One aspect of MWO that the dev’s of MWO talked about in the past was the Information Warfare and no one had a real clue what was meant with this phrase. As January shall be the Information Warfare Month Piranha games wrote another dev blog, this time given more information on Information Warfare.

I’m lazy and won’t summarize the post.. ;)

It’s a nice read..not too wordy or complex, but it makes me interested in that aspect of the game. Information warfare is all about knowing where your enemy is and what his current state is (Yes.. I summarized it.. a bit ;)). There will be several ways of how you can obtain that information and/or make it more difficult for your enemy to get this information. This gives more options for strategy/tactics in a fight ..and this is nice. Complex tactics tend to be really bad in pug situations though, but I think that this game will tend to push you towards Merc Corp/Faction (aka guild) groups anyways.. everything else would be a too shallow game. It will not be feasible for a solo’er to fight for control of a planet..though solo’ing is possible in some way I think that this is not the richest experience in the game. It’s about teamwork, which is imo always good for a PvP focused game.

So there are multiple ways to search for an enemy and as much ways to counter it.. which strongly enhances the group synergies. In general this all sounds quiet good, though  I remain a bit skeptic if it will be balanced in the right way. I hope that there will be some loop holes so that not every information can be gathered at all times. There should  always be the possibility to surprise someone, otherwise it can get boring/unbalanced.

Premades will already have the advantages of voice chat stuff.. but I have to search the forums again to find a hint how premades are handled. I think that I’ve read something about that..Well anyways.. the more I read about the game the more I’m interested. At least I get to play one year without the Clans.

oh..and I’m not going to play in a Merc Corp. I will be earning many Loyality Points with House Kurita … ;)

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Karic (doomdiver.wordpress.com)

 

I wanted to post this for a long time now.. It’s another little gallery (more to follow) of sceneries found in WAR. Not much text though..lazy me. ;)

They were taken on my trips through RvR. No special trips to search for a nice scenery were made. Originally the galleries (well..the series of galleries) were intended to show stuff that a Moba type game like WoH can’t deliver, but the more I played in the last weeks the more I realized that it can also serve as an eye-opener to current WAR players, because some people oversee the nice artwork done by Mythic back when they had money for such fluff-stuff. There is some stuff here people don’t see even though they are passing it nearly every day.. some stuff is a little more hidden.

I hope that you enjoy the gallery as much as I enjoy it when I find such a scene. There are still some pictures left to show you..if you like.

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Karic (doomdiver.wordpress.com)

Before I leave for a little Christmas break I want to wish you all happy holidays..merry Christmas..or whatever you are (not) celebrating.

Enjoy your time and we will see us in the new year.

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Karic (doomdiver.wordpress.com)

Though the title might imply that..I didn’t interview him ;)

The whole interview with Randall Bills can be found on the official MWO page.

“Who the.. is Randall Bills?” you might ask. To be honest I didn’t know him before that interview, but it’s a nice read. For you lazy folks out there.. he’s ..I quote here.. ” Continuity Editor and Fiction Content Manager” for MWO. He’s involved in MWO in a way many bloggers want to be involved in a game they like. He comments on proposed stories for MWO by Piranha Games. That’s a job for lore freaks and he is one..When you read the interview you will notice that. (Let’s hope that Piranha is listening to him). Need a proof? Well..here are some imo noteworthy quotes

When being asked what his favourite part of the job is he answered..

..And despite over 15 years working on BattleTech, it still remains one of my biggest geek-loves…the inner 14-year-old in me still yells that titanic metal robots stomping across alien worlds and blowing crap up never, ever gets old…

And this is so totally true.. BT is touching for some reason the inner-child/Teen. It’s ridculous.. big, heavy Mechs fighting against each other .. some story lines are quiet heavily loaded with stereotypes..but yet it’s still fascinating blowing things up with a PPC, no matter if it’s the Tabletop or a Computer game ;)  Sometimes I am surprised by myself.. When I drive on the Autobahn and there are some rolling hills and I think “Oh..that would be such a cool picture if now at that hill a Mech would appear and shoot with some lasers and LRM..”.. as I said..ridiculous, but nevertheless fun and entertaining. ;)

And there is another quote where he get’s a loud “Yeah you’re right!” from me..

MWO: Is there any part of MechWarrior you’d love to just take straight out of canon?

RB: I’ve said many times over the years that if I’d been there the game mechanics of the Clan weaponry would be very different. It’s not just how powerful those weapons are, but that it seemed from the get go to violate the story aesthetics as presented.

Here were these great, in-your-face warriors and yet they had weapons that allowed a player, in game to simply walk backwards and fire at crazy distances to down your enemy. When we introduced the Clan Heavy Lasers years ago those were more along the lines of what I thought the Clans should’ve had all along…really dangerous and powerful weapons, but shortish range, where the Clanner would be in his element, able to take down 3 and 4 enemy BattleMechs in a whirling dervish of expert maneuvering and markmanship.

This is something that’s also been an issue to me. Clan’s want to get into close combat, but have weapons which are exceptionally well at large distances.. it just doesn’t fit and broke a lot of the balancing in the game. So it doesn’t fit on two sides of the game..lore/aesthetics and game balance. Now we should wait how Piranha Games is handling this stuff. Clan weapons exist (note: see below *)..and you will most likely slot them in your Mech as soon as you can.

I don’t want to get too much into possible mechanics there..there have to be more details be announced on it before I comment on them.

One thing he also mentioned is the race to Assault Mechs..and that Piranha is really trying to make even light Mechs important, so not everyone tries to grab an Atlas or so. This is some tricky aspect..

(*especially in two years when Clans will arrive. Remember: MWO is going on in real time..So when the game launches it’s 3049, one year before the Clans attack. One year after the release “surprising” things will happen at the Periphery.)

.. so many improvements (an expansion) is in sight, bringing new …way more powerful..weaponry and Tech. Both giving more bang to more heavy Mechs and making it more a necessity to have some more armor, i.e. getting heavier. Well..we are before facts for the game exist..so it’s still time to lean back and see what Piranha is planning, but I’m really curious how they want to make every weight class in that game ..meaningful.

Just a final note… I wanted to explain why I highlighted the last word. Sorry to disappoint you, but being meaningful on the battlefield doesn’t mean that your Locust can kill an Atlas. This won’t happen.. your Locust will have a role on the battlefield to make it easier for your team mates to blow the Atlas up. This will have to get a team game if every weight class should be meaningful. And this game will …just like WAR..be painful if you solo it.

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Karic (doomdiver.wordpress.com)