Can I ask how you arrived to that conclusion? Because I can't.

He probably just has a grudge against WizKids or something. It used to be all the rage with the hip kids a few years ago, but despite their best efforts it went out of fashion and nowadays they're called derogatory names. Some desperate souls still try to get it back in style, their attempts are usually labelled as "whinefests".

I find this yet another compelling argument in favor of Gunslingers. This is a very constructive logic. I don't personally believe that Gunslingers subtract from the game, or subtract even from the Factions. I find myself recruiting several Gunslingers to faction rides frequently. So this is fairly functional and agreeable logic. I know, however, that I would like to see at least Faction commanders who represent a benefit to a faction pure army. Almost like character pride?

I walk a thin line, ya cantankerous goob :classic:

For the purposes of fiction, MechWarrior and Battletech should shake hands. As for Gameplay, I think it's fair to say these are different worlds. Should they be? An argument for a different thread.

Well he was driven away by some of those merc loving, faction hating, n00bs from the WK (I helped!) site so I can understand why he is angry. But who really cares if faction x doesn't get this or that. It's just a silly robot game played by people who have nothing better to do but debate about pilots being too cheap, too many mercs, not enough mercs, the sun being too bright, ect. Or in other words most of the community.

I would dare reccommend that generic faction-ed (so to speak) pilots should be given special abilities akin to Faction Pride. Perhaps even an exact duplicate of the faction pride released for the set. It can't be cancelled by True Grit but the benefit only applies to the pilot and his/her 'Mech.

My idea was that it was basically faction pride, but just a small bonus, such as "This unit receives so and so special equipment, or modifier if the player's bonus only includes units with the so and so faction symbol"

You could show a bit more compassion for those poor people, of course. Especially about their complaint that the sun is too bright. Sometimes they are forced to leave their cellar because they ran out of Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper or whatever it is that gamers are guzzling down in large quantities these days. And if they're in bad luck, it's a sunny day. After having spend days in comfortable dusk while surfing the net and dwelling in exciting alternative realities (don't you dare call it 'just' a game, it's so much more!) such as Halo, World of Warcraft and whatnot, the brutal light and warmth of our harsh star hurts like a thousand needles in pale, pale flesh.

Actually, you may be surprised to realize that House Kurita and the Rasalhague Dominion each have more Legendary Pilots (and unique units) than the Republic. And Clan Nova Cat isn't too far behind. Whoever gets the Super-Rare Lance in Vanguard (I'm guessing Liao, though I could be wrong) won't be too far behind the Republic at that point, either, even if they don't get have any other regular uniques.

To bring this back more on-topic:

Some of the most popular uniques are those that show up in fiction, even when the units aren't necessarily the best out there. As such, I would like to see more faction uniques in sets, particularly pilots from the fiction. It was cool to get Kisho Nova Cat, Julian Davion, Alexi Holt, Reo Jones and Lars Magnusson, for example.

So I'd like to propose the following: cut back the number of gunslingers in each set by 1-3 in favor of bringing in more pilots from the fiction. Many people have been clamoring for the return of One-Eyed Jack and Dagger Di, for example. A new Danai Centrella-Liao would be cool, too. Just to keep us on our toes, release a few pilots as figures before they've been in the fiction, but introduce them in the fiction within a year. It's always cool spotting characters in the fiction that we were first introduced to by their figures, after all. (In other words, I want to see Maximillian Marius introduced in a book focusing on House Steiner soon! ;) )

Anyway, that's just my thoughts on the matter.

Man Nanhold ,you should start a fundraiser for the poor souls who have to come from the darkness,hhmm maybe we can get them dark sunglasses so they can actually feel the warmth of the sun without the pupils dialating,then shriveling up and falling out of their heads. While where at it we can probaly get some rolling carts with Mountain Dew in an I.V. drip so they can stay outside for a longer period of time, than say, just 5 minutes? :grin: :p

Blanner, who said anything about helping those cellardwellers?

I must say that Freeptop has a point. If people like the characters featured in the novels that much, it should help sales if those were featured more consistently in the game as pilots with their 'Mechs.

As merc loving as I am this sounds like a good idea. My problem with DA uniques was that I had never heard of them. I'd love to see more characters from the books make it into the game.

I do like the idea of using Real characters from the fiction part of the game. Its sometimes neat to not get charcters from the storyline, but if Wizkids likes to keep to their storylines(which it seems like they want to) they should create the charcters that they feature in their storyline. Even if they aren't all that great, Bannson got created(though I don't know where or how he got his mechwarrior trainning) so I don't see how this could be difficult, and it would be really neat to field them.

Sadly, this arguement has been around since retirement was first announced, and since gunslingers were first introduced.

The simple truth is that faction pure play is possible. Competitive? Maybe, in the right hands. The only game in town? Not at all.

Gunslingers give you access to more pilots, mechs, combos, and potential than would be possible if the releases excluded Gunslingers. Faction only pilots would quickly become a game of "we got X in release 4, but that other faction got something better" Sure, some pilots naturally apply to some factions better. Sure, some factions have great pilots. Sure, some mechs and pilot combos are going to be powerful. But no one combo is going to completely rule every game, every tournament, or every release cycle.

I'm against retirement. I firmly believe it narrows the archetype pool atrificially, and makes the competitive cycle that much more cut-throat. I know alot of players who are happy that certain pieces are out of the play environment now, but at the same time, I know alot of players who lament the loss of huge portions of playable figures.

Yes, a natural reaction is to quit. Anyone can quit. Anyone can gripe about the lack of "what I want" in something, and walk away from it. But how many can actually take a limited set, balance it's strengths against it's weaknesses, and still work in a highly competitive environment?

That's what faction pure players have been doing since they started.....

That's all nice and dandy, but you're conveniently forgetting that there's also the possibility of playing outside the competitive tournament scene. That way you can use units from all the sets without having to worry about retirement at all. If you choose to limit yourself to tournament play only, you still have the unrestricted events.