While we still don't have much of an idea about what MechWarrior Online looks like, the latest developer blog does give some early details about how it will play. Outside of the obvious, that is; it's a free-to-play mech combat game, but the blog emphasizes the importance of information.
Most notably, MechWarrior Online puts a premium on line of sight. The only way you can see enemies is by either spotting them yourself, or using a radar, UAV or teammate to spot them for you. Every instrument or other spotting device also has limited sight, so finding the enemy and keeping them in your sight should have increased importance. This could be especially true since the game's site specifies that the "battlefield is no longer open areas with mile long sightlines."
Once you've acquired an enemy's position you won't be able to share it with your team unless you have the right gear. MechWarrior Online is going to introduce a new feature called Modules. From the blog post it sounds like they'll function a lot like Perks in Call of Duty, helping you better define your class. One module they say you can take allows you to share information on locations of enemies with your team.
The blog also details additional vision types that mech pilots will be able to employ in their hunt for the enemy. While nightvision is pretty self explanatory, the others are less so. Thermal Vision, for instance, won't directly show you where a mech is, but sounds like it'll show you heat signatures that indicate where an enemy could be. Magnetometer Assisted vision will allow you to detect metal densities, helping keen pilots pick out a mech hiding behind a structure.
Because detection is so important, the developers are also planning several countermeasures. These will include "beacons that send out false target signatures," Disruptors that "block modes, communication, target acquisition and locks," and gear that allows players to "intercept and decode enemy intel."
We still have yet to see MechWarrior Online running, but the early details make it sound like there will be plenty to do outside of shooting at foes.
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