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MechWarrior MMO...
xuiton
Member Posts: 133
First off, i already made this thread in the wrong section so i am reposting it here. Sorry virus as I know you posted quite abit in it.
Someone already mentioned in another thread about seeing this IP, however I created this thread for a possible indepth discussion about it.
WIth many planets and factions in this established IP, I have no doubt that the setting would work extremely well.
Game could be skill based progression just like EVE, there are many mechs that can easily be customised. So even if People had same Mechs they won't all be the same. Obviously not suggesting that this game rip off EVE, but an EVE system would work well for this IP, instead of level based progression.
Game would work with either FFA (like eve) or even with 2 or 3 factions at war or some sort of loose truce.
Staying true to the already established games, gameplay would be FPS or 3rd person twitch. However I am not sure it would work but gameplay might work as a standard MMORPG as well, but this would alienate already mechwarrior fans but might draw in the WoW crowd lol.
Planets and locations could be contested for PVP and there would be plenty of PVE with renegade clans or NPC factions holding planets and cities.
Any more suggestions or thoughs?
Comments
http://www.perpetuum-online.com/
I tried it. It has better systems than eve but i am a twitch player i dislike pnc
Although its not part of the "MechWarrior" franchise, if you're looking for a "mech" type game with Eve style progression, then look no further:
http://www.perpetuum-online.com/
EDIT: looks like Atak beat me to it XD
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
Yeah i am aware of this game and have applied for beta. However, i say mechwarrior because it is already an established IP.
I wouldn't go the EVE route for skills. I'd keep it more casual in the vein of PlanetSide's "certifications" system and leave it at that. Combat should be purely twitch, IMO.
I think the difficult part of a BattleTech MMO really stems from reconciling the peace/off-time activities and environments with the battlemech combat and battlefields.
Would you have it like EVE and just force players to "dock" before entering a highly civilized city?
Or would a Guild Wars type approach be best with the player-city hubs and instancing out the battlefields on a per player/group basis?
And how much should the peace/off-time activities and areas factor into gameplay? A little? A lot? Not at all? Are they even worth creating?
BattleTech is a great IP but it presents huge challenges to traditional MMO developers. Ideally, I'd like to see something like EVE but I still want to have an avatar and walk around (on foot) the streets of New Avalon safely.
There are some very basic game mechanics which are just difficult to translate. I think reconciling dismounted gameplay and activities with battlemech combat is the biggest hurdle. It's tough to tackle and I'm not sure what the best approach would be.
Yes i am more in favour of pure twitch based combat despite my inital post. I think EVE's system for skill/character progression would work well but nothing else. Especially after doing some research on that mech MMO already mention in this thread.
Players could craft/gather/mine etc, not everything would be limited to pure fps fighting as seen in normal MW games. I am unsure how a player would undock, it would be pointless to leave your mech just to run around a city just for the sake of it. Running round a city collection missions or quests would not contract with the world of a MW MMO i had in mind.
Personally I think the best implementation of a Mechwarrior MMO would focus on the IP's strengths and not be like, "OMG other MMOs have gathering skills so we need that too!"
So instead of some cheesy gather activity, you'd capture a mining facility in a mission and that would gain you a permanent income of resources. You'd then capture various types of production facilities, which would let you turn those resources into mech parts (and the mechs themselves.) In both cases, the activities associated with production are the strengths of the Mechwarrior series: mech combat.
You'd still want to be creative by offering a variety of activities -- after all you want to hold players' interest -- but I really don't think AFK-mining or running around Mining in a Mech are going to be a good way of doing that.
Instead I'd explore other activity types. Things like letting players enter seedy cantinas to negotiate for information (negotiations which might often be resolved through violence.) Of course the mere mention of this would require Avatar-based gameplay in addition to Mech-based gameplay, and I think that would be the "Big Risk" of trying to put out a Mechwarrior MMO (because so few games manage to make their 1 primary type of gameplay fun, let alone having to worry about 2 types.) And well, admittedly even seedy sci-fi cantinas aren't something heavily associated with the Mechwarrior IP and perhaps it'd be best for a Mechwarrior MMO to simply create a huge variety of mech-fighting-related activities which feel genuinely distinct from one another.
