Single Player Units

General 'Out Of Character' news & events within Battletech-Mercenaries
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DeputyDirector
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Single Player Units

Postby DeputyDirector » Thu Jun 15, 2017 4:19 am

Battletech-Mercenaries needs innovation to thrive in the face of a shrinking community. That comes in the form of new units and new players joining our game. To better facilitate both, we are changing the player count requirements for units. This will allow players who want to, to essentially run a single player unit. While it will allow other players who have struggled with the entry-level requirements of having 4 players the opportunity to start units more easily in the hope of attracting more players later once their unit is up and running.

There are natural limitations to this. If a single player can't meet the contract requirements on their own, then they are probably better suited to participating in a unit that has multiple players to share the workload. That means that this option won't be for everyone.

This will also work to the advantage of units who may be faltering in the area of active player count. If they scale back operations to conform to this standard, they can remain active in our game even if the MUCO is the only person left. A unit doesn't have to die completely as long as there is even a single player willing to keep writing.

Single player units can be of any size from a single infantry trooper to as large as a battalion of BattleMechs. A unit can have more equipment than a battalion would call for (1501 to 4500 tons with 30,001 to 90,000 BV) but will not be able to take contracts beyond battalion size. They would simply have a surplus of equipment versus the number of personnel available to the unit.

Single player units cannot take more than one contract at a time until up to three players are part of the unit and may then may take up to two contracts at a time. Once the unit reaches four players, standard rules apply considering contracts and unit size.

These units will receive the standard DMM-Issue Union DropShip with an additional 100M C-bills to purchase military hardware. Different DropShip(s) can be purchased instead of the DMM-issue Union, with the 50M C-bill purchase price of the Union counting towards that DropShip purchase. If not all of the 50M C-bills are not used, excess funds may be used for other military hardware.

There are no limitations to the type of unit created beyond the funds that are available. If you wish to create a special operations unit consisting of a single sniper rifle armed trooper, that is acceptable. If you wish to create a lance sized BattleMech unit that supports a platoon of special forces using a pair of Aurora DropShips, that is acceptable. If you wish to create a DropShip unit with AeroSpace Fighters that specializes in escort missions and transport of supplies to war zones, that is acceptable. If you wish to create a unit that assists in humanitarian aid or specializes in intelligence operations or an infantry centric unit, these are all acceptable. The staff will make every endeavor to create contracts that these units can be called on to complete.

MUCOs of current units can create a single player unit. They will need to create a new user name, but use the same email address as for their main BTM account. This workaround is due to a limitation of the BTM website on a username being a MUCO of more than one unit. This limitation is being researched for resolution with BTM 2.0.

It is our sincere hope that this will spawn innovation and maybe even a little rejuvenation. There may be prospective new players out there (or even Battletech fans who have played our game before) who might look at this change and see an opportunity to do something new and fresh.

If there are questions or concerns or clarifications needed on this new rule, please feel free to post to this thread or contact me by PM or email (deputy@battletech-mercenaries.com)
Raymond Freeman MacCreary
Deputy Director
Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission (MRBC)

“We abjure labels. We fight for money and an indefinable pride. The politics, the ethics, the moralities, are irrelevant.”
Croaker, The Black Company

Dulio12385
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Re: Single Player Units

Postby Dulio12385 » Sun Jul 09, 2017 3:36 am

I just had an odd thought regarding Single Player Units; effectively their establishment turns each player controlled unit into the equivalent of an MMORPG character which drew me to some parallelisms with Ultima Online and Everquest.

At present we are using the contracting system where units, whether as singletons or groups of players, unde take missions similar to an instanced event in Everquest (which is actually the game that innovated the concept), pursuing it in isolation without having to compete with other groups or players. While this gives the unit control over the storyline it also ensures that there is nearly no interaction between the unit and other members of the community. In the past joint contracting offered some opportunities for interaction but the terms provided by the current rules essentially put one unit in the position of sub-contractor. Totally at the mercy of the primary unit with regard to payment and salvage which is not a desirable position for anyone.

Now, just to throw the idea out there, what if we went in the opposite direction; instead of instanced contracts we have a persistent world contract in the vein of the old Ultima Online? Units can sign up for this grand contract, which would likely be part of a major storyline that the staff would be pushing, and all of them are sent to one communal setting (be it a world, a system or a theater of operations). Players would monitor their own word counts and submit individual transcripts with cover letter summaries to the staff and be rewarded on an individual basis at the end of their involvement with the contract, whether at the end of the period or their unit's departure from the theater.

