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Mostly because of the baggage that came along with it.

When FASA went under, everyone though "endgame" would pretty much be "it" on the universe. They left some plot threads hanging, but for the most part, ended the Victor Steiner Davion / IS circle jerk that had been going on for years during the clan wars and everyone was fairly satisfied (with the exception that the last few books that tied out the series where MAJORLY rushed to try to make it out to market before FASA went under.)

Then Weisman started Wiz Kids and brought the BT license to them and everyone got excited. Collectable BT miniatures pre-painted, under a new system. Even though Mage Knight at the time wasn't everyone's bag, they where looking forward to the stuff that went along with BT (New fiction, new miniatures, ect.)

What they got was this.

Not to mention the following:

• GIANT time jump of about 60-70 years after the main series with new characters no one knew or cared about
  
• A new "magic nation" in the form of the Republic that just sprung out of no where.
  
• NONE of the classic BT factions in sight at launch. All factions released seemed like lazy "offshoots" of the true factions.
  
• "Battlemechs" where all of a sudden "rare" again despite by the end of BT, they had FULL means to manufacture them.
  
• Because of the above, early DA fiction had factions duking it out with modified "construction mechs" more then battlemechs. (In the initial DA set, most true battlemechs where only available as unique "ultra rare" drops.)
  *Those classic battlemechs that where there, looked like this.
  
• A IS wide "jihad" put on by the WoB, when before they have always been described as simply a splinter faction. (Not to mention that people imediately thought this was pandering to the jihadist fear of the post 9/11 world at the time.) So them pulling it off just came off as eye rollingly bad to most BT enthusiast.
  
• 80% of the litterally THOUSANDS of HPG systems magically just stopped working. Plunging people into a ture "dark age" because communication had pretty much blacked out the entire IS.
  
  To people that had eagerly been anticipating a revival of the brand that they loved, this wasn't just an abomination, it looked like a late term abortion of everything they loved and cared about and made the series fairly "grounded" in reality (relitive to the universes own shinnanagins.)
  
  Most people treated "End game" and the end of the civil war as the "true" end to Battletech, and was just content to leave it as that and walked away. (I'm willing to bet thats how some of those here right now feel.)
  
  But, after this launched, FanPro and the original guys behind battletech proper continued to develop the game under "Classic Battletech.) and even pioneered a sight that provided "canon" short story's from the "Classic" universe that people where more familiar with. (And they still do this.) So while Wiz Kids wanted a fresh start, FanPro and Catalyst after them actually did flesh out the WoB jihad into something that not only made scense in the universe, but was actually a MASSIVE accumulation of the "side stories" and various other interesting "background plots" finally comming to head and plunging the entire IS into an "old guard / new guard" civil war where mis information orchestrated by the WoB lead to various internal factions tearing themselves apart, and not some massive external struggle with some magic WoB army bigger then the combined might of everyone in the IS like previously believed.
  
  Even the Dark Age stuff eventually got good and ranks to me amoung some of the BEST battletech fiction out there.
  
  Make no mistake, most EARLY dark age books are terrible. Ghost war was actually interesting as it was pretty much a giant "exhibition" book to bring classic lore heads up to speed on what was happening, (and as the only BT book written in 1st person.) But everything after that was just god awful (industrial mechs from a clan wolf splinter faction attempting to take over Terra and declare themselves IlKhan...urrrggg.)
  
  But then, Liao comes into the picture and EVERYTHING gets better.
  
  Seriously, if you haven't read "By temptations and by war," correct that mistake and give the Dark age another try. Its a seriously good battletech book, and the first of the Dark age books that actually gets legitimately "good" for fans of the original series.
  
  From there, the DA run is actually fairly solid, and can get MUCH darker then the "traditional" battletech books ever did. Dealing with things like psychosis, religion, and the battlefield rape of a core protagonist. (Not even kidding on that last one and I DO mean it literally.) Some of the books rank among my favorite battletech books in general.
  
  Seriously, even if you have never given a DA book a try but liked the original series, you MUST read these books:
  
  Target of Oppertunity
  
  Surrender your Dreams
  
  Those two books don't need any DA backstory to enjoy them, and they are both easily two of the best Battletech novels regardless of timeline that any fan can enjoy. (Especially the classic fans.)
  
