592 replies to this topic

[JadeRaven]

Greetings from the Word of Lowtax!

While you may or may not enjoy getting SQUAWKed at in-game, it's become clear that you feel the same way as we do about MechWarrior. Everyone reading this likely loves Battletech and almost everything associated with giant stompy robots. However it's obvious that there are many issues at hand within our community. Many player groups are reporting fewer and fewer bodies showing up to play each day. The biggest complaint we're hearing about MechWarrior is that it's just not fun to play anymore. This has hit a critical mass lately with the apparent lack of attention that has been paid to the community's various woes. Granted the signal noise ratio has been quite high, but I'm convinced the community has some great ideas that are being overlooked.

The inevitable question is, of course "What, if anything, can we do to make MWO fun to play again?" This is the question we've been asking ourselves at WoL as well. Your posts are a good start, but that isn't going to be enough. We, as a community, have to band together and take decisive action to reclaim the game we love.

Let's figure out the answer to the above question together, as a community. Join us for the first ever MWO Community Town Hall, this Thursday, July 25th, at 9 PM EST at the below mumble server, for a moderated discussion on how we as a community can save our game:

mumble.houseliaoactual.com
password: mellon

If you are a unit leader or group representative seeing this and want a voice in the discussion, please PM Stalkerr on the MWO forums prior to the Town Hall, so we can set you up with Priority Speaker status. Invite your unit members and your friends!

We're taking this to twitter as well. PGI seems to love hash tags, so let's rally around this idea, and #saveMWO.

Edited by JadeRaven, 21 July 2013 - 03:34 PM.

[JSpanky]

[HugoStiglitz]

I have seen threads like this come up every week like clockwork since I started playing in closed beta. There is always going to be something someone doesn't like about a game. So, what is it this time? Heat too high? Your favorite weapon missing something it once had? Really, what is it that the goon squad thinks is killing the game?

I am all ears.

[sgt scout]

Interesting. Nice to see some level headed guys and girls trying to do whats best for the game.

I cant play MWO more than 10 mins any more. To be honest i think its due to the fustrasions of how the development team have chosen to cary out repaires or fixes. I have 0 faith in the mechwarrior online team taking heed of any sugestions you may present. To much of my friends list have already gone for me to care enough in partaking but i wish you luck and good job trying to do something !

..... even if you are dirty squarkers XD

[Lorcan Lladd]

Spoiler

Well, I suppose anyone still playing MWO would probably be both deeply invested in the game and fully willing to participate in this meeting - I'll spread the word to the players I know and maybe I'll attend as well, to listen, if nothing else.

Spoiler

Reactor... Online. Weapons... Online. Servers... Offline. Aborting startup sequence.

[Kaio-Kerensky x10]

HugoStiglitz, on 21 July 2013 - 03:57 PM, said:

I have seen threads like this come up every week like clockwork since I started playing in closed beta. There is always going to be something someone doesn't like about a game. So, what is it this time? Heat too high? Your favorite weapon missing something it once had? Really, what is it that the goon squad thinks is killing the game?

I am all ears.

They're pretty much the same issues that it's been since February. gwaihir breaks it down here. (tl;dr: PPCs are too good, brawling weapons are too bad, TTK is too low, mediums and lights need a reason to exist.) The fact that an overly-convoluted "solution" that doesn't address any of the problems has been pushed through over massive negative outcry is what prompted this.

Edited by Zharot, 24 July 2013 - 09:41 PM.

[Homeless Bill]

batmech, on 21 July 2013 - 03:22 PM, said:

An Elite Founder's one an only post. Beautiful.

[Gwaihir]

Homeless Bill, on 21 July 2013 - 04:09 PM, said:

An Elite Founder's one an only post. Beautiful.

At least he went for the gold with Ron Paul, rather than some lesser meme.

[JadeRaven]

Lorcan Lladd, on 21 July 2013 - 04:06 PM, said:

Spoiler

Well, I suppose anyone still playing MWO would probably be both deeply invested in the game and fully willing to participate in this meeting - I'll spread the word to the players I know and maybe I'll attend as well, to listen, if nothing else.

