31 replies to this topic

[MadBoris]

There is this big elephant that I have been ignoring the past few days.
It wanders into my computer room from time to time when I start considering MWO.
It's now high time to lasso the beast!
(Editor - eh, I don't think you actually want to do that with an elephant)

I have high expectations, I won't lie.
PC gaming has been hurting in recent years IMO (w/ some recent exceptions), stunted greatly by consoles over the years as the easy money maker, along with new money making schemes.
It's a shame how much the art suffers when the money hoarders choke it.
So the thought of a 'real' mech game, which I hear about on the videos often, is quite exciting.
One that fans have been waiting for, is another big claim I hear.

[Elephant wanders in. Fool with lasso in hand approaches]
But will it really?
So, my problem when I think of the past decades I've been around gaming and when I think of this title and it's current progress, I can't help but wonder why their seems so little actual gameplay assets/info I've seen.
The GDC video was great, some in game footage finally.
I know one map is in the game, I've not seen enough to honestly judge it at all, and I've seen some gameplay that looked good, especially as my imagination ran with it. Only parts of one map though. There's not many (any?) media writeups from those who have seen it behind the scenes.
I know F&F was in effect recently, and closed beta is coming, so vaporware is not my concern.

[He throws the lasso, the elephant looks at him dismissingly so as to say- are you sure you want to go there fool]
I can't quite put my finger on it. I guess there just has not been enough for me to see, to even get any sort of clear picture of the game. That's hard to stomach when I consider it.
I've seen too many game failures, especially when overhyped, I just don't know the team well either.
I have been fooled knowing alot more about a games development than this one, I don't consider that an easy task per se, it definitely happens alot less than it did 15 years ago.

There's no real web presence of game details, mechs, maps, game styles, weapons, etc...
That seems strange, it seems missing at this stage.
I can think of thousands of mistakes to be made here, and so hard to get it right.
The thought of a great mechwarrior game seems like I am just setting myself up for dissapointment.

[The fool grabs it by the snout, (it's what he called it) thinking he can somehow ride it like a bull, yeehaaa!]
Does it seem sparse in terms of real "tangible" info around here at this stage?
Did they announce too early?
Is the team and budget small for the immensity of the project?

Does anyone else wonder these things?

Am I only impatient?
Am I being fatalistic? Pessimistic?
Should I be optimistic? Why?

I guess I rather be expecting less and be surprised, with so little real tangible info.
I see a lot of hype on these boards, yet we know next to nothing. That's easy to fall into with the idea of a mech game. Already people are talking about how other games will be left for this game, already?! Open beta is coming in summer(real soon), so answers will come, but shouldn't some tangible bits have been here sooner already?

Am I premature?
Maybe it's me who wandered in too early and was not prepared for so little tangible info.
[Elephant looks at him like a rabid fanboi- you better run sucker]


P.S. I'm not discounting the dev blogs, it's all we have really. They are good, they just get my imagination going more.

Edited by MadBoris, 25 April 2012 - 01:38 PM.

[Evernigh]

First off its a "trunk" not a snout.

But persoaly i see where you are coming from their isnt as much info as would be a normal game but try to compare this game to any normal is is a waste of time from what i can tell the development process is compleetly different for a F2P game than ur standard games. When we get this summer release is where normal production games would probably be when they start releasing all their majour info. One thing to remember that they have said is they will be releasing a "minimum viabul product" with that then getting extended upon again and again as the months go by. I have seen the over hype happen again and again not going to meantion any games but yeah it dose happen and i think allot of people may be disapointed when the game first releases expecting a full game but yet again forgetting what they guys have said all alonge its going to be a "minimum viable product". Personaly if i feel like that at first i wont be going on a massive triage at PGI i will be waiting a few months to see how the game grows and the options and changes they will be bringing out in the months to follow.

[Major Tom]

If by overhype you include the big "Surprise Wednesday". then yeah, too much hype turn it down a notch.
I'm surprised that the big surprise is that there is no surprise.

we see a mech every last wednesday of every month, and the raven was voted prettiest mech at the dance. If this is the level of surprises we can expect, I think I need to lower my expectations.

(I hate to sound snide, but "I am dissapoint")

[Technoviking]

Did you give them any money yet? I didn't. Someone did though. And it's PGI's job to to be able to show "Look at all this hype, and we haven't even laid out the whole of the game yet. You sure put your money in the right place, investor, look at these forums, exploding with joy and angst."

Month after month, week after week they will do their best to keep us interested, checking, and posting while still leaving other things to show us later down in their timeline.

Now here's where you can stop feeling duped into being a Neilson rating.

