64 replies to this topic

[borisof007]

Not complaining, I'm actually hoping this game gets 3x more players from the Steam release. A ton of new players should really help this game out. TBH I hadn't known that this was going to be pushed to steam until recently.

Is there any marketing campaign that's going to ramp up to release? Maybe we can get a "refer a friend" system going on Steam release day to help bring in new players? Just suggestions.

Now the real question is - Do we want to use our super duper clan mechs and 12 mans against a whole bunch of new players? Maybe on steam release day we all revert back to OG IS mechs for fun to let them get acclimated

[Juodas Varnas]

With the current new-player experience, the game would be probably murdered by the Steam release, in my opinion.
Knowing people, there'd probably be hundreds of negative Steam-reviews of people complaining, which would drive away any other potential players.

If PGI implements a proper tutorial for newbies, then maybe? I don't know.

Edited by Juodas Varnas, 28 July 2015 - 09:34 AM.

[Throat Punch]

Juodas Varnas, on 28 July 2015 - 09:33 AM, said:

With the current new-player experience, the game would be probably murdered by the Steam release, in my opinion.

Wait, there is a new player experience? I thought there was just this

[Juodas Varnas]

Mors Draco, on 28 July 2015 - 09:38 AM, said:

Wait, there is a new player experience? I thought there was just this

Well the current "new player experience" is made up of "taking new players in terrible mechs without any mech skills, that make the mechs 100x better than they were at the start, and throwing those said players in terrible mechs to wolves who spent hundreds of hours practicing and min-maxing their mechs"

[ComradeHavoc]

Either Way this will bring in new players. For the steam release I personally think they should have as many trial mechs as possible, and an emphasis on VOIP and teamplay.

[Hit the Deck]

It sure will bring a big wave of new players! But the question is, how many will stay?

[Moment Killer]

I imagine the Steam sales for MWO will include mech packs, or for the new folk they can call them starter packs.

[Ascaloth]

If a Steam release ever happen, all old players should receive a Diablo 1's "The Butcher" Warhorn.

Spoiler

[Paddles McSquee]

Yeah I wouldn't recommend this on Steam till they make it new player friendly. Maybe a single player campaign first to teach people about builds, double heat sinks, etc? You've basically gotta google all your info and watch youtube vids. Not exactly something you should expect from new players.

Also new mechs are crap. I just bought a spider that came with only a flamer and a med laser cus ECM seemed like it was so important. Try killing something with a flamer and a med laser. You can't. Thought it came with ECM but nope, had to buy that too. Also the damn thing overheats after like 10 seconds. Had to grind for days to get the 5+ million just to upgrade to a decent build I found online and the thing still kinda sucks.

Oh and then you learn you gotta get 3 of the same mech in order to upgrade your pilot skills to the next tier or whatever...that was a ball punch.

Most people aren't gonna bother going through the work I did. And yes I spent money. 12 bucks for 3 colors roughly. Seemed high. Doubt I'll do it again.

Edited by Paddles McSquee, 28 July 2015 - 10:01 AM.

[SSSS]

ComradeHavoc, on 28 July 2015 - 09:44 AM, said:

Either Way this will bring in new players. For the steam release I personally think they should have as many competitive trial mechs as possible, and an emphasis on VOIP and teamplay.

fixed

Edited by SSSS, 28 July 2015 - 10:06 AM.

[Sadist Cain]

Rookie queue, simplez.

Guns of Icarus manages just fine with one and that community is tiny.

[Stelar 7]

Fear not. I recently taught a friend to play and on his account he faced enemies of terribad n00bs. The biggest chalenge, aside from trying to teach him fire discipline, was that at n00b skill being just a little better makes you king.

He game tutorials were adaquate to get him moving and shooting. If there was a tutorial for situational awareness that would be good. Still that is what you get from your first drops. That and alot of cbills.,

[stjobe]

Sadist Cain, on 28 July 2015 - 10:10 AM, said:

Rookie queue, simplez.

Guns of Icarus manages just fine with one and that community is tiny.

We already have enough separation of queues that the matchmaker has problems making matches with just the queues we have.

That said, yes, rookies should play other rookies, not three-year veterans in their fully tricked-out 'mechs.

[Ascaloth]

Newcomers playing their first 25 matches should not be allowed by the matchmaker to face people with 100+ drops, neither should be allowed to drop on CW. Only after these 25 matches they would join the ELO rating.

The problem is... how many >100-drops people does MWO have at any given time?

[lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol]

When this game is released on Steam... you think pugs and the toxic community are bad now?

If PGI doesn't have a solution and get more staff, I'll be taking a few months break from the game and from the forum.

[Sarlic]

Steam reviews and refund will (or would) kill this game.

Edited by Sarlic, 28 July 2015 - 10:38 AM.

[Narcissistic Martyr]

Honestly, a 3025 random stock mech mode would do wonders for the new player experience. Plus it'd just be fun.

You'd be forced to drop your first 25 matches in there where everyone is even on a tech basis and then you'd get say 10 million cbills and your choice of mech.

Regardless if the NPE doesn't change this game will die upon steam release.

[Greenjulius]

Don't forget what happened to Hawken. An initial influx of players, then near dead within months. MWO needs to be ready for new players when it comes to Steam. Right now, it's not ready.

That said, MWO is in a better position than Hawken was in, as it has a decent sized playerbase, plus decades of Battletech fans.

Edited by Greenjulius, 28 July 2015 - 10:48 AM.

[Screech]

Sarlic, on 28 July 2015 - 10:38 AM, said:

Steam reviews and refund will (or would) kill this game.

Umm, no. What are you going to refund on a F2P game. Pretty much any starter pack will be non-refundable as soon as you touch it. Per the refund policy DLC can't be returned once it has been consumed or modified.

Also I don't see how this game will get tanked reviews because the game at this point doesn't deserve it and there is a limited supply of d-bags who carry eternal grudges.

[Josef Koba]

I don't know a lot about this Steam release other than I've heard/read that it's going to happen sometime in the future. It could be very good for our game. It could also be very bad. The new player experience is, as has been mentioned, atrocious. I loved this game from the minute I dropped in my crappy whatever it was like two years ago, and I think I've come a long way since. But it's an unforgiving game; punishing, really. It took me MONTHS just to scratch my KDR above 1.0 after being deep in the negative (I sit at about 2.0 now). I'll grant that isn't the measure of success, but when you're dying vastly more than you're killing...people aren't likely to stick around for very long. A lot of that has to do with not knowing how to build a proper mech. Some of it is piloting and getting used to the controls. Some is fire discipline and heat management. Targeting. Team work. These are things that can only be learned via trial and error over time because there isn't a tutorial. We're going to need a proper tutorial in order to retain players. Otherwise, the only people who will stay are those hard core BT/MW aficionados, and most of them are probably already here.

To illustrate, I recently convinced a buddy of mine to try MWO out again. He tried a year ago, got slaughtered, frustrated, and quit. I showed him a few things a couple of weeks ago, and now he's doing multiple drops a day and getting better at a phenomenal rate. And he's a vastly bigger fan of the BT franchise than I ever was. The game, without some sort of intro, was wholly unable to keep him plugging away, even though I told him it'd take roughly two weeks to even feel comfortable, and to stick it out. If a few hundred/thousand random gamers try the game because it looks cool and do nothing but die to our incredible veterans... The reviews won't be pretty...