Götterfunke said:
A TRO is not just eye candy - in my opinion there should be real technology progress - I think that an arm race will be a natural answer to a war turned hot....look at WW II or the cold war between Russia and USA. It`s obvious that new countries will develop a warmek industry in order to protect themselves.
I don't think that many countries would jump on the mek production bandwagon, not when it's easier in many ways to just go out and hire some mercs to do the jobs for you. Either that or to just buy off the shelf meks, and do some limited customisation. Just look at the way groups like NATO handle jets and the like these days. Setting up production facilities, getting staff to run them, and so on, would involve lots of over heads, for very little return in the short run.
Götterfunke said:
A: 2089 is a Mech RPG and so warmeks are the "stars" of this game - so publishing a TRO will be very important (in my opinion), because the old one`s (warmeks) are fantastic, but they will become boring....new weapons, mek classes or chassis are the "salt" of this game! And last but not least I love eye candy, it is inspiring me all the time - without eye candy nobody would buy a mongoose supplement, because the d20 still exists and with some patience every hardcore - player will adapt the rules
I wouldn't classify A2089 as a mek rpg. Sure, the main book does put the emphasis on PC mek pilots, but that's not the only option avialable. Yes, the meks are important to the setting, but to just sell it as a mek rpg makes those who don't want to use that many meks in the game, maybe they're running a tank company and only using meks as occasional opponents, less likely to remain interested.
New weapons. Well, there's only so much you can do, whilst still remaining inside the limits of what is theoretically possible in the setting. This is a near future game, so its based somewhat on modern day technology.
New mek classes. Again, there's not much you can do here. As there aren't really any hard set classes at the moment. Yes, there are comms meks, and scout meks, and so on, but that's more down to the pilot and the equipment/armour loaded onto the basic chassis.
New mek chassis. See above. Design principles don't make meks with more than four legs likely at the moment, as in 2089 the four legged meks are new and still undergoing testing. More about which can be seen in the back of Warmachines of 2089. There's also a limit placed by the construction methods as to what the chassis can be made out of, even using zero-g manufacturing equipment.
As for 'eye candy' not everyone likes the same kinds of things. One of the players in my group wasn't that taken on the mek pictures in A2089, because they're designed with 'function over form' in mind, and as such lack the graceful appearance of meks in other settings. Personally, I rather like this way of going about it, as it makes more sense from perspective of the background. But, hopefully, people buy the books based on more than just the eye candy you get with it. I mean, if all you're after is eye candy, there's always top shelf magazines. :lol: Though you don't get D20 stats in those... or so I've been told.
and I agree with L.S. and P.c.....they shouldn`t be overloaded with new technology....otherwise A:2089 will lose its realistic touch!
