Current builds Mediums - Hunchbacks

Hunchbacks

• HBK-4P Laser boat
• HBK-4G Founders with Dual AC/2

MWO Booklist

http://www.stargazerserv.com/csv/btech/battletech_novel_list.htm

BattleTech Novel List

This is a complete listing of BattleTech Novels in the order in which they should be read which is in approximately Chronological order, not when the books were actually published. This will give you a sense of flow for the events of the BattleTech Universe.

I say approximate Chronological order, because some books, or series, cover the events in others.  For example, the Jade Phoenix Trilogy acutally starts before The Blood of Kerensky series, and ends after it.  It is placed where it is because, The Blood of Kerensky Series, while written later, provides background for the Jade Phoenix.  (confusing is it not??)

Book Title	Author	Comments
Sword and the Dagger	Ardath Mayhar	The 31st Century begins
Decision at Thunder Rift	William H. Keith Jr.	Saga of the Grey Death Legion -- Book 1
Mercenary’s Star	William H. Keith Jr.	Saga of the Grey Death Legion -- Book 2
The Price of Glory	William H. Keith Jr.	Saga of the Grey Death Legion -- Book 3
Warrior: En Guarde	Michael A. Stackpole	Birth of the Federated Commonwealth--Book 1
Warrior: Riposte	Michael A. Stackpole	Birth of the Federated Commonwealth--Book 2
Warrior: Coupe	Michael A. Stackpole	Birth of the Federated Commonwealth--Book 3
Wolves on the Border	Robert N. Charrette
Heir to the Dragon	Robert N. Charrette
Lethal Heritage	Michael A. Stackpole	The Blood of Kerensky -- Book 1
Blood Legacy	Michael A. Stackpole	The Blood of Kerensky -- Book 2
Lost Destiny	Michael A. Stackpole	The Blood of Kerensky -- Book 3
Way of the Clans	Robert Thurston	Jade Phoenix Trilogy -- Book 1
Bloodname	Robert Thurston	Jade Phoenix Trilogy -- Book 2
Falcon Guard	Robert Thurston	Jade Phoenix Trilogy -- Book 3
Wolf Pack	Robert N. Charrette
Main Event	James D. Long
Ideal War	Christopher Kubasik	Is there room for Honor in a dirty little war?
Natural Selection	Michael A. Stackpole
Assumption of Risk	Michael A. Stackpole
Blood of Heroes	Andrew Keith
Close Quarters	Victor Milan
Far Country	Peter L. Rice
D.R.T	James D. Long
Tactics of Duty	William H. Keith Jr.
Bred for War	Michael A. Stackpole
I am Jade Falcon	Robert Thurston
Star Lord	Donald G. Phillips
Highlander Gambit	Blaine Lee Pardoe
Hearts of Chaos	Victor Milan
Operation Excaliber	William H. Keith Jr.
Malicious Intent	Michael A. Stackpole
Black Dragon	Victor Milan
Impetus of War	Blain Lee Pardoe
Double Blind	Loren L. Coleman
Binding Force	Loren L. Coleman
Exodus Road	Blaine L. Pardoe	Twilight of the Clans -- Book 1
Grave Conenant	Michael A. Stackpole	Twilight of the Clans -- Book 2
The Hunters	Thomas S. Gressman	Twilight of the Clans -- Book 3
FreeBirth	Robert Thurston	Twilight of the Clans -- Book 4
Sword and Fire	Thomas S. Gressman	Twilight of the Clans -- Book 5
Shadows of War	Thomoas S. Gressman	Twilight of the Clans -- Book 6
Prince of Havoc	Michael A. Stackpole	Twilight of the Clans -- Book 7
Falcon Rising	Robert Thurston	Twilight of the Clans -- Book 8
Threads of Ambition	Loren L. Coleman	The Capellan Solution -- Book 1
The Killing Fields	Loren L. Coleman	The Capellan Solution -- Book 2
Dagger Point	Thomas Gressman
Ghost of Winter	Stephen Kenson	One of the MechWarrior Books, while set in the BT Universe, presents no information that furthers the time line.
Roar of Honor	Blaine Lee Pardoe	One of the MechWarrior Books, while set in the BT Universe, presents no information that furthers the time line.
By Blood Betrayed	Blaine Lee Pardoe & Mel Odem	One of the MechWarrior Books, while set in the BT Universe, presents no information that furthers the time line.
Illusions of Victory

Loren L. Coleman
Is the game world of Solaris VII a reflection of the Inner Sphere?
Flashpoint
Loren L. Coleman
Measure of a Hero
Blaine Lee Pardoe

