My mech stable is improving. I found myself a Dragon, which is really nice to pilot. It turns well and has an enjoyable top speed. I also got a Hunchback, and replaced its AC10 with an AC20, and boy howdy this thing stings.
That said, what the heck, campaign. Did a campaign mission, difficulty like 22, new one appeared right next dor, checked it out, difficulty 40 with a 180 ton limit? Holy crap, dudes, diff 30 missions already get nasty!
The game is just telling you that you need an Atlas, 2 Fleas, and a Cicada.
EDIT - something to bear in mind: arm-mounted weapons are going to be a worrisome money sink in the higher difficulties. In 60+ difficulty missions, I rarely make it out with both arms still attached to my or my friends' mechs.
Erlkönig on
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
I mean, yeah, I kinda expect this game to get quickly annoying? Like spawns are already ramping up and I'm still at the medium mech stage.
EDIT: ...okay, what? The supposed 40 difficulty mission was significantly easier and had less resistance than most 20-24 difficulty missions up to here? I mean, not complaining, but still, weird.
The game is just telling you that you need an Atlas, 2 Fleas, and a Cicada.
EDIT - something to bear in mind: arm-mounted weapons are going to be a worrisome money sink in the higher difficulties. In 60+ difficulty missions, I rarely make it out with both arms still attached to my or my friends' mechs.
Man... really? I already have that problem with the early levels... Unless I'm piloting my Flea then I just get out of the missions with my life (although usually have all weapons), but my AI teammate loses one arm. If I pilot the Centurion I always lose my shield arm. What sucks is that after playing MW5 for a while I really do appreciate the quirks and armor levels they gave the mechs in MWO. Is there a mod that allows that for your mechs, but leaves the enemy mechs untouched? Oh and vehicles suck... This and BT both show why mechs are not that realistic in battles which is not what I want. I want to blow up robots with robots and play parts Tetris till I have a build that is completely stupid but fun.
Personally, the vehicles don't bother me much. Sure, some of them hit hard, but they die in a couple shots. The Manticores in particular are priority targets. The issue is that the game sometimes just drops three spiders with machineguns and flamers on you and you get cooked while your lancemates just... stare off into the distance.
They're changing PSR calculations to zero sum and doing a PSR reset.
Huh. I read the first four pages of this thread, and. Huh.
I think a PSR reset might inch me toward playing MWO again? I still got the itch, and at this point I think I'm going to wait until MW5 hits Steam; unlike most quarantined people, my free time's gone drastically down. But an itch is an itch, and MWO's sitting right there...
They're changing PSR calculations to zero sum and doing a PSR reset.
Huh. I read the first four pages of this thread, and. Huh.
I think a PSR reset might inch me toward playing MWO again? I still got the itch, and at this point I think I'm going to wait until MW5 hits Steam; unlike most quarantined people, my free time's gone drastically down. But an itch is an itch, and MWO's sitting right there...
I'm finding that MW5 is neat to dink with, but MWO is still much better to me since I have a ton of mechs to play with.
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
I guess my feeling right now, in this moment is that:
I have a 'Mech itch.
MWO is free and right there on my computer, right now.
But I'd like to play something with narrative hooks, rather than endless team deathmatches.
And also, playing other randos on the internet feels like an actual living hell.
So right now, as I sit in my chair, it's two-for two-against.
Semi-Related: Have you guys seen Mech Merc Company? If you're into MW2:M, it's aiming to basically be that. I just finished a few rounds in the demo, and I'll say it's got some promise. I hope it gets enough attention that the dev can polish it up.
I am pretty happy with the current state of my mech stables.
I can serve reasonably competent lances for everything between 150 and 250 tons, which is saving me a ton of headaches. Also, the Grasshopper is a laugh.
The Grasshopper is a great starter heavy mech. Personally, I ran mine with arm mounted medium lasers, the highest tier chest PPC I had in my inventory (later upgraded to an ERPPC), and the highest tier SRM4 launcher in the head. I only replaced it when I got a Marauder.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
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Handsome CostanzaAsk me about 8bitdoRIP Iwata-sanRegistered Userregular
edited May 2020
I ended up restarting my MW5 campaign btw. Figured it was better to just start over from scratch and do it right, rather than try to squeek by with a gimped unit and risk putting down the game entirely due to stagnation.
I ended up restarting my MW5 campaign btw. Figured it was better to just start over from scratch and do it right, rather than try to squeek by with a gimped unit and risk putting down the game entirely due to stagnation.
I am pretty happy with the current state of my mech stables.
I can serve reasonably competent lances for everything between 150 and 250 tons, which is saving me a ton of headaches. Also, the Grasshopper is a laugh.
Oooh, that is a nice stable. I'd probably have fun playing MW5 with that small group.
Unfortunately this is what I see when I log into my MWO account:
You own 173 of 821 displayed 'Mech variants
I guess my feeling right now, in this moment is that:
I have a 'Mech itch.
MWO is free and right there on my computer, right now.
But I'd like to play something with narrative hooks, rather than endless team deathmatches.
