I've previously posted about my avid desire to see a Mechwarrior MMO. And had been awaiting further information on developmental plans since I first heard about Microsoft selling the rights a couple years ago. It's now being reported that a new PC/Console version of Mechwarrior is in the works. Not a continuation of previous Mechwarrior games, but a full "reboot" with single/multi-player play modes.
I will of course purchase and play this game, but if this isn't to be an MMO I certainly hope they truly learn from previous failures of the series. Create a foundation that enables players and developers to introduce custom missions and player-vs-player (PVP) scenarios. One of the areas that I think was most poorly supported in previous games was the instant combat system that quickly grew stale. Enabling players to create their own scenarios and then play them would tap into a tremendous amount of developmental capacity, but also enliven an aspect of the game that had seriously lagged behind in previous incarnations.
With no information related to what the game will ultimately be like, I can envision a wide range of game play. I'd love to see something that enables one to play in a true galaxy-wide war that reenacts the invasion of the clans. Able to play from the inner-sphere, or clan perspectives you could tip the scales one way or the other. In other words, a non-linear missioning system with the consequences of each battle determining the eventual outcome of the war. How much fun would that be?
The possibilities are endless when you consider how this could work from a solo and multi-player perspective.
They could go even further by introducing new content through semi-regular patches that doesn't just introduce new units and abilities, but truly unfolds new chapters of an overarching storyline. Release would kick off with the invasion and the early struggle to hold back the clans and obtain new technology (or if played from the clan perspective, the struggle to retake Terra). Patch one could take place a year later (say 4-5 years in real-time) and would feature in the inner-sphere with newer, better technology and hellbent on pushing the clans back. Perhaps even back to the clan home-worlds. What comes after that? Who knows.