Path of Glory
Randall N. Bills

Test of Vengeance
Bryan Nystul
Patriots and Tyrants
Loren L. Coleman
Call of Duty
Blain Lee Pardoe
Initiation to War
Robert N. Charette
A MechWarrior Book, it does further the time line
The Dying Time
Thomas S. Gressman
A MechWarrior Book, it does further the time line
Storms of Fate
Loren L. Coleman
Imminent Crisis
Randall N. Bills
A MechWarrior Book, it does further the time line
Operation Audacity
Blaine Lee Pardoe
EndGame
Loren L. Coleman
Ghost War
Michael A. Stackpole
First of the MechWarrior Dark Age books:  set approximately 80 years after End Game
A Call to Arms
Loren L. Coleman
Ther Ruins of Power
Robert E. Vardeman
A Silence in the Heavens
Martin Del Rio
Truth and Shadows
Martin Del Rio
Service for the Dead
Martin Del Rio
By Temptations and by War
Loren L. Coleman

Tactic Tip #108

Map: River City
Mode: Assault
Time: Day
The last game of the night for our group. The team request the run straight at the enemy base; straight up the river. We are running stealth since the Atlas DDC is leading the charge (slowly) with EMC.
We expected to either meet them in the water or for them to base defend.
However, we walked straight into the enemy base and killed the hunchback guarding it in a focused fire attack.
By now, the rest of the opposing team had turned back to their base ...the result of doing this is heavy loss if you "conga-line" into the base.

You must have one mech in the base to stop the capture the problem is getting into the base to staying alive long enough to take out the mechs capping you.

Do not be distracted by the number of mechs in your base  ....you must stay in the base to stop a capture. I like to win by combat but in this case the strategy (communication, capping, stealth, focus fire) beats almost anything hands down.

What could you do different?

You can send out scouts to find the enemy leave 3 mechs behind to watch the base. Send 4 mechs to capture the enemy with the knowledge that a enemy capture means stop whatever you are doing and return to base. The 3 at base will need to stay on base or keep the enemy completely disorganized while the rest of the team returns.

That was a great end to the matches last night.

 

 

State of the Game (MechWarrior Online)

TL;DR: It is still beta.

Details:
Right now, we have no repair or rearm bills. Once you purchase a mech (either with C-bills you earned or by dropping real money in game) you can play that mech without any penalty. This leads to some reckless behavior by some pilots. It also leads to some severe frustration when playing with people outside of communication.
There is a side of people trying to play this game as if it were solo ...they are very interested in their stats (either win loss ratio or kill death ratio or both). There is another set of people interested in playing a team game with comms that is learning to play using strategy and techniques. Then there are those who just play the game for fun they love the IP and will play just to pilot a 80 ton mech.
Now you can be a member of any of these groups or all of them but there are 2 pieces of information that are vital.
With so many gaming choices out there - Are you coming back to play this game?
What would you pay to play if they were charging or would you find something else?

Replayability is huge it keeps you drawn in and talk to your friends about it. It makes you stay for "just one more" when you are thinking about shutting down. It makes you say the next time I/We will win or at least take out an enemy before I/we am/are done for the night.

ECM is a problem.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/ECM_Suite
The game shows one mech umbrella covering all the mechs in 180 meter of the ECM. It is overpowered and with little negative repercussions. Sensors can sometimes override this jamming, though by that point the enemy unit is already within visual range and can track the opposition with their own eyes.
What this has led to is a game of who has more ECM in many cases.
My Suggestions:

• A huge cost for ECM if destroyed (100,000 cbills) 
• A large amount of heat generated while in use 
• Forcing the ECM mech to remain stationary while active (reducing the range while moving would work)

Stalkers are HARD to kill!

Image ripped from http://themittani.com/news/mwo-december-18th-patch-news

Back in my day the trouble with games.

I was watching a movie recently
"Trouble with the Curve" - if you havent seen it - it is ok. A baseball movie from a scout perspective. A scout who uses his eyes vs all the new techniques offered by stats and computers.

This scout is portrayed by Clint Eastwood ....a favorite actor of mine from when I was a kid. However, in his old age I think he is nothing but a washed out, grumpy, old, man ...in every movie he is in ...it isnt getting better. He is an ass - so I am wondering if this is his real peronality sneaking into the movies or he is really a great actor. I guees I just don't like him any more. He growls and complains the whole movie.

 Gran Torino - I saw in the theater and I hated it ...you just cannot get grumpier than this --->

 Dirty Harry .....right on! Angry cop and he fit the bill.

Good the Bad and the Ugly. Greatest Spaghetti Western ever!

 

What does this have to do with gaming? you may ask. Well I have begun to hear a lot of people say things like "well in this game they do this" or "that game they fixed this issue with this solution" I even find myself doing it. The question is can PGI fix the issues with ideas learned from other games or come up with a solution of their own ...and implement it quick enough not to turn people away from them. OR PGI could just grumpier and old ....eventually they will be praised for something I just hope they arent recognized for growly grumpiness.