And also, playing other randos on the internet feels like an actual living hell.
So right now, as I sit in my chair, it's two-for two-against.
Semi-Related: Have you guys seen Mech Merc Company? If you're into MW2:M, it's aiming to basically be that. I just finished a few rounds in the demo, and I'll say it's got some promise. I hope it gets enough attention that the dev can polish it up.
I've given up on caring if my teammates suck or do well because all I care about is piloting my own mech and shooting other mechs. Yeah there is a small chance I get pissed off and hate the game since I'm piloting my terrible mech build, and my team sucks something fierce (which doesn't allow me to play much with the terrible build). I then remember that even if my team did great, I'd probably stand out with my bad numbers so I just go back to loading another match. Plus, where else can you play a Piranha right after piloting an Urbie?
Edit: Also I just wishlisted that game you pointed out. I might try out the demo and see how it plays.
To be honest I realized that I don't think I ever have played any of the previous PC MechWarrior games. Mainly because I never realized how much I just like jumping into a robot and blow things away. Then not have to worry about repair costs, replacing broken parts, etc. MW5 is a good balance with that since you don't have to really "see" the costs and wait forever for the mechs to be repaired.
The Grasshopper is a great starter heavy mech. Personally, I ran mine with arm mounted medium lasers, the highest tier chest PPC I had in my inventory (later upgraded to an ERPPC), and the highest tier SRM4 launcher in the head. I only replaced it when I got a Marauder.
Personally I tried replacing the large laser with a PPC and kinda hated it, so I moved back to large laser. I hope to find an upgrade for it later.
To be honest I realized that I don't think I ever have played any of the previous PC MechWarrior games. Mainly because I never realized how much I just like jumping into a robot and blow things away. Then not have to worry about repair costs, replacing broken parts, etc. MW5 is a good balance with that since you don't have to really "see" the costs and wait forever for the mechs to be repaired.
I also never really played any previous MW games. My first contact with this entire franchise was a couple people playing Clan dudes in a multiplayer Super Robot Wars RP I was a part in years ago, and my second contact was trying the turn-based game after getting it in a humble bundle. Truth be told, I still find Battletech difficult to take seriously. A lot of the setting I gleam from the turn-based game and the bits in MW5 feels like positively hilarious military wonking, and a lot of the mechs are just kind of... I dunno, samey? Like I appreciate some of them but there's a lot that after two campaigns and some hours of mechwarrior I still can't for the life of me differentiate from each other.
But well, it's not like there's a lot of stompy robot games in the market right now!
To be honest I realized that I don't think I ever have played any of the previous PC MechWarrior games. Mainly because I never realized how much I just like jumping into a robot and blow things away. Then not have to worry about repair costs, replacing broken parts, etc. MW5 is a good balance with that since you don't have to really "see" the costs and wait forever for the mechs to be repaired.
I also never really played any previous MW games. My first contact with this entire franchise was a couple people playing Clan dudes in a multiplayer Super Robot Wars RP I was a part in years ago, and my second contact was trying the turn-based game after getting it in a humble bundle. Truth be told, I still find Battletech difficult to take seriously. A lot of the setting I gleam from the turn-based game and the bits in MW5 feels like positively hilarious military wonking, and a lot of the mechs are just kind of... I dunno, samey? Like I appreciate some of them but there's a lot that after two campaigns and some hours of mechwarrior I still can't for the life of me differentiate from each other.
But well, it's not like there's a lot of stompy robot games in the market right now!
Part of me has a great affinity for the older art style in the TROs for Battletech. Things seemed way more unique. PGI has been "modernizing" the design, and broadly homogenizing it as well. Which isn't to say a lot of the designs don't look better in a technical sense. A lot of the old TRO artwork was clearly done by some dude on a deadline and a budget. But it's also bleed some of it's original character as well. Some designs still stand out really well, like the Dragon, Awesome, Atlas and King Crab. But a lot, especially the upright humanoid ones, blend together a lot more than I feel like they used to.
To be honest I realized that I don't think I ever have played any of the previous PC MechWarrior games. Mainly because I never realized how much I just like jumping into a robot and blow things away. Then not have to worry about repair costs, replacing broken parts, etc. MW5 is a good balance with that since you don't have to really "see" the costs and wait forever for the mechs to be repaired.
I also never really played any previous MW games. My first contact with this entire franchise was a couple people playing Clan dudes in a multiplayer Super Robot Wars RP I was a part in years ago, and my second contact was trying the turn-based game after getting it in a humble bundle. Truth be told, I still find Battletech difficult to take seriously. A lot of the setting I gleam from the turn-based game and the bits in MW5 feels like positively hilarious military wonking, and a lot of the mechs are just kind of... I dunno, samey? Like I appreciate some of them but there's a lot that after two campaigns and some hours of mechwarrior I still can't for the life of me differentiate from each other.
But well, it's not like there's a lot of stompy robot games in the market right now!
