287 replies to this topic

[MechWarrior319348]

I saw a commercial the other day on television for World of Tanks. It was 45 seconds long and mentioned that it had almost 2 million players.

Why don't we see the same results with this game?

Do we need to kick start the advertising department for Mechwarrior?

This is what I interpreted from all the comments.

• Need more Marketing
  
• Target the marketing onto the right audience (fans of.... "robots...")
  
• Cut and run from countries that simply have no interest (in terms of advertising). And concentrate on areas that likey the robots.
  
• And increase server quality to areas of the globe that have people who want to play. I meet lots of interesting people when I have all the region boxes checked. However, they sometimes just.... have a bad connection. And they are stuck with it.
  
• Rethink the third person view argument. Its not worth risking financial stability because people "just have to have third person be ineffective."
  
• And more money to do this stuff!! visit a loan shark, or find some investors! team up with Megabot and that other company that's doing the tabletop game thing.

Tell me if there is more to add.

Edited by Delta 62, 31 May 2016 - 02:18 AM.

[EgoSlayer]

Because more people can recognize and associate with tanks based on the real world than Battlemechs from a niche board and RPG game.

[MechWarrior319348]

Tanks and mechs are pretty much the same thing if you take out the treads/legs aspect of it.....

If they are familiar with tanks then this would be right up their ally right?

Maybe that should be the start of their advertising campaign.

"Do you like heavy metal!?? Do you like Tanks!? Well guess what!!! Now its become even better with these new walking tanks!! Check out all the mech action going on over here!!!"

Edited by Delta 62, 30 May 2016 - 07:36 PM.

[MechWarrior319348]

Im also curious to know if MWO has ever had a television commercial?

All I know is that when they went through their advertising phase, the game was not ready. They were grouped up with that other company that was impatient, and were forced to launch the game early.

People tried it and thought "eh this is just a briefly fun little internet fad."

This is because we only had 2 game modes and a few mechs to work with. Not to mention the 3 or 4 map limitation.

Of course people wouldn't want to come back to a piece of **** like that.

We need a round 2 of advertising, this time PGI will handle it correctly, and show what this game was supposed to be when it launched.

Edited by Delta 62, 30 May 2016 - 07:41 PM.

[Goose]

Hear-tell, they have a functioning match maker.

[Alan Davion]

Delta 62, on 30 May 2016 - 07:36 PM, said:

Im also curious to know if MWO has ever had a television commercial?

It had one. About 4 years ago. Never seen another since.

[MechWarrior319348]

Goose, on 30 May 2016 - 07:38 PM, said:

Hear-tell, they have a functioning match maker.

We have a good matchmaker system.

It just cant function properly with a low population.

Its like trying to run a car on fumes.

[MechWarrior319348]

Hell...

What if they renamed the game?

They could call it, "Mechwarrior Online Battle of the Inner Sphere"

Maybe roll it out like its an expansion.

[Wintersdark]

Delta 62, on 30 May 2016 - 07:33 PM, said:

Tanks and mechs are pretty much the same thing if you take out the treads/legs aspect of it.....

If they are familiar with tanks then this would be right up their ally right?

Maybe that should be the start of their advertising campaign.

"Do you like heavy metal!?? Do you like Tanks!? Well guess what!!! Now its become even better with these new walking tanks!! Check out all the mech action going on over here!!!"

No. Because a lot of people are really into tanks, and are uninterested in silly cartoon battlemechs.

World of Tanks appeals to "treadheads" who are a very common military nerd subgroup. Way, way more populous than Mechwarrior/Battletech fans. Even back in the Old Days, before being geeky/nerdy was "normal", being a tank geek was always fine and socially acceptable.

[Kasumi Sumika]

Better advertisement and marketing. And also WoT support Mods but only for Skins, Sounds, Interfaces.

[DaZur]

Known historic / iconic visages of real-life war machines -vs- Niche pen/paper bipedal fantasy war machines...

Yes, they share a lot of the same lineage but for joe consumer public, known entities win every time.

