Luthghasgo

Still think the models for the Legion mooks are worse off for their lack of Escalating Threat/Color Coordination like Deidranna's troops had in JA2. Wonder how hard it'll be to do some palette swapping once mod tools come out. Also, I'm sorry I have to disagree with you @Lunokhod but I love that design for the Sniper cuz he looks like the lead singer for Swede Rock Band Ghost. Case In Point.

They've danced around the question, but they're probably going to wait to make a big announcement about it sometime in the future as part of their lead-up to release. Pretty good chance of it happening though, you can just barely make out the words 'Mod Manager' on the upper computer screen behind Ian Currie at the 1:09 mark in their legacy trailer. I think they understand on some level that the game most people will compare JA3 against will be XCOM 2, which IIRC also had some pretty thorough workshop integration at-launch. Makes sense that they'd want to match some of the features it had.

The subject of Interrupts are something I'd like to hear more about, same with Night and Stealth, but I'm more interested to know about how enemies get alerted to and get in on battles. Does this game make use of a pod system like what's done XCOM? Which is to say, do enemy soldiers become alerted as groups and get free turns when triggered or is there something more behind how enemy soldiers join combat?

Been wanting to ask about the starting loadouts for the Mercs I've seen in the preview footage. Noticed that most of them have the same Browning Hi-Power for their starting pistol, but I noticed Scully actually had an AKS-74 like he did in JA2 vanilla. Those loadouts something that's still being worked on, and will there be a bit more variety in what each Merc brings with 'em later on?

I'm happy to have I.M.P. in the game proper, but it needs some extra flavor; the character models and voices I've seen in the preview footage feel comparably generic to the A.I.M. mercs. Even though JA2 had you make them the same way, those I.M.P.'s still had some character to them design and voice wise. I think they even said that the current I.M.P.'s are made out of assets from the other mercs, and it shows. Some wholecloth original designs for the I.M.P,'s would be welcome, even if it's something that'll likely be cosmetic DLC. Also, the Legion mooks themselves need some unity across their designs and experience levels, something visual that's not just putting the 'Veteran' preface on their nameplate. I know they've got more unique models for enemies in total but the Yellow-, Red-, Blackshirt system was elegantly simple and informative, and could just as well be applied here. Olive drab for rookie foes, red for vets, and black and grey for the elites, or something similar.

Would you play JA2 with this man?

I don't really mind the tongue-in-cheek one-notedness of the Mercs, that's part of the appeal to me. They've always been a gallery of tropes, archetypes and stereotypes with their own voices and collections of witty quips; and that's to their benefit. It makes each of them contrast and stand out from each other, and in addition to their stat sheet told you all you needed to know about them. I regard them retaining those factors in and out of combat to be thematically appropriate. It's the fallacy of applying book rules to computer games, what makes an entertaining character in the moment is completely different. No one remembers Reaper for his deep moral code or esoteric philosophy towards killing, he's remembered because he was an effective murder machine that said stuff like "Return to your Master" and "Never the thrill I'm looking for." in a raspy voice while doing it.

I was skeptical of the Merc-specific unique quirks at first, but they've grown on me after seeing a few more of them. Thought they were all going to be some over-the-top awesome button ability, but a lot of are actually passive effects, find that a lot more palatable. I envision a scale where on one end you have a pure tactical combat simulation with little fluff and on the other you have a CRPG brimming with extra systems and combat options. JA3 feels like it's tipping towards the CRPG end of that scale in more ways than one; which actually makes me more eager to see what the final launch product ends up looking like. This can also be felt in the tone and writing. YMMV, but I think I'd rather play an tactical action-movie RPG with an African setting that's more in the vein of Who Killed Captain Alex as opposed to Africa Addio. Even though what's been shown off was their Beta, it's clear they're still iterating and working out the designs and systems they've got in mind. And you can see this in some of the designs for the mercs. I know Nails in particular got some criticism for his haircut and goofy smile, and that looks like something they're in the process of changing. I was also worried they'd tone the pettiness of the mercs due to it being an inconvenience for new players, but I've noticed a surprising amount of interjections and insistencies from them out of all the preview footage I've seen. The scrap-based crafting system and the med-gathering system do come across as concessions of convenience, but they aren't dealbreakers to me. I do think the scrap system itself can be justified if we still get a wide breadth of weapon modification options out of it, one that breaks the bounds of a conventional inventory system.

