Yes, I came to similar conclusions.
But anyway we will have several lance compositions that are certainly better than the rest. So we have to limit the free choice of Mechs for your lance (for example, by forming an available pool according to the Field Manuals rules; add permanent destruction and Mechs repairs, alike in the single player; objectives for matches others than "destroy them all"). In other words, you need to add variety and, consequently, interest in the game, a sense of progress from your participation. But yes, this will require considerable effort, and therefore unlikely.
I mentioned this in the early posts in this topic. Personally I began to get actively involved in Battletech in the communities who wanted more than the single player could give. We tried to somehow entertain ourselves using the weak multiplayer capabilities that these games gave. I know hundreds of people who have fallen in love with BattleTech in this way.Battletech computer games have been primarily SP for 30 years.
I agree that in the current form, multiplayer is poorly suited for a serious competitive game. This happened primarily because of the fact that the whole mechanics were thrown out of the core game, and completely new ones were added instead. Naturally, the balance has shifted unpredictably. One (or more) polishing pass is required for all digits. And of course the QoL improvements , bug fixes and instruments to keep community healthy.I would love to see this become a good multiplayer game, but the basics need to be fixed first. More playstyles and weapon combos need to be viable before we can reasonably expect MP to not just be a cheese-fest.
But anyway we will have several lance compositions that are certainly better than the rest. So we have to limit the free choice of Mechs for your lance (for example, by forming an available pool according to the Field Manuals rules; add permanent destruction and Mechs repairs, alike in the single player; objectives for matches others than "destroy them all"). In other words, you need to add variety and, consequently, interest in the game, a sense of progress from your participation. But yes, this will require considerable effort, and therefore unlikely.