Revenge of the Fat Jolly Git by David McCallum : #701548

One of these days, we will actually finish off an enemy bent on Galactic domination.


It really is bad form the way we just give them a good kicking, then they slink away only to come and annoy us at the most inopportune moment.


Still, its not as if we were hoping for a holiday or anything like that. Just because we've set the Unification forces in retreat, doesn't mean we aren't ready to leap reindeer like to everyone's defence... again.


Yes, it's around that time when old 'Red 'n' Tubby is showing his fluffy face... I wonder what he's after this time, apart from making himself a right royal pain in the posterior?


Still, the Military is on to it, and any pilot who wants a head start in getting to a readiness state can partake of some wargames to see how they are going to fare.


General Nova’s EVIL SANTA XMAS CHALLENGE

Evil Santa and his minions have recently been sighted in several locations around the galaxy. Pilots in the area have reported hearing strange songs playing over the comms and galactic authorities are investigating these tunes to see if they contain any malicious system viruses, but have so far found them to be benign. 

Many pilots believe that it is likely that Evil Santa will attempt another conquest of our galaxy soon. Evil Santa has a history of causing trouble wherever he goes. 

During Evil Santa's last attempt, Gen. Nova managed to get his hands on a few of the mecha left behind. He has decided to host a Xmas Challenge to assist the Mercenary Clans with preparations to fight Evil Santa.

All pilots now have a chance to test their strength against a few of the mecha Evil Santa is known to use. To take advantage of this opportunity, deploy a single line of your best mecha against Evil Santa’s mechs. For an extra challenge, use less than your maximum tonnage and prove that you are an elite warrior.

Single Line Lowest Tonnage:

Level 32-61
Level 62-99
Level 100-129
Level 130-158
Level 159-199
Level 200+

Single Line Lowest Level:
Level 32-61
Level 62-99
Level 100-129
Level 130-158
Level 159-199
Level 200+

Lowest Level (Up to 350 tons) Level 1-31
Lowest Tonnage (Unlimited Formation) Level 1-31

RULES TO PARTICIPATE: Attack General Nova and then copy the permalink from your battle feed for the battle that you want to submit. All pilots level 32 and above must use a single line of mecha to attack. Please note that the single line may be any line in your base, as long as all your mecha are in one (vertical) line. It does NOT have to be your front line. 

General Nova will accept only one (1) entry per player. Your entry will be considered in BOTH categories (Lowest Level and Lowest Tonnage) for your level group listed above.

Please be sure that your entry is the one you want to use before you submit it to General Nova. If multiple entries are sent in, only the first will be counted. Spamming General Nova may be considered grounds for disqualification.

This event will run from server reset (00:00) on 12/10 to the end of the day on 12/12 (23:59). 

TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY: Message General Nova through his profile (using in-game mail) and include the permalink for your submission in the message. Please state your level at the time of the battle in the message subject line.

PRIZES: The Lowest Level pilot and Lowest Tonnage formation in each grouping to defeat the challenge will be named the winner for that group and will receive the prize listed. Only one prize will be awarded per player.
In the case of a tie, the entry submitted first will win. A higher mech count will also be used as a tie breaker (Ex: 4 Ogguns will win against 2 Reapers.) 


Winners will receive a free weapon: 
Level 32-61 (H. Blast Plate)
Level 62-99 (Glace)
Level 100-129 (Silencer)
Level 130-158 (Sniper Rack)
Level 159-199 (Phyrenado)
Level 200+ (Leviathan)
Lowest Level (Up to 350 tons) Level 1-31 (Res Laser)
Lowest Tonnage (Unlimited) Level 1-31 (Ol' Willie Pete)


So, we may as well start getting into the spirit of mass destruction (either by firepower or alcohol)... looks like us pilots have another grind ahead of us.
Submitted by David McCallum : #701548

Breaking the Fourth Wall by David McCallum : #701548

Here's a few questions for you.


Is Patrick:

A) A drunken sot / slave-driver with delusions of greatness or

B) A guy who likes sci-fi, big mechs, monsters and is dealing with a job that has cruddy hours that he quite enjoys?


Is Kenneth:

A) Easily conned into doing the menial and degrading jobs around the office or

B) A Gamer with a new job he is seriously enjoying but is taking up a heck of a lot of his time which his rather large ginger cat is going to make him pay for in the only way that cats can?