Spoiler

Reactor... Online. Weapons... Online. Servers... Offline. Aborting startup sequence.

Anyone can and should attend. We're hammering out the final details on how the Town Hall will be setup. It really depends on how many organised groups are going to show up as to what the format will be.

[Chronojam]

HugoStiglitz, on 21 July 2013 - 03:57 PM, said:

I have seen threads like this come up every week like clockwork since I started playing in closed beta. There is always going to be something someone doesn't like about a game. So, what is it this time? Heat too high? Your favorite weapon missing something it once had? Really, what is it that the goon squad thinks is killing the game?

I am all ears.

How's this: The game is being run into the ground and PGI would rather wait for the "noise" to settle down than admit this and take appropriate action. If you want more detail, grab your unit and show up on Thursday.

[101011]

I may not agree that the game is ending, but they are actually inviting you to talk about it. So, jumping in here and assuming that they are trying to ruin the game by trolling it to death is actually pretty trollish yourself.

HugoStiglitz, on 21 July 2013 - 03:57 PM, said:

I have seen threads like this come up every week like clockwork since I started playing in closed beta. There is always going to be something someone doesn't like about a game. So, what is it this time? Heat too high? Your favorite weapon missing something it once had? Really, what is it that the goon squad thinks is killing the game?

I am all ears.

Really? I, too, have been here since Closed Beta, and I haven't seen any threads inviting discussion over the game and why it is flawed. Sure, there are plenty that pop up saying that the game is doomed, but then again, those don't really inspire conversations either, now do they? Then there are the suggestions, but that is only one person making it, and the forum structure pretty much makes it so that you can only discuss the topic of the thread in said thread, limiting it to one idea per topic. This is simply an invitation to another, faster form of this. That being said, I won't be attending, because, as previously mentioned, I don't agree with them. You'll notice how I didn't even have to mention the fact that they are goons to decline? EDIT: On second thought, it is rather silly of me to refuse only because I think it won't work. Worst case, well, I'm right. Here's hoping!

Edited by 101011, 21 July 2013 - 05:01 PM.

[Stalkerr]

Just a heads up that I am sending out PMs to a bunch of folks that have weighed in on this subject, to ensure they are able to jump in on this thing.

Why are goons doing this? Because we listen, and we've seen tons of folks crying out for change, and honestly that change has not come yet. Those who know me know that I care about people and this community, so this is your meeting MWO players. If you want this game to be as good as we all hoped it could be when we first heard about it, we need to join together, end our petty internet forum wars, and #saveMWO as only a gaming community like ours can.

This may fail spectacularly, but at least we will have tried. Won't you join us?

Edited by Stalkerr, 21 July 2013 - 04:31 PM.

[Chronojam]

101011, on 21 July 2013 - 04:25 PM, said:

I may not agree that the game is ending, but they are actually inviting you to talk about it. So, jumping in here and assuming that they are trying to ruin the game by trolling it to death is actually pretty trollish yourself.

Really? I, too, have been here since Closed Beta, and I haven't seen any threads inviting discussion over the game and why it is flawed. Sure, there are plenty that pop up saying that the game is doomed, but then again, those don't really inspire conversations either, now do they? Then there are the suggestions, but that is only one person making it, and the forum structure pretty much makes it so that you can only discuss the topic of the thread in said thread, limiting it to one idea per topic. This is simply an invitation to another, faster form of this. That being said, I won't be attending, because, as previously mentioned, I don't agree with them. You'll notice how I didn't even have to mention the fact that they are goons to decline?

You don't need to agree. You're welcome to show up anyhow with your own explanation for why all of the big-name units have seen disastrous turnover and your own thoughts about how to fix the plummeting player counts, or fresh ideas on improving a new player experience that's only become more confusing.

[JadeRaven]

Builder, on 21 July 2013 - 04:32 PM, said:

If PGI made the game that y'all seem to want them to make it would be a disaster.

I guess that's why the 8 man queue is so full of life right now?

