3 replies to this topic

[Magna Canus]

The mass of threads from both veteran players dissatisfied with "new player quality" as well as threads from new players dissatisfied with "every match is a roll / the enemy team is always better" and "the learning curve is too steep / there are no good tutorials" got me asking these questions;

1) Why are new players not learning in a PvE environment (e.g. extended interactive tutorial)?
2) How difficult/costly/time consuming would it be to create one?

How I envision it working
A new player would download and install MWO which would include the "PvE Cadet module".

New players are required to play through the PvE cadet module before entering the PvP que.

The PvE cadet module would replace the cadet bonus for the first 25 matches, instead providing a new player with a given amount of C-Bills/XP and perhaps even a specified starting mech (Hand me down from uncle bob for example).

The new player would run through a set of movement, heat management, weapons fire, evasion & cover, game mechanics (i.e. ghost heat), and mech building tutorials that are then rounded out by a number of "drops" vs AI that would simulate a "real match".

The new player would be able to choose from any of the trial mechs to run through the PvE cadet module.

The new player would, at the end of the module, get a scoring that would place them in their their starting ELO bucket.

Experienced players could run through the PvE cadet module (increased difficulty?) and be able to get a score as well, but which does not affect their ELO.

The top 100 scores would be placed on a "leader board" for the competitively inclined.

Advantages of learning in a PvE environment
New players would be able to take the time to learn in a "safe" environment at their own pace until they feel comfortable with entering the PvP que which many view as a brutal learning environment.

Experienced players could have more confidence in the basic abilities of new players causing less friction between the two groups in general and less friction on the forums in the form of complaint threads.

The developers would have complete control over the starting resources (starting mech?) of new players and could alter that limit at their discretion.

MWO would shed the reputation as a "new user unfriendly" game and thus have more potential of attracting new players and regaining lost players.

Discussion notes
Please refrain from posting speculative comments like "PGI has no skillz" or "I want CW first then we can think about it" as these are not constructive and fairly irrelevant to the posted topic. Please concentrate on advantages/disadvantages and would like/don't want with specific reasons.

Thanks.

Edit: Grammar hates me.

Edited by Magnakanus, 24 April 2014 - 03:11 AM.

[FlipOver]

Magnakanus, on 24 April 2014 - 03:09 AM, said:

[...]
The new player would, at the end of the module, get a scoring that would place them in their their starting ELO bucket.

Second account users could use this to be ranked worst as possible so when they start playing the get to increase their W/L and K/D ratios. Just pointing out a way to manipulate the system as dumb as it might seem, others might not consider it like that.

Other than this, sounds like a solid idea.
Though PGI has so much on their hands, I believe this would be given a very low priority. So don't expect it to be on their tables before the next 6 months or so.

[Magna Canus]

flipover, on 24 April 2014 - 03:26 AM, said:

Second account users could use this to be ranked worst as possible so when they start playing the get to increase their W/L and K/D ratios. Just pointing out a way to manipulate the system as dumb as it might seem, others might not consider it like that.

Other than this, sounds like a solid idea.
Though PGI has so much on their hands, I believe this would be given a very low priority. So don't expect it to be on their tables before the next 6 months or so.

Great input. I'm not sure what the long-term gains would be really besides the "fun" of griefing though. The way ELO works I think that fun would not last overly long.

[Durant Carlyle]

PGI already has scripted missions for training on The Plan. No ETA though.

What we need is better community-made tutorials. All games have them, and they are almost always better than any tutorials made by the company. They won't give extra in-game money like the scripted ones will, but they will learn stuff better from the community.

Edited by Durant Carlyle, 24 April 2014 - 02:28 PM.