Mechwarrior Online

[CFC_Conky]

Hey Fitz,

I've been looking at the reviews on Steam for this game. Lots of negative stuff; as someone who plays it, can you give me your impression of the game? Will I need to buy any additions right off the bat or is the f2p grind manageable?

Will have to dust off my Nostromo n52 game pad...

Pip, pip,
Conky

[=CfC=Fitz]

Hi Conky,

It is entirely possible to play MWO happily without spending a penny. There are some issues long term in that to buy new mechs (with in game currency) you need mechbays that cost Mech Credits (bought for real money). You do get some mech bays when you start, you can earn quite a few in game and there are frequent events when you can win them.

At the moment, you need 3 of each mech to master them, but this system is changing at the end of the month I believe so that you only need one of each mech as they will be skilled up individually. Most mechs can be bought win in game currency but there are a handful that can only be bought with MC or cash. They tend to be the newer mechs.

But every mech has it's place on the field! You can happily play with only in game currency mechs and all mech equipment is in game currency only.

Moving to gameplay, it is a shock to the system after IL2 or normal FPS games. I dare say tank sims would be best placed to warm you up for it. The first trick is learning to move and look in different directions as the upper body of the mech is effectively a turret (with the arms being a turret on a turret!)

There is also the learning curve for each level of mech and their roles as well as those that cross over two roles. Light, Medium, Heavy and Assault in short as you go from Light to Assault you get more armour and weapons but lose speed and agility. A light mech can take down a lone assault as it simply cant turn fast enough to target or hit the light mech!

In short, it's tricky but it's free to play so worth a try. If you don't like it nothing lost and if you do then great.

pip pip,

Fitz

[CFC_Conky]

Hello freebirth, err, I mean Fitz,

Thanks for the review, apart from IL2, the game I've probably played the most is the Mechwarrior series, up until MW3 anyways, and I still think the music from the first game was the best ever in a computer game. I will download the software and join you soon I hope  .

Pip, pip,
Conky

[=CfC= Ax]

I'm sure I spent money on a "Founder's Edition" of this game a few years ago, if there was ever such a thing? I'll have to check.

[CFC_Conky]

Ok Fitz, I'm up and running and grinding my way through the tutorial (gotta get that gold medal in the mech driver's challenge for that extra 500K c-bills  )

Had a bit of trouble configuring my controls and have now settled on a keyboard/mouse/CH Throttle and pedals combo since the game is a bit clumsy with a joystick.

Of course the big question is....Inner Sphere or Clan? 

When are you normally online? I can try to log on and let you blow me to smithereens 

Pip, pip,
Conky

P.S. Piranha Games is located about 1.5 miles from where I live.

[=CfC=Fitz]

I just use mouse and keyboard, though sort of luckily my mouse broke and I had to get a new one so I got one with enough buttons to have lots of spares for weapon groups.

We play as Inner Sphere (House Steiner) Though to be honest we play mostly on quick play so it's not that important. IS is a bit disadvantaged at the moment, mainly due to the mixed nature of quick play. The Clanners like to stand off and snipe so they don't get their nice paint jobs scratched, whilst IS is better up close. This is likely to change soon with the teach jump (in game time is moving forward 10 years and the IS in particular are getting some great new weapons).

At the moment we tend to play most evenings at around 8-9pm gmt (I'm off this week so am a bit more flexible). You'll have to let us know what your playstyle is so we can assist in selecting some mechs and loadouts for you.

pip pip,

Fitz

[CFC_Conky]

Hi Fitz,

Currently, my playing style is dead meat  .

I was going to use the keyboard or Nostrum n52 for directional movement but for some reason I can't keep the throttle from moving back when I release the key. I tried unselecting 'throttle decay' in the settings screen but it doesn't seem to work.

Do I need to complete all the trial/training missions before going online?

Thanks!
Conky

[CFC_Conky]

Hey Fitz,

What type of Mech(s) are you running these days?

Pip, pip,
Conky

[=CfC=Fitz]

Mainly IS Mediums at the moment. Just mastering a few Shadowhawk variants.

[CFC_Conky]

Hi Fitz,

Thanks for the info today. Here's my dilemma, at the moment I am limited to the trial mechs for my initial matches. I don't know how the matching algorithms work, but I end up facing experienced players (judging from the voip traffic), in tricked-out mechs. Needless to say I don't last very long although I get the odd assist and cause roughly 100pts of damage per match.

Since I have to operate stock mechs without optimized equipment and weapons (I'm probably the only player without ecm and/or ams), I'm wondering if it's worth spending a lot of time in the training area rather than just getting through those first 25 matches as quickly as possible, sacrificing some c-bills in order to buy a proper mech sooner.

Since you and Bob are using IS gear, I'll probably go the same route.

Pip ,pip,
Conky

[CFC_Conky]

Hi Fitz,

Sorry I missed your Steam chat message, I was having a kip before going to work (flying to London). I did a couple of quick missions earlier in the day and have a pretty good run. I got killed in a Raven but got some spotting bonus c-bills and then I won a match in a Nova with an assist and some decent damage inflicted. The Nova is a decent mech, too bad it's Clan.

Pip, pip,
Conky