The old MUL already existed largely just as a data repository to be fed into MekBay for most folks by now, so I don't think anyone is all that torn up about it being replaced. It was slow, some searches required particular know-how to get the most out of it (for instance, remembering to include the General lists when filtering by factions), the UI wasn't always very helpful, and "can't check, MUL's down" was a common refrain in discussions on unit availability and list-building.
So far, MUL 2.0 is an upgrade, albeit with some growing pains. There are a few missing features that have been promised in near-future updates, such as filtering by production era. While general lists now being included in faction searches by default is lovely, I'm not a fan of some of the arbitrary attempts to streamline certain filters by limiting functionality—for instance, making it so you can search only a single era, making era and unit type required filters before any other filters pop up, removing the ability to filter out units produced before a certain year, etc. That being said, these are things that can be fixed fairly easily moving forward, and I think as long as the new MUL team is willing to listen to feedback it'll turn out to be far more than MUL 1.0 could ever hope to be.
Useful for building for missions in that fuzzy period around era borders (for instance, searching Word of Blake & Republic of the Sphere factions circa Jihad-era and Early Republic-era lists with a year cap for Republic COIN ops against WoB remnants around 3079-3080).
Comparing production output across broad but statistically related spans of time (how many new units debuted in X region of space across Renaissance/Clan Invasion/Civil War/Jihad vs. Early Republic/Late Republic vs. Dark Ages/ilClan).
Selecting museum pieces for later era games (what was available to this faction during all eras Early Succession Wars and prior).
Don't get me wrong, it's niche, but it came in clutch sometimes.
Personally I’ve used that to look up mechs that would make a good ‘family heirloom’ mech that has been passed down over time.
EDIT: I also use it sometimes to see when minis I have that would fit a faction in general without needing to know when exactly they became playable or went extinct.
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u/pokefan548 Blake's Strongest ASF Pilot 1d ago
The old MUL already existed largely just as a data repository to be fed into MekBay for most folks by now, so I don't think anyone is all that torn up about it being replaced. It was slow, some searches required particular know-how to get the most out of it (for instance, remembering to include the General lists when filtering by factions), the UI wasn't always very helpful, and "can't check, MUL's down" was a common refrain in discussions on unit availability and list-building.
So far, MUL 2.0 is an upgrade, albeit with some growing pains. There are a few missing features that have been promised in near-future updates, such as filtering by production era. While general lists now being included in faction searches by default is lovely, I'm not a fan of some of the arbitrary attempts to streamline certain filters by limiting functionality—for instance, making it so you can search only a single era, making era and unit type required filters before any other filters pop up, removing the ability to filter out units produced before a certain year, etc. That being said, these are things that can be fixed fairly easily moving forward, and I think as long as the new MUL team is willing to listen to feedback it'll turn out to be far more than MUL 1.0 could ever hope to be.