Balance by Context: A Discussion on adding more of the BT universe to add diversity.

As touched in Soy's PPC thread, adding more of the universe into the game rather than nerfing mech balance is really the best option for game balance and I hope to discuss it in more detail here.

This is really going to be as much a discussion on CW and what it should be more than anything else as that is the final release. We all get used to the game modes we have now but ultimately they are just test models as I understand it. CW is where many of us are hoping a lot of the games loose ends are tied up.

As previously discussed, people are boating PPCs because of the games lack of other units from the universe (infantry, vehicles, planes, and much more) which have weapons designed to counter them. Some of the mechs in the game now are anti-infantry mechs by design but obviously can not fulfill that role. When you add all of these units into the world you add need for flamers, machine guns, and missiles. It's tools of war rather than min/max alpha builds.

Also logistics is a major issue in the PPC issue. As they are magically replaced from match to match and there are no repair costs, this off sets the balance to them which was placed in the TT, that being costs and availability. Having to constantly find and dish out a lot of money for this top of the line equipment will run all but the most successful mechwarriors broke. This is what kept them in check but that concept does not exist in the MWO universe at present and it is my opinion there in lies the entire balance issue.

I am just going to present a loose model of what I believe would be a balanced, engaging and most of all fun CW concept that would introduce new players to the lore of the universe while playing the game. A nice streamlined player experience which keeps gamers too engaged in the campaign as a whole to allow balance wounds to fester. I will focus primarily on mission format and objectives.

As far as I understand it CW is going to be all about the community waging war against one another for the perks of controlling different planets/regions of space in the Inner Sphere.My idea is that each planet along your factions war fronts would offer a selection of missions of varying difficulty depending upon various factors such as over all success of the faction, possibly standing within the faction, ELO, and personal preference of the player. If you want an easier mission you can opt for less money, a shorter mission length, and less repair/rearm perks. This would slant your ELO towards lower ELO opponents, however you would at best gain little ELO and at worst loose a good bit. This balances by lower players trying to advance rapidly opting for higher difficulty missions. They would be slanting their ELO towards more difficult opponents. They would take a much smaller hit to their ELO if they lost but potentially have a lot to gain if they can pull it off.

For instance lets say Player A is a low ELO player, is new but has potential and a couple of friends who are equally ambitious. They sign on MWO and see a mission on the hardest difficulty their ELO will allow them to take. A mission simply named "Dropship Crash". The details state that their unit is going to undertake a mission containing 3 objectives on a frozen planet. This mission contains 3 matches: the first takes place on Frozen City night where the details state that your dropship has crashed en route to the objective. Enemy forces have set up tanks and artillery emplacements along a nearby ridge. Enemy mechs are en route and you are potentially out numbered. The drop tonnage of players on each side is slanted accordingly and so are ELOs as the enemies the dropship survivors will be fighting will be a group of enemy player mechs assisted by a few tanks an artillery emplacements which are NPCs and constantly raining fire on you. This is where air strikes, UAVs and artillery strikes really gain their worth. If you fail it is mission failed and you are back to mission select with minimal rewards. If you succeed it's on to objective 2 which is to make your way to the front lines where friendly forces are engaging the enemy house forces. This would be a mostly weight and ELO slanted match depending on who chose what difficulty of mission. This would be a rather traditional front line long range mech brawl on Alpine. If you are the hard difficulty player in this you stand a good chance starting very disconnected from the rest of the players on your team and have to make your way to them for support, perhaps through enemies. Each side would have various artillery and vehicles in play with shots raining everywhere giving it a very war like feel. Like theres a battle going on, not just for show like River City, this stuff can hit you and you can hit it. The third mission could be a defend mission on Alpine. Your way out is in bound in 10 minutes and your goal is survive till your ride arrives, make sure it lands safely, and get the hell off this frozen ball where a mission went bad and a few green mechwarriors proved their metal.

There would be a cumulative repair and rearm bill through these miniature campaigns. As you progress and win you gain perks from your success. A higher difficulty grants more money and better perks. Perhaps the perk to objective 2 is ammo costs paid, and then if you complete the mission you get a C-Bill bonus and reduced repair costs (from scrap). Repairs would be reintroduced and destroyed weapons would have to be repurchased. Ideally have a more robust salvage system that will replace weapons you lose with like weapons that survived on killed mechs from that match. If you are boating PPCs then you better A) hope others are too and B) you are successful with them in a mission or you are going to feel it. Of course if there are only 3 PPCs salvaged and 6 lost among 4 people on your team then match score determines who gets a piece. This brings in players losing items for good, builds having to be economical and varied. If you are good and successful then you can afford to run the nicer stuff but as these things are it would be a gamble. This would encourage people to pilot a variety of mechs. These matches would shape the Inner Sphere in community warfare.

Other missions could be hard or easy one offs or front line defenses. It doesn't take much imagination from anyone to come up with fun scenarios like this into infinity. I could come up with them all night long but I will not. The point is the original balancing forces are reapplied. Sure you can boat this stuff all you want, or should we say, all you feel like paying for. With repairs back and expanded upon you have a chance to lose big when you boat big which removes the reason to boat rather than nerfing the boats guns. If you are going to be using these builds you will want to have a group or even unit to protect your investment. This doesn't mean assault killer either, rather it encourages assaults to run with support which in tern encourages medium and heavy mechs to actually fall into roles they were originally intended.