 

 

Quoteable Wednesday version 9.0

Hicks: I like to keep this handy... for close encounters.
Frost: I heard *that.*
Aliens 1996

Wow huge patch yesterday ....I have never ran out of ammo so much lol! Final match of the night I played my dual AC2 hunchback. AC/2's are lightweight autocannons they work from pretty far away and they sound awesome. They can rip apart a mech if you can get a clean shot off.
The sound though they make is awesome - my wife can hear them through my headset and she does this every time.

New announced hero mechs - Fang and Flame

This might be my first purchase of a hero mech. Looks really rad!

Morgan Freeman and heroes in times of crisis.

I, in general do not like celebrities. I do not get star stuck like many people to me they are just people who happen to have a job that gets a lot of attention. Some stars can handle it others cannot.
Many of them use it as a platform ...and if you ask them their opinion you will get an earful.

Having said that I like Morgan Freeman the actor - I do not know what he believes or his politics ..I like his voice - very regal and commanding. He is a man that played God and I would like to think God has a voice as commanding and as powerful as MF. This quote is attributed to Morgan Freeman speaking about the deaths of the children in Connecticut:

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."

I don't know the name of the guy that did this and I really don't care what his name is or why he did it ...I didn't even know about the incident until my wall started filling up with sympathy towards Connecticut.

There are heroes here in this incident as with all trauma there is a few who if asked before the day started if they knew they may die would they have jumped in would probably have no idea until that second they would jump in. Being a hero means you do something beyond what anyone else would do to show an amazing display or feat that is beyond what people expect at the risk of your own life to give up your life for someone else.
Super heroes - have powers that humans do not.
A firefighter is doing his job ...he become a hero when he risky everything, even disobeys his commander to rescue someone.
Captain Sullenberger was a pilot until he landed the United Flight 1549 in a miraculous way. He then became a hero.

In Connecticut:
A worker who turned on the intercom, alerting others in the building that something was very wrong. A custodian who risked his life by running through the halls warning of danger. A clerk who led 18 children on their hands and knees to safety, then gave them paper and crayons to keep them calm and quiet.



Columbine Victims - Columbine Heroes
Virginia Tech Victims - Virginia Tech Heroes
Aurora Shooting Victims - Aurora Heroes
Oregon Mall Victims - Oregon Mall Heroes
Sandy Hook Elementary Victims

Tactic Tip #107

So the other day our team is in a huge heated battle in Caustic Valley. Caustic Valley is a horrible place and really not worth fighting for but that is for the policians to decide ...we fight.
We also are losing ...the enemy is down to 2 mechs both torn up really bad we are down to ONE.

We had all thought he was either disconnected or AFK because he wasn't moving. He was sittign as if he had just landed from the dropship. We announce over com ...he is afk or disconnected ...leg him and cap us.

When they shoot him suddenly he springs into action. Now thsi is just sick ...he destroys both of them and our team which had for all intents lost ...was victorious.

Was it a trick? Was he really afk? Did I inadvertently give false information?

I do not know if this guy was just waiting or was in another window however it reinforces 2 things:

1. Communications are vital.
2. Dis-information is valueable if not unreliable.

Quotable Wednesday version 8.0

Bryan: "I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."  TAKEN 2008

Classy line ....overquoted some may say. I feel many times running into a match feels this way. You join a match for a battle ...they sneak to cap the base. You have 2 choices really. Run back and defend or race to cap them first.

The strategy is deciding at what point you have overcommitted to running to the enemy base. I got "yelled" at by someone (not sure if it was a pug on my team or a enemy mech). Telling me what kind of person I was for running to base instead of fighting it out with the enemy.

Tactic Tip #106

Stay in the bubble of the ECM (Electronic Counter Measure)

 

This simple device limited to certain mech's has become a hugely popular and integrated tactic. I believe it will be nerfed  fixed but we will see.

 

What has happened is more people are using The D-DC Atlas (which is devastating) 4 of them are extremely difficult to manage or using 2 Ravens with ECM and staying in range of them so effectively you cannot hit them with missiles or jamming you so you cannot see any of them on your map until it is too late.

 

By staying with your team under the bubble of ECM you are effectively able to keep going as long as you stay with your teammates.

 

Here is how I see ECM

Your team EMC Jamming the enemy.

Your team has EMC Counteracting the Jam from the enemy.

 

It has become a game of who has more EMC or mechs with only ballistics and lasers.

 

Here is a new good fact I have found ...run only 4 man groups ...Yup you heard me run a 4 man group and you will launch more often and win more frequently.

Quotable Wednesday version 7.0

Mugatu: "I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!”- - Zoolander

Seriously PGI adds 8 man groups back and ECM.

