System v. Setting (WTF are you talking about?)

Hey Game Fans, I’ve back with another article about gaming (big Surprise, right?) but today i’m going to talk about a couple of key terms that i think that you all should get acquainted with and it will help you grow as consumers of games.  We talk about games a lot and you might hear something to the effect of “I love the setting but the system is absolutely terrible,” or “I love this System is literally dumber than a bag of doorknobs.”  Now if you’re not sure what either of those statements means, don’t feel bad.  I’m going to take a look at both of the terms and see if i can’t help you see the differences between them.  Let’s dig a little deeper and see what we can come up with.  

What's a Battlemech? (Battletech)

A Battlemech is in most cases a bipedal (there are some quads) exoskeleton that is piloted into battle by a Mechwarrior.  They stand between 10 and 12 meters tall (exceptions exist on both ends) and weigh between 20 and 100 tons.  Armed with extensive batteries of missiles, energy or ballistic weapons (in some cases all three), the Battlemech is often considered the apex of human ingenuity in the field of warfare.  It is an incredibly complex amalgamation of technological innovation and has changed the way humankind has waged war since their introduction 2439.  Let’s take a closer look at what went into creating the technological underpinnings of a battlemech.

Oh The Places You'll Go (Battletech)

Battletech has a rich science fiction background full of interesting places to go, things to see, and potential enemies to shoot at you.  There are thousands of inhabited solar systems in the Inner Sphere, and the Periphery expands that number even further.  At the furthest edges of occupied space lay the Clan Homeworlds, settled after an exodus by the Star League Defense Forces in the aftermath of the fall of the Star League.  We could spend years going over all of these star systems (and Catalyst Game Labs has released a series called Touring the Stars that explores a fraction of these worlds), but we’re going to take a look at five spectacular planets that you can visit while playing Battletech.  Some of these are era dependent, but we’ll try to make that notation when it comes up.