Clan Wars Round Table By The Editorial Staff

Another day at the Galaxy Gathering headquarters. Things were rather quiet around the office as they usually are after clan wars. But this last clan wars had ruffled some feathers and was the topic of some debate. Which got me thinking about clan wars in general. What they were, and what they turned into. So, I called a meeting for another round table discussion. To make sure the guys were more receptive to another meeting I allowed mid-morning drinks, provided no one was armed.

Gentlemen the subject on the table is Clan Wars and the frequency in which they happen. Back in the day CWs were like faction wars. Once every three or four months. A lot of prep time and troop movements could be made with little to no difficulty. Also, it leads to more and more trash talk on the boards as clans built up and got things ready for war. It was a spectacle truly. 

Now it's just another monthly event, usually highlighting the rule change of the month not everyone agrees on or likes. It is virtually meaningless now as far as who climbs to the top of what division because they'll not stay there long. And it leads in to a raid that generally makes no sense as to why the NPCs are attacking after a galaxy wide clan skirmish. Bottom line for me, it has lost its charm, its fun, and is regulated now to a clockwork event with no spontaneity. 

More often than not a weak story line behind it to boot given there is only a month to just mesh everything together and present to the community. So what say you gents? Let’s lay it all out no bones about it, Cws and their frequency of rinse and repeat, good, bad, indifferent, and of course why?

David- Oooh goody, Patrick is on his soapbox! Shove over, because I've got loads to say on this one. Now, unlike Pat, I haven't been around quite as long. All I can remember is the format of once a month Clan Wars, and to me it makes perfect sense.

For solo play, you have missions and PvP.
For individual solo play tournaments you have the KotMs.
The only time you really get to play as part of a team is the clan war.
To me, that covers all the bases and the regularity of Clan Wars is not overwhelming.

Now to me, this year has been refreshing. Strong or weak storyline is a matter of taste, but we have at least had one... there has been a story arc, progression, rule changes have been given a basis in the storyline and old enemies have been tied together and in some cases given their own place in the standard missions.

It’s not exactly a reboot, but it has gathered them together cohesively. Compare that with previous years where a bad guy would just pop up out of nowhere then disappear again, it is a step change in the right direction as far as I am concerned.
I'm liking it.

Now, as for the raid following a clan war for no apparent reason... doesn't have to. In the run up to Faction War 1, we got hit by an auto-started Drake raid, and faction chat was like, "Um... I think we might be under attack??!!!" Hit us with surprises like that, I'm all for it!

Which leads me to what I think is Patrick's big bone of contention, given recent happenings. 

The rule changes. 

Now I will remind folk up front that I am an advocate of the occasional unlimited Clan War. There are players who prefer this style, and I don't think they are really being catered for.
That being said, I personally want to pit myself against good players. Good does not equal rich. I have no interest in the size of somebody’s wad.

And to my mind, a good player is somebody who is flexible, adaptable and can cope and do well in any scenario they are given.

The first "Rise of the Specialists" threw the cat among the pigeons and produced some very surprising results and caught a lot of the so called 'elite' on the hop. Mechalympix was the same.

Ladies and gents, this is a war game, and if there is one thing history tells us it is that very rarely is there a plan that survives contact with the enemy, and that all too often the commander in the field must 'make do' with what they have rather than the ideal wish list of what they want. The regular rule changes to my mind simulate that quite reasonably.

Pat- True the rule changes are one thing I have a problem with no argument there. The core of it though is what I have been saying since day 1. If every game is the Superbowl then what the Superbowl represents loses its meaning.

Clan wars used to be about bring your best slug it out, let the dust settle and regroup for a bit until the next one. That seems to be what Faction wars is now.

But what would be the harm in having the clans go on the offensive for a change? Take a clan war off for a month. Institute a clan raid that is started by the clans against an opponent. Have us be the aggressor for a change. Story line gets advanced with us tracking them down, we get to do something other than react, and it allows for a build up like the old days.

Make Clan wars something to look forward to for all involved rather than the same old same old. Especially for a monthly title of the best that just doesn't mean anything anymore.

David- You know, I could cope with that in principal, but I would still want some form of bragging rights. The Clans go on the offensive, but you still want to count coup on your rivals. You know, like the over-dramatised Patton vs Montgomery rivalry.

To make it really interesting though, is working out how to play to your strengths?
Because that is what you would do on the offensive, use your strengths and hit the oppositions weaknesses.

