Should MG Go For A Mobile App? By Brian D. Wise#17026

For the devs, has anyone really thought about making an App for the Google play store so you can run the entire game off of your phone easily.

Easy adjustment to address.

Make each mech have a selection menu for your weapons pool and equipment so you can select what weapons you want to equip, and as each weapon is equipped it takes up the slot as if you clicked on it and dropped it on the mech like we currently do. Since the game already tracks how many weapon slots it shouldn't be hard for it to track how many of each type of equipment slots and how many are filled.

Since much of the games already functions nearly like it should for an app much of the changes to create an app should be superficial at best.


Submitted by Brian D. Wise#17026

King Chrono Game Debate By Pat Willis#224534

Over on the Mecha Galaxy players page on Facebook there is a discussion about the Chrono KOTM. Some like it, some hate it, each with various reasons as to why they think that way, and all valid points from various pilots. Granted no matter who says what the Devs have implemented the change to the KOTM so I doubt that is going any where any time soon.

Some say it's a snore fest, hop in early, hold your spot, collect points as the timer dies down, and get placed according to your points total as opposed to fighting it out to the last second to hold position. Personally I like and prefer this format to most of the others.

Why?

Because honestly the tourney circuit is a bit stale. Too many tonnage specialist tourneys these days we have Anzu Zoo events, Ratman events, Ogguns, etc, etc, etc. The majority of which are usually set to end at some odd ball time on weekdays. I like the slower pace of the Chrono fights, and when it ends I don't have to worry about if I am going to participate down to the final second at crazy hours like 2 A.M., or have to try and maintain position during prime time T.V. on days when my favorite shows are on. Not to mention in a Chrono event I won't get robbed like I did in a point mecha match a bit back. I had number 1 position and was able to hold it, up until the last 5 seconds. That's when it got sniped out from under me. I looked and had first, I hit refresh and it was over, I check the rankings through the Archives screen, and find out in the last 5 seconds (the time it took the page to refresh) I had been sniped.

Also let's face it the fight refreshes we have are limited you can restore 1 fight five times, or 2 fights five times. That isn't much at all, and with the way tourneys usually go you have burned up most of your fight refreshes well before the half hour mark hits, so if it's a late running tourney you are pretty much screwed. Every time you move you displace someone, who gets ticked displaces you, then you're fending off others trying to take your spot while at the same time trying to take the spot you had back. Now extend this out in a constant cycle of rinse and repeat until the tourney ends. Honestly it's enough of a pain in the ass that I barely even try on the last day.

Chrono events fix that, oh man I got bumped from 5th to 10th, no big deal my points come with me. Nothing is  disturbed, nothing much changes. If I end the event in 5th place on the ladder, that isn't necessarily where I end up for final rank depending on points. A Chrono event kind of turns things on its head and it matters more when you enter as opposed to when you start fighting to finish. So really I like chronos they are a fun change of pace, less hassle, less burning of fights, and if it ends at a dumb hour like O'dark thirty A.M. I don't have to worry about who am I going to have to fend off this time. I can save fights for when I need them and not burn em up in retaliation for a position I'll probably have to fight another 27+ times to defend, and pray the stupid count down timer runs out before my fight refreshes do.

So what do you folks think? Chronos good, bad, or indifferent? Chime in and let us know.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

A Suggestion on Upgrades to HG: by Brian Wise #17026

With players currently surpassing level 200 it is about time to update the maximum level that hg helps you as well as what benefits it gives. At current levels, HG maxes out at level 50, with a bonus effect of 58% damage and a boost to dodge of 8%. Most of this bonus is earned within the first 25 slots, making for very little improvement beyond that point.


My suggestion is there are other stats that could be tweaked, including the concept of a buy as you go points system for HG. Players could choose to for every 10 players that join their HG receive a 1% increase in armor due to a morale bonus, or a 1% boost to precision because friendly spotters.


These bonuses could go above the current max level for HG, also these changes could be done to the current system to give the game more depth. So instead of everyone getting a similar boost from HG, players could pick and choose their bonuses, allowing for a more strategic gameplay.


