TL;DR A little prompt for people to confirm that they wish to buy a loadout if they do not yet own a merc would prevent new players buying loadouts they can’t use.
So I came across a guy in my game today who had just paid the 17,500 credits for a Vassili card, thinking that you just equip cards to gain access to mercs. To all of us, yes, it’s clear that isn’t how it works - but it’s hard for me to come at this thinking like a new player any more. Rather than trying to force the point home through more explanation on the website or in the tutorial, I think that a nice future addition would be one of the following:
When you attempt to purchase a loadout or bundle for a merc you currently do not own (even if it is in free rotation) it should give you a prompt.
[i]"To use loadouts, the mercenary must first be available to you, in either the free rotation or by unlocking it for your account permanently.
You currently do not own this mercenary. It is/is not currently available in the free rotation. (If it is in free rotation, specify that once the rotation changes, the merc will no longer be available for use).
Are you sure you wish to buy this loadout?"[/i]
Alternatively:
Simply lock all loadout purchases until the merc itself is unlocked. This isn’t ideal, since if the merc features in a free rotation, you can’t play with loadouts. Just trying to throw multiple ideas out there for consideration. If anyone has more suggestions, please post!
