Idiosyncratic quibbling

[Siden Pryde]

how huge of a change (in terms of C-Bill cost) would it be if Lasers were priced to be higher than various model AC's?

I usually double the C-Bill cost of energy weapons (except vehicle flamers).  Have gone as high as 5x when playing around with specs and numbers.

[skiltao]

Found a couple while cleaning out my BattleTech folder this week.

It's weird that the period from 3050 to 3081 hasn't (to my knowledge) been recognized as the Fifth Succession War, in line with how the first three Succession Wars are defined. The famous "Year of Peace" from the end of 3050 to the end of 3051, the year (if you ignore the Capellans) after Task Force Serpent returns in early 3061, and the half year between the FCCW and Jihad are more akin to the lull in the middle of the Fourth Succession War than to the larger gaps between Succession Wars.

I view the BattleDroids continuity as the result of Kerensky choosing to stay in the Inner Sphere, and I'm baffled that anyone thinks the Hegemony could attract and sustain enough of the SLDF to survive.

It bugs me when newer TROs give the average "notable warrior" more space than the average overview, that "capabilities" seems to be shrinking into irrelevance, how battle stories get shoehorned into the "warrior" entries instead of the deployment history, and in general that the mix of content no longer fits the traditional sectioning. It's fine that the mix of content has changed, just, maybe ditch the old headers and get new ones that organize the content more aesthetically.

Players using the phrase "Alpha Strike" for firing all of a unit's weapons in a single turn is useful and fun and fine, but I'm always disappointed to see characters or in-universe documents use it the same way. Pulling every trigger simultaneously isn't a good idea (see: Scarabus arm assembly, Vlad's first(?) Trial against Phelan), and there's nothing remarkable about staggering your fire over five, ten, fifteen or any other arbitrary number of seconds; that all goes double if the interval of fire has no bearing on anything else in the story. In the old card game (and I believe in real life), the term "Alpha Strike" involves running your ammo bins dry; I don't remember what commands you could give your AI lancemates in the MechWarrior videogames, but it wouldn't surprise me if it worked the same way there too.

I am to this day confused at how the "scale" chart in the back of TR:3039 got greenlighted.

Also, tangential to this topic but in the same general vein, it bothers me when confusion or disagreement about the semantics involved in a discussion get confused for the discussion itself. Years back, that eventually happened enough times, and I was still invested enough, that I started a whole other thread for the most frequently disruptive terms.

[marauder648]

"lets make Sun-tzu Laio the First Lord of the Inner Sphere, i'm sure nothing bad will happen..."

thats got to be up there with

My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.

For dumb ideas with good intentions.

[Bosefius]

The extra e in Cecerops.

I never got published on BattleCorps.

That more main characters aren't ambidextrous.

The disturbing lack of information on the favorite food of each national leader.

I never submitted anything to BattleCorps.

Herb wouldn't let me nuke the Hesperus factories in ER3145.

Two sourcebooks were printed with the same stock number. I don't actually remember which ones they were but ****** it really chaps my hide!

Look, I always meant to submit something to BattleCorps, I just never actually got around to it. Get off my back, man!

Nobody thinks I'm funny. Oh wait, that's a quibble with life, not BattleTech.

Now those are some quibbles

[Sharpnel]

I love the BTU, then I start reading the post on this forum and start hating it.... WHY DO I KEEP COMING BACK!?

(I think I need help) :crazy2:

It's called masochism.

[Sharpnel]

TRAPPIST-1 boasts seven earth-sized worlds in its biozone.  You could run the Inner Sphere in miniature there.

That's were Whedon put his Firefly universe.  ;D

[Foxx Ital]

That despite being based off aquatic mining suits, elementals die if exposed to lvl1 water...you don't know rage untill youv swarmed someone only to watch them jump in a puddle.

[Dubble_g]

I never got published on BattleCorps.

I never submitted anything to BattleCorps.

Look, I always meant to submit something to BattleCorps, I just never actually got around to it. Get off my back, man!

I did submit ... and got two accepted ... right before they ceased publication. Literally the month before.  [blank] Exorcist head spin there.

Other quibbles:
- The "Dune with Giant Robots" or "King Arthur in Space" elements clash pretty heavily with the "Tom Clancy in Space" elements

- Science fiction armies with lasers, tanks, air support and artillery facing off against each other like Greek phalanxes

- Galactic rulers leading their armies into battle like they're Joan of Arc

- This one Rifleman in this one game that took like five AC/20 hits and didn't go down

[Daemion]

A couple more:

The placement of the laser on the Wasp LAM (mk II?)

That there's this hidden aesthetic that must be adhered to which seems to go a little far.

The notion that catgirls are somehow endangered and need protection.

The notion that Mechs are the only real driving force behind the game.

Game design choices made based on that last one.

[Phobos101]

The inexplicable change in Clan 'mech aesthetics after the original 16. There are some real ******* turkeys in the next few TROs after 3050.

[Foxx Ital]

The inexplicable change in Clan 'mech aesthetics after the original 16. There are some real ******* turkeys in the next few TROs after 3050.

 So ugly its beautiful. The mechs only look bad because they stand next beautiful battle armor.

[Hominid Mk II]

• It's been how many years now and we can't put double heat sinks on a tank? I mean, XXL Engines are fine, but no freezers?

Agree totally. The game is already way too rigged in favor of 'Mechs as it is. This is blatantly unfair to tankers. And I don't ever remember seeing any in-universe technobabble explanation for why it should be the case, either. (Has anybody else, for that matter?)

