Mech Warrior Online vs Mech Warrior Tactics

[Berkut]

OK, I am sure I am the only idiot who did this, but was anyone else confused by the fact that there are actually TWO new MW games in development?

Mechwarrior Online is a first person game, and tactics is a tactical wargame type thing.

I think I was getting confused hearing people talk about how MWO was not at all like World of Tanks in its perspective, but I think now they were actually talking about MWT.

[Barrister]

OK, I am sure I am the only idiot who did this, but was anyone else confused by the fact that there are actually TWO new MW games in development?

Mechwarrior Online is a first person game, and tactics is a tactical wargame type thing.

I think I was getting confused hearing people talk about how MWO was not at all like World of Tanks in its perspective, but I think now they were actually talking about MWT.

Indeed.  Every time I have read an article about MWO it has been described as "like WoT but with Mechs".

Don't get me wrong - BattleTech was probably the wargame I played more than any other, but I'd still be more excited about a first person mech game than a tactical one.

[Berkut]

Beebs, you should play MWO. It is very fun.

[Drakken]

What has changed since the times it was only a Quake Arena with Mechs?

[Berkut]

Never played Quake Arena, so no idea...

[Barrister]

Beebs, you should play MWO. It is very fun.

Noted.  Tomorrow I think.

[Berkut]

Cool, look me up - same in game name.

[Berkut]

Note to Assault Mech drivers:

You really should pay attention to what is going on around you. You might be 100 tons of pure bad assedness, but the 30 ton arctic cheetah that just run up the flank with ECM and came in behind you? Yeah, he can one shot you through your rear torso armor. Then how silly are you going to feel?

[Habbaku]

   One of the things some friends and I used to do was form a lance of nothing but light mechs. We routinely went around ambushing lone heavies and assaults, shooting their legs out by focus firing. Back when the Spider was overpowered, I always used it for that purpose.  I wonder if it would work as hilariously well as it did back then.

[Malicious Intent]

Anyone of you guys involved in community warfare?

[Berkut]

I have not messed with that part yet. I hear very mixed opinions on it. Lots of negativity, but a friend of mine says it is pretty fun...

[Malicious Intent]

Most people shun CW, since it has a high learning curve and can be very frustrating for new players, as it demands disciplined teamplay. But in a group (with VOIP or TS) it can be great fun.

It's generally better to dabble in regular matches first, if only to get yourself a nice selection of fully upgraded mechs from all weight classes.
In CW you field a drop deck of 4 mechs, and you really want the ability to change your deck according to the map you fight on. And you really do not want to use trial mechs in CW.

[Berkut]

So I started playing again a bit over a week ago. I read some guides, and the first guide to read to a free to play game is always "How do you make money".

Said guide recommended getting a Hero mech for the C-Bill bonus, so I went ahead and bought the Stalker masetery pack, which game me two Assault Stalkers, and the Stalker Misery Hero mech.

The Misery is awesome. 2 PPCs, and an AC20, all mounted on the left side. So you can just peek that side around something, and blast away, then sneak back into cover.

I also picked up the Artic Cheetah, since I had 4000 MC from somewhere, and that little bastard is wicked fun, or a very short match, depending on whether I guess well or not.

Last night I broke down and bought the Warhammer mastery pack - 4 Warhammer variants. I loved the Warhammer so much, but it seems like PPCs are not really favored. And arm mounted PPCs even more so, since you have to expose so much to fire them. But still a lot of fun to play. Funny how the "canonical" mech configurations just really don't work. The standard Warhammer with:

2 PPCs
2 Med Laser
2 Small Laser
2 Machine Guns
SRM6

Simple isn't workable - trying to manage all those weapons that have radically different ranges and cool downs is nearly impossible.

[Malicious Intent]

I had similar problems with the Marauder, another iconic machine that originally relied on PPCs in low arm mounts. But only one oft the 3 variants even has PPC velocity quirks. In the end I gave in and went with multiple AC5s supported by MLs, which pretty much doubled my average damage output per match.

My Blackjack BJ-3 on the other hand works great with dual PPCs. Those high arms really change everything. If you are looking for a cheap yet highly effective entry into IS medium mechs, get youself some BJs.

[Berkut]

MI, what is your in-game name?