You were complaining about Mixed Tech. Mixed Tech has been in the game since the Clans were introduced in 1989.
Regardless, you're complaining about something that's pretty much the exact opposite of what I started this thread about, which was tech that was already pointless when it was introduced or has sense become pointless to use because other tech surpasses it.
Very true... however, as a recent 'returnee' to battletech, I tend myself swamped by the changes just in the Clan Invasion technology, and have not even taken a swing at the DA tech.
Let me offer an example from around 1980's era... there we were, happily fragging each other on a weekly basis, and one person brings in this book labeled 'Star League Era' ( No, not what it was called- but I forget, sometimes ;) ) Now, allasudden, there's this whole big slug of 'tech' to absorb and incorporate into our game. Not complaining, mind you, it was all cool stuff and enhanced our games greatly. So far,so good.
Then the Clans show up, and kick all kindsa serious fundament. OK,cool, this looks like fun, But... we're all Gearheads. Now we have this incredible database of new tech, and as gearheads, we gotta redesign
Everything -and giggle if you want, some of you out there know exactly what I mean. All of a sudden, our favorite design weights change.( For myself, it was 35, 45, 65, and 85 ton categories primarily, with the 'old' stuff). Now, we have to find new design weights, and how the 'new' tech changes things. We can make previously useless designs into something that will draw attention, not to mention coming up with our own designs.
And if you were 'canon' players, you very quickly realized how badly IS tech was outclassed. Yes, IS tech favored close range and physical combat, but if you were a canny player running Clan tech, that wasn't a problem. Stars vs. Lance, one side has an extra unit, etc... you should have sliced through IS units like a laser through cheese without any possibility of physical combat.
So, here we are now, some 30 years after the inception of the game. The clan tech has changed, what the IS can produce has changed, and mixed tech has become accepted.
As a side note, please do remember what kind of impact the advance in RL tech has had. When I got into the game, computers were pretty much the realm of ' those who hold the Sacred Knowledge' kind of thing, and M$ had been working on this whole new thing called' Windows', told to us by those who were fortunate enough to be able to attend college, and this whole new, unbelievably cool thing when we were still trying to understand how a BBS network would run. If you wanted the newest and neatest stuff, you had to haunt your favorite game store or comic shop on dang near a weekly basis. I
pre -ordered the Twycross scenario book- and still have it- as it gave the best way to effectively understand and
use all the fun new toys we'd been given, especially if you were a bibliophile and just Absolutely, Must Have the newest novels that gave a hint about how to integrate all the new stuff.
So, here we are. Data overload? You'd better believe yer sweet Q&A
Still, all good. Might be a bit older, but whatthehell, let's run this pony.
So, as stated, here we are, looking at all of this and wondering if we still fit. Unseen? Whassat? Wait, you mean all the money I'd spent on all those cool minis, and I
Can't bloody well use 'em in a Tournament?! I can't even show 'em, for risk of getting told that what I got is ... Non-Canon?! Really?!Sorry. Personal bugaboo there.
Anyway, I can understand entirely how someone can still love the game and want to interact, but have really no desire to spend more coin on it, and not even want to try to design. Perhaps there's an answer in dividing the site into sections devoted to the different eras involved.
Think Legatus has an extremely valid point. Don't criticize him just because he ain't quite into it like he used to be, and please do keep in mind those of us who are still in the 'catch up ' phase.
Apologies for the long winded declamation, but it does hold a valid viewpoint.