ECM makes me feel like a the whiners in the forums ...its so overpowered. It jams electronics or can obscure the enemy  from your view. It makes it very very hard to target the mechs from range.

A lot of losing. CRAZY PILLS!

AMD vs Intel

It is not every game I play that this even comes up. In fact, most gamers don't even know what they have ...will my computer be able to play it? Will it run on a mac? These are more common than "what processor are you using?"

I guess the thing with MWO is connection matter, memory matters, video card matters, CPU matters ...or does it?



Everyone knows by now that AMD is ATI now. Intel has its own video card division but most people when given the choice will choose a external video card ..In my case it has been Nvidia for years. I have never owned a ATI except for a home theater pc with an all-in-wonder card. I never was impressed with the graphics (probably due to the TV I was outputting to).
My opinion has been that AMD exist to keep Intel pricing down and to force them to remain competitive.  AMD has some really good technology but unless you are writing code to specifically take advantage of it there is no benefit. I still believe this to be true. The last computer I built (Jan 2012) I tried to build AMD but the Intel components were only 10$ higher - of course I went over my original build budget because I saw shinies and in reality I increased my own cost.
My wife needs a new pc and here is another opportunity for AMD.
I am looking at Sapphire's EDGE
http://techiser.com/sapphire-edge-vs8-mini-desktop-amd-trinity-cpu-153908.html

 

Quotable Wednesday version 6.0

Cain Marko: "Don't you know who I am? I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!"
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

With the 4 man lance we have been stuck with since the end of October. I have gotten to be pretty good with utilizing 3 other players and "hoping" the other guys either

1. act as a decoy
2. act as a meatshield
3. follow us and assist focus firing

The only issue with 4 man lance is someone taking charge. I get nominated by default from some of these guys ...I get a kick out of it because I never want to lead but I pop into the channel and they are like "oh cool you lead" lol Fine fine!
Focus firing is key. I am running my dual ac/20 cat ...if you get in my face I will kill you. I will also overheat LOL.

I have to get screenshots of some of these kills. I killed a jenner that had been harassing us in Forest City ...he had the unfortunate problem of coming around a corner and running straight toward me. I blasted 2 ac/20's at point lank range and killed him. BOOM like he was there then he wasn't there. It was kind of like Kirk demanding to be beamed up before some emergency killed him. The emergency happens and they are all screaming into the com ..." Did we get him?, did we get him?"

Third person view MWO?

Wow, PGI is actually now talking about how they could include a third person view.

This has been a hotly requested and denied request. Just about 50% of noobs, players of other mmos have either asked about it or stated this game will fail without one.

Old school players, beta players and everyone else has either stated they will quit or learned to play without it.

So what is PGI to do ..they have to appeal to the masses because they are a F2P game or languish in obscurity. They are talking about how to add it in without giving an advantage - something that everyone could turn on and off.

How about a 3rd person view after you die that is limited to what other mechs can see?
How about a remote cam you can release as a module limited to one shot per game?
How about third person view to take screenshots? Maybe even after a match like a replay mode?


What would you suggest? Remember it cannot give an advantage to your team.

PC Gamer code contest fail HOWEVER a win!

Draegneir is the winner!

Ok my first contest from the blog and I failed. I had 9 people (just 9) that applied said they wanted in.
I picked a winner and ooops FAIL ...the winner that was chosen left me no way to contact them ..I asked they contact me ......annnnnd nothing ...sheesh!

So I go through the list of the others that wanted in ONLY one person had a contact and he had already gotten the code.

SOOOOOO

I have a code ...available to the next person who emails me their in game pilot name and email address. I will post the winners name and I hope one day to be able to play with or against them!

This won't happen next time. I have a virtual hat website to do the drawing and will require a mwo user name and email address!

Tactic Tip 105

Orbit Orbit Orbit

It simply does not matter if you have 8 man premades (which I love and miss*) or 4 man lance. If you have one of the team in an assault calling targets and everyone else running around him protecting his back and watching the sides you may not win but I guarantee you a fun time.

* Supposedly the 8 man premades are coming back on Tuesday Nov 20th 2012.

Quotable Wednesday version 5.0

"I - drink - your - milkshake! I drink it up!" Daniel Plainview There will be blood. 2007

This quote has become a meme. I saw the movie and well I was completely underwhelmed. I mean it just isn't my type of movie. This quote though stands out to me. In the film, the phrase was intentionally used as a metaphor: sucking milkshake from someone else to demonstrate not only oil drainage from prized land, but the harsh nature of how cruelty often trumps meekness.
He is explaining how even if he has a milkshake and you have a milkshake his straw is long enough to drink your milkshake and his milkshake.