[Lemniscate]

Builder, on 21 July 2013 - 04:32 PM, said:

The only thing MWO needs to be saved from is crap like this.

The game is great and only going to get better. Be patient let PGI do their jobs. Every patch the game gets better and things will only come faster as launch approaches.

Crap like this only makes things worse. If PGI made the game that y'all seem to want them to make it would be a disaster.

Do you really feel that the game is in a better, more fun, state now than it was a few months ago?

For me, the peak was just before alpine was released. Brawling and Sniping were balanced well against one another, you had to scout and react intelligent as a team when playing another team. Mixed compositions were even a scary wild card that some teams knew how to perform well with. Gameplay was deep and interesting and the queues were more active than ever.

It's been downhill ever since, and that is a ******* shame.

[Infernus1986]

101011, on 21 July 2013 - 04:25 PM, said:

Really? I, too, have been here since Closed Beta, and I haven't seen any threads inviting discussion over the game and why it is flawed.

That's because they lock and jettison them all, move them to some obscure sub sub forum or force all discussion into one giant incoherent thread that's easy to ignore.
PGI has made it pretty clear they don't want real feedback because all of there ideas are better and the customer never knows whats best.
The sad thing is that the goons are right but PGI isn't going to do anything about it or even remotely acknowledge what the players want unless it involves them selling more MC in some way.

We have been down this road with PGI before they pretend that they want input and are considering the community's ideas only to further keep you on the hook as a potential customer.
Here we are weeks from release with the same issues that could and should have been fixed months ago but PGI insist that we need third person and consumables and skins and cockpit items and grab deals this whole time instead of dedicating these resources to ironing out the core gameplay first.

Edited by Infernus1986, 21 July 2013 - 04:38 PM.

[101011]

Chronojam, on 21 July 2013 - 04:30 PM, said:

You don't need to agree. You're welcome to show up anyhow with your own explanation for why all of the big-name units have seen disastrous turnover and your own thoughts about how to fix the plummeting player counts, or fresh ideas on improving a new player experience that's only become more confusing.

Oh, I agree with you that MW:O isn't going to be the wild success that some of the previous games were. But I'm not about to go spouting off doom and gloom about how if X isn't implemented, the game will fail, the franchise will fail, and everyone at PGI will lose their jobs. Honestly, at this point, I think that while it's nice to talk about how we could theoretically fix it, there's no real point, as PGI has already proven that the forum's popular opinion doesn't mean anything to them. I might show up to listen, just because I enjoy hearing the ideas, but not because I think it will change anything.

[JadeRaven]

101011, on 21 July 2013 - 04:38 PM, said:

Oh, I agree with you that MW:O isn't going to be the wild success that some of the previous games were. But I'm not about to go spouting off doom and gloom about how if X isn't implemented, the game will fail, the franchise will fail, and everyone at PGI will lose their jobs. Honestly, at this point, I think that while it's nice to talk about how we could theoretically fix it, there's no real point, as PGI has already proven that the forum's popular opinion doesn't mean anything to them. I might show up to listen, just because I enjoy hearing the ideas, but not because I think it will change anything.

I don't agree fully, but you're actually not far off from right. Imagine a developer reading what you just said. I'm certain that their intent isn't to make their whole player base feel as if they don't care.

Edited by JadeRaven, 21 July 2013 - 04:44 PM.

[Chronojam]

101011, on 21 July 2013 - 04:38 PM, said:

Honestly, at this point, I think that while it's nice to talk about how we could theoretically fix it, there's no real point, as PGI has already proven that the forum's popular opinion doesn't mean anything to them.

Stop saying depressing things before everybody leaves for Star Citizen, a game that won't even be out for two years. We've got to give it the old college try.

[Stalkerr]

Good points, all. Just a reminder that we're just facilitating this... if anyone else wants to own this kind initiative, be our guest! We'll be happy to support you.

In this meeting, we want to talk about actionable steps we as a community can take to make our voices heard. Make no mistake, each and every one of you has a valuable voice in this larger conversation, and deserves to be heard out of it.