Wait... are Clans... is le Bad guys???

[Maniac]

"I didn't sign up for this!"

jfc the amount of tourists lmao

Maybe it's just me but how can you jump into fifth (okay not really, it's like what, tenth or so game in the mainline series?) game without even skimming through absolute basics of the setting

[Chef0Death88]

It was a mechassault game, nobody cares about it anyway, Lava Cannons make mechassault invalid in all forms.

[Forger of Souls]

Originally posted by Chef0Death88:

It was a mechassault game, nobody cares about it anyway, Lava Cannons make mechassault invalid in all forms.

Not here to argue your about opinion. It's obvious you do not like the Mechassault games, I personally enjoyed the first one and the second one as well. Pointless to argue over opinions, a fools errand that is.

Lava Cannons? What are you talking about? What are lava cannons?

Oh, right, the lava guns! Personally, never used them.

[Demon3060]

Originally posted by Chef0Death88:

Originally posted by Maniac:

Only true BT fans still champion the Sega Genesis Battletech (sarcasm)

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that the only official videogame where you actually play as a clanner for what, 25+ years before mw5 clans?

Mechcommander, the expansion pack lets you play as clan smoke jaguar, the rest of the campaigns are against smoke jaguar from memory.

Mechcommander 2 was Word of Blake Jihad era.

MW3 was against the clans, not sure if there was an expansion or anything for it

Mechcommander 2 is set 3063 in Civil War Era

[kilo 40]

IIRC internet super star Rich Evans described the clans as an evil weird spce cult fanatics, or something like that, and I had to pretty much agree.

neat mechs, horrible people. then again pretty much every faction in battletech are horrible people.

[Demon3060]

Originally posted by Chef0Death88:

Originally posted by Andy Wankski:

Oh man, for me I re-approach MC2 from time to time. It does have clanners (that you hire/recruit), but it's a minor plot point and by then, your team is more than capable and they get overshadowed because your mech warriors have more abilities by then. And yeah, I also replayed MW4/Mercenaries and yeah, it definetly cleanses any sympathy I have for the clans. I mean, understand the why. But they are essentially hypocrites themselves. They just gloss over it with their buzzwords and gaslight each other and the IS into creating more chaos, that they are the ones who are supposed to get under control and somehow organize the herd of cats that is the IS.

MC2 is during the Word of Blake Jihad era, i cant remember if its 3060s or 3080s.

Seriously,
https://www.moddb.com/mods/mechcommander-gold-hi-res

Give this one a go, its glorious. Set during the Port Arthur invasion/ Operation Bulldog, also known as "Lets erase Smoke Jaguar from existence so they take us serious next time"

Mechcommander 2 is Civil War era
Mechassault is set during WoB nuclear party

[MeltingPotOfFriendship]

Originally posted by kilo 40:

IIRC internet super star Rich Evans described the clans as an evil weird spce cult fanatics, or something like that, and I had to pretty much agree.

neat mechs, horrible people. then again pretty much every faction in battletech are horrible people.

True. The clanners are just a different shade of horrible. Then again, that can describe both the Clans and the IS. The clans are just more open about it but gloss over their war crimes by calling it their "right" to conquer the IS. Which is more or less like several different empire fiefdoms. Like herding cats. The only time I remember the IS didn't kill each other was in the BT cartoon where Steiner and the Draconis Combine had that ad-hoc group (they eventually got full backing by both their respective factions leaders to do it) in order to push back Clan Jade Falcon.

Originally posted by Chef0Death88:

It was a mechassault game, nobody cares about it anyway, Lava Cannons make mechassault invalid in all forms.

I had no idea the OG Xbox even got something based on the BTU. I remember seeing screenshots/gameplay of some mech game, and not being impressed with it. I'm guessing it was that one. I know they tried again to ride the action sim bandwagon with steel batallion (the one that had that super expensive(prolly much more now) at the time full controller layout) and that didn't go over too well. Games like that from my perspective, don't sit too well with the hardcore consolers because there's not enough whoosh bang kapow that isn't defending burger town.

[AmebaTRNK]

Wait, so are the Clanners the good guys or bad guys? Please, I need someone to tell me what to think.

