Yeah, sorry about that. My phone was at about 3% at that point, so I couldn't keep rolling after the main event broke up. But, like GRUD said, Brent and Ray stuck around to answer more questions, and honestly I can't think of a single one they didn't try to give us SOME information on. I've got some pictures of those playmats GRUD mentioned in my GenCon album (link is back on p.4 of this thread) I think they looked pretty darn good. I don't remember everything he said, but I did put up some things earlier in this thread as well along with the video link. A couple things that stick out in my mind from the post-What's-up time:
- They want new maps and are working on them. Don't know what format they will be in yet, so didn't want to elaborate more. He did mention that sometime in the past few years the price of cardboard went crazy, like 500% increase in a single year. I believe he mentioned that the cardboard in the last run of intro box sets cost as much, or more, than everything else inside of it.
- Brent felt that the current state of ilClan was too dry, too much like an reading after-action report. He wants it to be more of an event, and to have it be a bit more exciting. Sort of like reading a novel rather than the wikipedia synopsis of the novel. When asked if it would be out next Gencon, he said we would definitely be "in the middle of it" by then. He wouldn't be drawn out on how one could be in the middle of a single book. I got the impression he felt the current plan was lacking in drama and excitement, and wants to make ilClan feel like a big, important thing, and not just a book that happens to tie up some plot threads. He was pretty passionate about this.
- There was a sort of open discussion about the problems new players had getting into the game these days. Lots of folks had their own opinions, and Brent and Ray mostly listened and asked for people to clarify some things. Obviously they care about cost of entry and new player confusion quite a bit, as you can see from the products that have been coming out. Once the intro boxes are out, there will be a much simpler path into BattleTech. Starter Box -> GoAC box -> BMM. Brent also mentioned problems with retailers having no idea what minis to stock since we have so darn many of them.
- Brent mentioned that he wanted the game to place a bit more importance on the MechWarrior. So much of the great fiction and fluff we have is about the pilots, and really what a mech can do is as much defined by the MechWarrior driving it as it is by the hardware it carries. Brent wants to make sure the game lets the MechWarrior be a hero when you play and not only the mech. At least, that is my interpretation of what he was saying.
- Don't expect large Warship fleets to figure heavily into the plot going forward. While Ray and Brent both liked Aerotech in general, they weren't looking to go back to growing the warship fleets again.
- I also asked how they felt about Aerotech. They both love the idea, but aren't in love with where the rules and gameplay are with it right now. Especially the interaction with mechs and other units on the ground. It isn't a high priority to mess with, but it is something they would look into if the opportunity came up.
- While they will not be throwing out any rules for other units, or trying to write them out of existence, expect the game development to focus most on Mechs. The perception is that people come to BattleTech for the Mechs. They may like the tanks, and Aero, and infantry once they get here, but the Mechs draw them in.
- Brent wanted to do an informal poll about how cheap he would have to make ICE Mechs for us to start choosing to use them over something like a Urbanmech, which is also terrible. The general sense in the room was that people didn't want to use them for thematic reasons more than game balance reasons. The idea of a farmer with a 20mm cannon strapped to his John Deere wasn't terribly satisfying or believable to most folks there. The way I put it was, if you are poor and need an army, you buy tanks and other combat vehicles...because you are still a military. The only people who, thematically speaking, up-armor agromechs are insurgents and rebels. It just didn't seem like most military units or mercs, no matter how poor, would pick a Industrial Mod over an actual combat vehicle. On the gameplay side of things, they can't really do much of anything a decent combat vehicle can't do. I made the comment that, if you gave me a reason to believe they have a chance against a tank, I'd consider running a mod mech. I gave the example that, if a Mod could walk up a tank and flip it over to put it out of commission, then I could see why it might have some utility to a planetary militia or some other low-end unit. That way it isn't as much of a guaranteed suicide mission to take a mod up against a real piece of military hardware, in a fictional, in-universe sense.
- Also, Brent didn't really get why the Urbie is so popular. We basically told him that it was a combination of looking silly, yet believable, having a history of crazy exploits, and being something of a meme of inside joke. I compared it to that awful asian guy who was on American Idol a couple years back. He was undeniably terrible, but he was funny and seriously dedicated, and the audience loved him. The Urbie is the same way. We all know it is bad, but it still tries hard and has had some absolutely hilarious moments in the history of the game.
- I remember someone from the UK asking about something...distribution maybe? Not sure.
- I asked Ray and Brent what they felt the most important thing to define a faction was. Brent had a great and nuanced answer...that I didn't write down and can't manage to relay coherently right now. I thought he would say the color! Oddly, Ray though the color WAS super important. He mentioned that, in their experience, new players most often pick a faction based on what color its units are. So making sure Marik are still 'the purple guys' is important.
- I tried to get a little more color on the Combat Manual question. I asked if the Art was what made them so expensive, and was told yes and no. The art WAS a big part of the cost for developing those books, but even with no art at all, they didn't move enough units through retailers. They didn't say this directly, but physical copies just didn't move. I get the impression that the people who were buying them either bought PDF, or bought through a convention or the CGL store. They were just sitting in the retail channel, and that was a big problem. The curse of faction books was mentioned. No matter how awesome they make them, single-faction products are always troublesome.
It was 50 minutes of questions. I'm trying to dredge up what happened, but it's been GenCon since then. My brain is just a wee bit fried! That's all I can remember right now.