Am I:

A) Heck, just generally awesome in all respects.

B) See above.


In game, your answers should have been all A's. However real life, it is of course B's.


Except question 3... A would have been acceptable for that one in either case.


The thing that gets me about this community is that when it comes to communicating, we swap between 'in character' and 'breaking the fourth wall' with consummate ease. I respect that in a community that enjoys its escapism, but is well grounded enough to step out into real life to deal with actual issues.


Heck, we could be playing 'World of Warcraft', then things would be going seriously psycho. Talk about not being in touch with reality.


One of the best examples are the dev team.


If you think about it, especially over the course of this year, they have constantly churned out new material... not just game tweaks and page layout enhancements (think about the moving of the $$$ buffs away from the lottery button enhancement) but new story lines, solo play mission zones and the temporary mission pages that you can earn Niodes for spotting first.


The creative work behind that must be intensive and somewhat draining. And immersive, because each and every piece must be 'in universe' and 'in character'.


And yet if there is a game mechanic query or bug report, the wall is shattered and it gets attended to.


And you know what?


The odd flame war aside, its not just the devs that do it. We all do.


Just an observation from a pilot who has been out on patrol for 4 days straight and is seriously looking forward to his own bed sometime within the next 24 hours...

Submitted by David McCallum : #701548

We Need Your Submissions By Pat Willis#224534

Hello folks, yes I know I've covered this issue before in no small detail. However the fact remains this is a player fueled and run site. As such we need more players chiming in. A lot of you say well I'm not that great a writer. You don't have to be.

Look writing is pretty simple write how you would talk. So you can't think up a story line for pilot stories. No problem do a review. Probably the simplest thing we have on this site are the reviews. Start off with I like this, or dislike this weapon/equipment piece/mecha because.... and insert your reasons. Before you know it you can have a decent length review written up and ready to submit. We just ask you keep the language PG-13 as this is a more open audience.

Clan lore is another good one. There are many well put together, and groomed clans out there. We want to know more about you all!! Get some clan lore together. What are your rules, do you have them at all? How do you operate, what faction do you support? Who is in charge, who are the grunts, any legendary pilots in your ranks? What is your clans back story, how did you all come together? Memorable battles, wars, raids, or KOTM? Any logos to go with it all?(that last one try to keep it as original and non copy write protected as possible.) Got any rival players, or clans that are a thorn in your clans side?

As if I have to mention it we of course pay out niodes for submissions. Unless all you want to do is hear myself and my editorial staff ramble on day in and day out, or see us have to close up shop for good we need your submissions. Writing isn't too hard, writing an opinion is even easier. Try it, send it to us, lets us be the judge.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Typhoon Clan Logo By Germán Jaramillo Pulido#685605

Submitted by Germán Jaramillo Pulido#685605

Leviathan Clan Logo By Germán Jaramillo Pulido#685605

 Submitted by Germán Jaramillo Pulido#685605

Fafnir Clan Logo By Germán Jaramillo Pulido#685605

Submitted by Germán Jaramillo Pulido#685605

Tiamat Clan Logo By Germán Jaramillo Pulido#685605

Submitted by Germán Jaramillo Pulido#685605

Square Flame Weapon Review By Pat Willis#224534

Damage-30

Speed-103

2x damage 2%

3x Damage 2%

One of the corner stones of any effective flame based arsenal. This weapon is fairly fast firing and for its level the damage is actually pretty good. The bonuses included in their abilities of course can be further augmented by equipment and specific mech types.

It is a solid performing weapon and can be relied on with no worry. The selling point on this one is all speed though for a flame weapon it is very fast (flame weapons like the diablis nozzle and rupture shot clock in at 105 speeds by way of comparison.) So you really can’t argue with a quick shooter.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Tradition and Superstition by David McCallum : #701548

We compete. We play games.


Ergo, we are superstitious.


It may be little things.


A mech you can't go into battle without.


Hitting a different mission after you get a duff one like 'Blank Stare' or 'Nothing to Report' so it instantly breaks the bad run before it starts.


Not attacking the same player twice in a row in case luck swings the completely opposite way.


And it's infectious as well with people feeding off each other.


I started one myself.


I normally fight as a specialist, so much so that before this war, I can't actually recall the last time I wasn't one.