[MeltingPotOfFriendship]

Originally posted by AmebaTRNK:

Wait, so are the Clanners the good guys or bad guys? Please, I need someone to tell me what to think.

I don't think they are evil like setting an orphanage on fire evil. They are basically vikings in space. Only tank-bred for war and have a rigid caste system that is definitely not something that could be exploited by your enemy....

[Wingnut Mcmoomoo]

Originally posted by Last Seraph:

Honestly, the clans in general are kind of a lousy place to start with for the franchise since it depends on a lot of pre-existing knowledge to get the most out of it.

MW5: Mercs and Battletech 2018 are much better more modern games to start with, as they're both basically soft reboots.

Or just watch Tex Talks Battletech.

The problem with learning from tex talks is that he mixes in a bit too much meme sometimes and people walk away thinking the memes are part of the actual lore. Or he skips over things (which is understandable) but people don't realize he had to skip stuff they miss the nuance.

[Cobalt]

Originally posted by AmebaTRNK:

Wait, so are the Clanners the good guys or bad guys? Please, I need someone to tell me what to think.

If you want to be a filthy and degenerate barbarian who conducts warfare in a self destructive manner, and likes to knock together rocks in the ruins of your once glorious civilization, then they’re evil.

If you want to inherit the glorious legacy of Kerensky and become a peerless warrior who upholds honor and tradition and martial skills, then they’re also kinda evil. They’ve definitely strayed from what Aleksander Kerensky wanted to accomplish in the Exodus, which led to Nicholas Kerensky’s wild fever dream of a eugenic warrior society.

It’s complicated. Nobody is exactly a good guy in this setting, and if you are you’re probably too small to be relevant or are the protagonist of a novel. Though there have been “designated protagonist” factions that shine a bit brighter than the others at times, such as Clan Wolf and the Federated Suns.

[Shadow King]

Originally posted by Reggit:

But - serious question for all you guys - is it worth the purchase?

Well, based on most of the reviews, it is as well off as Mercs was when it released on Epic initially, meaning, better to wait a year and buy it on sale after PGI has fixed all its' initial crap after they have allowed the community to play test it all for them since they do not do it themselves.

[Camasi]

Even amongst the clans there are good and bad people. There are factions within the clans that believe in outright purging and slaughter in the inner sphere. That's the Crusaders. They are referenced in an early cut scene. The Wardens believe that the clans should be liberators and benevolent..as much as a conqueror can be. These two philosophical ideologies exist within each Clan but smoke jaguar was majority Crusader. It's a whole thing

Before I got into the lore someone said there really is no good or bad guy in battletech. All factions have ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ who accidentally do good things and heroes who sometimes have to do really crappy things. It's the mercenaries who are the real heroes lol 🤣.

Even the capellans have good people in their faction! You know how crazy that is to say ?

[Camasi]

Originally posted by Halfalfasleep:

The Clan invasion isn't a bad spot to get into the lore, but they're so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ weird that PGI really should've included a glossary or something for noobs like some RPGs have.

I agree with this. It's a cool spot to get into the lore but doing what HBS battletech did where it highlighted some terms or info for people to mouse over and learn more with a little pop up would have gone a long way! I can definitely see non BT fans being a bit confused. Yet still understanding the story and having fun

[Casually Corrosive]

meh bad guys but if you really look into it, it'd take at least hundred years of the smoke jags nuking planets to catch up to how many planets the IS great houses and factions have nuked/glassed/bio/chem weaponed to death/etc over their time. so its not like what the smoke jags or any clan did/does is any worse then anything the IS does on the regular. specially scumstar, they back stabbed and F'ed the entire IS multiple times.

[Chef0Death88]

Originally posted by Casually Corrosive:

meh bad guys but if you really look into it, it'd take at least hundred years of the smoke jags nuking planets to catch up to how many planets the IS great houses and factions have nuked/glassed/bio/chem weaponed to death/etc over their time. so its not like what the smoke jags or any clan did/does is any worse then anything the IS does on the regular. specially scumstar, they back stabbed and F'ed the entire IS multiple times.

Comstar gets whats coming to them.... Eventually.