Last week we got a great preview of what MechWarrior Online has in store for its player base. The game continues to grow in open beta and build upon the strong lore and solid gameplay for its fans. There are lots of things in store over the next few months as we see double XP weekends, more mechs, and custom options coming to the game.
Russ started off by talking about the versatility of the new Spider Mech. It is a light scout mech that they wanted to update with a more modern look. They took the original artwork and brought it into the digital era. We asked Russ how the Spider Mech has changed the battlefields and he explained that it is always an ongoing balance process when they enter in a new mech. The team continues to watch the balance between how individual mechs and even lances stack up. The Match Making system is very important to the developers and they want to make sure players have fair challenges any time they log in.
Russ also mentioned the double XP weekend and said that they would like to do more of these types of events. They want to have a system of rewards in place for players that can be implemented at any time. These rewards would be things like the first victory of the new day or incentives for winning matches throughout the day.
We asked Russ how much more we will see of the BattleTech lore coming into the game. With factions, houses, and geopolotical spheres. Russ said that those elements will likely appear in the community warfare. They want to keep the game balanced out as much as possible. This could impact certain types of mechs and weapons may be cheaper per faction etc. The plans are not fully fleshed out yet and are a ways off, but all of the ideas sound intriguing.
Decay target and sensor range are two of the areas which the team are really tweaking right now. The introduction of these systems help to give players better options in combat. Having the longer target decay will give players a better chance to fire their weapons. The sensor range will allow pilots to pick up enemy mechs on their radar from further away. It really breaks out how players want to set up their lances and enter battle which will bring out the advantages in combat.
Russ said that Mech Warrior Online remains in open beta for a reason. The team continues to be able to make adjustments based on the game play they are seeing. Players do have a solid voice in the game and Russ said that they watch for players who bring up good points and bring about an idea to change. He said that this is a much stronger way to go for the game because it gives them the chance to work on things before official launch. He agreed that this is a trend that continues in the market and many games will benefit from it down the line.
Lastly we talked about Conquest mode and how the players have been responding to the new match-type. Essentially conquest mode puts capture points on a map and teams duke it out over control of those points. Russ said that he expects players to really pick up in Conquest mode as larger maps become available. Right now the lance vs. lance battles are more popular. As the maps become larger you will start to see more players get into 3 vs. 3 or less combats. These are the great battles which really bring out the best pilots.
Mech Warrior Online continues improve with time and the team at Piranha is working to bring the universe to life with the support of the beta. We’d like to thank Russ for taking time to chat with us and will continue to bring you the best coverage on Mech Warrior Online as more announcements come forward.
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