Really enjoying the game so far, amazing job with everything from the music to the art. Everything below is from the context of someone who hasn't actually engaged with Lancer outside of reading the rules a few times, so take it with a huge grain of salt :3
While the Pilot mechanics are 100% lacking, I do think it could be really unique and worth including down the line if It were to be implemented, it definitely shouldn't be encouraged. Narratively I could see letting your Lancer, or a named NPC, outright die lead to a 'game over' or mission failure.
Having pilot mechanics definitely shouldn't be top of the priority list, as I think the attention is best served elsewhere, but down the line I could see them opening up a whole host of cool scenarios for either official of community missions. Even as a DLC if you're into those.
Like I said earlier, I don't know how these mechanics play out in actual gameplay most of the time, but I really like the idea of:
- You need to exit your mech to complete an objective, a la hacking or disabling something while your mech fights with your team outside
- You need to escape a building to get back to your mech in a facility crawling with 1/2 mechs
- Last ditch effort to escape from your mech while it self destructs in the last round of a capture mission
My favourite mech game by far is Titanfall 2, just because I love the dynamic between the Pilot and the Titan, I feel like that would add so much potential, especially with the option to customise your mech's dossier as your can with the Lancer.
Either way, keep up the phenomenal work, I look forward to see what you come up with. :3