• IS Medium lasers became common in 2310...how in the world are the still relevant in 3150? It's like someone pulled a sword from the battle of Hastings out of a museum so they could stop the tanks rolling down the street!
  

You've obviously never seen the 137-A Omega from BattleTechnology Magazine in the 1980s. Or the BLR-2G Warlord.[/list]

[marauder648]

The inexplicable change in Clan 'mech aesthetics after the original 16. There are some real ******* turkeys in the next few TROs after 3050.

I'd say thats more an issue with the artists and changing them. Loose's style for TRO-3058 does not really match the ones we saw in TRO 3050. 

[Sartris]

I'd say thats more an issue with the artists and changing them. Loose's style for TRO-3058 does not really match the ones we saw in TRO 3050.

Hold my beer

[Hominid Mk II]

Thought of another: the name Erinyes is a plural. In the singular it should be Erinys.

[Ruger]

• IS Medium lasers became common in 2310...how in the world are the still relevant in 3150? It's like someone pulled a sword from the battle of Hastings out of a museum so they could stop the tanks rolling down the street!

A sword will still kill a man...it may not do much against a tank (unless you use it to cut fuel lines, or aim through viewports to kill crew), but it will still kill an infantryman...heck, a rock or a club made from a femur bone can still kill a person (even an armored one)...and those have been used as weapons for how many thousands of years now?

Ruger

[Fat Guy]

And pound for pound, the old school medium laser is still the most efficient weapon in the game.

[Daemion]

And pound for pound, the old school medium laser is still the most efficient weapon in the game.

Uh... I'll put it to the Clan ER Medium Laser. That makes the IS Large Laser very much obsolete.

[sadlerbw]

A sword will still kill a man...it may not do much against a tank (unless you use it to cut fuel lines, or aim through viewports to kill crew), but it will still kill an infantryman...heck, a rock or a club made from a femur bone can still kill a person (even an armored one)...and those have been used as weapons for how many thousands of years now?

Ruger

Yeah, but if you wanted to stop a tank, would you go out of your way to find a sword to do it? Would that be your very first choice because the pinnacle of modern military technology was STILL most efficiently destroyed by it? I'm not talking about killing the guys inside, but if you wanted to destroy the machine its self, would you go looking for a sword?

Anyway, I thought of a couple more: Why is kicking easier than punching? Shouldn't punching be easier since you don't have to balance on one leg? From watching my kids in their martial arts classes, it certainly seems like THEY are inherently better at placing a punch where they want it than a kick! Also, I've never seen them fall over trying to throw a punch, but a kick? Yeah that fall roll for missed kicks is REAL! In fact, it should probably apply to kicks that connect as well, if my kids are anything to go by!

[Sartris]

How could I have forgotten the SRM4 placement on the ON1-K. It's my longest standing semi-childish overreaction to art vs record sheet

[Kit deSummersville]

Energy weapons - the most high tech weapons in the game - are cheap.

Autocannons - basically 1000 year old technology - are expensive.

 ???

The carbon off-set taxes are included in the price.

[Minchandre]

That the "most iconic" Timber Wolf configuration (LRM-15s in the shoulders, what appears to be PPCs over medium lasers in the arms, quad small lasers, machine gun) isn't an official configuration in any way.

[sadlerbw]

How could I have forgotten the SRM4 placement on the ON1-K. It's my longest standing semi-childish overreaction to art vs record sheet

OOoooo! I forgot about art that doesn't match the specs! I like the Kuma from TRO:3085, but in the picture it has trio of missiles on the right arm/shoulder. The only variant with missiles is the Kuma 2 that has an ATM9 in the left torso. Also, the main gun is on the wrong arm, and the backup ER Mediums don't show up on either arm.

At least the TRO text for the Firefly (at least in 3050 upgrade and later) TRIES to explain away the extra gun sticking out of the arm.

Oh! And what about Aerodyne dropships? Which way is up! Do they all have an extra set of drives on their bellies that we can't see? Does everyone just walk on the walls while they are transiting through space?

I was going to complain about gun barrels big enough to fire 55 gal. drums...but I actually kinda like them  ;D

[glitterboy2098]

That the "most iconic" Timber Wolf configuration (LRM-15s in the shoulders, what appears to be PPCs over medium lasers in the arms, quad small lasers, machine gun) isn't an official configuration in any way.

even though it appears to be the version Vlad (Ward) piloted when he took down Phelan. so really, they could shoehorn it in as the Timber Wolf - Vlad, or something.

[ANS Kamas P81]

OOoooo! I forgot about art that doesn't match the specs!

Even this year's redesigned Thunderbolt has the missiles on the "wrong" shoulder...

[Minchandre]

Oh! And what about Aerodyne dropships? Which way is up! Do they all have an extra set of drives on their bellies that we can't see? Does everyone just walk on the walls while they are transiting through space?

The fluff actually says yes, for most of them.

[timoteob]

The thing that's bothered me from day one is I don't see how it is possible to fit all of that missile launcher ammo inside a mech!  ???  I mean is there really space for 480 LRMs in side that Archer?

[Mendrugo]

Well, y'see, you take the J-27 Ammunition Carrier miniature,



 and put it side by side with the Archer, and....



...then you become a true-believer in Hammerspace.

[Kit deSummersville]

Is that the Spinal Tap model, with LRMs that go to 11?

[Sartris]

It's like the unseen Behemoth / Stone Rhino. Four tubes fire two missiles, obviously   [blank]