Remember when...?

Launching without CW.

 

This. So much this.

Phoenix - No new maps. 12 new mechs - No game modes. Clans - No community warfare. HEROES GALORE! NO NEW DAMN MAPS! Stagnating game? More money pits...

 

I can confirm this.
I opened an alt account, just to test the rookie grind. The cadet bonus allows to buy a first mech (mine was a JR7-F) but that's all. When the cadet bonus is over the money making is very slow. I bought my second Jenner (-D) when it was on sale, what saved me few cbills, but I still don't have enough to buy the third, while I already have plenty of unused XP on the first two.
And it would be even harder for a real rookie - at least I know how not to waste my money and I have high w/l and k/d ratios.
I really wished they extended the cadet bonus to cover the cost of at least 3 mechs, to make the experience of new players less frustrating.

 

I bought 2 mechs with the cadet bonus if i recall correctly, the BJ-3 (horrible purchase anyways) and the HBK-4H (best purchase in my first month).

True that money making is damn slow. Takes around 3 days (a weekend) to buy a couple new mechs without any bonus. As long as u choose mediums or lights, ofc. Mosty cause ur w/l ratio at start is horrible. U have the feeling that the game is similar to WoT, but is sooooo damn diff. I prefer this other, but to learn to use properly things like the CoolShot, the UAV or the AirStrike, takes time and is a handicap for rookies, trust me.

If i could advice, i would say to learn to play using LRMs, that are easy and allows u to see many more things not-enraged-due-to-stupid-death-in-seconds than other classes, like fast lights (SPD-5D, RVN-3L, etc...), assaults, etc...

 

NO! TERRIBLE PERSON!

Blackjacks are some of my favorite mechs.

I ran the cadet period for my sister-in-law a few months ago (also got premium time) and was able to buy her a JM6-S and JR7-F off the cadet time. She is still learning (slowly) but, she's enjoying the game. I just with they would up the Cadet bonus to a point where you didn't have to grind so freaking far to get into the game. If the Cadet Bonus was 200%, we could get players a full 3 mechs and actually get them into the game instead of just running the same mechs over and over to grind out C-Bills. Meh.

 

But is not a newbie friendly mech, at all

 

I love my BJ's.......sorry, (BlackJacks) too, but you have to admit the BJ-3 is a hard run, especially for a noob.... Heat management & Jumpjets have a learning curve.

 

I don't know if I should be ashamed or not but I sold my BJ-3 long time ago. I never found an exiting build for it, so I understand Auriga's disappointment.
That being said, I absolutely love my BJ-1, BJ-1X and Arrow, they're great mechs.

 

I'm sorry, but I don't think we can be friends anymore.

 

Hmm... a lot has changed since I first stepped into the cockpit.

Many of you talk about repair/rearm costs, so I'm gonna start there.
I liked it, because it made you think twice about taking (not-so-cost-efficient) LRM-Boats and other designs that relied on ammo based weapons, XLs and other expensive-to-lose components. Metas appeared after it was removed.
For me, stripping the refill costs took away a huge element I always liked about almost any Battletech game so far:
"You have to work with what you have. Your ressources are limited, so use them wisely."
It also changed my way of playin', not always charging the enemy position, but waiting for the right moment to strike and trying to stay alive or take less damage in order to keep my maintenance costs low.

After it was removed, I felt like there was no purpose any more apart from grinding to get the next chassis. I didn't have to work hard to earn my C-Bills anymore.
Yeah, consumables and expensive modules dampened this a bit again. But for me a lil bit RP got lost...

And to be honest... It didn't feel like they removerd it in order to make the game more accessible to newcomers, it felt more like PGI succumbed to the steady whining in the forums about how repair/ammo stalled the progress of C-Bill-grinding.

I really hope that it comes back in CW.

Not named here yet:

Remember when....

- ...Matchmaker just matched weightclass with weightclass and it worked?
- ...Mechs fell down when crashing into another providing chaos and easy light mech kills by running into them so they held still?
- ...the Splatcat or Dual AC20/Gauss Cat was the most feared Mech in the game?
- ...the introduction of ECM produced a hilarious shitstorm? How it should work and how wrong it was?
- ... almost every second Mech was a poptart?
- ... textures on Frozen just went missing?

 

Some interesting comments in there.

The flaw is that those ammo heavy boats just relied on the 75% free refill. We just added an extra ton or two of ammo to builds. I know I did it with my AC20's as it was a great way to guarantee income. I maxed my armour but that was peanuts. It also actively discouraged certain upgrades being put on mechs which weren't even that good. On the good side it felt vaguely more realistic and pushed people away from assaults.... on the bad side... we had a lot more Raven 3L's in those days as they were great money makers under that system.

Not entirely sure what you were arguing with the list under but I still shy away from dual AC20 JM6's.

 

Because its bleeding edge rare tech?

Queue arguments over the price of the Asus ROG Swift and then bear in mind that every one of them sells out in the UK to pre-orders or the same day they get in stock.

Amusingly it does feel a bit like the clan changes are pushing people back to ammo laden weapons so it would be hilarious if they bring in limited ammo as your dropship can only carry as much as in TT.