What is behind the increase in the mech count, and who does this Tayloe person think he is starting a post like this when he is clearly a new member of the community?
About me (skip to the next paragraph to stay on topic, or read on to discover more about this intriguing newcomer):
Started playing in April. My mmr has been steadily climbing, right now I am just under 1800 (I have played tech in pvp 1 time). I own and have played all the mechs, my goto is still the assault, but I have been using the Beserker, Reaper, and Sharp Shooter in an effort to be competitive with some of the harder mechs. I have 3 kids including 1 year old twins so I am limited in how active I can be in the community. I have enjoyed reading the forums and watching streams and vid though. I like the depth and difficulty in the game so far. The only other game I really play is Evolve (waiting on the new update that is supposed to change the game drastically for the better).
The announcement of 30 mechs is a bit of a head scratcher, and starts to become worrisome when the examples we have are a Vanguard with a B3AR Cannon, an A class with dual seekers, and possibly a Grenadier with dual Rev GL's. I am going to start with the assumption that Reloaded are competent developers with the primary goal of making Hawken a financially viable IP, and that the concerns of the current PC player base come second at this time.
- As speculated elsewhere in the forum, we are unlikely to see any new weapons or abilities, but instead some new weapon combos and possibly some new chassis. It was likely too time consuming and expensive to develop and balance totally new weapons and mechs for the initial console release. If the game does well on console, then we should expect new maps and mechs in the future.
- The driving concept behind the larger mech number is most likely driven by making the game more accessible to new and lesser skilled players to improve player retention and maintain a healthy player base. This means that many of the new mechs will provide weapon combos that allow rapid fire, ease of aiming, minimal heat buildup, with lower damage. The dual seeker A class mech would seem to meet those criteria, especially with a few tweeks. Mechs with those attributes put the focus on movement and tactics to win fights, and help players develop skills progressively rather than having to learn how to move/dodge, manage heat, aim, watch the radar, be aware of secondary weapon and ability status, and learn the maps all at the same time.
- I can imagine a skill tree system designed to give new players access to the most friendly to use mechs, while locking away the more difficult to master mechs until players have a chance to develop advanced skills. Many of these easy mechs may not be competitive in high level play, and there is no reason that every mech should be. It also appears they will be removing the customization options that allow different chassis to be mixed. While this will upset those with mixed mechs, it is confusing for most players, especially since mechs have different strengths and counters it is important info that you know if you are facing a scout or a reaper for instance.
- There will certainly be balance issues, and possibly some major mistakes made by the developer that will be corrected over time. I can guarantee you that Reloaded did not purchase Hawken thinking that all they needed to do was port it over to consoles and start raking in the money. They probably saw a solid game that they believed they could modify and expand to consoles with an appropriate business plan that would be financially viable and generate a return worth the effort. Over the next year we will see if the new plan and its execution will succeed or not.
Obviously this is all speculation, since we have so few details. Those that are complaining that the PC is not getting the update right away should be careful what they wish for.
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