So not every battle plays out the same. A low level player might want more health and dodge than a higher level player because it allows them to stay in the battle longer. While the higher level player might want to change it up to more precision and higher damage because crit kill is a thing, and your wanting to hit harder.


Also with this change i suggest extending how long HG last from 5 to 10 days to match how long merc last, so that the benefits can be played out more readily. I'm not saying to change mercs because that system seems good as it is, allowing players to get these effect through other means. Also as with the current system you can have it start to give less of a bonus the more you put into it so that it becomes better to go into another branch and place points there. With this system i suggest moving the maximum to 100 to see how it plays.


If you want to discuss further ideas on this i suggest a players poll to see what effects they would like to see expanded on with HG.



Submitted by Brian Wise #17026

Power Ups Opinion By Germán Jaramillo ID # 685605

We are before temporary boosts with useful effects, but so expensive to activate. Let’s see:

“Battle Beacon: Recharge your battles at double speed” Yes, useful at kotms.

But useful at kotms for a few players and that few will be often quite strong forces that won’t need as many battles as they will own also a good amount of Hatorades. From my experience, I only needed something like this a few times. I certainly could have used it if the cost was dramatically lower.


2X Mech Repair: Your mechs will get special attention from technicians and repair faster than normal.

This is again, an expensive, so expensive boost. Is this useful? Only in two scenarios:

Raids close to the ending time and in danger to fail…

Battles in CW and FW also made in the edge of the ending time…

Only temptation for desperate players yet… But again, if the cost was really lower.


Coffee: Recharge your energy at double the normal speed

This is only useful for impatience people or in Raids in danger… Not likely was going to be so much used with its current cost.


Bioptics & Ferrite Sensor: The latest advancement in resource collection technology allows you to locate bioptics and ferrite with doubled efficiency. Collect at double normal rates.

Yes, this is useful when you ran short on resources and you are aiming to make missions or attack a lot of people because you were not afraid about the experience… But then, there are other ways to get FREE Crystal, ferrite and bioptics just investing some time doing the right things (aaaah…secrets… already published in other article) so, we fall before another expensive boost that might be a lot more used if its cost was way cheaper.


Overall, my opinion is that the Power Ups should have a cost ten times lower, and that could encourage to use the power ups to all the players who have an idea about the real cost of a Niode.


Right now, I believe power ups are an underused feature that might achieve $$$ to the developing team if their price was more appropriate for what is a temporary feature.


Simply, you can’t pretend that ten uses of battle beacon were equal to the cost of an Anubis!


But…


Make the power ups ten times cheaper, or as the suggested prices in the picture… (hey, Reggies approves!) and you might find the players using really more often those boosts and making the developers earning $$$.

Submitted By Germán Jaramillo ID # 685605

When Is It Applicable To Boot A Clan Mate From The Clan? By Pat Willis#224534

We've all seen it coming up through the ranks in various clans, the announcement is made for Clan Wars, your clan leader does roll call of who is in and who is out, people are moved according to their levels, and then the war comes and so and so is no where to be found until the raid after the fact. We hear about it every other clan war. Whomever did not show up for the war but now they are making a killing in the raid and are probably just going to get all the good prizes!

So the debate here is, when is it acceptable to boot them? Oh I know you may have to make special exceptions for some folks just due to their weather being worse than yours, or power is out, an earthquake hits..... you know something truly understandable. But aside from that where do you draw the line?

There are some very large clan families in this game and if you let so and so go they may get snapped up by the competition, and if they are one of your clans top guns that is not an enviable position to be in their cross hairs as an enemy. At the same time ALTS are rampant in this game so trying to figure out if your pilot is sandbagging on an ALT in favor of his main in an opposing clan is a whole nother joy in and of itself. So what ground rules do you set? What do you do in such a situation? Obviously if it keeps happening boot the person, but most clans have some rules in play to try and prevent that from happening as much as possible.

Should there be some kind of game mechanic to go with this? Like maybe being able to brand a persons profile with a little quote along the lines of ,"Bags in wars, not trust able, take into clan at own risk." Or is that too harsh? Some may think not given their personal experiences with such. So what say you players? What is the best way to prevent this from happening , or at least cut back on it significantly?