I have heard players complain about stealing their kill. I am not sure if they are serious or joking sometimes. A lot of players are so concerned with stats in this game from Kill/Death ratio and Win/Lose ratio. The real ratio that matters is fun/doing something else.

Tom Cruise as a Commando

You be the judge!

Tom Cruise is starring in a movie called "Groundhog Day" "ALL YOU NEED IS KILL" where he relives dying over and over. I just thought it was kind humorous.

Tactic Tip 105

4 man lance success is sticking together. The Assault mech calling the target and everyone else supporting him, keeping flies off his back, and focus firing. I call it orbiting. This has proven very very successful for us.

I am not sure why PGI decided to try 4 man lance + 4 man pug. I am guessing it is purely based on match making and giving noobs a chance at winning and less complete pug stomping.
We actually had a 4 man lance last night and when we dropped in we were informed to stay together they were a 4 man premade. So we ended up with 2 premade lances versus well they lost ....soundly.

I can say we lost a few matches due to lack of coordination with the pugs on several matches we pulled out some squeekers though and overall I had a fun time.

I will also say before this 4 man premade business I had fun just dropping in and winning or losing. I am finding without my team though I do not like playing as much. I can find better things to do with my time. What does that mean for the future of the game?

So last night

I pugged 8 games and lost them all. Its frustrating to log in and want to play easily jump into a match and fail over and over. I am not pointing the blame at anything but here is what others were complaining about; overpowered LRMs, uncoordinated teams, failure to communicate.
I finally decided I had had enough when my wife said:
"I can tell you are in a pug because you are not talking and you look really unhappy."
I truly did not have fun last night and that my readers is a bad sign for MWO.
I can say this I looked awesome exploding over and over.

This isn't me but this is what it felt like all night.

Quotable Wednesday version 4.0

"You hear me talkin', hillbilly boy? I ain't through with you by a damn sight. I'm gonna get Medieval on your ass." - MARCELLUS WALLACE (Ving Rhames) in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Well hello patch day!

All I can say is WOW the forest city is beautiful ...polished in fact it looks ready for prime time. The only flaw I saw in the environment was snow in the cave. I am telling you last night after a pretty large patch this game is looking good.

I upgraded to Artemis IV for my missiles. This is an 1.2 million dollar upgrade that assures better accuracy of missles (by 35%) ...and I can honestly say I see the results. The missiles right now are very tightly packed and they look awesome streaking across the battlefield. Supposedly, Artemis requires line of sight to work and you must have one for each system (ie if I had lrm 5 and lrm 15 I would need 2 Artemis ...I run with 2xLRM 10s and once I made the purchase all of my missiles say LRM Ammo + Artemis IV and my arms both say LRM 10 + Artemis)

The heat issues still remains. In fact, I over-heated twice last night in 8 matches and the only solution was to power down and reignite. I have not bought into endosteel, double heat sinks or ferro-fiberous armor. I just dont have enough information or space at least as far as my catapult is concerned. I would love to hear from others what builds are working. It is hard to build a missile boat when you can't carry many missiles.

It was nice seeing a bunch of camo'd mechs and I know people are into customizing but it is getting a lot more attention than matchmaking, weapon balance, in game comm.

PGI are hiring new people so that is a good sign. The question is will it be fast enough. They have removed the in game tracker of people. I feel like that is a double edge sword ....are they hiding their numbers because in closed beta we saw a max of 3k people ..now that we are in open beta have the numbers not changed? I was hoping to see 10k but maybe it isnt hitting the numbers they were hoping ...can it survive as a game if they don't reach some marketing persons number?

Drawing for PC Gamer Skin and free Nvidia Bobblehead announcement.

The winner of the PC Gamer skin and bobblehead. I tried to make this as fair as possible.

 

DIXBEE I will be sending you an email with the code! Actually I need an email address from you. If I do not hear from you in a couple of days I will pass the code to someone else.


I am very grateful to all of you reading my blog and will keep posting new things as I get them and hope to hold more contest.


This is free bobblehead and open to almost everyone. Log on to facebook and allow the app.
https://www.facebook.com/NVIDIAGeForce/app_163278447150177
You enter in your info and get a code. Then goto http://mwomercs.com/nvidia and enter the code

Back from vacation.

I got back today and I am so tired from all the travelling. Tomorrow I will post some new content and get this rolling again.

looking forward to gettting back into the game and working with some teams.

Quotable Wednesday version 3.0

“Maybe we can build a fire, sing a couple of songs!” - Carter Burke - Aliens

Last night (Wednesday) was bad ...so bad I wanted to log out. A full group of guys (premade) and we were failed every drop. This guy is waiting for an open spot and chimes in to tell us all what we are doing wrong.

....Now I am not sayign he wasn't right ...mostly he was because he couldn't see what we awere doing but could tell we were failing so he made some suggestions. The problem is was though his approach.
He was an asshole.

