Consumable Redesign

After the introduction of Consumables (Coolant Flush primarily) to MechWarrior Online via the March Developer Update, the MWO forums overheated (HA! See what I did there?!?!). Well, actually, they suffered from a Nuclear meltdown…and it wasn’t pretty.

Amid various complaints about PGI being forced to add consumables for MC by IGP (Because, you know, it had to be the evil publisher that made the decision! ;) ), complaints about the announced consumable system being P2W (it was), rage quitting, etc.. there was some valid feedback.

PGI listened to the Community.  Tonight, Paul Inouye (Lead Troll Designer) posted an updated description of how Consumables will work..including some more information on the Artillery and Air Strike modules.

The highlight?  P2W is gone, even the appearance of it.  Here’s the changes, and my thoughts:

Old Coolant flush functionality:

Coolant Flush will come in two forms; C-bill purchased and MC purchased. The following shows how the two versions are balanced:

 

C-Bill Purchased Coolant Flush:

  • The amount of cooling provided by a coolant flush is determined by the number of Heat Sinks in your BattleMech. The following assumes a Mech with 10 Heat Sinks:
    • Small Coolant Flush will instantly reduce a BattleMech’s current heat by 15%.
    • Medium Coolant Flush will instantly reduce a BattleMech’s current heat by 20%.
  • Coolant Flush 1 and 2 are stackable.
  • Each Coolant Flush will take up 1 module slot.
  • The C-Bill Purchased Coolant Flush will allow a player to trigger a coolant flush twice during a match.
  • Upon using a Coolant Flush, the player will have to re-purchase the used Coolant Flush module after the match if they wish to use it again.

MC Purchased Coolant Flush:

  • The amount of cooling provided by a coolant flush is determined by the number of Heat Sinks in your BattleMech. The following assumes a Mech with 10 Heat Sinks:
    • Large Coolant Flush will instantly reduce a BattleMech’s current heat by 35%.
  • Large Coolant Flush is not stackable with any other Coolant Flush module including itself.
  • Large Coolant Flush takes up 1 module slot.
  • The MC Purchased Large Coolant Flush allows a player to trigger a coolant flush once during a match.
  • Upon using a Large Coolant Flush, the player will have to re-purchase the used Large Coolant Flush module after the match if they wish to use it again.

C-Bill Coolant Flush and MC Coolant Flush are not stackable. That is, they are mutually exclusive meaning that you cannot equip the MC purchased coolant flush with either of the C-Bill coolant flushes.

The P2W part, was that the MC version was noticeably better then the C-Bill version, partly because it only required 1 module slot, to get the full 35% where as the C-Bill version required 2 module slots.  The assumption being that the tiers of the artillery strike/Air strike modules would function the same way, so you could end up with:

C-Bills:

  • Slot 1 – Coolant Flush 1
  • Slot 2 – Coolant Flush 2
  • Slot 3 – Air Strike 1
  • Slot 4 – Artillery Strike 1

MC:

  • Slot 1 – Coolant Flush 3
  • Slot 2 – Air Strike 3
  • Slot 3 – Artillery Strike 3
  • Slot 4 – Open for another module

This breakdown gives a clear advantage to the MC player.. which makes it P2W.

New Coolant Flush functionality (source).

Coolant Flush v1.1

C-Bill Purchased Coolant Flush

CF-100 (Temporary name)

  • Cools a Mech for 6 heat over 1 second.
  • Cost: 10,000 C-Bills.
  • Requires 1 module slot.
  • Can only be used once during a match.
  • If used, it must be repurchased for the next match if you want to use it again.

CF-110 (Temporary name)

  • Cools a Mech for 9 heat over 1 second.
  • Cost: 40,000 C-Bills.
  • Requires 1 module slot.
  • Can only be used once during a match.
  • If used, it must be repurchased for the next match if you want to use it again.

So, slight change in functionality, reasonable pricing.  Here’s the MC version:

CF-200 (Temporary name)

  • Cools a Mech for 18 heat.

  • Cost: 15 MC.

  • Requires 1 module slot.

  • Can only be used once during a match.

  • If used, it must be repurchased for the next match if you want to use it again.

Now, I know what you’re saying.. “Wait! the MC version is twice as good as the best C-Bill version!  That’s Pay 2 Win still!”  And, you’d be right.. except.. PGI has provided a way to upgrade the 110 Module!

In the Pilot Tree, there will be a new enhancement node that the player can unlock for 15,000 GXP. If the player does so, they will upgrade/convert the CF-110 module, to the CF-110U module that provides an additional 9 heat reduction to a total of 18 for the single CF-110U module. All CF-110 modules are upgraded to the CF-110U module, which is available to purchase for the same price (40,000 CB cost)..