Also, I'd avoid EVE-style skill generation. It's very unrewarding and really only fits in a game about free-roam sandboxing (and even then I prefer normal advancement systems.) I don't see it fitting in a Mechwarrior MMO at all, tbh.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
See, I wouldn't be even remotely content if the game was nothing but mech combat and players never left the cockpit; I think that's a huge waste of the BattleTech IP, personally.
There's also a major problem reconciling the BattleTech timeline and the extremely dull and static nature of MMO game worlds.
In BattleTech there are many super-powers. Whether it's Star League era, Succession Wars, clan invasion, et cetera, there are huge nations throwing massive amounts of military power at one another.
How is that supposed to be modeled? Are we going to allow a player to play Prince of the Federated Suns or Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth or Clan Wolf Khan?
I think that's another one the biggest hurdles to successfully translate to an MMO. A stereotypically static MMO universe would destroy the IP and game.
I was thinking more along the lines that the major powers were in a truce and every player would be a merc, this would work if the game evolved around 2 factions or just FFA. True, the strengths would be pure mech combat but every once in awhile people in MMO's like to do something else no matter how much of a fan of the IP you are. You have to cater to that need.
And for progression I can't see level progression working, if there were no classes everyone would be exactly the same. If there were classes, everyone would be going combat, given the nature of the game.
I would subscribe. Just as long as it is up to par with my standards.... (not that high)
Pepsi1028
PEPSI!!!!!
Get out of your box already...
Yeah I don't get the "how is that supposed to be modeled" angle at all. It's a non-issue, and has never been an issue in prior Mechwarrior games.
As for classes, the "going combat" angle doesn't really make sense. In WOW, every class is "going combat" as far as the game is concerned, because every class is useful in its own way in a fight. That said, a Planetside-style certification system certainly seems to make more sense on first glance than a classic Class system. But even Planetside had levels, so I'm not sure why you feel level progression wouldn't work -- the idea of earning XP to advance is certainly a far stronger reward structure than EVE's (EVE's isn't even a reward structure, really.)
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
So you're not going to allow players to actually join any of the major houses, any of the periphery nations, or the clans? All we get to be are IS mercs?
What a waste of time, IMO.
Wow dude, i am not some CEO actually making the game. Well a merc could easily work for a nation or clan house. As i said there could be 2 factions, which means when you create your avatar, you would automatically be part of a house or nation.
You're the first person I know who got this agitated over battletech's lore. For the vast majority, the mech combat is what makes Battletech Battletech. The lore is largely tertiary to the experience, and the concept of choosing a faction has never ever been important.
The only Btech game I remember which let you choose a faction (Mechwarrior 1) was actually kinda bland for providing that choice. Instead of giving you the flavor of a particular house like every other Btech-inspired game, Mechwarrior 1 provided a very generic experience. Only part of that is due to MW1 being so old -- part of it is the natural efficiencies regarding game design (you can make 1 experience feel more flavorful than trying to design 6+ separate experiences.)
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Overall, this thread is somewhat doomed - because you are going to have the folks from the MW video games and their limited knowledge of the BT Universe and the tabletop/PnP people that were somewhat happy with part of MW but somewhat sad at how much was missing.
'Mechs ain't cheap. Most 'merc companies were pretty poor, running ragtag jury-rigged machines that would fall over if somebody sneezed. Most of the Houses (major and minor) had the tendency to use and abuse 'mercs. Even with third party arbitration provided by ComStar and then the Dragoons - things were still very hairy. Most 'mercs ended up forgotten fodder or turning to piracy and being hunted down.
For a persistent world setting, whether just FPS/TPS/RTS or with RPG elements - you would still need to explain how you would replace lost 'mechs. It would make more sense for the Major Houses to be able to replace them (though even there, they still do not grow on trees).
You would often have planets with only one or two 'mechs - where a former mechwarrior had been given a land title and the machine had been passed down through the generations.
You would not have the "oh crap, glad I've got a saved game" nor the "oh well, died, respawn, 'ere we go again!" going for you in a BT/MW MMO...
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
The entire canon lore of the universe is tertiary?
Are you f*****g high?