We lost a few matches here and there but I would say 12 out of 16 drops were victories after he joined us. Calling out strats and (again) focus firing.

I didn't want to quit because we were losing or because he called out sound strats -- I wanted to quit because of his attitude.

I grew past it and ended up enjoying the night. He is still an asshole.

How to burn a bridge that is already on fire.

I just read a post on the ancient gaming noob about the EA employee that basically dragged out all the inside drama from Warhammer Online explaining how it pretty much was written off as a failure and how pretty much anything to do with that group was failure ...even bleeding off into SWTOR.

Gaming wise Warhammer online was very good, fun, fast paced. Its major flaw was twofold - no good endgame and no third realm. Pointed out among other things:  unrealistic goals, out of touch and lying management, a dramatically over optimistic public spokesperson, and bad marketing.

The most proud accomplishment in SWTOR was voice overs which I admit they were good ..movie quality even. I have never wanted a game to work more ...it kills me it failed. I believe had it been F2P to start with it may not be in its last days. But they spent soooo much money on production the IP is lost.

So here we are in MWO another tabletop, and a well known IP. F2P from the start selling a founders program that has made them over 5 million and the game isn't even in open beta. So far the glitches are worked on weekly. The advertising is not overly promising and they are listening to their testers.

They have great ambitions for things to come. Many, many people in the company are involved in the public.

So what do you guys thing ...are you so caught up in other games you do not know how much time you can invest in MWO or are you going all in?

I am enjoying MWO so much right now its hard to even concentrate on other games.

Tactic Tip 104

Leadership

The action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do.

So many games have been won by someone stepping up to take control ...even a hair-brained scheme different than the normal to turn around a potential loss.

We are down 6 to 8 in mechs
One pilot rallies us together ....go "C" line now to intercept ...everyone return to base to defend they are almost there! Jenner head to enemy base and help me out.
We stop firing on the mech that was heading in the Caldera and spin back towards base.
The leader is missing one arm and one leg of his mech but limping toward their base with one following him.
5 of us arrive back at our base just in time ..and we destroy them standing in our base.
We win as the mech chasing our leader has overheated and is destroyed by the jenner.

Leadership it is not for everyone but you should try it every once in a while ...most groups love to have someone else run the mission once in a while.

Quotable Wednesday Version 2.0

Funboy: "Look what you've done to my sheets."

Last night out of twelve games I lost one. I was running my streakcat and my team made me feel like a rockstar with great tactics.

Reminds me of Funboy's comment to the Crow after being shot with his own gun. He exclaims "Look what you've done to my sheets." The streaks firing down on unsuspecting enemies.

Its fun to beat the crap out of a team; especially a well known premade.

Power to the people?!?!

Unbelievable, PGI reacted after I am sure many meetings and turmoil internally.

They have decided to back off the open beta starting on the 16th. This is huge because "something" happened on Tuesdays patch ...something really, really, bad.

You would be playing along fine (if you did not craash on dropship deployment). The game would suddenly start "rubber banding" and the lag would pretty much end the game. The timer would never go down and you would no longer take damage.

Pilots and testers went to the forums, twitter, facebook, and private messages convinced the management that going open was a horrible move.

I sure would not have wanted to have my head on the chopping block for making the wrong decision. Most of us said it was a bad idea but accepted it. My biggest concern was going open beta and losing contact with a bunch of really good players.

I made a post on the forums ...half in sarcasm, but based in reality about what made so many people choose not to be on voice chat. Many people moaned about my choices (if I had room for 1000 answers it would not have been enough). The answers arent fair, reasonable; it must have been a ragepoll. Seriously a ragepoll? You have got to be trolling it was a serious question ...for people to responded that it was ragepoll or I must be immature ...well you are wrong.

It was legit and sincere; I really wanted to know if it was burn out; physically impossible; solo game play; or what is driving you to not be part of the voice community.

Tactic Tip 103

Flanking

 

 

Last night after patching I load in and Teamspeak is down ...I launch the forums to see what happened ...well they do not know but they are aware it is down. I see post that indicate people have found back up teamspeak servers so I hop onto NGNG's teamspeak ...ahhh friendly faces (names really) and I am welcomed into a group.

 

 

I have never played with some of these guys before; and so it goes you never know how or if you can work with them.

 

When we launch 2 guys crash out. Dammit, now we are down 6 to 8. I am in LRM mode so I am useless without a scout (we lost the only one in the crash). So we try a flanking maneuver (this time it fails because we shoot too early but it was a close game).

 

Someone mentions that on the forum right now there is some issue with lag and people firing on disconnected mechs making the lag worse or staying connected after your mech is destroyed will cause lag. the theories are endless ...bottom line hanging out after you die or are disconnected is bad mojo.