Mixed unit types would appear in missions. This isn't a stretch, either, as the UAV is a small NPC that can be shot. You would know what kinds of maps you would be playing on and what your objectives would be so you could camo and outfit accordingly. This adds reasons to buy camo patterns and colors and translates into a money maker. These missions could introduce lore an allow the player to decide what kind of experience that they want to enjoy. You choose your difficulty and level of involvement. If you want to be an elite mech unit then you take the hard missions and you work together well in tough ELO brackets. You could take our scenario and say it's a high ELO and a black op. Insanity difficulty so to speak. You are in the same scenario jsut with high ELO and probably premades galore. If you succeed big glory upon you and your faction. If not pay the bills and select another.

If you don't want to take part of any of this there could be the Instant Action mode where it's basically what it is now with no CW rewards applicable but repair/rearm is adjusted and the game plays more like it does now. GOod for when you just want to drop fast or just screw around or play 3rd person (as it would only be in a dank dark unvisited corner there).

Thats the way I would like to see CW play out. I believe something along these lines would be capable of producing the best game experience for everyone and also allow for more diversity and more engaging experiences. It would return the balancing factors to these builds that was removed and would demand greater diversity.

 

Word. I'll have to marinate on all that for a grip.

 

Regarding infantry:
This is a very valid point, and I think PGI has tried to address this (i.e. MG buffs), but these anti-infantry weapons don’t make very good primaries on lights. You are right, though, these other vehicles don’t really have a place in MWO. Even if they were in a campaign, they wouldn’t really fit into multiplayer.

Regarding logistics:
While this might balance out cost/effectiveness a bit, you run into the issue that only rich players (by time invested and/or premium accounts) could run these builds. Making it a money issue sort of makes it P2W. So while it might work for balance, I would enjoy the game less, because of the business model.

The rest of your stuff seems to have more with how CW should work than game balance. I kind of skimmed it, TBH, because it’s a huge discussion about a feature we really know nothing about yet. CW actually has me worried, because they’ve stated that those in control of places will have access to more technology, making me think snowball effect (the victors get better and the losers stagnate or get worse, so next time their victory will be easier).

I’m not sure what the answer is, but honestly I don’t like the idea of NPCs being the reason to get other equipment. When you mix PvE and PvP, I find it dulls the game.

If I were PGI (and capable of coding), here would be my solution…
1) Double armor values (again). This makes high DPS appealing in addition to high burst.
2) Fix hit registry.
3) Revisit weapon balance. Lower the heat on AC/2s (seriously, the DPH is terrible). Fix splash damage and CT-seeking issues with missiles. Increase SL range to 120m (effective) to 240m (max). Increase SPL damage to 4.
4) Add cockpit shake to jump jets so they can be used for short-range poptarting but not sniping.

 

Liking what I read. Example: If Airstrikes were real as in done by aerotechs planes.
I like that in Living Legends, you had to pilot the aerotechs in order to actually perform air raids. Jaggers (Rifleman) and other sniper builds which are designed to counter these would have more a role then.

We have played the defend (or attack) a Dropship, which is brimming with PPCs, or as you described the classic Crescent Hawks opening set of missions. Your drop ship crashed and you need to make sure it doesn't get blown up. That is fun, that gives you a goal. If you're playing capture a drop ship, your team (faction) gets all the bonuses and the weapons that the drop ship was carrying etc.

It sounds like many of the things they had in MechCommander and the earlier mechwarrior games. Would be curious if they could create repair shops and turrets also like in Living Legends. That made the combat really different since you could destroy a turret, or capture it's command building and use it for base defense, you also had a reason to hold certain areas since your teammates could go back and repair themselves.

In terms of gameplay balance, Living Legends is better balanced. Here's hoping PGI takes some cues from them.

 

Honestly, I think the easiest way to discourage boating would be to incorporate more of the severe heat penalties from the TT game.

If maxing out your heat included things like a movement penalty, aim penalty, ammunition explosion chance, pilot damage chance (which could take you out of the game), even engine damage chance... I think you'd quickly see boats give way to more varied weapon loadouts.

 

How about if your PC is connected to the HVAC system at your home, so when you're running hot and overheating, the heat at home turns on full blast and starts warming up your pad. If you want to boat, fine, just bring your own cooling vest...

 

Introducing harsh penalties for using systems and loadouts that the mechs permitt (and were actually designed for) isn't going to fix the game, it will merely drive players away.
No player will make the connection of "using build X = bad". Instead they will think "this is broken, fix it", or simply "this game is so buggy, you explode if you launch your missiles, let's play ... (enter other F2P game).
If you want to eliminate missile boats, pack an AMS. Everybody was whining how powerful LRMs have become - but why am I the only guy (or 1 of 2) in my teams who actually seems to bother to carry one ? If there were 4-6 AMS on each team, LRM boats wouldn't be a problem at all and you would see your more varied loadouts - not because of some general punishment in order to hit a few, but because it makes sense to carry something else in case it turns out the enemy team has a good missile protection.
If you want to change it, give the players a reason to do this that is not un-fun. This is a game. Penalties are the last resort to fix something, not the multitool.