I admit I do prefer Frederick's 1.13 incarnation compared to UB; where he he filled a good niche on the MERC roster as a decent LDR experience amplifier for rookie mercs. Part of the reason I'm hoping Stephen comes back because he filled a similar role; and felt like a natural fit for the African setting given his history in South African diamond security. Not to breach the spoiler pact but I think I have a good idea who the lovestruck merc is, and I don't think it's either Lynx or Buzz. Can't help but feel their consummation would be a bit more explosive if that ended up being the case. I do worry that the amount of investment that goes into making a single merc with todays standards (design, model, animation, voice) would ultimately lead to fewer being made overall, and I feel that's going to be most felt when it comes to the MERC roster. Part of me fears that weaker, bordering-on useless mercs like Biff, Flo or even Haywire would get the axe in favor of ensuring those added actually have a good chance of being used by anyone. Though I guess on the other hand that means the best of the best from JA1 like Spike or Kelly are strong candidates for addition, but still, a balance could be made.

There's another returning face from MERC, showed up in the one odd stream that actually made it past the intro island to the mainland. Like Biff, no idea if he's playable but looks to have a quest meant to help him... clean himself up. Regarding newbs, that same stream also showed off another potentially recruitable early-game RPC. Got a feeling Static, Buzz and Lynx will make a comeback at some point; as series regulars since JA1 I think they're shoe-ins. Apart from them, only one I'm really missing is Stephen; need more high LDR mercs on the roster. I'm willing to bet money on there being a MERC expansion post-launch, and if that's the case then I want it to have the original 10, plus Gaston and Stogie. I also think they'd put Maddog in there too, he's a fan favorite and talks about wanting to join the mercenary business as part of his endgame speech. Though honestly I think MERC would be better served with the addition of some new faces than AIM. Frederick would be nice to have back, too.

They need to hurry up and post some new content, stat. Shitposters thrive in the absence of any actual news.

@Haemimont_Boian One other thing I wanted to ask about stats and their corresponding perks. The capture selection screen in the last dev-diary only showed perks for Health, Agility, Dexterity, Strength & Wisdom. Are there also corresponding 9-perk sets for Leadership, Marksmanship, Mechanical, Explosive & Medical?

The current crop of goons look more like a tribal militia than a regimented military force. Interestingly, the mooks shown in the Announcement trailer look a lot more like they belong to an army; combat fatigues, red shemaghs, scarves, sunglasses etc. Makes me wonder if this is their take on the Yellow-, Red-, Black- shirt division of old; but with uniforms instead of shirts.

There was a higher-quality render on the stream. They're round, Lara Croft-style. Not a bad choice imo, fits Fox's character nicely. It's little details and considerations like this that make me eager to see what the rest of their designs look like.

Question about Character Levels. In JA2, a character leveling up wasn't a regular experience, with the average merc capable of going a long-time without seeing one. This article seems to imply that the rate of mercs leveling up is more common, which means a lot more getting into the 7, 8, 9 and 10 range which was reserved for only the most grizzled veterans and legendary names in the past. Will that be the case in JA3? Or will the leveling be as distanced and hard-earned as before?

Colorful does not equate to ridiculous, and I don't consider mercs like Wolf, Len, Danny and Shadow ridiculous; rather, as elegantly understated. No, I'd rather Maddog and Gus stand out like they currently do. Making every merc as exaggerated as them would take their charm away and be far too annoying.

I don't want either, I want both. JA2 had just an many if not more grounded, military vets as it did action-movie archetypes and exaggerated stereotypes. Both both had enough character and good writing that neither eclipsed the other. It was a balance that gave it's roster palatable character contrast and variety.

If anything, they seem to be doing their homework when it comes to designing Mercs that are culturally grounded in IRL regional conflicts like Fauda and potentially Omryn. Hope they don't go that route for all of the newbs they have lined up, they ought to have one or two who are clear pastiches of action-movie stars or milfiction figures, like Steroid is to Schwarzenegger or Reaper is to Marcinko. Van Damme, Robert Z'Dar; always thought Henning could be salvaged if he was repurposed into an expy of Dolph Lundgren.

Sorry coz, gonna have to wait for the MERC Expansion before we get Gaston back. And who even knows if they're going to go the length of adding in Frederick, too.

Giving up his leather jacket took some years off his life.