 

So we decide to do flanking for the rest of the night you run on a sideways path toward the enemy base and while they are setting up to receive you you sneak in behind and them and kill them in a worse case you are closer to their base than they are to your base.

 

It worked and the matches were over with us claiming victory 8 times out of the 7 matches I played in.

 

 

Do You Want Original Computer Voice Actress Back

I saw this on the forums. You know "the voice" if you played any MW2 you know this voice all to well. Forum topic

Carole Ruggier

She is an amazing voice actress and I would at this point bet money on her involvement.

 

 



Exciting news because on teamspeak I have heard players playing the dropship sound and voice while we are all "ready"ing up.

It sets the tone and draws you in. Worthy of a new blog post :D

Open Beta begins 10-16 and what does it mean.

Wow  ... I mean we all knew it was happening at some point. Everthing I had read indicated that it was happening on Oct 16th; however, all the people I talked to in voice chat were like "No way, NO WAY will they open beta in the next month or even by the end of the year".

Timeline:
September 21st: PC Gamer cover announced with in game mech skin and bobblehead
October 3rd: NDA dropped and "Take Your Best Shot" contest announced
October 9th: CryEngine upgrade and new trial mech rotation and Open Beta announcement
October 16th: Rest economy and open beta begins and new skins and bobbleheads available.

They have a lot planned ...in fact, too much; in my opinion ...essentially with a F2P game going to open beta is the same as live (with the exception of the knowledge that everything can and probably will be reset again for go live). This is huge news; this will open the gates to noobs and lots of them.

The game on average has about 2500 players with open beta I expect that to triple (between 7 and 10k) at least, at first. Unless MWO fixes in game lounge or chat - pugs will be steamrolled until they hate the game. I remember when many games withheld the population numbers making it seem like they were bigger than they were or maybe to pretend to be smaller. I know while I was playing Warhammer Online there were many statements that if they open too many servers to meet demands then close or merge some it would be a sign of a dying game ...and it did seem to indicate that.

So what do you think? Do you think this is too soon? Do you think this is a huge mistake or one they had to do to grasp the momentum they have been working on?

BTW: Check out my video that I submitted for the contest. It is dubstep so if you hate that then just mute it. I would like more feedback.

Quotable Wednesday version 1.0

“I need you to be clever, Bean. I need you to think of solutions to problems we haven't seen yet. I want you to try things that no one has ever tried because they're absolutely stupid.” -Ender Wiggin
- Ender's Game

It is vitally important in the beta of  MechWarrior Online to try new techniques. The more people playing (especially in premades) the more important to try crazy tactics like capping the base instead of trying to out gun the enemy.
I have loaded into a match which should have been 8 vs 8 and have 4 in my team crash so now we have a 4vs8. We can try to take them out strategically but we cannot account for the 4 that ran directly to our base. We lost ...not due to pilot error; we lost to numbers. We killed the 4 and they capped our base with 4. We could have left one behind to guard but we just didn't have the resources.

Targeting IRL

I played a little over the weekend not a much as I would have liked.

I noticed traffic was light on the way in to work. My wife and the ads in my inbox reminded it was Columbus Day. I just thought I was early to work lol.

Anyway I think I have been playing TOO much. I have noticed myself trying to acquire information about cars, people, pretty much everything.

I have heard some of the other pilots talking about seeing rectiles even outside of game so its not a rare occurance but its funny how you start viewing your world.

It is great being able to acquire information on potiental targets quickly. The scouts make the difference for the LRMs; while you will see otehrs zoomed all the way in to pick a mech apart with unlimited long range weapons like gauss or AC/10s. It is amazing to see a mech explode from a long way off.

 

I have started posting my videos up on youtube. Let me know what you think and subscrieb and leave comments.

 

Mechdaddy Youtube link.



PC Gamer Magazine Code for MWO

So I got 2 issues of PC Gamer with the free mech skin and dash bobblehead for your mech. I decided I would give one away in some sort of contest ...people love contest! (right?)

So if you guys would like comment on this post and I will randomly draw a winner.

The skin and bobblehead are available in game OCT 16th although the code can be applied now.  The skin will be appliable to all your mechs and the bobblehead will be on your mech dash so you can see it and once others on your team die they will be able to watch it bobble while you continue to pwn other mechs!

The magazine is 9$ at news stands and $1.66 if you have a subscription. So if anyone is reading this that is NOT going to play please email me your code and I will have more to give away. If you want to be recognized as contributing I will refer traffic to you.

Mechpron: 50 Shades of Red

So 2011 was the year of an independent fan based story that got published ...it was supposed to be what Twilight SHOULD have been like - the level of sex that women who read it craved ...at least that is what I understood.
I read it ...I read a lot. This book was horrible and painful to get through the writing is really, really, really, bad. I think the hype about a naughty book got spread like a virus and women who don't normally read stuff like it got swept up in it and so it became this huge best seller.
Imagine fans taking the Aragorn and  Arwen changing the names but making it all about sex.