BattleTech, which to you is probably just MechWarrior, is one of the richest and most vast sci-fi IPs ever created. Sorry, but factions are a big deal.
The difference between a freeborn Inner Sphere and a Clanner is titanic.
BattleTech is not just giant fighting robots.
Whats wrong with being an IS merc? Its the best way to implement in game guilds within the lore anyway. You could make your lineage be from wherever. Having IS people have to fight vs clan would be unfair anyway.
----ITS A TRAP!!!----
not sure if any one has told you this . . . . . but your about a decade too late:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplayer_BattleTech_3025
closest you will get now is front mission, which I know isnt mechwarrior.
Yeah but the topic is about a mechwarrior mmo not a battletech one.
Mechwarrior was the name of the RPG in Battletech.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/MechWarrior,_First_Edition
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
Then there is just some good ol' regular reading on what happened:
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50247
http://www.smithandtinker.com/news/smith-and-tinker-acquires-fasa-ips.php
http://battletech.catalystgamelabs.com/
http://www.mektek.net/projects/mw4/
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
The way I see it the only way a Mechwarrior style game would work in the MMO genre would be this:
There would have to be factions(Houses). At least 4 or possibly 6. This would not only add variety to the game as each house would have it's own starting area(or Planet) but also would make the PvP in the game make a little more sense. It would also make it so the starting areas would be a 'safe zone' so to speak for newbies as all in the area would be of the same House.
The game should be skill based with no classes. This would allow players to somewhat diversify without losing what makes Mechwarrior the game that it is and will allow for the all combat nature of the game. The 'Holy Trinity' just wouldn't work in the Mechwarrior universe. Skills would be raised through use.
The game should have ranks based on your skills. This would be 4 ranks that would directly relate to the 4 weight classes of mechs(Light, Medium, Heavy and Assault). You would advance in rank by raising a certain number of skills to a given level. Lets say you raise 10 skills from 0 to 25... this would let you advance to the next rank and let you pilot a Medium Mech. 50 in 10 skills would let you advance to Heavy and so on.
The game should have a completely player run economy from buying and selling salvage and maybe from a crafting/upgrading/repairing type system.
The Mech weapon mounting/upgrading system should work just like it does in Mechwarrior 4. This would make sure there isn't anyone running around in a Flea Light Mech with 4 PPCs mounted on them. The overheating system should work in a similar way as well.
These are my thoughts on what would make a Mechwarrior game fit into the framework of a MMO.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
The lore isn't tertiary. In fact, if done acccurately based upon, oh, the creators of the IP, the lore defines what mechs you have access to. There are variants that the Lyran Commonwealth have access to that Draconis Combine doesn't. Add in the Clans and there are more haves and have nots.
Just because the first games didn't delve into it for whatever reason doesn't meant the lore isn't paramount. It's what makes the Battletech Universe Battletech and not GoBots, M.A.S.K.. Robotech or Transformers (each of which has the possibility to have a human inside a giant machine while it is fighting.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
OMFG...
No need to be hungup on an "established IP"
Perpetuum seems to be everything you are looking for.
Perhaps I should distill things down:
There are about 15 battletech videogames.
About 13 of those don't involve extensive faction-choosing. In most you're assigned a fixed faction and play through a fixed story.
The majority of Battletech videogames have nevertheless been very fun.
All I'm doing is pointing out the fact that lots of battletech videogames have managed to be fun, and that the issue you're bringing up is a complete non-issue because it's never been an issue in the past.
Lore is free marketing. It adds the familiarity factor that people like, and Battletech is certainly a solid IP to leverage. But let's not fool ourselves. If Game A has the Battletech Lore but average gameplay and Game B has the Best Mech Combat Ever, people are going to play Game B (even if the lore in Game B is weaker.) Gameplay absolutely trumps Lore. Lore is tertiary.
FWIW, I'm actually still sorta a Battletech fanboy. Played tabletop. Played probably 12-13 of those 15 videogames. Worked on MW4 and MW4: Black Knight. Apart from the last few releases (the XBox games) I've had a ton of fun over the years in the Battletech IP. But never once was I hung up on whether a Btech game let me choose factions -- I simply rode out the fun, wherever it took me.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver