I was not, originally, going to comment, although I found this thread over a month ago, though now I feel it's time to do just that.

In a recent Gamasutra interview, Jordan Weisman mentioned specifically that there were great plans for many of the old FASA catalog games, such as BattleTech.  I don't know and can't speak to whether or not he meant BattleTech in specific, but it came from his fingers when he answered the interviewers questions, so... (shrugs)

For anyone who doesn't know... http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3654/interview_jordan_weisman.php is where that interview can be found.

Now, presuming to dream that there may be, one day in the next four or five years, a release of a BattleTech MMORPG, not another MechWarrior shooter, I am going to say something that is likely to draw the ardor of quite a few of you out there.  BattleTech Online should NOT be made for the current on-line community, especially the MechWarrior community, in particular.  I've been around the "community" -CBT and MechWarrior computer games- for a LONG time, and I will freely say that 98% of the community is so obsessed with blowing the crap out of one another that a true-to-BattleTech game is not in them.

For the record, the work I have seen from MW: LL thus far is absolutely amazing, it's as true to CBT as can be, and if I can ever get out of this personal recession I'm in, I'll upgrade and be more than happy to play.  I really like what's been done with AeroSpace Fighter physics, and may have to switch from 'Mechs to Fighters.  However, MW: LL, from the various statements I have read on the web site, is not designed to be a complete BattleTech game, meaning playing MechWarriors instead of just killing one another, political intrigue, disasters, resource management, et al. 

If there's to be a BattleTech MMORPG, and this is where I become unpopular, it has to be the whole enchilada, so we can role-play, as well.  I have been virtually drummed off MekTek and battletechuniverse.org for that viewpoint, and I'm going to give you all another one, from a 23-year BattleTech veteran -and, yeah, it IS important that I've been in this that long, and it's important for anyone else who's been in at least 15 years, before the computer games, as well- and ain't none of ya gonna like it.

It has to be done with a new audience in mind.  If a game like that is made in any format other than true-to-game, games of which MW4 and even MW3: Pirate's Moon are NOT, which means whomever is making it is attempting to cater to the on-line BattleTech 'community', then you may as well hang it up, now.  It's time for a new influx of thinking, feeling, mouth-closed, ears-open gamers who will make the universe work rather than handing it over to the twitchers who couldn't care less.

Since I've been playing in Jordan Weisman's and L. Ross Babcock, IIIs universe, since November 1984, I've come to love this game universe, this false place that became real through the writings and construction of the authors: Michael Stackpole, William H. Keith, Jr., Loren Coleman, Thomas S. Gressman, and even Ardath Mayhar, and it was something brought to more life, if not more reality, than my own real life.  However, since November, 1999, when MW3: PM was released, the community has seriously begun to go downhill.  When I go to sites such as MekTek and Classic BattleTech and I am hounded, harangued, and put-down for proposing any idea opposite to killing 'Mechs, or expansive on that premise, by younger people who don't really know what they're talking about, it's time to go.  Even places such as battletechuniverse.org and mw3.org have managed to make me want to leave, because I simply don't want to deal with their garbage.

In short, the BattleTech/MechWarrior community does not deserve a new game at all.  I am so glad that there are those who've taken up the mantle of labor of love for the MechWarrior version of the BattleTech universe, and I wish them all the best, I really do, but I find it odd that those who are working so hard to bring these things about are meeting resistance from those who are unable.  Yes, people are entitled to have a wonderful game done, or even an absolutely amazing one such as the LL crew is doing, here, but these people go out and purchase single-player games all the time that are built within a set of rules and with a set of information, and they play it without asking a single question or making a single complaint, because those are the rules.

So, why do these self-same people feel they have a right to complain and moan when a company asks for feedback on a multiplayer game, complaining until the people making it don't want to continue on?  What gives them the right, the ones who are unable, to scream and holler and complain, when they are unable?  My short answer is, "NOTHING.  The rules to the game are being written, the content is being developed, and it is being done far more than competently, far more than they are able, so they should suck it up, drive on, and play the game as built."

Rhetorical question: Am I wrong about this?

No, a BattleTech MMORPG needs to be made expansive enough to include more new than old players, and the new players should be responsible for shaping the universe every bit as much as the old players, and if the old players complain, moan, and deride the new players, whether for lack of knowledge or ideas, they should immediately be uninvited from participation.  90% of the existing community would be uninvited quickly, especially among MekTek and CBT players.

Well, that's my $2.50 about a BattleTech MMORPG.  Personally, I would love to see something good happen, though it's more likely the vocal minority will over-rule the non-vocal majority, and we'll just get another shooter.

For the LL guys, please forgive me if anything I said sounds insulting, as that was not my intent.  I think the work you've done thus far is beyond amazing, beyond anything most MechWarrior players could ever hope for, and I hope neither Smith and Tinker nor Microsoft give you any grief or yank your ability to release this game at all, for any reason.  For the twitchers out there, the guys who ONLY love to start up your simulator and kill other 'Mechs, live pilots or not, I would only implore you to delve into the history, lore, and stories of the whole BattleTech universe for the sake of your own immersion, and for the peace of true veterans like myself.  I would love to come back and play, if I found a good reason to.

Thank you.