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Equipment Game Debate By Pat Willis#224534

Hello all, I have an issue to bring to the table regarding equipment. Why is it we can't get pieces of equipment that do just speed, precision and dodge? Why do all the higher tonnage pieces have so many flaws built into them? And lastly why are shields so weak?

Lets look at the basic categories of speed, precision and dodge. On the lighter tonnage mechas there really is no problem you can find what you want minus shielding without much hassle or problems. The equipment does what it says it does then the higher your tonnage goes the more you start running into vulnerabilities, and speed losses. Last I heard it was harder to build something so small, as opposed to something so big. So shouldn't the deficiencies be more on the lighter mecha and get better as you go up in tonnage?

Also what is with the equipment limits? What suddenly you don't want my hard earned niodes for shoddy equipment? Weapon limits I can understand, but equip limits? What sense does that even make? Okay I'm going to spend extortion prices for a single piece of defective equipment but I can't cause I am at the limit...come again.  Yes extortion prices, like 56, 57,58, niodes per cockpit piece alone for 100 tonners, that's half a days lotto win. Now why in the hell would I shell that much out for defective equipment, that just gets worse as the tonnage goes up.

Can we talk about shielding for a minute as long as I have you here? Does shielding make sense to you? To me it doesn't, mainly because the only real individual weapon type is ice. Otherwise aren't lasers, and fire just different combinations of light, heat, chemical etc? Missiles and Projectiles, both impact and kinetic based damage, so why doesn't one protection type double up to cover its secondary damage source? Look in the crystal shields and you'll see what I am saying. Oh it'll protect from missiles with a shield at 26% or fire at the same percentage but then you get projectile and laser vulnerabilities. Granted at a reduced rate of 3% but really shouldn't it be  say Missile shield 26%, projectile shield 3%, Ice vulnerable 8%. Doesn't something along those lines make more sense?

So why would you go through the hassle of buying niodes, to buy this kick ass mecha, and all its weapons, only to get to the equipment and realize you are limited on what you can put in, every other piece the higher you go tonnage wise brings your mecha down, and you're spending premium prices on less than desirable equipment?

 I get they want game balance, and to bring new things to the table but this is just ridiculous dealing with it every time I get a new mecha. I like a challenge as much as the next guy, but I play games for fun, and to relax. If a game stops being relaxing to me and has the fun taken out of it I start to stay away from it. At this time it's a consideration  here, and it's mainly because of this equipment. So one more time, can we please get equipment that does what it is supposed to do?

We don't need all this x2 or x3 damage added in to our precision if it means taking away speed or a vulnerability attached. How bout one simple speed rating, then do the same for dodge with the chassis, and precision for aim. That's really all folks want. No need to get all complex with it and have a plus to this, this, and that, but then get slammed by built in defects. Or at least lower the prices for gear with all that extra crap attached to it. Cause I don't know about you but I won't shell out those kind of niodes for vulnerable crap equipment.

 Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Game Debates By Ron Frye#879655

A column designed to allow players the opportunity to propose, discuss and debate game mechanics that could be changed or improved to enhance overall game enjoyment, function and optimum performance. Players are encouraged to propose future debate topics, by sending a private message, in game, to "Sgt" Ron Frye, aka Monk Malone.

TOPIC ONE: Player account identity

Recently, Patrick Willis, brought up a topic of debate in the editor's forum of Mecha Galaxy Everyone Is Welcome that initiated a very intense, very informative, and, from an intellectual level, very profitable debate. The topic of conversation was the morality and from a game rules and site principles stand point, the legality, of someone taking over another person's account and continuing play as that person. Now, I want to tell you that the results of this conversation were intensely interesting, and I personally feel that we have barely even scratched the surface of it, so I would like to continue that thread; however, I would like to invite the entire game community to participate as well. That being said, I now open this topic here.

With all of that being said, I will begin the conversation with a simple, yet direct question.

QUESTION: If a player is given another player's account to use when they quit the game, should that account continue to be considered the original character, or should there be a mechanic available in game to rename that character? If so, should the player change the character's name -aka- personality and identity, to reflect the change, and should this change be voluntary or mandatory?

Submitted by Sgt Ron Frye # 879655, Junior Editor, GGEW