So you would almost have to have mini raids for each player with cumulative totals, but you can set specs if you want and the raid has to abide by those rules!

Then the unlimiteds get to do what they want and the specs get to pitch in with what they do good.

Pat- Bragging rights are easily solved with a reward based system like we have now based on kill count, and medals could be had likewise for tonnage specialists and kill count. But it would at least break up the endless cycle of rinse and repeat we are in now.

Ron- I am going to be the bad guy on this one.......I like more frequent CWs because I get a chance to have a raid once per month and show off as well as test my current formations.......but......I think FWs should be cut back to once every six months instead of once every three months.....this would give players like Patrick that feeling they used to get from rarer CWs and still keep the monthly events for those of us that prefer a regular event.

Pat- Kenneth anything to add to this?

Kenneth- Having monthly clan wars, bi yearly faction wars is a great schedule to an otherwise slow game. It gives you help in building, tests formations, makes you talk and learn tactics, develop new mechs for new formations, etc, etc.

However, there are a few areas that could most certainly see more variety to help keep it from developing "plod" syndrome.

One, more variety in prizes. While it's nice for D1 to get 1st crack at new BFMs, and the Banshee and commisar coming in the bottom ranks, I feel that there's stagnation in the upper middle ranks. Why not switch that Ignis up with some Aspis or Regis? How long has the Frigis been a 2nd place prize? There are several things that could be done in here to increase interest.

Two, more variety in specializations. KothM is currently setting a wonderful example in shaking it up, so why not CW specs? More variance in limited tonnage, Front Line spec, 1 mech, 2 mech, 3 mech, 4 spec, again, the possibilities are endless. It's high time we had something to shoot for other than 20T, 55T, 950T, 1200T, etc.

And finally, there is rumor that Chef will be making 5 minimum / 7 maximum clan sizes for the upcoming war. Now mind you, I personally haven't seen the official statement on this, but I know several clan family's who are puckering their nether regions in anticipation for this possibility. How's that for a shake up to keep it interesting?

Pat- Good gods gimme an old fashioned unlimited slug fest any day..lol. Well alright seems I'm in the minority here as you all seem perfectly content with monthly CW.s. To each their own and thank you for all sharing your opinion. But someone please answer me this... Should it still be called Clan Wars, or turned into something else?

Cause as stands Clan Wars is best of the best for the clans, come out and prove it. But because it is on a monthly basis and changes so often no real best of the best can be determined save those upper tier division clans. We're essentially having Title bouts once a month, but because it happens so much, and so often it has no point and no meaning should you get the title belt, cause it's just going to be turned around and up for grabs again in about three weeks.

 David- Not 100% sure what you are driving at here Pat, and I'm wondering if it is to do with your personal experience with your division rather than what is happening elsewhere? I mean, for the longest time, the AFF were the dominant force in D4, then they moved up and Heroes took over for a few wars only to be beaten by Black Star who moved up from D5.

There's also the Chessmen run, and the current Dragon dominance, so those are other examples of the title not changing hands.

I'm wondering if your view is in some way limited by the huge clan shifts and re-alignments we have seen over the past year in D1 through 3, making things look less static than what the rest of us are seeing?

Pat- The basics of it are really what it used to be vs what it is now. It used to be best of the best reigning for a few months and either holding the title or loosing it to a challenger. It was an event, hype over who would win, speculation, rumor, strategy all over the game page and any where else you looked. It just seemed to mean more back then. Now it's monthly and okay but why? What is the purpose of a monthly clash, if not to establish best of status why are we even fighting? And yeah not a lot changes in Div 2 where I usually fight.

So basically if the event is the story line driven raid why have clan wars to get to the raid and not just promote a raid to the monthly event? Fine tune Cws for whatever rule tweaks you want to make and allow a little build up with say bi monthly wars. Give it some of the importance and weight back it used to carry. Lately it just seems light if not empty.

David-  Because in balance terms, the strength of the raid depends on the strength of your clan, based on the result you got in the division you were in.

Otherwise without ranking, even on a month by month basis, everyone from low to high would get the same rewards...

 BUT>>>

I will concede on point... it does seem a bit daft that we see an enemy on the horizon, hell bent on Galactic domination, therefore our first instinct is to all fight amongst ourselves then go deal with the greebly as an afterthought...