While this would not guarantee constant collaboration between units, the communal setting at least injects some level of organic randomness in shared setting as units play off one anothers' actions. At the very least it feels less like writing alone in an empty room.

Now to maintain some semblance of consistency, a staff member, whether participating in the contract as a unit or just monitoring it from outside, functions as the editor. Player actions that would impact major canon characters or units should be cleared with them, or alternatively they could suggest or nudge players in certain directions as well.

I know this is a somewhat radical proposal and hardly completely fleshed out but I felt the idea merited being thrown out there for discussion.
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CO Alcyone Gunslingers
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Black Stars Collective [Inactive]

"The devil loves a mad man when the monkey is in control."

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DeputyDirector
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Re: Single Player Units

Postby DeputyDirector » Sun Jul 09, 2017 3:43 am

As happy as I am to see someone actually interacting with this topic, this is a discussion that's not really suited to just single player units. I am opening a different thread on it. :)
Raymond Freeman MacCreary
Deputy Director
Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission (MRBC)

“We abjure labels. We fight for money and an indefinable pride. The politics, the ethics, the moralities, are irrelevant.”
Croaker, The Black Company

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DeputyDirector
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Re: Single Player Units

Postby DeputyDirector » Sun Jul 09, 2017 3:56 am

While this would not guarantee constant collaboration between units, the communal setting at least injects some level of organic randomness in shared setting as units play off one another's actions. At the very least it feels less like writing alone in an empty room.


One thing I would point out in this thread though: the Single Player Unit is something that, in my opinion, is meant for those writers that enjoy writing things alone or want that level of control over their unit. While that is something that might change, please see the Jackrabbits From Hell on this, that's what these single player units would be at first... again, my opinion.
Raymond Freeman MacCreary
Deputy Director
Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission (MRBC)

“We abjure labels. We fight for money and an indefinable pride. The politics, the ethics, the moralities, are irrelevant.”
Croaker, The Black Company

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Drakno
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Location: Montana, USA
affiliations: 7th Armored Cavalry

Re: Single Player Units

Postby Drakno » Wed Aug 16, 2017 11:02 pm

Hello everyone,

Just got back to the states and was looking up things. Other than me and my wife, the 7th cavalry is all but done. I am interested in writing
again and this idea of single player unit sounds interesting to me. Is there any other information on this and how can I apply for such a change
if its available.

Thanks
Colonel William Nostrum
7th Armored Cavalry
Name: Jerome Nostrum
Rank: Colonel
Callsign: "Mr Chaos"
Position: Unit Commanding Officer
Unit: 7th Armored Legion

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DeputyDirector
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Re: Single Player Units

Postby DeputyDirector » Thu Aug 17, 2017 1:30 am

Colonel,

Please send me an email and we can get this all settled. You can reach me at deputy@battletech-mercenaries.com .
Raymond Freeman MacCreary
Deputy Director
Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission (MRBC)

“We abjure labels. We fight for money and an indefinable pride. The politics, the ethics, the moralities, are irrelevant.”
Croaker, The Black Company

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Drakno
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Location: Montana, USA
affiliations: 7th Armored Cavalry

Re: Single Player Units

Postby Drakno » Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:12 am

Email sent.

Thanks
Name: Jerome Nostrum
Rank: Colonel
Callsign: "Mr Chaos"
Position: Unit Commanding Officer
Unit: 7th Armored Legion

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DeputyDirector
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Re: Single Player Units

Postby DeputyDirector » Fri Aug 25, 2017 4:43 am

And replied to. :) You be welcome.
Raymond Freeman MacCreary
Deputy Director
Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission (MRBC)

“We abjure labels. We fight for money and an indefinable pride. The politics, the ethics, the moralities, are irrelevant.”
Croaker, The Black Company

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MrPig
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affiliations: Penelope "Dime" Trumbull
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Re: Single Player Units

Postby MrPig » Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:41 am

I attempted to register for a unit but the site gave me a 500 error code. How can I sign up for one?

Storywriter J. Allen
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Re: Single Player Units

Postby Storywriter J. Allen » Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:27 pm

I recommend you start a thread on the MRBC forum. So it'll be noticed by the Director or Deputy that much faster.

Buried on this thread it might be missed.
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