MechQuest: Analysis of 12/12/08 Release
Posted by The Peanut Master on December 13, 2008
This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for… GEARS GAMES!!!
GEARS Games
About
The second GEARS Games has arrived, with some interesting new twists to spice up the battle. Many constants have remained the same: Each house fights as a single unit, trying to win more battles than the other houses. There is the classic 1 vs. 1 battle and the return of the Mechball minigame for battle options as well. However, there are a few new additions to the spectrum. First and foremost, betrayal has finally been implemented. To do this, you must go back to your labyrinth roots and fight against your own house members. By beating them you gain betrayal tokens, and once you get 100, you will gain clearance to a new area of the labyrinth (the green section), where you will then fight your house leader. Once defeated, you will be banished from your house, never to be able to return again. This will allow you to join another house. In the betrayal quest the entire labyrinth opens up for players of all houses to use to betray, and Star Captains can explore the entire labyrinth freely (without the possibility of betraying) as well. The other major addition to this rendition of the GEARS Games is PvP fighting, where you actually get to fight other house members’ setups, instead of pre-made versions.
Pros
It was great to see AE keeping the key features the GEARS Games needs while also adding in some new ones to spice things up. The betrayal was much-needed and much-anticipated and AE didn’t disappoint, and the extreme difficulty was a great move. The PvP fighting is just plain awesome, and it add so much variety and reality to fights. There are so many different setups ranging a wide variety of mechs and weapons, and it not only presents true challenges, but fun fights in a lot of different ways. It was also about time AE updated the labyrinth, and now that we have the chance to see the entire maze in full, it was really well made and the quest that was created with it was fun and unique to play all the way through.
Cons
One thing sticks out, and I won’t go into it too much here because I feel it is serious enough to make an entire post about it. What is it, you ask? Wolflbade. Will. Own. Period. Even though the release has only been out for around 7 hours, Wolfblade has already taken an incredibly commanding lead over the game, with Runehawk and Mystraven flailing massively behind. While the GEARS Games isn’t all about the competition and is very much about the spirit and fun-ness, the games will not go on very far if Wolfblade owns every time. It just doesn’t add that level of excitement and competition the games need, and I’m not sure there’s a solution AE can come up with besides unfair divine intervention (which was undoubtedly used by AE in the first GEARS Games).
Overall Grade of Release
9.0/10. An overall fun and superb GEARS Games release with some new exciting features was only dropped down by AE’s inability to recognize and react to the obvious fact that Wolflbade was going to own.
ZamuelNow said
My thoughts on balancing the games since currently speed kills reign: http://forums2.battleon.com/f/fb.asp?m=15197482
Seriyu said
I would totally go for th at, just because I enjoy doing the labyrnth loot quest, and it’s horribly innefficent compared to just dueling.
My lust for nazi gold in the labrynth beneath GEARS is all that keeps me going these days DX
Zeke said
I personally think Betrayal is a horrible idea.
I mean, I know you can make mistakes, but they ask you 4 times.
Wolfblade WILL own. Not just because I’m in it (XD), but WB has MANY more members than RH and MR.
Anyways, I hate how a bunch of people are using Seppys. I’m getting owned badly.
~Zeke~
Chickencowlord said
Runehawk forever!
~Chickencowmage (xD)
Arikromus (Cyouni) said
Just a repost of Zamuel’s suggestions in case that thread gets deleted:
After some heavy thinking, I believe I know what the fundamental problem with the Gears Games is (which also affects other things within MQ as a whole). First off, I blame Nigel.
But on a more thoughtful note, the problem with the Gears Games is that the scoring system isn’t designed like a sporting event – it’s designed like just another War. With scoring based off of a “simplistic kills = points” thought process, by default the winner will be the one who can kill enemies the fastest. In this particular situation, it happens to be House WolfBlade which also has the most members. What the Gears Games needs is multiple events that are worth different point amounts but designed differently. Events that favor quick kills will be worth fewer points while events that take longer and/or favor tanking will be worth more points. This will allow Houses to choose their specialty in the Games as opposed to only relying on speed kills. The exact points and events would obviously be up to AE but it should balance things out better at the next set of GGs as opposed to nerfs or scaling.
Also, I greatly disagree with the “free agent” system since Flash has a VERY finicky RNG.
With a few corrections.
Arikromus (Cyouni) said
What! I can’t italicize?
I still hate the concept of Sepulchure mechs. They devalue Nova Gems and Star Captainship. Why get either when a T-shirt will do the job for you?
Chickencowlord said
That is true. And I am glad you said that, because it gave me a great idea for a post today.
Arikromus (Cyouni) said
Heh. I tried saying that in MQGD, but got shot down by tons of Seppy mech users.
And I said it in exactly that way.
ZamuelNow said
I’m starting to really think that the Duel option needs to be removed and the Games needs to center around a revised version of MechBall, the Labyrinth, and some sort of brand new game.
Arikromus (Cyouni) said
Agreed.
Kangi said
I find the dueling to be some what fun, but it would be better if it only allowed house mech. As for the betrayal, that I do not agree upon at all. I think that if you do betray, the cost should be a lot higher than 100 betrayal badges. I think that you should have to run the labyrinth of your new house one hundred times to get the reputation points needed to join after the betrayal.
I also feel that the cost of your new house mechs should be doubled, save for the NG versions, which should be twenty percent higher than some one that is just joining a house.
I tried doing the Mechball, but the mini game lagged out my computer so badly that I had to restart MQ. The exp in my oppinion needs to be some what higher.