It is my lot in life to be yelled at.
If it isn't Pat, it is my clan leaders who, for reasons known only to themselves, refer to me not by my given name but as 'Number One Suspect'.
The fact that I am completely innocent in all cases is a given, but it doesn't stop them trying.
Except on this one occasion, when I managed to find my current C.O. in a far more talkative and less voluble mood, and we actually managed to have a decent chat.
GG> So, change in format and you ended up with a command position this time. To start off with, what are your thoughts on the format itself?
CT> I actually liked the smaller group format.
It left less room for error, true, but we saw a lot of closer fights. less true blowouts.
made it more exciting in many ways.
GG> It's funny how peoples perceptions are different... it seemed as if it was pretty much a foregone conclusion if it was pay players vs free players and only a chance of being close if you were both in the same bracket. No chance for upsets... very formulaic.
CT> Well, I'm not a big-pay player, neither is anyone who was in my group this go-around, and we did OK, coming home with a silver. You're going to have a disparity between the groups with long-term success or big wallets and the other groups in almost any of the war formats.
Mecha Galaxy is at such a level of maturity now that you've got tiers that have evolved because of the disparity of prizes over the long term of the game. Success truly does breed success in this game.
It can be overcome with hard work, but that curve gets steeper with each war.
GG> OK then, so how was it more exciting, given the stated disadvantage your group would have started out with?
CT> We had a better chance of being competitive with the smaller versions of the top tier clans. Even in those clans there is a spectrum of abilities, and when you find someone in that group who you can beat, those wins can become important if you can string enough of them together. It gives you more of a fighting chance. In a 9 versus 9 match-up, those top tier clans can "conceal" those weaker players and having a bigger preponderance of players who are ton for ton stronger than you, those weaker players giving up a few losses doesn't matter as much. But int this format, those losses or a mistake like being out of formation can turn the tide of a smaller battle and surprises can occur.
I know we saw that in some of the other fights in the Heroes family, in one case where a fight was determined because we caught someone out of formation just long enough to earn 2 wins, 2 wins that made a difference. And those kinds of close fights happened in a number of divisions, which made it exciting overall.
I'd bet we see a lower payout on the niode bets when they are resolved because of that uncertainty and closeness of combat levels.
GG> Ah, now you mentioned the close matches... we are currently sitting watching 3 fights in overtime that won't be resolved by the time this goes to publication.
Care to place any last minute predictions on those fights?
CT> Let me take a look at the contenders...
Division 7, I'd expect Death's Dealers to win out over the Brotherhood.
GG> Hah, Pat's fighting in that one, so I'd expect the big editorial crayon to be brought out on that comment.
CT> Defenders of Bunny and Phoenix in Division 7 looks to be going to the little carrot munchers.
which is the division 14 fight?GG> 110th vs Death's Acolytes.
CT> I think the 110th will prevail there.
GG> Time will tell I guess.
Now, going back to an earlier comment you made about catching folks out of formation...
apart from that one instance, do you think that specialists actually played a huge part in this war at all?
CT> Yes I think they did. With the small formation sizes, having a good spec could prevent attacks to your formation, where having a bad spec could open you up more.
I saw that happen in at least one of our Heroes family fights, the one with my son in it. Our spec didn't get attacked at all, where their spec was easily attacked by all of us. It made the difference there.
It was a case of Proper Planning Preventing Poor Performance.
GG> Pretty postive you missed a P there...
CT> Keeping it clean.
GG> No probs... although you obviously aren't privy to our staff meetings.
The way its coming across, it almost seems as if you are quite a fan of this smaller format?
Or is it just a case where a change was as good as a rest?
CT> It's a nice change.
Do I want it to be permanent? I could adapt to it.
Different strategies, new ideas.
GG> OK then, I guess it begs the question of what other 'one off' changes do you think would be viable?
CT> I wouldn't mind seeing the return of the Mechalympix format, as long as it was shorter.
I'd love to see some way to do a tournament where it was based more on a combination of the individual skills in a Clan rather than PvP combat. If the wave challenge could be made to somehow work better, having each member of a clan run through that and aggregating the results across the clan would be a fun challenge.
perhaps a competition to see how fast a clan could complete a raid-style event.
only the normal limit on stim packs, no buying of energy or video refills.
GG> I was just thinking of a raid style with progressively harder waves... 3 duck eggs and you're out,
medals determined on total kills
CT> Possible. I don't mind seeing things being shaken up. It adds a new level of complexity.
GG> There definitely seems to be two camps on that... the ones who relish change and the ones who just want it static because having to re-arrange every war is a pain.
CT> That's just human nature in a lot of ways. Some prefer being progressive, others are more conservative or reactionary.
GG> One final question before we wrap up.
How are you feeling that the story-line has progressed and integrated with the game over the course of this year?
CT> I think it's been better. We're seeing more story being fleshed out across the bones that were already there. If I may, I see quite an analogy to another mech centric game I enjoy in Battletech.
It started out as a beer-and-pretzels big-stompy robots game with some framework of fluff and then grew and built story around that. I see something similar happening here.
GG> Yeah, love a story myself, and its certainly good to see so many clans getting the chance to become a part of the in game lore., especially the ones who maybe aren't as outspoken as some of us.
Anyway, I'll leave you alone now.. good to actually have a professional chat rather than just get yelled at.
I covered my ears at that point and beat a hasty exit...
Submitted by David McCallum : #701548