Part of me has a great affinity for the older art style in the TROs for Battletech. Things seemed way more unique. PGI has been "modernizing" the design, and broadly homogenizing it as well. Which isn't to say a lot of the designs don't look better in a technical sense. A lot of the old TRO artwork was clearly done by some dude on a deadline and a budget. But it's also bleed some of it's original character as well. Some designs still stand out really well, like the Dragon, Awesome, Atlas and King Crab. But a lot, especially the upright humanoid ones, blend together a lot more than I feel like they used to.
Isn't the old art a bunch of unnecessary lines that look placed almost at random, obscuring the mech itself, and are near impossible to read (unless you're already familiar with the Japanese mech it's almost certainly trying to copy)?
You know, this kind of stuff?
It's the one I'm familiar with people referencing, at least.
To be honest I realized that I don't think I ever have played any of the previous PC MechWarrior games. Mainly because I never realized how much I just like jumping into a robot and blow things away. Then not have to worry about repair costs, replacing broken parts, etc. MW5 is a good balance with that since you don't have to really "see" the costs and wait forever for the mechs to be repaired.
I also never really played any previous MW games. My first contact with this entire franchise was a couple people playing Clan dudes in a multiplayer Super Robot Wars RP I was a part in years ago, and my second contact was trying the turn-based game after getting it in a humble bundle. Truth be told, I still find Battletech difficult to take seriously. A lot of the setting I gleam from the turn-based game and the bits in MW5 feels like positively hilarious military wonking, and a lot of the mechs are just kind of... I dunno, samey? Like I appreciate some of them but there's a lot that after two campaigns and some hours of mechwarrior I still can't for the life of me differentiate from each other.
But well, it's not like there's a lot of stompy robot games in the market right now!
Part of me has a great affinity for the older art style in the TROs for Battletech. Things seemed way more unique. PGI has been "modernizing" the design, and broadly homogenizing it as well. Which isn't to say a lot of the designs don't look better in a technical sense. A lot of the old TRO artwork was clearly done by some dude on a deadline and a budget. But it's also bleed some of it's original character as well. Some designs still stand out really well, like the Dragon, Awesome, Atlas and King Crab. But a lot, especially the upright humanoid ones, blend together a lot more than I feel like they used to.
Isn't the old art a bunch of unnecessary lines that look placed almost at random, obscuring the mech itself, and are near impossible to read (unless you're already familiar with the Japanese mech it's almost certainly trying to copy)?
You know, this kind of stuff?
It's the one I'm familiar with people referencing, at least.
To be fair, of the over 220 battlemechs introduced prior to the HG lawsuit, only ~30 were based on anime designs, with another half dozen loosely inspired ones (Like the Ost series, which never really looked like the Regults from Macross they were supposedly based on).
And remember, FASA licensed the rights to use those anime designs fair & square, albeit through a middleman that had licensed them from the animation studios. It was just the stuff from Macross that got them in trouble, because multiple separate Japanese companies involved with the original TV series had independently licensed different western companies to make stuff from it. The first North American localization of the show was done by a company called Harmony Gold, who had to cut a deal with model kit manufacturer Revell to merchandise it, because they had already been making merchandise from Macross under the name "Robotech Defenders" while HG were still getting started on adapting the cartoon for American television. Meanwhile Hasbro had licensed the molds for the series' main transforming jet fighter robot from a Japanese toymaker to be the original Skyfire toy for the Transformers G1 line. Macross' was just a giant clusterfuck of legal issues in the 80's.
Oh, I'm not particularly concerned about legality. I'm just saying, a ton of the mechs I've seen old art for look like basically "someone took a mech from an old anime series and then drew lines on it until you could no longer actually see the silhouette of the mech unless you unfocus your eyes like a Magic Eye" :P.
You keep seeming to think I'm objecting to the copying more than I am to the fact that the art is an unintelligible mess of unnecessary lines :P. Really, I am not a big proponent of originality for originality's sake. Copy to your heart's content, but copying and them making them look worse is bad!
(Also, that Atlas is not a little reminiscent of the profile image for the Votoms scopedog, no)
You keep seeming to think I'm objecting to the copying more than I am to the fact that the art is an unintelligible mess of unnecessary lines :P. Really, I am not a big proponent of originality for originality's sake. Copy to your heart's content, but copying and them making them look worse is bad!
(Also, that Atlas is not a little reminiscent of the profile image for the Votoms scopedog, no)
Hahaha, I never realized how much of the Battletech "art" might have been lifted from lots of anime art. Yeah the overall mech might be different but the art you just posted is way too close to the Atlas original art. I think the lines thing was the art style of the artist at the time and less of him trying to scribble to make it look less like a copy and more like their own design. But considering the guys who made BattleTech said that they loved Japanese Robot art they might have been lifting a ton from the art they saw and did the lines on purpose like you think to avoid flat out copying.
So when Urban Warfare dropped, both of my saves were late game and I was doing a Mass Effect run, so I didn't really touch them until Heavy Metal and the broken awesomeness of an Annihilator with five U/AC 5s. They were so dangerous that it barely occurred to me to look for cover on the "new" urban maps, and if something jumped onto the top of a building the OP Annihilator's pilot would land enough shots to make a mockery of evasion pips. Fast forward to the last week and a new campaign run. My relatively green dudes are trading fire and having a bad go of it when one of the "bad guys" jumped onto a building with about four evasion pips. In a moment of desperation the building was flattened to see what happened to its rider.