It's like pitting Hydrox cookies against Oreos...

[Zordicron]

Mostly a lot of social/cultural reasons. People can identify, at a patriotic level even, with historical tanks. There is real world historical accounts of performance, which has been debated since they were invented. If you have never seen a "who would win" blog/chatroom about tank vs tank(or naval ship vs ship) you haven't been on the internet.

PGI, and more so IGP, squandered their window to create a bigger game then we have now(population wise) through a series of poor decisions. It is possible, even now, that MWO could see a resurgence and grow again to something different. A new game engine is basically a requirment though for that to happen IMO.

[Sickocrow]

Also the vast majority of players is the Russian base. They peak 200k on the European servers and if I remember has a few shards. The NA server does around 30-40k. Oceanic about 25k. The Chinese server is hidden.

I'm a long term WoT player, but not played it in ages. I was getting sick of the power creep and the dodgy bounce mechanics. Like a 122mm shell bouncing off half inch plate. If I hit something in MWO it stays hit, bar the dodgy HSR on fast lights.

Edited by Sickocrow, 30 May 2016 - 08:09 PM.

[Khobai]

because its a better game

[Karl Marlow]

Things world of tanks have that mechwarrior lacks

More focused customization per tank meaning each tank is balanced for its tier. This alone is probably the biggest problem MWO has. Allowing full customization eliminates the need for more mech chassis and makes balancing the chassis impossible. The irony in MWO is that because all options are open all Mechs have become uniform in their loadouts.

Static hp values with weak points unique to each chassis

Cone of fire. The lack of one in MWO is actually a unique thing.

Slower rate of fire which when paired with the cone of fire system makes each shot more precious and requires far more tactical skill and more risk vs reward for getting the right and accurate shot.

Tanks have roles and no apologies are made with regard to roles just hands down beating other roles.

Frequent map additions

A progression and achievement system people Will spend large amounts of time trying to earn

[Mystere]

DaZur, on 30 May 2016 - 07:58 PM, said:

Known historic / iconic visages of real-life war machines -vs- Niche pen/paper bipedal fantasy war machines...

Yes, they share a lot of the same lineage but for joe consumer public, known entities win every time.

It's like pitting Hydrox cookies against Oreos...

Considering that awful movie Pacific Rim reportedly earned over 400 million USD worldwide, I think there is an untapped market for giant robits.

Khobai, on 30 May 2016 - 08:09 PM, said:

because its a better game

As the saying goes, "money" talks.

[Johnny Z]

Delta 62, on 30 May 2016 - 07:43 PM, said:

We have a good matchmaker system.

It just cant function properly with a low population.

Its like trying to run a car on fumes.

This game may not be ready for big budget advertising yet. But then neither is World of Tanks.

The big difference is World of Tanks using massive grind and lvl system for player retention. Something mechwarior Online hasn't resorted to.

The next big difference and equally as big is player loyalty via nation. Russians and Europeans and even Asia will show a bit more loyalty to World of Tanks because of where its made. Also player loyalty for other reasons such as the way updates are delivered by a beautifull spokes model.

Third and maybe the largest difference is of course advertising.

Overall MechWarrior Online is a better game, way better and next gen. Only time will tell how it all works out. I'm sure with some amazing updates and serious advertising MechWarrior Online could easily surpass World of Tanks.

Edited by Johnny Z, 30 May 2016 - 08:35 PM.

[LordNothing]

tv adverts, thats why.

[Khobai]

Quote

Considering that awful movie Pacific Rim reportedly earned over 400 million USD worldwide, I think there is an untapped market for giant robits.

pacific rim was still considered a flop though because it cost $200M to make

[-Natural Selection-]

Because once you unlock some viable mechs, it becomes insanely repetitive.

Maps, game modes, vision modes and a number of other things in this game just arent good. But aside from that it is hard to say if they cant just get things right or lore/BT crowd holds this game back.

And as far as MM, they should just yank it out and let it be luck of the draw. The more crap they put in to appease people the worse this game got.