MechWarrior Online - A Newbie's First Impression

One of my gaming friends has been a long-time fan of the MechWarrior video games. He finally convinced me to give the latest incarnation MechWarrior Online (MWO), a spin a couple weeks ago. I've been resisting, because I was never a huge fan of giant stompy war robots (a.k.a. juicy targets), but I finally suspended my disbelief and joined up. Pacific Rim may or may not have had something to do with that.

Avoid laser to the face, if possible.