Patch Review: Pimp My Mech

Welcome to Patch Review, where we take a week to adjust to the latest patches and then spit mad raps about how it's affected our gameplay.  Ok, so maybe we don't rap - but we should.  Here's the latest Patch Notes.

So, lets talk about what's new.  First thing is the Pimp My Mech contest - we have the winners and they cool cockpit items the community came up with.  I bought a House Liao Dreamcatcher immediately.  These are neat touches, but nothing that impacts the game - other than you can check out my hanging Liao Dreamcatcher after you die.

Second, the Firestarter is available for C-Bills, meaning it's in common circulation now.  If this is the release model going forward, we'll get the Hero mechs 2 weeks before the common variants.  New mechs are always good, and I can get behind this model.  It's been a little shaky in the past.

Also, there are now starter bundles that contain a Champion mech, 30 days premium time and 3 cockpit items - and they have a healthy discount as well.  The Champion plus the premium is a good buy for a new player, as they can get the best C-Bill bonus rates this way.  Pick one up before your first game and the newbie bonus for C-Bills gets ridiculous.  Good work on these, PGI.  It was needed.

Ok, now on to the interface.  I like the mech INVALID icons that have popped up, but the Strip Mech function doesn't seem to work correctly.  I had to post on the Patch Feedback today about disappearing engines when using the Strip Mech button.  For now, this is one of those things I just wouldn't trust - just like trying to use modules that won't reload.  Bad bugs, these need fixing immediately (especially the module thing - it's been a while already).

The last thing I want to mention is the range increase on Medium and Large Pulse Lasers - this is a good buff.  Overall, the work PGI is doing on the game is great, but it's largely still in development.  There were some good bug fixes this patch, but new bugs arrived to take their place.   Here's hoping that CW won't be pushed out in an unfinished state.