As of last night my commander has become a war criminal who flattens city blocks just for the chance to knock an enemy off balance and take cover in the ashen corpse of a city and its people. In one horrific day this happened about seven times to the denizens of a single megacity. My guys have gone from a lighter shade of grey to jet-black morality with less than one in-game month. How the Argo won't be shot out of orbit on arrival is slightly baffling (I imagine there's some in-universe legal protections from mercs, but that wouldn't be a lot of help if their dark reputation preceded them by months).
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
Hey, if they didn’t want their buildings blown up they shouldn’t have built them in a combat zone.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
So when Urban Warfare dropped, both of my saves were late game and I was doing a Mass Effect run, so I didn't really touch them until Heavy Metal and the broken awesomeness of an Annihilator with five U/AC 5s. They were so dangerous that it barely occurred to me to look for cover on the "new" urban maps, and if something jumped onto the top of a building the OP Annihilator's pilot would land enough shots to make a mockery of evasion pips. Fast forward to the last week and a new campaign run. My relatively green dudes are trading fire and having a bad go of it when one of the "bad guys" jumped onto a building with about four evasion pips. In a moment of desperation the building was flattened to see what happened to its rider.
As of last night my commander has become a war criminal who flattens city blocks just for the chance to knock an enemy off balance and take cover in the ashen corpse of a city and its people. In one horrific day this happened about seven times to the denizens of a single megacity. My guys have gone from a lighter shade of grey to jet-black morality with less than one in-game month. How the Argo won't be shot out of orbit on arrival is slightly baffling (I imagine there's some in-universe legal protections from mercs, but that wouldn't be a lot of help if their dark reputation preceded them by months).
All civilians were evacuated before any of this happened. The next day the civilians came out and rebuilt the entire town like it never happened thanks to space technology.
I'm chuckling over the Atlas/Scopedog thing, because Harmony Gold attempted to say that the Atlas was infringing on a Robotech design in their lawsuit against PGI and HBS.
Yeah, I don't see it either.
They also tried to claim that the Shadow Hawk was infringing on the Destroid Spartan (which we know as the Archer). I would have liked to see the three way battle that would have occurred over that one if the owners of Dougram got involved...
The Crusader battlemech was nixed due it using the Armored Valkyrie art, not the Atlas. And the Shadowhawk, I thought, was infringing someone of the Robotech Master's bioroids or whatever they were called?
I'm chuckling over the Atlas/Scopedog thing, because Harmony Gold attempted to say that the Atlas was infringing on a Robotech design in their lawsuit against PGI and HBS.
Yeah, I don't see it either.
They also tried to claim that the Shadow Hawk was infringing on the Destroid Spartan (which we know as the Archer). I would have liked to see the three way battle that would have occurred over that one if the owners of Dougram got involved...
Yeah, I'm glad that HG finally just ended their feud with Battletech/MechWarrior.
The Crusader battlemech was nixed due it using the Armored Valkyrie art, not the Atlas. And the Shadowhawk, I thought, was infringing someone of the Robotech Master's bioroids or whatever they were called?
The Shadow Hawk, Griffin, Battlemaster, Scorpion, Thunderbolt, Wolverine, and Goliath all came from a series named “Fangs of Sun Dougram” Which, as far as I know, didn’t get much play outside of Japan.
So when Urban Warfare dropped, both of my saves were late game and I was doing a Mass Effect run, so I didn't really touch them until Heavy Metal and the broken awesomeness of an Annihilator with five U/AC 5s. They were so dangerous that it barely occurred to me to look for cover on the "new" urban maps, and if something jumped onto the top of a building the OP Annihilator's pilot would land enough shots to make a mockery of evasion pips. Fast forward to the last week and a new campaign run. My relatively green dudes are trading fire and having a bad go of it when one of the "bad guys" jumped onto a building with about four evasion pips. In a moment of desperation the building was flattened to see what happened to its rider.
As of last night my commander has become a war criminal who flattens city blocks just for the chance to knock an enemy off balance and take cover in the ashen corpse of a city and its people. In one horrific day this happened about seven times to the denizens of a single megacity. My guys have gone from a lighter shade of grey to jet-black morality with less than one in-game month. How the Argo won't be shot out of orbit on arrival is slightly baffling (I imagine there's some in-universe legal protections from mercs, but that wouldn't be a lot of help if their dark reputation preceded them by months).
The actual answer is that and a combination of battleships being super lostech because battleships and all similar technology were destroyed in the war that created the dark ages. Aside from a handful of few. Anti-orbital canons were never really a thing because they were too vulnerable to battleships. Battleships were all destroyed because battleships were how the wars were fought.
When the Star League fell the rest of the battleships were destroyed or fucked off to be a clan. And the few that remained were in the control of comstar. Who will blow the shit out of your battleship if they find you have one or might maybe acquire one.