This gives C-Bill only players the same capabilities as MC players, they just have to take a little longer to get there.   This falls inline with how PGI has always positioned MC Purchases which is a Pay for Convenience, not pay for power.  There are limitations on what version of the modules can be equipped with each other.. and I’m going to steal Paul’s pretty graphic to show it off:

Look at the possibilities!
Look at the possibilities!

The only possibility that isn’t on the chart, is the CF-110U all by itself for 18 cooling.

Pay to Win crisis…. averted!  All is right with the Inner Sphere again, so cancel those plans to have yourself shot into the Sun in protest!

 

Now, on to the Artillery and Air Strike Modules!

Base rules covering both of these support modules:

  • There is a no fire period of 60 seconds at the start of the match. No player will be able to call for artillery or air support during this time.
  • Each support call requires a certain amount of time for the effect to take place. This is determined by the length of flight time for the incoming barrage and the duration of the barrage itself.
  • Between each call for support, there is a 4 second global cool down for a team. During this time, no one on a team that just called for support will be able to make another request (artillery or air). See “Cadence Timeline” below for more information.
  • Request for support are processed on a first come first serve basis. Team communication will be key to take advantage of these services to their full potential.

 

C-Bill Artillery Strike:

  • Cost: 40,000 CB
  • Requires 1 module slot
  • Can only be used once per match.
  • If used, the module must be repurchased for the next match.
  • There is an 8 second flight time between the call for support and impact of the first shell.
  • 6 shells are fired and land within 3 seconds of the first shell making impact.
  • The 6 shells will drop randomly within 50 meters of the targeted location.
  • When a player targets a location for artillery, a smoke canister appears at the location and continues to smoke for the duration of the barrage.
  • Each explosive shell does 10 damage.
  • Each explosive shell has a damage fall off of 10 meters from its impact point and damage falls to 0 at the outer edge of this radius.

MC Artillery Strike:

  • Cost: 15 MC
  • Requires 1 module slot
  • Can only be used once per match.
  • If used, the module must be repurchased for the next match.
  • There is an 6.5 second flight time between the call for support and impact of the first shell.
  • 10 shells are fired and land within 3 seconds of the first shell making impact.
  • The 10 shells will drop randomly within 50 meters of the targeted location.
  • When a player targets a location for artillery, a smoke canister appears at the location and continues to smoke for the duration of the barrage.
  • Each explosive shell does 10 damage.
  • Each explosive shell has a damage fall off of 10 meters from its impact point and damage falls to 0 at the outer edge of this radius.

Again..at initial glance, the MC one looks more powerful (more damage! less wait!).. but, as with the coolant modules, PGI has added an upgrade path for C-Bill only players.. for 15,000 GXP your C-Bill module gets upgraded to the same capabilities as the MC version!

 

Air Strikes!

C-Bill Version:

  • Cost: 40,000 CB
  • Requires 1 module slot
  • Can only be used once per match.
  • If used, the module must be repurchased for the next match.
  • There is an 8 second flight time between the call for support and impact of the first bomb.
  • 6 bombs are dropped and land within 3 seconds of the first bomb’s impact.
  • The 6 bombs will drop randomly within a 200×25 meter strip.
  • When a player targets a location for artillery, a smoke canister appears at the location and continues to smoke for the duration of the barrage.
  • The direction of the bombardment is dictated by the direction the calling Mech was facing when the call was made.
  • Each explosive bomb does 10 damage.
  • Each explosive bomb has a damage fall off of 10 meters from its impact point and damage falls to 0 at the outer edge of this radius.

MC Version:

  • Cost: 15 MC
  • Requires 1 module slot
  • Can only be used once per match.
  • If used, the module must be repurchased for the next match.
  • There is a 6.5 second flight time between the call for support and impact of the first bomb.
  • 10 bombs are fired and land within 3 seconds of the first bomb’s impact.
  • The 10 bombs will drop randomly within a 200×25 meter strip.
  • When a player targets a location for an air strike, a smoke canister appears at the location and continues to smoke for the duration of the bombardment.
  • Each bomb does 10 damage.
  • Each bomb has a damage fall off of 10 meters from its impact point and damage falls to 0 at the outer edge of this radius.

and 15,000 GXP gets your C-Bill Air Strike upgraded to be equal to the MC version.. so, no Pay to Win here either (anymore!)

 

There are some aspects of the Air Strike/Artillery Strike system that I think could use a bit of clarification:

  • Does using them require LOS to the target map grid?
  • If a strike is called down in the middle of a brawl, will Friendly ‘Mechs be damaged (I’m assuming this is a yes, since Friendly Fire is already in the game)?
  • How visible is the smoke from the canister?  i.e will it be hard to miss, so folks have enough time to vacate the area?

And, overall, I’m still curious what has changed within PGI, that they went from a ‘nope, it’d be unbalanced and remove a tactical element from the game’ to “Here’s your coolant flush”, though, I don’t think we’ll get an answer to that one..

What are your thoughts on the revised consumable system?