1. What year is it set in
MechWarrior® Online™ is running an offset timeline of the BattleTech® Universe. As of this writing it is 2011 and the year is 3048 within the game. In 2012, when the game is launched, it will be 3049.
2. Is it earth..locations etc?
A detailed timeline stretching from the late 20th century to the mid-32nd describes humanity's technological, social and political development and spread through space both in broad historical terms and through accounts of the lives of individuals who experienced and shaped that history.[17] Individual people remain largely unchanged from those of modern times, due in part to stretches of protracted interplanetary warfare during which technological progress slowed or even reversed. Cultural, political and social conventions vary considerably between worlds, but feudalism is widespread, with many states ruled by hereditary lords and other nobility, below which are numerous social classes.
A key feature of the BattleTech universe is the absence of non-human intelligent life. Despite one or two isolated encounters in novels, mankind is the only sentient species, making the incessant warfare among humanity's feudal empires seem a more realistic and direct extension of the past and present.
Above all, the central theme of BattleTech is conflict, something to be expected given the franchise's wargaming core.[1] Interstellar and civil wars, planetary battles, factionalization and infighting, as well as institutionalized combat in the shape of arena contests and duelling, form the grist of both novelized fiction and game backstories.
3. Technical expertise..how many comprise a company, squad, wing?, unit etc.
Many mercenary commanders, having either worked for one of the Great Houses or been part of a House's military, use a modified force structure based on the House's. The Wolf's Dragoons and other Clan-derived mercenary forces structure their units after the Clans'. A few mercenary commands derived from the periphera realms use the same organization as their home nations. Mercenary units rarely exceed more than a company or two in strength, and often field over-strength companies to give themselves an advantage against the regimental strength forces commonly used by Inner Sphere and Clan forces.
4. Are they pilots (from memory they are) so they do acadamy, flight school, mech school..wha training? I could write a novel over this stuff Wink: yes
5. Who are teh bad guys and why?
everyone is a bad guy
6. Any other "terms" I should know about?
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/BattleMech7. scotch..lots of it: dido
8. Are these mechwarrior related just to get a feel for the world and the terms etc.?
there is heaps of fiction over 100 official novels most downloadable aswell as heaps of fan fic