Because while mechs level buildings battleships level planets and that is bad for business.
So in order to take down a transport vessel like the argo from orbit you would need to board it or ram it with another ship(all of which are likely to be lostech and therefore very valuable). Both of which are hard when the argo is able to put out 1 to 2 g constant.
So when Urban Warfare dropped, both of my saves were late game and I was doing a Mass Effect run, so I didn't really touch them until Heavy Metal and the broken awesomeness of an Annihilator with five U/AC 5s. They were so dangerous that it barely occurred to me to look for cover on the "new" urban maps, and if something jumped onto the top of a building the OP Annihilator's pilot would land enough shots to make a mockery of evasion pips. Fast forward to the last week and a new campaign run. My relatively green dudes are trading fire and having a bad go of it when one of the "bad guys" jumped onto a building with about four evasion pips. In a moment of desperation the building was flattened to see what happened to its rider.
As of last night my commander has become a war criminal who flattens city blocks just for the chance to knock an enemy off balance and take cover in the ashen corpse of a city and its people. In one horrific day this happened about seven times to the denizens of a single megacity. My guys have gone from a lighter shade of grey to jet-black morality with less than one in-game month. How the Argo won't be shot out of orbit on arrival is slightly baffling (I imagine there's some in-universe legal protections from mercs, but that wouldn't be a lot of help if their dark reputation preceded them by months).
The actual answer is that and a combination of battleships being super lostech because battleships and all similar technology were destroyed in the war that created the dark ages. Aside from a handful of few. Anti-orbital canons were never really a thing because they were too vulnerable to battleships. Battleships were all destroyed because battleships were how the wars were fought.
When the Star League fell the rest of the battleships were destroyed or fucked off to be a clan. And the few that remained were in the control of comstar. Who will blow the shit out of your battleship if they find you have one or might maybe acquire one.
Because while mechs level buildings battleships level planets and that is bad for business.
So in order to take down a transport vessel like the argo from orbit you would need to board it or ram it with another ship(all of which are likely to be lostech and therefore very valuable). Both of which are hard when the argo is able to put out 1 to 2 g constant.
You know, this does remind me of something that constantly sticks in my craw about the continued presence of The Argo in Battletech. And I say "continued presence" for a reason. That it exists isn't crazy for the setting. That it hasn't somehow been blown to smithereens, or had to contend with any contemporary existential threats at all really, feels very un-Battletech.
Have a great house you have a low enough reputation with attempt to sneak a saboteur on board. Have a DEST commando team board you. Have the Lyrans attempt to seize it for money owed over a contract dispute.
The Argo is a unique prize unlike any other, and if Battletech consistently proves anything, it's that such prizes will be fought over until they are destroyed.
I mean, I guess during the story, that one thing happens during a spoilery mission. But I don't really consider that a contemporary threat thematic with the sorts of nihilistic "if I can't have it, no one can" attitude the Inner Sphere, and especially the Inner Sphere of the early 3000's, consistently displays.
Now granted, the game would be a whole lot less fun if you're enjoying your stompy robot action, and then you fucking game over out of nowhere because a DEST space assault squad executed you in your cabin. But you know, some sort of flavor events evocative of the envy, fear and jealously people would look at the Argo with would have been nice.
Honestly, the fact that they chose to not dwell TOO much on how apparently every person in power in Battletech is a small-minded psychopath and just let you, like, have a cool thing seems a good choice to me.
I donno, the Inner Sphere as a crab bucket is pretty much the defining feature of Battletech. At least prior to the Clan Invasion and the spread of the helm memory core. In fact, the shift from crab bucket to a Second Star League is an interest shift we get cheated out of by having all the petty tyrants being a bit too laissez-faire about Lostech in the 3010's.
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H3KnucklesBut we decide which is rightand which is an illusion.Registered Userregular
edited May 2020
The Helm memory core was found in 3028, at the outset of the Fourth Succession War, and my understanding was that Comstar's active efforts to suppress the States' technology had largely fallen by the wayside by the start of the 31st century. Operation Holy Shroud ended in the mid-29th century, where it helped set the stage for the Third Succession War's 'constant, low intensity, warfare' (as opposed to the mass destruction of the First and Second). OHS II began in the late 30th century, but is characterized as being largely ineffectual (while it was able to keep hard evidence of Comstar's involvement out of the States' hands, it accomplished little and suspicions began to circulate).
Of course the States would still try to sabotage any strategic advantages the others might hold over them, but that doesn't really extend to a pathological effort to eliminate any and all recovered artifacts. Keep in mind that a lot of the past State actions to that effect were actually Comstar intrigues. In the grand scheme of things, a mercenary outfit with the Argo isn't really that big of a deal, it's less of a strategic concern than the merc companies that owned their own jumpships. Everything else it does could by replicated with a couple non-com dropships.
Self: I need to get this 500 Match Score event done.
Me: You know what to do, what's never steered you wrong for farming MS or damage.
Self: You're right, time to release the Kra....Corsair.
Honestly, the fact that they chose to not dwell TOO much on how apparently every person in power in Battletech is a small-minded psychopath and just let you, like, have a cool thing seems a good choice to me.
