Changes
Loadcrit - No longer have to shutdown, just have to be on a base/hq hex and speed zero. Must also NOT be unconscious.

Ammo_Truck requestable - no longer costs as much. It now has additional armor to help keep it safe while it moves in to reload your unit.

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Often, ammo-based units on the MUX get snubbed in favor of a energy-based one. While the Ammunition levels designed by the core rules work in the board game, they often pale when introduced to real-time game play (most Mechwarrior games up the ammo levels of weapons to compensate) We try to follow the core rules, which sometimes makes our Ammo Designs suffer. These changes should help keep them balanced during game play.

A quick new command
Patchup - Only available on Base Hexes, this will let you reload the previously unreloadable One-Shot weapons in addition to fixing other minor items such as Search Lights free of charge. Only available on a base hex or the HQ hex while shutdown. I suppose you could do it in the respawn room too, but I really doubt you will need patchups in there.

Also a new requestable
SpotLight - A thickly armored bunker for hiding Battle Armor units in safety. It has no weaponry, but it can use its Seach Light system to help eliminate the 'fun' of fighting at night.

We have had a number of tweaks we have performed in order to increase playability over the past month or so. Sadly, it is not all detailed in one exact area, so this will (hopefully) let people catchup on everything that has been changed, modified, or added at once.

Changes:
Heavier turrets (Turret-1 through 4) can only be built one per hex. This will prevent people from dropping several turrets on one spot and create an impassible area for smaller forces. You can (obviously) still move mobile requestables, like a MRU, through the same hex without any issues.

Several Extra Light Fusion (XL) BattleMechs have been issued a priced percentile discount to encourage more varied unit use. Some of these units (Like AS7-K) were pushing 20 million + over their Standard Fusion cousins (AS7-S) and were simply not worth the price paid. If you owned one of the units discounted, you were refunded the change in price. Discounts are given at the Admin's discression and will continue to change until things are deemed balanced. A fully detailed list of which units were effected will be available on the Forums later.

Outfits - No longer moved together during faction changes. This is a change to help keep teams balanced until a more advanced system can be put into place.

Additions:
Requestable - New unit, the Bradley, is nothing more then an APC so Battle Armor can buy a ride without wasting the cash on a much larger Amphib or Garixis. It can carry 8 tons of Battle Armor goodness!

Request Commands - You can now do Command/Force (unit)=command to issue direct commands to a unit should the AI get stuck somewhere it cannot seem to get out of. Type the commands as though you were personally piloting the unit such as "command/force #1234=heading 270". It can also be used to force units to 'sprint' or 'evade' as there are no AI orders to trigger this yet. Should you own a carrier-requestable you may now use AI/Relieve to take command of the unit personally (while riding inside of it) and drive it around. You may also use AI/Init to order the NPC pilot to take back the controls when you are ready to disembark. Only the owner of the requestable may do this.

Kill Cash - You now get a small sliver of cash when you frag an enemy. All nearby allied units will also get an equal chunk. The payout is based off of the Victim's Initial BV and the Killer's Initial BV....as such an UrbanMech that manages to take out an IMP will obviously get a better payout then the other way around. Incentives are also counted into this. Destroying some requestable units (like Probes or Ammo Trucks) yields no reward. AI NPCs (pirates) still give out payments as normal though.

HQs - Once armed with an array of support weapons, these towers are now unarmed save for a BloodHound Probe. While still immune to fire, a pair of Guardian Turrets (Turret-Guard) have replaced them as the means of keeping the HQ safe. The turrets are destroyable, but yield no reward. They will regenerate after 15-20 minutes of being destroyed to resume protecting their base.
-Continued-

[ More ]

The Frontier has enjoyed a successful existence over the 5+ years it has been running. Well over a thousand players have graced its maps at one time or another during its life, and development and improvement has been steady throughout. This game has progressed by leaps and bounds, starting as an experiment that wasn't even supposed to become a permanent fixture in the BattletechMUX community. Today it is one of the last bastions of text-based Battletech, carrying on the torch lit by the many sites of the past.

It became evident as the Summer progressed that the upcoming school year (my last) was going to be ridiculously busy, and I may be shipped off to any number of states or companies post-graduation. I obviously have a lot invested of time and love invested in this site, and have always said that I'd hand it off to a capable person in the event that I couldn't pay enough attention to its day to day running and development. For this reason, I am now handing the keys to the site over to Power Shaper, who is now your new head administrator.

Power Shaper has been with the site since its infancy, serving in a softcode and hardcode capacity. He has been heavily involved with the site's evolution, particularly with the codebase's revamping and improvement. He's been here long enough to have the best idea out of anyone as to the site's original intentions and where it could be taken and bettered. You are in great hands here, so no worries.

I will still be around periodically and will help out whenever possible in an advisory or spot job role, but all administration will now be handled by Power Shaper. He is for all, purposes, the owner/operator of the site. Please direct anything that requires an action or a response at him rather than me.

A big thanks goes out to everyone who has been supportive over the years. The game would be nothing like it is today without the re-assurance, the suggestions, and the good sports. Also, thank PS for being willing to step up and fill these shoes so business can continue as usual.

• Added the following new weapons from 3075/Total War: IS.SnubNosedPPC, IS.LightPPC, IS.HeavyPPC.
  
• The 'heatcutoff' command is now disabled, as it is non-FASA munchkind garbage. You'll need to keep TSM active by shooting at stuff.