We don't like getting caught out of formation, so a reminder is normally sent over clan chat. Most of the guys respond to confirm they have seen it and are all set. Sometimes they confirm before the call goes out.


My confirmation is 'cruisers on the field', due to the spec type I normally use. It seemed funny not to be declaring that this war... almost setting my teeth on edge.


And then one of the other guys declared he had set his spec, somebody who normally uses a weight class a little higher than mine.


'Heavy cruisers on the field' was the call.


The raccoons were not my fault. A clan mate had one as his profile picture eer since I joined, and his luck in raids was obscene. Then he changed the picture and his loot dwindled to nothing. We suggested he put it back, the loot arrived again.


Now my raid luck was not abysmal, but it was below average. I changed my profile pick to a raccoon, and I had a run of loot luck that was so far into the top of the bell curve that I lost sight of it.


Suddenly we were overrun with raccoon profile pics.


We formed a new clan at the bottom end, the Raccoon Rangers.


The clan chief stayed diplomatically silent on the matter. The 2IC was far more vocal and either dismissive or mildly annoyed at the frivolity of the situation.


It must have been maybe... 20 minutes? before that particular war started that we got notification that 'somebody' had changed their profile picture. The catcalls on clan chat were intense to say the least.


Under the circumstances, trying to use the reason of 'It can't hurt' doesn't cut the mustard with our lot.


And there must be more out there. Weird, wonderful, just downright strange or 'in jokes' that need to be explained.


Come on folks, fess up. Note them below and we'll even pay for them.



Submitted by David McCallum : #701548

To Our Readers By Pat Willis#224534

Hello one and all,

I am writing this to simply have a heart to heart no BS talk with each and every one of you. You see this site is maintained by less than a handful of people. David, Kenneth,and myself. Joel and Ron are consultants and occasional contributors but are no longer full time staff. As a result we are all subject to different time zones, availability, and even free time.

This leads to us trying to put out content for you, with trying to maintain a 2 post per day minimum (now down to just the A.M. post.) not an easy task. Yes there are weapons galore in the game, as well as a variety of equipment to cover.

 However we're more than just a tech manual. And to be honest while quick and easy to write up such reviews may be, they can become tiresome to turn out day after day. We have other options available to write up as is evidenced by our site navigation bar, but we would rather the bulk of that stuff come from you the readers.

We want to know your pilot stories, actual in game events, or made up sorties, we want to know your preferred mecha, reviews on it, hell share a build. By the stars especially if you think you'll be retiring from the game share your builds! Pass the knowledge on rather than leaving newbies and up and comers grasping in the dark. Got a commentary? Toss us an editorial, but please try to keep it this side of civil.

In a nutshell there is only so much we can do as small group of editors and advisors/contributors. We need you, we need your submissions. We need your clan lore and logos, your news, hell even bragging rights, or issuing challenges. We need that to stay here as a network for mecha galaxy. Otherwise we simply will run out of things to print or publish and all you'll be left with once again is A.N.N.

I was hoping that won't be the case as so many seemed keen on having an alternative network to run in competition to A.N.N. from the get go. And lets face it no disrespect or offense meant to them but, they carry a bias and always kind of have. ( I used to work for them I know.) But think of it you kind of have to to get your stuff implemented as they do in game. They are very  much THE Mecha Galaxy news. Why? because about 60% of the time they are making it and are able to keep in touch with the devs. All well and good.

Us? Never claimed to be THE news of anything. I may have an ego but I am not that egotistical. My sights were lower, more humble if you will. I just wanted to be the voice of the players. Make sure every one and every side was being heard. Not ram new rules and events down your throats with continuous stories and endless bombardment on the game page. We just have always wanted everyone to be heard in as calm and relaxing manner as possible. For a war game where everyone is against everyone else this is about an neutral and unbiased as it gets.

As I said however we can not maintain this indefinitely on our own, we need you ladies and gentlemen. Otherwise to be honest this will just have been a brief experiment in free press. So please consider what I have said here, look at your own, as well as your clans exploits and give us a transmission. We pay, we have solid views per day, so I know this will be read, so you have nothing to loose with us. Nothing more than you would in submitting to the other guys, and risk perhaps having it omitted due to conflict with the "official" narrative. Think about it, I'll keep this running as long as I can. Without submissions however closing shop is inevitable.

Happy hunting one and all,

Pat Willis#224534

Fraction Wars Interview with Colin Toenjes #650451

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