Absolutely agree. Grimdark can get to toxic doses pretty quick. The writers seemed to strike a good balance between humor, darkness of the setting, and good old fashioned heroism (there's a part of us all which lives to restore Kamea Arano to the Commorant throne). Still, the folks on here pointing out that the Argo is too pretty and cool to exist in the setting are probably right in the long run. We could probably start a pool on exactly when and which jealous noble "Bob" Kurita blabs the unfortunate Argo's prestigious layout to in the epilogue.
The actual answer is that and a combination of battleships being super lostech because battleships and all similar technology were destroyed in the war that created the dark ages. Aside from a handful of few. Anti-orbital canons were never really a thing because they were too vulnerable to battleships. Battleships were all destroyed because battleships were how the wars were fought.
When the Star League fell the rest of the battleships were destroyed or fucked off to be a clan. And the few that remained were in the control of comstar. Who will blow the shit out of your battleship if they find you have one or might maybe acquire one.
Because while mechs level buildings battleships level planets and that is bad for business.
So in order to take down a transport vessel like the argo from orbit you would need to board it or ram it with another ship(all of which are likely to be lostech and therefore very valuable). Both of which are hard when the argo is able to put out 1 to 2 g constant.
I'm not too worried about the badass battleships which I sadly just learned were part of the lore like a year ago despite playing Mechwarrior and Mechcommander (and actually because of Battletech 2016) and all their sequels over the years. My main concern would be the orbital guns present in other installments of the franchise (arguably a function of the Helm memory core and the IS getting their collective ---- together when the Clans made their base-breaking presence known) and as other folks pointed out all the insanely deadly boarding parties present depending on your location in the Periphery/Rimward IS. The fact that you can be caught by pirates in that random event implies you could be caught by someone much more organized, and the hatred of one or more factions probably carries more onuses than not being hired storywise. I think the Argo either leaves for the deep Periphery after the game (during the Fourth succession war), maintains a careful neutrality with all the factions who matter (they might safely ignore the Combine [and later the Capellans]), or manages to live for a while travelling only the stars of its allies.
....Typing all that, gods I hope they reconsider the game's finished status and do an expansion set in the fourth succession war. ...Codenamed Medea.
Aerospace fighters are a thing, and can and will engage and destroy Dropships in and out of the atmosphere.
But, I dunno if the Argo would be a high enough value target for one of the Houses to go for.
It has no armor, is poorly armed, and can't land. About the best thing going for it is the mech and med bays which could make it useful as a command center, but it'd have to be very well defended because of the aforementioned issues with weaponry and armor. Further, it has no lostech of its own. I'm fairly certain just about everything about it could be recreated should somebody really want to.
I couldn't see one of the houses going through the trouble of hunting it down and taking it by force, but if it showed up over one of the worlds and a local noble decided he or she really wanted a unique toy they'd go for it.
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That said, what the heck, campaign. Did a campaign mission, difficulty like 22, new one appeared right next dor, checked it out, difficulty 40 with a 180 ton limit? Holy crap, dudes, diff 30 missions already get nasty!
EDIT - something to bear in mind: arm-mounted weapons are going to be a worrisome money sink in the higher difficulties. In 60+ difficulty missions, I rarely make it out with both arms still attached to my or my friends' mechs.
EDIT: ...okay, what? The supposed 40 difficulty mission was significantly easier and had less resistance than most 20-24 difficulty missions up to here? I mean, not complaining, but still, weird.
Man... really? I already have that problem with the early levels... Unless I'm piloting my Flea then I just get out of the missions with my life (although usually have all weapons), but my AI teammate loses one arm. If I pilot the Centurion I always lose my shield arm. What sucks is that after playing MW5 for a while I really do appreciate the quirks and armor levels they gave the mechs in MWO. Is there a mod that allows that for your mechs, but leaves the enemy mechs untouched? Oh and vehicles suck... This and BT both show why mechs are not that realistic in battles which is not what I want. I want to blow up robots with robots and play parts Tetris till I have a build that is completely stupid but fun.
Steam: betsuni7
Huh. I read the first four pages of this thread, and. Huh.
I think a PSR reset might inch me toward playing MWO again? I still got the itch, and at this point I think I'm going to wait until MW5 hits Steam; unlike most quarantined people, my free time's gone drastically down. But an itch is an itch, and MWO's sitting right there...
I'm finding that MW5 is neat to dink with, but MWO is still much better to me since I have a ton of mechs to play with.
As in MWO scratches the itch.
Steam: betsuni7
I have a 'Mech itch.
MWO is free and right there on my computer, right now.
But I'd like to play something with narrative hooks, rather than endless team deathmatches.
And also, playing other randos on the internet feels like an actual living hell.
So right now, as I sit in my chair, it's two-for two-against.
Semi-Related: Have you guys seen Mech Merc Company? If you're into MW2:M, it's aiming to basically be that. I just finished a few rounds in the demo, and I'll say it's got some promise. I hope it gets enough attention that the dev can polish it up.