  So Dark Age isn't reviled so much because its stupid (Once it finds its grounding, its actually quite good.) Its mostly reviled because of all the excess baggage that came with that time period when it was first rolled out by WizKids.

This. http://www.amazon.com/Redragon-Perdition-Precision-Programmable-Cartridge-profiles/dp/B00GU8W5AE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1408802042&sr=1-1&keywords=red+dragon+perdition

It's not a major mouse brand, which might instantly turn off a lot of people. However, it's highly programmable, has all of the bells and whistles of an $80 mouse, feels incredibly durable and is not made from flimsy stuff, and the software is utterly amazingly easy to key bind anything you'd like to any button on the mouse, including customizing the DPI. [The DPI buttons can even be re-assigned, with no restrictions.] It's very simple and lightweight, too; it's very good at what it does without any bloat.

The light color change sounds like a gimmick but since you can assign a different color and glow pattern to each profile (which takes about 2 seconds to swap), it helps you easily ID what is loaded onto the mouse.

The drivers are flawless and the button layout is very good; after day 2 with the mouse, I never hit the side buttons on accident thanks to their design.

Long story short, I've had high end expensive mice for many, many years and this is easily the best mouse I've owned in a while. Very sturdy, reliable, and considerably more customizable than the more well known multi-button mice. With 5 customizable DPI levels, it's perfect for MechWarrior, as well.

And all this for the price of a cheap "new computer" freebie-quality mouse. I really recommend this thing. If you're willing to consider a smaller hardware manufacturer, you'll way more than get your money's worth.. doubly so since you get all this for under forty bucks.

ED: The side buttons work very well for MW:O, from strikes to UAVs to coolant, it's nice to have it all on the same location.

ED2: Because of the above I've taken to not customizing games I play all the time, but customizing the mouse to the game. That was doubly nice in Star Citizen since it lacks key binds right now.

Sometimes when I'm feeling frisky, I will undock the throttle of my thrustmaster hotas and use it for movement. It's wired to the joy, but there's maybe 18 inches of wire there and I can manage to wedge the throttle by my keyboard. The throttle bit has four thumb buttons, two index buttons, and a rudder rocker; just barely enough if you're willing to take your hand off for heat/night vision. I liked the price, and it's really a nice change to have direct throttle control (especially with lights, it feels entirely different), but my middle and pinky finger do get tired manipulating the rocker for turning. Turning with the rocker is analog, which is cool; worked basically out of the box, plug and play. Haven't tried the joy for aiming very much, I would recommend mouse aim if you can.

I recently bought a pair of HyperX Cloud II's to use with my PS4. They are extremely comfortable and have good sound quality. I have yet to give them a go with my PC because I have a separate DAC/AMP and Sennheiser HD600+ModMic setup but they come with a USB soundcard if that's your thing.

Really happy with the purchase. More than I originally thought I would be, honestly.

The HyperX Cloud I can be had for much cheaper than the Cloud II's and offer roughly the same performance without the inclusion of the USB soundcard. They also have two 3.5mm connections rather than one like the Cloud II's. Both also have a detachable mic.

The HyperX Clouds are based on the QPad QH-90 which is a derivative of Takstar Pro80's but with an added mic.

Options, options!

Links:
HyperX Cloud

HyperX Cloud II

Depends on what your looking for.

Warriors of Kerensky, and Inner Sphere are always my "go to" recommendations for those that are looking to get into the universe at a macro level without going into any of the novels, but both books really take a "macro" view of the entire story. But offering a very fair and wide reaching look as to what is going on.

Blood of Kerensky trilogy is basically a must read as the place to start with the Clans as far as the novels go (as all other books including Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy will seem like very strange reads unless you understand the clan mindset going into them.)

But the one thing about Blood of Kerensky trilogy that doesn't really make it a good place to start as far as BT fiction is concerned is that it is also a sequel series to the Warrior Trilogy, Wolves on the Boarder, and Heir to the Dragon. Directly going into both characters and plot points that originally where from those books. So there are a handful of "big reveils" in Warriors of Kerensky that will sort of land with a thud if you haven't read Warrior trilogy, Wolves on the Boarder, and Heir to the Dragon.

Plantronics GameCom 780 Gaming Headset with Surround Sound - USB Compatible with PC
http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-GameCom-780-Headset-Surround/dp/B00B1KJK22
I love this headset, it's super comfy and the mic registers really well.

