Battletech

[Nefaro]

I hope this turns out well.  Starting off with a Kickstarter campaign, and what looks like nothing but a concept done thus far, I'm a bit itchy.

While I've enjoyed the Shadowrun RPGs from this developer, their games had almost no mechanical relations to the tabletop game and weren't terribly deep in the system they created for it.  While they are enjoyable games, I felt they were rather dumbed-down compared to the real thing.  So I am curious as to how long it will take them to actually implement the tabletop rules for Battletech, along with all the extra RPG and campaign meta-stuff, and whether there will be any simplification of them.

It's probably just my natural pessimistic wariness when it comes to one of my dream games, and something that should've been done long ago.  And being Kickstarter.  I'll still end up throwing money at them one way or another.. maybe even for the KS run.  But there has been nothing done on it thus far except plans for a Kickstarter campaign and some vague features mentioned.   ???  That's a pretty thin KS start. 

At least they've successfully released some KS titles in the past.  Lost my early access purchase to Mechwarrior Tactics when it went tits-up, so no more dickin around on the delivery.

TL;DR
Please don't fuck this up, please don't fuck this up, please ...

(You don't end up disappointed if you have low expectations.)

[bayonetbrant]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/webeharebrained/battletech

[sandman2575]

Out of curiosity -- is anyone round here playing MechWarrior Online?  It looks incredible, but the purely multiplayer combat environment doesn't especially appeal to me...

[Yskonyn]

I dabble in it, but its not much more than arena style deathmatches at this point.
That's too bad.

[RedArgo]

Unless I missed something, you really don't get anything extra for kickstarting unless you go to a higher tier for beta testing, so I think I'll just wait and see how it turns out.  Hope it is good and they meet their pvp goal.

[jomni]

You get a wallpaper.

[Nefaro]

This:

STAGE 3 ($1,850,000): We add side-missions, procedurally-generated missions and the campaign becomes open-ended.

.. is the real goal. 

Other than that it's just canned one-off battles.  It's a high mark to reach.  But that's not the only observation to be made...


Funny how that KS goal is almost exactly the same amount the same company's original Shadowrun Returns Kickstarter made ($1,836,447). 

Must've rounded it up to the nearest $50k.  ???

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/webeharebrained/shadowrun-returns



EDIT:

..and then there is some more info, further down the KS page, regarding this stage funding..

If Stage 3 gets funded, we'll add additional funding goals between Stages 3 and 4 that further improve Stage 3's open-ended Mercenary experience.

[SirAndrewD]

This:

STAGE 3 ($1,850,000): We add side-missions, procedurally-generated missions and the campaign becomes open-ended.

.. is the real goal. 

Other than that it's just canned one-off battles.  It's a high mark to reach.  But that's not the only observation to be made...


Funny how that KS goal is almost exactly the same amount the same company's original Shadowrun Returns Kickstarter made ($1,836,447). 

Must've rounded it up to the nearest $50k.  ???

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/webeharebrained/shadowrun-returns



EDIT:

..and then there is some more info, further down the KS page, regarding this stage funding..

If Stage 3 gets funded, we'll add additional funding goals between Stages 3 and 4 that further improve Stage 3's open-ended Mercenary experience.

Yeah, I held off on funding right away once I saw the $1.85 mil mark is what's needed to reach what I'd consider the bare minimum game. 

It's broken $500k in one day, so that is a good sign.  Still, these things tend to boom in their first and last 48 hours or so.  I'm absolutely going to pledge, but how much will really depend on how close they are to that $1.85 million mark. 

My only worry is that there doesn't seem to be much in the way of rewards beyond the $50 pledge.  I can't really see any incentive other than just my love for all things Battletech to go beyond that level.   That's going to put a bit of a dent in their revenue. 

[Gusington]

I would forego rewards for.a.kickass SP game.

[SirAndrewD]

I would forego rewards for.a.kickass SP game.

I will too.  I'm actually considering backing at the level where I get the jacket where I'll go around looking like a doofus decked out in House Davion colors.

However, I'm not sure many others are as obsessed with Battletech as I have been since I was a kid.

[Pinetree]

I backed it for $50 so I could get in the beta. I hope we get the re-imagined Unseens in there

[SirAndrewD]

I backed it for $50 so I could get in the beta. I hope we get the re-imagined Unseens in there

Don't quote me on this, and I have to dig it out of the info released today, but I think I saw some info that the actual Unseen would make it into this game. 

EDIT:  Yes, I dug through the Kickstarter comments and apparently the Unseen will be returning in the game, and not the Reseen, the actual Unseen.  But they didn't promise any Unseen on initial release.

[MetalDog]

I can see SP being a plus for many games, but, how could you possibly want anything BUT MP for Battletech?!?!?!?!!!!  A lance is four mechs.  You can't round up three people to go hunting with you?  And not for nothing, the role playing in this universe is more of a sidelight.  This game is all about kicking ass and taking initials!  Where's the fun in playing with yourself?

[jomni]

I can see SP being a plus for many games, but, how could you possibly want anything BUT MP for Battletech?!?!?!?!!!!  A lance is four mechs.  You can't round up three people to go hunting with you?  And not for nothing, the role playing in this universe is more of a sidelight.  This game is all about kicking ass and taking initials!  Where's the fun in playing with yourself?

It's a wargame, not and action / sim. And most wargames want to go solo.

But if you ask me, if they have done SP Skirmish, MP skirmish is actually not hard to pull off. Wonder why they need extra cash for that.

A lot of gaming can be done with a game with just SP and MP skirmish like Pike and Shot.  The canned scenarios are just extra.

[Pinetree]

Where's the fun in playing with yourself?

My teenage self would have been able to answer that....