In essence, you're correct about needing the new 'Mech game.  However, this isn't just about a new 'Mech game, it's about a BattleTech MMORPG, at least for me.  It took me a long time, probably three years, to be able to verbalize my dissatisfaction with the community on the whole, because I wanted to try to be more diplomatic, more mature about the whole thing, perhaps help others to see things in a similar vein to what I see, and of course it's never worked.

You're right that there are only a few bad eggs -at least the ones that are willing to begin bashing immediately-, but once the bad eggs start in, a great deal of the community jumps right off the cliff with them.


Man, truer words were never spoken.  Unfortunately, for me, I've yet to learn that lesson; to a point... Actually, this is the only active 'Mech community account I have, anymore, and today's my first day here.  It's not that I allow myself to get chased from places, it's that I just get so tired of fighting with people whose ONLY idea is killing other 'Mechs, and it is impossible for them to broaden their horizon to see more.

So, I suppose questions I would have for THIS community in general are...

1)  Would a BattleTech MMORPG done right -lore, history, stories, and role-playing in-line more with an Oblivion style game rather than a WoW style game- be accepted by the MechWarrior community?

2)  If not, what could be done to make that sort of game more attractive to the MechWarrior community?

Oh, no, I know that pretty well.  I guess the reason I feel comfortable posting here, for the time being, is because I haven't bombed out, yet.  I try not to cross people, but the harder I try, the more it seems to happen.

No, the work I am seeing here, from the videos attached to the newsletters -actual newsletters, not a promise and no delivery... kudos- and the astounding art, most of which is in my screen saver slide show, by the way, is beyond amazing.  I have understood from the beginning that this is supposed to be a game in the vein and Battlefield 1942 and the like and, frankly, I think that's great.


(blushes) Thank you. (bows) I live to serve... for the highest bidder, hehe.


Man, I hope so.


Perhaps I've found a kindred spirit, then.  Don't get me wrong, I know there are folks out there that have read all of the novels and they have a real love for the game and, perhaps, are able to allow for the sheer... nevermind, who are more accepting of the 'anything goes' philosophy -there you go, that's what I wanted to say- than I am as what has been termed a hardcore 'fanboi'.  (Uggh)  I guess I just think that something so much work has been put into, not only by the folks at FASA Corporation, FanPro, and Catalyst on the role-playing side, and the various video game developers on the computer side, should be respected far more.

You know what attracted me here, today?  There's a post on the battletech-movie forum by Criminal asking for assistance with BattleTech continuity.  Unfortunately, the post is a year old, now, and I have never read the BT-M forums before today, as with these forums.  Had I been a member of those forums, I would have ripped my left arm off to raise it high enough in the air with my right to be seen.  I don't know if the game is too far along, now, but I would certainly volunteer for the job if it's still open.  From what I've seen, however, I'm not so sure these guys need the help.


It has been that long and, given the money and opportunity, I will upgrade and purchase Crysis just so I can get this mod.  Not expecting my luck to hold out for that, though.

Still... I honestly do wish every mod out there the best, though to be honest, it looks like this one is going to be the top candidate of them all.  I really want IS3028 to be completed and go live, and I wish IS Wars would get it together so people would be attracted to play again, and AT1: BT may not look as good as this game, but I think it's going to fit the BattleTech bill 100%, same with BattleTech Simulator.

One of the things a good friend of mine and I have resolved about making a BattleTech MMORPG is the negative potential of it.  Again, some folks are not going to agree on these points, and that's fine... to each their own.

1)  BattleTech is entirely too well-defined in most areas and ill-defined in others.  This is important because there's no room, really, to grow new stories, and of the room that is available, there's no way to really get things to work so they don't spoil other parts of the BattleTech story-line.  There ARE things that can be done to enhance the storyline, as built, especially since I would be openly proceeding from 3025 to 3070, sans the stupid-ass Jihad, but it's going to be extremely difficult to have a functioning economy and balance all of the other things that would be required to make a BattleTech MMO a fanboi's dream, while opening it to general players, twitchers, and science fiction/MMO audiences alike.

2)  No two groups, no two people, can agree on anything as far as how to put a BattleTech game together goes.  So, even if I were footing the bill, I would have to hire almost universally non-BattleTech people to make the thing work right and completely.

3)  Almost universally, players in the BattleTech universe have NO interest in playing the story at all.  This is sad because of the enormously rich history of the game.  Jordan Weisman and crew developed the universe just a bit too well.  For those who would ask, I spent the better part of three years gleaning this information from the community; as I explained in an earlier post, this is the only truly active forum account I have in the community because, agree with it or not, a lot of CBT/MW community members are shitheads.  That, coupled with the fact that EVERY SINGLE TIME I have raised the BattleTech MMORPG idea, except in these forums, the discussion has always turned to argument; since I don't put up with stupidity, I typically leave those forums.

Now, all of this is in reference to the idea that, if I win my lawsuits against the state that kept my sons illegally for the past two plus years, I would devote $100 million of that relief to developing a MMORPG.  For reference of scope and scale, World of Warcraft required $36 million to build AND market the game, initially.  Also for reference, the recent XBox title Lost Planet required $20 million each to build and market it, a total of $40 million.  Because of how closed BattleTech really, honestly, is -and I've discussed this with a LOT of players, friends, and colleague-players over the past five years- I would go with a different, popular game universe than BattleTech.

No hints, as yet.

I still think this community holds more sane and controlled discussions, though I've been in one tiff in the past two months where the other guy, a developer, was wrong.  Period.