MechWarrior Online - Founders Info and More

MechWarrior Online is a game being released soon by Piranha Games. The game is set in the MechWarrior universe and all I have to say about what we've seen so far is, HURRY UP AND RELEASE ALREADY! This game looks amazing and I can't wait to get in there and destroy some giant walking death machines. That brings me to why we're here today, the MWO Founders Program.

What is the Founders Program? Well it's a way for the community to help support the production of this epic free2play title. It also gives you some valuable in game content that will help give you a leg up on your competition. There are three levels of founders packages that you can buy. Let me show them to you now.

As you can see, there are some great perks here. Not only do you get the early access to the game which is coming up VERY soon, but you get the in game currency, premium account and special founders mechs. Let me share the Premium Account and Founders Mech info with you real quick.

The Premium Account is very simple. You gain 50% more xp and cbills (in-game currency) per match for the amount of  time listed for each Package. The founders mechs are fairly self explanatory also. There are four different mechs, one from each weight class. The Veteran package doesn't give you access to any. The Elite package lets you choose one of the four available so make sure you know what you want to play before you make your decision. The Legendary package doesn't make you decide, you just get all of them! Another perk of the Legendary package is that you get your name in the credits of the game!

I'll be posting more info on this game as it becomes available. I'll also be making videos and starting a podcast shortly so stay tuned for that. I hope all of you are as excited about this game as I am. I really look forward to sharing this content. Make sure you head over to MWOmercs.com to get into the beta and to pick up a founders package today.

MechWarrior Online Announcement and Features

I'm not sure about you but MechWarrior was one of my first multiplayer games for pc. I spent a ton of time building mechs and going into epic battles and then MechAssault came out for xbox just as xbox live launched way back in November of 2002. That game had me hooked for a long time. Soon after, the developers decided to make a MechAssault 2 which in my opinion killed the franchise and it hasn't been back since. Well, all that is about to change!

This summer we will be getting a brand new MechWarrior game from Piranha Games. This new MechWarrior will be focused on a lot of the same aspects as the older games, but built on modern technology. You'll be able to do build your own mechs and use them in different game types to lay waste to the enemy and the environment. Another great thing is that this game is being built on the Cry3 engine that has been made famous by the Crysis series. Now, lets get into a little info about the game.

The first and what I think is the most exciting thing is that this game will be Free2Play. What does that mean to you, a lot. That means that this game will be free. There is no purchase price and there is no monthly fee to play. How will the company make money, you might be asking. Well in the game you can use real world money to purchase anything from in game currency to camo and decals to new mech variants. With most free to play titles, they end up making more money from transactions like that than they would have from game purchases. This truly is a great model for both the gamers and the developers.

So you're probably wondering when you'll actually get some info about the game. Well here it comes so hold on tight. First of all, as the name states, this game will be played online. Like with most online games, you'll start off by creating a character, your pilot. Part of this process is choosing a faction to play for. Once that is done you can start building your mech. Take a look at this mech building video that Piranha posted recently.



Once you have your mech, you can get into the game. As you play you'll earn in game money and level up your pilot. You'll be given points to spend on your pilot to give him new abilities. You'll pick those abilities from a talent tree. As for the actual game play, it's been described is like this. You're part of a persistent world similar to Eve Online. Your faction will be fighting against other factions for control of planets and resources. I think this will add a huge level of tactics to the game that has been missing from previous titles. Once you decide on a planet to attack you jump into battle.

So far they've talked about a few different game modes. The first of which is TDM (team deathmatch). This is a last man standing game mode. When you die you're done for that round. The second game type will be called Dropship. This is a limited respawn game. When you die you'll be placed in a new mech aboard a dropship and you'll be dropped back into combat. Piranha has mentioned that so far you'll be given three respawns for a total of four mechs or lives. Within these two game styles you'll have a couple different options for objectives. You can either play a game to eliminate the enemy team or to take over their base. We don't have any other details on that at this time but it will be coming soon.

MechWarrior Online is currently in a closed beta and you can sign up to take part in that HERE. Closed beta isn't your thing? Well the open beta will be starting this summer as well so feel free to jump into that when it becomes available. No dates have been announced yet besides one. Piranha is selling what they're calling a "Founders Pack". One of the many perks you get for purchasing this is early access to the game. They just announced the early access date today and it is set for August 7, 2012. If you're anything like me you're jumping up and down in your chair right now because you're too excited to sit still. That may just be my ADHD but I'm still really excited!

I've been waiting for this game for about ten years now and I'm extremely pleased with the way it's coming along. I love that we're finally going to have a proper online MechWarrior experience. There is only a few more weeks to wait before we can all get access and start building our mechs and planning out battle strategies for when the game goes live. I look forward to hearing your opinions about this game and hopefully I'll see some of you on the battlefield.