Anyway ...the writing is bad. I would say "don't read it" but the fact is if you do we can make more fun of it together.

Saturday Night Live - Fifty Shades of Grey by BigBlueBruiser

So here is what I wanted to post ...the writing is so bad. I copied a snippet and made my spin on fan fiction fiction:

...Eighteen shots in total. My mech is shaking, shaking from his merciless assault.
"Enough," The altas breathes hoarsely. "Well done, tigerspit. Now I'm going to fuck you."
He flames my behind gently, and it burns as he circles me round and round and down. Suddenly, he inserts two gauss in my legs, taking my mech completely by surprise. I gasp, this new assault breaking through the numbness around my cockpit.
"Feel this. See how much your mech likes this, tigerspit. You're smoking just for me."
There is awe in his voice. He moves through the enemy base, in and out, in quick succession.
I groan, no surely not, and then his gauss are gone...and I'm left wanting.
"Next time, I will get you to countdown. Now where's that jenner?"

Tactic Tip 102

Fridays, I have decided will mainly be about a tactic.

Todays Tactic is:

FOCUS FIRE



(this is not what I mean)

FF is a proven tactic to win. A scout will target an enemy mech (we now have narc and tag) and the whole team commences targeting that one mech until it is dead. It works very well on that target rocking it back and forth keeping it lost in a barrage of lasers, missiles it is quite glorious.

NARC - is a no damage missile beacon that is placed on an enemy mech that will call missiles to it. It does not require LoS (line of sight)
TAG - is a laser shot and held on by a scout that directs missiles and assist with faster locks causing MORE missiles to strike a target. TAG requires LoS.

Focus fire requires that you listen and assist in killing one mech even if you are getting hit from elsewhere.


That is it for today.

Shoutouts to MWO players

I would like to take sometime to shout to players I have had the pleasure of working with:
When I first joined the beta I played 4 matches in pugs and was both overwhelmed and excited. I cannot even remember if I won or lost. I ordered a joystick that night.

These are in alpha order

Agent of Change
Bladewarrior
Deathstalker13
Doomie77
Eco
FSxHunter
leatherneck
McLulzypants
Mercules
Norrin
Nufsed
One Medic Army
Prohet of Entropy
RRRWAR
SCooBY XI
Sabrea
SiSoB Nightwish
SpinFX
TehCable
The Anger
The Echo Inside
TheGeek
TheShadowWalker
Thunderhart
TripnFall
USMC Iceman
Warz
Werk
Wired
Zeplin

I went to the forums and read about a place to learn the game mechanics better and try out other mechs ...a teamspeak server setup by PGI for communicating with devs and other players.
This is what HOOKED me into the game ...the gaming experience is just magnitudes better with team communications. The problem became one of support for PGI which led to scrambling on the parts of teams and players to find a replacement. The replacement became the new unofficial MWO teamspeak server.
The in game voice tool is vivox's C3 it is new and in beta ...its horrible. We hates it. Now, understand something I have been using vivox in EQ2 for years and honestly its so easy and kick ass its not worth running a separate application. Maybe this will change once MWO is close to release but right now the unofficial teamspeak server is where its at.

Terms 101

Common Gaming Terms
Zerg = from Starcraft 2 - there was a technique (very effective) of sending in the smallest fastest swarm of creatures to destroy an opposing team. Zerg were the "alien" like species the zerglings were like face huggers. You would send in as many as you could and zerg the base. If you did not send enough or you waited to long the opposing side would win due to the fact that you had exhausted all your resources on creating the zerg.

Goon = basically it is an unholy alliance of:

1. new players
2. people with no skill
3. throwing together ridiculous builds at any cost to win
4. One of their mottos is "every ship counts" it has a feel good approach but the truth is you become the personal army of peopel that can ruin a game

Many member are from the somethingawful forums. I recommend you stay away and leave them alone.
Eve Wiki

Noob = someone new to a game or someone who does not take the time to learn to play
L2P = You are execpted to know what  your role is and not make an idiot of  yourself. Accept constructive critizism.
PUG = Pick up group, AKA a team of random players without direct communication.

GLHF = good luck have fun (seems to be common phrase posted before the mechs are released) I also believe it may indicate you are up against a premade that has been having fun killing pugs.


MechWarrior Specific
LRM = Long range missles
SRM = Short range missles
CAP = Standing in the opposing teams base to win instead of killing
Legging = Taking out the leg of another mech to disable them.
BennyHilling = is chasing a scout like it is the last target on the planet ...typically out into the open or into a trap.