, unless you haven't upgraded at all since then.

cube wrote:

Keep in mind, the specs are in line with a top-end 6 year old gaming rig. So they're really not that bad, unless you haven't upgraded at all since then.

Yup.

AnimeJ wrote:

That said, I can understand folks who aren't primarily PC gamers to worry a little about it.

Especially since MechWarrior fans are primarily PC gamers.

I got a email about the "founders program". Are you ready to pay $120 for 4 Mechs?

cube wrote:

Keep in mind, the specs are in line with a top-end 6 year old gaming rig. So they're really not that bad, unless you haven't upgraded at all since then.

Now you're just trying to make me feel old!

Where's that build-a-rig on a budget thread again?

Crockpot wrote:

I got a email about the "founders program". Are you ready to pay $120 for 4 Mechs?

Screw that.

Although the deals start with "Veteran" for $30.

That email worried me about their pricing model. Worried me a lot.

Keeping an open mind. I'm not putting down money until I decide if this is a game I will stick with and enjoy.

MannishBoy wrote:
Crockpot wrote:

I got a email about the "founders program". Are you ready to pay $120 for 4 Mechs?

Screw that.

Although the deals start with "Veteran" for $30.

That email worried me about their pricing model. Worried me a lot.

Keeping an open mind. I'm not putting down money until I decide if this is a game I will stick with and enjoy.

Yeah, that was some pretty heavy sticker shock going on for me seeing that email. They need to have those options available, but they shouldn't be advertising that you can spend that much money. It should be sorta hidden.

This is pretty consistent with World of Tanks pricing. And I would assume other FTP models. A single high level premium tank for WoT can run you $60. A premium account costs approximately $10 of ingame currency per month.

MoonDragon wrote:

This is pretty consistent with World of Tanks pricing. And I would assume other FTP models. A single high level premium tank for WoT can run you $60. A premium account costs approximately $10 of ingame currency per month.

Not the same as how Tribes or Blacklight works. They're much cheaper to get into.

Of course, we don't know what's "free" yet, and how useful that will be.

Details on high end package:

$120 LEGENDARY Founder's Package Includes:

• All 4 exclusive “Founder's BattleMechs.” These Mechs include a lifetime, per-match C-Bill booster.

• $80 value of in-game currency* for in-game item purchases.

• Three-month premium account to MechWarrior Online at launch: Earn XP & C-Bills faster.

• Founder's Tag - sets your status apart from the crowd & get noticed in-game and on the forums.

• Game credits – The player’s name included as one of the “Legendary” in the MechWarrior Online game credits.

• Early access to the game along with Founder's assets availability starts August 7th.

The mechs you get are "special" though I'm not sure in what ways.

I pulled the trigger on the $60 Elite.

WoT has a similar structure. With premium membership you get 50% extra xp and ingame currency (not premium $) for battles. With premium tanks you also pay a lot less for upkeep and ammunition. I'm assuming that premium mechs are going to be the same.