Any other fellow BattleTech nerds out there? I bought the game that was released last week and have been an adamant player of MechWarrior Online. Just seeing if there's a crowd out there that's into this.
MechWarrior 2 was a pretty awesome game, all of them were as they came out.
I'll try to be as unbiased as possible when I say that MWO's free to play model is not pay to win...mostly.
MWO has been out for roughly 6 years, so they have a plethora of Mechs to choose from, 4 categories from small, medium, heavy and assault, each Mech having a tonnage to fit into one of those 4.
Of those categories, every Mech usually has 4 standard variations of it, with 2 Mechs that you can only buy with real money. These 2 Mechs are Champions, which will represent a standard version, only "special" because playing with it boosts your income currency after a match, and a Hero mech, which is a special variant with different hard points and also has the same effect with the boost to in game currency.
Here's where people start getting mad when they think the game is pay to win. I bought a Mech with cash called Death Strike. It's a 90T Assault Mech Madkat (MKII-DS). It's incredibly similar to the MKII-1 version with the exception that it comes with two extra laser hard points. It overall doesn't make use of these hard points because the Mech itself would just run too hot with it, so the build is going to be similar if not mimic something you would see on a MKII-1. Does this stop people from bitching? Nope. I would say that I could play either/or and still be effective, but this doesn't stop the complaining.
Awhile back, however, when the Jenner was released, the hero variant, Oxide, was a fast moving missle boat with insane firepower that could kill anything if left unchecked. It's been nerfed into the ground though and I really don't see it often.
There's been a few cases where a Mech variant will be unveiled, released, and then folks buy it and others cry foul for no rhyme or reason. Some of these Mechs that they released are just...Bad. The most recent one is the Fafnir, which looks like a giant jet engine. It's a slow mech with low armor and can easily be killed if you know what you're doing. People complain though.
All in all - The free to play model attracts a variety of people. I think the company that developed MWO, PGI, had intended to make some mechs better than others but has since retracted from it. It feels pretty balanced currently. The folks that occasionally do complain, I've noticed are just really bad players and just look to complain. This doesn't mean the community is bad, however, and I strongly recommend joining an active unit because some amazing people exist, but just be aware that there are some notoriously toxic dudes that kind of float about like a turd you can't flush.
If you do end up playing it, feel free to PM me! There's way more MWO has to offer than basically what I covered.
And it's definitely tempting to look into gaming laptops now (until I see the price and battery life at least)
The Mad Cat (No idea why I was spelling it with a K earlier, derp), is the Timber Wolf fielded by the Clans. It's also at 75 tons.
The first time I've played MechWarrior 4, they released a heavier variant that's at 90 tons. Just a beefier version from the original Mad Cat.
You could also go the same price/beefier rig and try to build one yourself. www.newegg.com is a great way to go, they offer pay plans too. Built mine around $1100-$1300 and it runs the Witcher 3 on high settings. Computer assembly has been dumbed down, usually pretty self explanatory.
Not a big fan of laptops though, I had one for a few years but they tend to go obsolete rather quickly. Great if you're a college student/required to have it, otherwise, I'd just build a rig and possibly save more money that way in the long run.
