Piranha Games is hard at work generating news for me to follow, and for that, I appreciate them. Very much. Today is the second information-packed Developer Blog post from the MechWarrior Online team, and it's all about Information Warfare.

So what's that mean? Information Warfare is really about "knowing where your enemy is, knowing the current status of your enemy, understanding your enemy's intentions, and sharing information between units." In other words, it's all about battlefield intel. Right now, targeting and scouting work almost entirely by line of sight/detection (LOSD), meaning that you can only "spot" an enemy if you have a direct line of sight with them, or if you can detect them via UAVs, radars, detectors, or satellite scans. How much information you'll be able to gather from spotting your enemy, as well as how you can share that information with your team will all require special modules. Modules, by the way, are customization options that will allow players to fundamentally tweak how their BattleMech contributes to the war.

You can read the full developer blog post over on the MechWarrior Online website!

On another note, I am running very low on MechWarrior Online pictures to use here.

And welcome to the New Year! MechWarrior Online is heralding 2012 with some juicy developer posts on things like MWO's targeting system, the BattleGrid, the Module System, designing a F2P MMO from the ground up, and much more! Piranha Games has designated January as being the "Information Warfare Month," and they're certainly going to deliver with some great in-depth reveals.

You can read MechWarrior Online's January posting schedule here.

MechWarrior Online fans will have something new to drool over for the weekend with the reveal of the CPLT-C1 "Catapult" Mech, a fire support mech that boasts some incredible long-range artillery capable of destroying lighter 'Mechs in the blink of an eye.

Unfortunately, the Catapult may not be for everyone, as within the reveal story itself, "skeptics" of the 'Mech indicate that its low max speed (64.8 KM/H) could be its downfall. While the destructive capabilities of the Catapult were never in doubt, given the low speed cap of this mech, players will need to have a high amount of situational awareness in order to prevent being rushed by enemy units. In the hands of a more savvy player, however, expect to be on the receiving end of a lot of long-range bombardments..

Be sure to check out the full unit release on the MechWarrior Online page. If you're still itching for some new MechWarrior information, be sure to check out Staff Writer Patrick "BakersMan" Do's roundtable interview with the MWO team!

MechWarrior Online has released a brand new slew of community questions, including one answer going into great detail about LP decay and how MWO will accomodate for casual players. also worth noting is that faction roles (playing as a Lone Wolf or as part of a Faction) are considered an important part of a player's role, so switching between the two will be more difficult than a simple toggling of a switch.

Lots of good information in there, and if you're looking for even more coverage, check out Staff Writer Patrick "BakersMan" Do's roundtable interview with Piranha Games on all things MechWarrior Online!

On a final note... I'm seriously running out of MechWarrior art here.

MechWarrior Online is the reboot of an IP that hasn’t seen a new title in a decade. It is slated for release in mid-2012 and is being developed by Piranha Games based out of Vancouver, Canada. On Monday, I had the opportunity to speak with the President of Piranha Games, Russ Bullock, as well as the VP and Creative Director, Bryan Ekman, in a roundtable interview regarding the upcoming IP. We got a lot of new information about the game and I am here today to share my nerd candy with you.

According to Bullock, fans of MechWarrior can expect a modernized version of a thirty-year old IP that still maintains the franchise’s original conceit; “At its root, MechWarrior is a simple concept: it’s about taking a giant robot … and laying waste to other robots.”

Curious about how the team at MechWarrior Online plans to support community warfare? In a new dev blog post, the team gets into some solid detail regarding MWO's "Inner Sphere," and MechWarrior Online's living timeline. Long story short, each day that passes on Earth is the equivalent of a day passing in MWO's universe. By doing this, the MWO team can change and update their world on a daily basis, thereby giving it the vibe of a living, breathing world.

The post also talks about Faction Warfare and how players can join their own specific factions in order to build "Loyalty Points" and ranks, which obviously translate to special perks, like new units, unit skins, and C-Bill / XP bonuses. Alternatively, Lone Wolf players can run around participating in random matches, and while they won't gain nor earn Loyalty Points during these matches, it's a great way to get some playtime in without worrying about any ramifications.

It's a great read, so head over to the MechWarrior Online website to check it out!

December is Community Warfare Month for MechWarrior Online! This month, the MechWarrior Online team is going to be shedding a lot of light on MechWarrior Online's Community Warfare and what it'll all be about for MWO. In their first developer blog, the team will highlight Community Warfare features, like Mercenary Corps and the Inner Sphere, as well as hosting a developer interview with Randall N. Bills.

Overall a very exciting month for MechWarrior Online fans, so we'll keep you posted when new information comes up.

I'm still not entirely sure what to make of this MWO blog post, but MechWarrior Producer Matt Newman has come to the masses to explain his joking around during the developer Q&A MechWarrior Online hosted two weeks ago. It could very well be that the team is busy and it's up to the Producer to save the day (that's... pretty much their job), but still an odd post nonetheless.

Still, it's not all oddness, as Matt has posted a mini art reveal for those of you salivating over MechWarrior Online! Check it out!

A new MechWarrior is on the block and it's looking pretty beefy. Created by the Draconis Combine, the DRG-1N Dragon boasts "a ground speed of 86.4 kph, ten tonnes of Starshield armor, a Telos DecaCluster LRM-10, Imperator-A Autocannon/5, and two Victory 23R Medium Lasers." If all of the above instantly made sense to you, then you clearly remember your MechWarrior days better than I.

Be sure to read the full reveal and check out a full size version of the above artwork on the MechWarrior Online website.

I'm running out of Mechwarrior media art to run with, but the guys at MechWarrior Online don't seem to be running out of news steam. Just yesterday Piranha Games and Crytek have announced that they will be using Crytek's CryENGINE 3 to power MechWarrior Online, meaning we should see some good things to come of this upcoming MMO. 

If you're interest in MechWarrior Online is ramping up, be sure to check out MWO's Online Developer Q&A and their Developer Spotlight on Concept Artist Alex Iglesias!