I can serve reasonably competent lances for everything between 150 and 250 tons, which is saving me a ton of headaches. Also, the Grasshopper is a laugh.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
How far were you in if I may ask?
Oooh, that is a nice stable. I'd probably have fun playing MW5 with that small group.
Unfortunately this is what I see when I log into my MWO account:
You own 173 of 821 displayed 'Mech variants
I've given up on caring if my teammates suck or do well because all I care about is piloting my own mech and shooting other mechs. Yeah there is a small chance I get pissed off and hate the game since I'm piloting my terrible mech build, and my team sucks something fierce (which doesn't allow me to play much with the terrible build). I then remember that even if my team did great, I'd probably stand out with my bad numbers so I just go back to loading another match. Plus, where else can you play a Piranha right after piloting an Urbie?
Edit: Also I just wishlisted that game you pointed out. I might try out the demo and see how it plays.
To be honest I realized that I don't think I ever have played any of the previous PC MechWarrior games. Mainly because I never realized how much I just like jumping into a robot and blow things away. Then not have to worry about repair costs, replacing broken parts, etc. MW5 is a good balance with that since you don't have to really "see" the costs and wait forever for the mechs to be repaired.
Steam: betsuni7
Personally I tried replacing the large laser with a PPC and kinda hated it, so I moved back to large laser. I hope to find an upgrade for it later.
I also never really played any previous MW games. My first contact with this entire franchise was a couple people playing Clan dudes in a multiplayer Super Robot Wars RP I was a part in years ago, and my second contact was trying the turn-based game after getting it in a humble bundle. Truth be told, I still find Battletech difficult to take seriously. A lot of the setting I gleam from the turn-based game and the bits in MW5 feels like positively hilarious military wonking, and a lot of the mechs are just kind of... I dunno, samey? Like I appreciate some of them but there's a lot that after two campaigns and some hours of mechwarrior I still can't for the life of me differentiate from each other.
But well, it's not like there's a lot of stompy robot games in the market right now!
Part of me has a great affinity for the older art style in the TROs for Battletech. Things seemed way more unique. PGI has been "modernizing" the design, and broadly homogenizing it as well. Which isn't to say a lot of the designs don't look better in a technical sense. A lot of the old TRO artwork was clearly done by some dude on a deadline and a budget. But it's also bleed some of it's original character as well. Some designs still stand out really well, like the Dragon, Awesome, Atlas and King Crab. But a lot, especially the upright humanoid ones, blend together a lot more than I feel like they used to.
Isn't the old art a bunch of unnecessary lines that look placed almost at random, obscuring the mech itself, and are near impossible to read (unless you're already familiar with the Japanese mech it's almost certainly trying to copy)?
You know, this kind of stuff?
It's the one I'm familiar with people referencing, at least.
To be fair, of the over 220 battlemechs introduced prior to the HG lawsuit, only ~30 were based on anime designs, with another half dozen loosely inspired ones (Like the Ost series, which never really looked like the Regults from Macross they were supposedly based on).
And remember, FASA licensed the rights to use those anime designs fair & square, albeit through a middleman that had licensed them from the animation studios. It was just the stuff from Macross that got them in trouble, because multiple separate Japanese companies involved with the original TV series had independently licensed different western companies to make stuff from it. The first North American localization of the show was done by a company called Harmony Gold, who had to cut a deal with model kit manufacturer Revell to merchandise it, because they had already been making merchandise from Macross under the name "Robotech Defenders" while HG were still getting started on adapting the cartoon for American television. Meanwhile Hasbro had licensed the molds for the series' main transforming jet fighter robot from a Japanese toymaker to be the original Skyfire toy for the Transformers G1 line. Macross' was just a giant clusterfuck of legal issues in the 80's.
Unless you're just talking about how any kind of "real robot" mecha is inspired by the general aesthetic of 80's mecha anime?
(Also, that Atlas is not a little reminiscent of the profile image for the Votoms scopedog, no)
Hahaha, I never realized how much of the Battletech "art" might have been lifted from lots of anime art. Yeah the overall mech might be different but the art you just posted is way too close to the Atlas original art. I think the lines thing was the art style of the artist at the time and less of him trying to scribble to make it look less like a copy and more like their own design. But considering the guys who made BattleTech said that they loved Japanese Robot art they might have been lifting a ton from the art they saw and did the lines on purpose like you think to avoid flat out copying.
Steam: betsuni7
As of last night my commander has become a war criminal who flattens city blocks just for the chance to knock an enemy off balance and take cover in the ashen corpse of a city and its people. In one horrific day this happened about seven times to the denizens of a single megacity. My guys have gone from a lighter shade of grey to jet-black morality with less than one in-game month. How the Argo won't be shot out of orbit on arrival is slightly baffling (I imagine there's some in-universe legal protections from mercs, but that wouldn't be a lot of help if their dark reputation preceded them by months).
All civilians were evacuated before any of this happened. The next day the civilians came out and rebuilt the entire town like it never happened thanks to space technology.
Steam: betsuni7
Yeah, I don't see it either.