I'm using a HyperX cloud I.

Dunno if the second one is better/worse. Bought mine earlier.

Super comfy, not too expensive, and clear comms. I'm enjoying mine. Comes with tons of extras too. Lots of splitters/cables/case/etc.

This blew my mind when I met Mark. I grew up watching Stargate SG-1. Will always have a special place in my heart.

Also, the book Mark was talking about:
Redshirts, by John Scalzi

I recommend skipping gaming headsets altogether. For $25 more you could get a real stereo headset and mic like these which are currently on sale...
http://www.amazon.com/AKG-240-Semi-Open-Studio-Headphones/dp/B0001ARCFA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1426183228&sr=8-4&keywords=akg+k240+cable

Pair with a mic like this...http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Zm-Mic1-Sensitivity-Headphone-Microphone/dp/B00029MTMQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426619845&sr=8-2&keywords=clip+on+mic

This is what I use. It feels good, it's got all the buttons I need, and it's comfortable in my left hand.

If you're looking for a joystick to use for aiming... just stop. All you'll do is kill your aim for an inflated price. I'll take a hammer to your fingers for a mere $10.

That said, I do have to admit playing with dual joysticks feels awesome, even if it turns you into a bad.

http://www.amazon.com/Saitek-JI3G-Cyborg-Gold-JoyStick-Pc/dp/B000056Q0P

Found it, it comes with a hex wrench to adjust it, easily adjustable to left handed. Joystick left hand and mouse right seems to be the way to go.

I use and recommend this. I just use the part for the left hand with my mouse

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CXYMFS/ref=psdc_172487_t2_B00CBVHJ00

If you are only using the headset for voice chat, I like to use something like this
voice chat only goes through the headset, and game sound through the speaker.

30" 1600p IPS (...Korean, Yamakasi Sparta, excellent value)

That's pretty much exactly how the mercs that see them do it react. "These guys are fucking insane. Oh look, it worked...that's fucking awesome."

One of my favorite battletech books, just for how different it is.
Double Blind.

Yup. Books have literally been written on this shit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moneyball

http://www.amazon.com/Mathletics-Gamblers-Enthusiasts-Mathematics-Basketball/dp/0691154589/

There's a reason people get paid a shitload of money to do the Brad Pitt thing, and figure out which players should play against which other players. Expecting PGI to put this much effort in (or any company) is slightly far fetched.

I wanted to do this and this but $270 is a bit much for immersion and sucking.

If you're in the market for a wired mouse, I use a Redragon Perdition. It's got all the bells and whistles one expects of a mouse twice the price.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/193687685X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_am_wp_am_us?ie=UTF8

I have these.

I got them mostly because they're over the ear (earbuds hurt after 30 minutes or so) and USB (only one plug). I typically have the game's main audio through the speakers and VoIP through the headset.

I had originally hoped to reach some of the Tesla Pod or Mark I owners and get some of the APIs for the satellite screens they used but that didn't pan out due to the way that Battletech Firestorm is not REALLY just MW4. Turns out there's a lot more to it. But I did have two small screens I had planned to use for this.

My Sony Dash (http://www.sonyrumors.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sony-dash.jpg) was placed to the right of the monitor and set to display a webcam feed from outside the mech so that I could be aware of someone entering the room during the fusillades of missile fire in MWO (It gets loud inside). But Sony killed off the servers supporting the Dash and the community was taken over by someone who I could PAY to make the thing work again. No thanks.

I also have a Compaq Libretto running DSL Linux (http://www.notanon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/libretto-dsl.jpg) which was to the left of the screen and connected to the network switch in this thing in such a way as to allow me to remote into it from the main keyboard and run network diagnostics on the multiple devices connected. But its old ass HD failed at some point and it's dead battery makes doing a reinstall a real pain.

​

Donations of Cougar MFDs or SIM displays will be accepted if offered. :D https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GCBBFFL/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07GCBBFFL&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=f0dedbe2-13c8-4136-a746-4398ed93cf0f&pd_rd_wg=2QbPO&pf_rd_r=WQPA5HQCNFZ31RBHJC4J&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&pd_rd_w=OHgaX&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pd_rd_r=101fbcd5-e924-11e8-8731-197ef284cbe4