Kenneth- Oh! What about a beat-down CW? Straight up "the most wins you can dole out in a 24 hour period"

David- No point, totally negates spes and defensive wins.

Kenneth- But the beatings...
 

Pat- Good idea but I think the bitching on the game board from such would reach a new level of epic.

Kenneth- Don't care. This can serve multiple purposes. One, it helps you figure out your clan activity level (which a lot of clan leaders with they could do). You'll get an idea of who attacks, how frequently, and from what time of day. Lots of valuable info right there Also, you learn who your true gamers are. Who's the ex WoW, Halo, EQ player that puts in "raid camp" hours to guarantee a win.
Hell, either turn off xp or cut it in half to help promote full participation

Ron- How about this...........Why not make clan wars exactly what the name implies....clan wars......write up a stand alone story line for the game lore stating that the clan wars are a monthly engagement designed by the many smaller governments of the galaxy to decide matters of conflict via combat in a manner that effects only the mechs, clans and pilots involved rather than resulting in planetary destruction.....this explains the term clan wars....this opens up the monthly clan war event to permanent status without question.....it explains why it happens so frequently and why the pilots are rewarded with such lucrative prizes....and it makes the faction wars far more impacting in their rarity and nature.

Pat-  Hell of an interpretation, as well as an explanation. Got to say makes sense all the way around. Well put.

Kenneth- The pilot's story pokes fun at weird, arbitrary things that get decided by Chef for events, lol

Ron- I still say that faction wars should be less often though.....twice yearly makes them far more important and anticipated....and I definitely agree that the story lines, plots, and narrative arcs are going to complete hell.

David-  I just had the most startling idea, and It must be brilliant, because I though of it. We are getting used to rule changes, so no biggy on adapting. We have the camp of heavy hitters who just want a good old fashioned unlimited battle.We also have the clans who use specs in an attempt to remian competitive against said heavy hitters.

Sooo...

What if your clan had the ability to choose their battleground? Do you fight on open ground in an unlimited pitched battle (all unlimited), or do you prefer the dense terrain and uncertain footing where the specs come into play (all spec)?

Chose one at registration!

Clan sizes would have to be smaller so you get a reasonable grouping of each type level wise, but at least everyone gets catered for. That would definitely throw the cat among the pigeons for the campers and level riggers, because you don't know who is going to be fighting in what bracket!

And it is also going to show once and for all how many actually want it unlimited or want specs to be present. 

Kenneth- Ron, I agree about FW. Twice yearly is enough. Oh, and NEVER! Never Mechalympics ever again. Never ever.

Pat- Ughh ,oh hell no got to agree with you there Kenneth.

Ron-  Kenneth Hicks.....just for saying the word mecha*edited*ics....you are going to hell!
 

Kenneth -Wow. Well, let's just call that little piece "resume padding" because that destination was set for me a long time ago, lol.

Ron-I still can’t get the image out of my head of that horrific cartoon of the Glaccus mech running the 100m hurdles.

David- LOL, bunch of bloody lightweights. Mechalympics sorted the adults from the kiddies alright. While it may well have been a grind in terms of time frame, it had you on your toes the whole time... no foregone conclusions and a heck of a lot of lightning raids and spoiling attacks made it extremely interesting. It was a very nice change and very imaginatively done. I certainly would back another event that was as far away from the norm as this one. 

The length of time for Mechalympix aside, the one thing I really did like about it was the fact that in terms of forces, everyone was catered for.

Yes there were a lot of spec based events, but there was also a whole slew of unlimiteds so the heavy hitters could pull on their big boy undies and strut their stuff.  
 

It was at this point Ron started foaming at the mouth while getting a crazed look in his eyes. He advanced on Kenneth and David hurling Brotherhood curses of the God Mecha for having spoken of the hated mecha....well you know.

 Kenneth looked like a deer in headlights, David just backed away slowly. It was then I realized next time, don’t serve drinks at a meeting and just take everyone’s word that they are not armed
. 

Apparently, I should have at least patted them down, because Ron now had a gun in hand was waving it at Kenneth, while still screaming about the not to be named event.

Eventually Kenneth made a break for the door, Ron gave pursuit, David ran after them both. I heard shots fired in the hallway, a couple of groans, and a thud.

I just shrugged, poured another drink, and went over the lay out for next week.

Contributors : Pat Willis #224534, David McCallum #701548, Kenneth Hicks#846092, Ron Frye #879655