Yeah, I'm glad that HG finally just ended their feud with Battletech/MechWarrior.
Steam: betsuni7
The Shadow Hawk, Griffin, Battlemaster, Scorpion, Thunderbolt, Wolverine, and Goliath all came from a series named “Fangs of Sun Dougram” Which, as far as I know, didn’t get much play outside of Japan.
Wasp, Stinger, Phoenix Hawk, Archer, Longbow, Marauder, Crusader, Warhammer, Rifleman were all Macross/Robotech designs.
(I know I'm missing a few in that list, but those are the ones that spring readily to mind)
The actual answer is that and a combination of battleships being super lostech because battleships and all similar technology were destroyed in the war that created the dark ages. Aside from a handful of few. Anti-orbital canons were never really a thing because they were too vulnerable to battleships. Battleships were all destroyed because battleships were how the wars were fought.
When the Star League fell the rest of the battleships were destroyed or fucked off to be a clan. And the few that remained were in the control of comstar. Who will blow the shit out of your battleship if they find you have one or might maybe acquire one.
Because while mechs level buildings battleships level planets and that is bad for business.
So in order to take down a transport vessel like the argo from orbit you would need to board it or ram it with another ship(all of which are likely to be lostech and therefore very valuable). Both of which are hard when the argo is able to put out 1 to 2 g constant.
You know, this does remind me of something that constantly sticks in my craw about the continued presence of The Argo in Battletech. And I say "continued presence" for a reason. That it exists isn't crazy for the setting. That it hasn't somehow been blown to smithereens, or had to contend with any contemporary existential threats at all really, feels very un-Battletech.
Have a great house you have a low enough reputation with attempt to sneak a saboteur on board. Have a DEST commando team board you. Have the Lyrans attempt to seize it for money owed over a contract dispute.
The Argo is a unique prize unlike any other, and if Battletech consistently proves anything, it's that such prizes will be fought over until they are destroyed.
I mean, I guess during the story, that one thing happens during a spoilery mission. But I don't really consider that a contemporary threat thematic with the sorts of nihilistic "if I can't have it, no one can" attitude the Inner Sphere, and especially the Inner Sphere of the early 3000's, consistently displays.
Now granted, the game would be a whole lot less fun if you're enjoying your stompy robot action, and then you fucking game over out of nowhere because a DEST space assault squad executed you in your cabin. But you know, some sort of flavor events evocative of the envy, fear and jealously people would look at the Argo with would have been nice.
Of course the States would still try to sabotage any strategic advantages the others might hold over them, but that doesn't really extend to a pathological effort to eliminate any and all recovered artifacts. Keep in mind that a lot of the past State actions to that effect were actually Comstar intrigues. In the grand scheme of things, a mercenary outfit with the Argo isn't really that big of a deal, it's less of a strategic concern than the merc companies that owned their own jumpships. Everything else it does could by replicated with a couple non-com dropships.
Self: I need to get this 500 Match Score event done.
Me: You know what to do, what's never steered you wrong for farming MS or damage.
Self: You're right, time to release the Kra....Corsair.
That'll do.
Absolutely agree. Grimdark can get to toxic doses pretty quick. The writers seemed to strike a good balance between humor, darkness of the setting, and good old fashioned heroism (there's a part of us all which lives to restore Kamea Arano to the Commorant throne). Still, the folks on here pointing out that the Argo is too pretty and cool to exist in the setting are probably right in the long run. We could probably start a pool on exactly when and which jealous noble "Bob" Kurita blabs the unfortunate Argo's prestigious layout to in the epilogue.
I'm not too worried about the badass battleships which I sadly just learned were part of the lore like a year ago despite playing Mechwarrior and Mechcommander (and actually because of Battletech 2016) and all their sequels over the years. My main concern would be the orbital guns present in other installments of the franchise (arguably a function of the Helm memory core and the IS getting their collective ---- together when the Clans made their base-breaking presence known) and as other folks pointed out all the insanely deadly boarding parties present depending on your location in the Periphery/Rimward IS. The fact that you can be caught by pirates in that random event implies you could be caught by someone much more organized, and the hatred of one or more factions probably carries more onuses than not being hired storywise. I think the Argo either leaves for the deep Periphery after the game (during the Fourth succession war), maintains a careful neutrality with all the factions who matter (they might safely ignore the Combine [and later the Capellans]), or manages to live for a while travelling only the stars of its allies.
....Typing all that, gods I hope they reconsider the game's finished status and do an expansion set in the fourth succession war. ...Codenamed Medea.
But, I dunno if the Argo would be a high enough value target for one of the Houses to go for.
It has no armor, is poorly armed, and can't land. About the best thing going for it is the mech and med bays which could make it useful as a command center, but it'd have to be very well defended because of the aforementioned issues with weaponry and armor. Further, it has no lostech of its own. I'm fairly certain just about everything about it could be recreated should somebody really want to.
I couldn't see one of the houses going through the trouble of hunting it down and taking it by force, but if it showed up over one of the worlds and a local noble decided he or she really wanted a unique toy they'd go for it.