The game is free. That means, 100%, they HAVE to deliver the goods. They can't overhype it, because they aren't trying to get our money up front, they need it AFTER we've played it. So, you can keep your expecations as high as PGI sets them, because its not like you'll be duped out of your dollars, if they don't live up to they hype, only they will suffer.

[MadBoris]

Evernigh, on 25 April 2012 - 01:40 PM, said:

First off its a "trunk" not a snout.

Was part of the twisted humor, only a fool would call it a snout. Thx for reading some of the wall, tried to entertain.

Quote

But persoaly i see where you are coming from their isnt as much info as would be a normal game but try to compare this game to any normal is is a waste of time from what i can tell the development process is compleetly different for a F2P game than ur standard games. When we get this summer release is where normal production games would probably be when they start releasing all their majour info. One thing to remember that they have said is they will be releasing a "minimum viabul product" with that then getting extended upon again and again as the months go by. I have seen the over hype happen again and again not going to meantion any games but yeah it dose happen and i think allot of people may be disapointed when the game first releases expecting a full game but yet again forgetting what they guys have said all alonge its going to be a "minimum viable product". Personaly if i feel like that at first i wont be going on a massive triage at PGI i will be waiting a few months to see how the game grows and the options and changes they will be bringing out in the months to follow.

I did not know about minimum viable product, thx for the info. I'm sure they have their reasons, unfortunately. That changes things.
That's a tougher climb, trying to grow it fast after release can be challenging. Hopefully squeeky wheels don't have too much sway early on. I'm not so sure I want to see it too raw. I would definitely prefer something akin to a Tribes:ascend release as a recent f2p example, quite mature on release. Sounds like they have resource limitations which sucks in game development, but that can be overcome by a good game in the opening months.

Major Tom, on 25 April 2012 - 01:46 PM, said:

If by overhype you include the big "Surprise Wednesday". then yeah, too much hype turn it down a notch.
I'm surprised that the big surprise is that there is no surprise.

we see a mech every last wednesday of every month, and the raven was voted prettiest mech at the dance. If this is the level of surprises we can expect, I think I need to lower my expectations.

(I hate to sound snide, but "I am dissapoint")

I fell into that one myself, it prolly got me thinking more about that damn elephant. 4 mechs announced over 4 months, ok... where are their online profiles? I want to get a taste of a good map, get a good look at it.

[Orzorn]

Some people need to seriously turn down their hype because I have seen time and again what huge levels of hype causes. "OH MY GOD THIS WEDNESDAY IS GOING TO BE SO GREAT!" "What...just a mech?! I was so SURE it was going to be a closed beta announcement!" "Man, the devs are so disappointing!"

Here's a hint to those folks: It is not the developers fault that you hyped yourself to the moon and back and expected the devs to just hand you a block of gold on a golden player that had the beta key inscribed in diamonds on it. Don't get mad because you had unrealistic expectations.

The best solution is to do as I do and just roll with the news. Don't expect anything. That way, you'll be happy with you get something!

[OhGilPin]

Major Tom, on 25 April 2012 - 01:46 PM, said:

If by overhype you include the big "Surprise Wednesday"

That hype was not really intended what happened was, one of the admins, I believe it was Garth did not know what 'Mech was being released and he simply said that even he'd be surprised to what it was, and people took that as if he was saying there is going to be a surprise on wednesday.

I can't seem to find the quote but that is more or less what happened.

Edited by OhGilPin, 25 April 2012 - 02:07 PM.

[MadBoris]

Technoviking, on 25 April 2012 - 01:59 PM, said:

The game is free. That means, 100%, they HAVE to deliver the goods. They can't overhype it, because they aren't trying to get our money up front, they need it AFTER we've played it. So, you can keep your expecations as high as PGI sets them, because its not like you'll be duped out of your dollars, if they don't live up to they hype, only they will suffer.

It's a great redeeming factor. I'd actually hate to be them. Hopefully they don't try to ride the IP train making it a mech universe game to appease to the existing battletech fans only, (IP's tend to get some houses crosseyed and fun factor is lost-LOTR, star trek , star wars, etc) just make a great game around the IP and they will come.

Edited by MadBoris, 25 April 2012 - 02:12 PM.

[Jonas]

I am not worried at all, a lot of us still play MW4 mercs. More so since it went to free to down load and play. So since the base game is free and most of the add on's will be priced fair ( I assume ) then this game will be being played for a long time to come.

I will miss not having a single player mode, but like they said we all blow through that in 10 to 12 hours and be playing the multiplayer with days if not hours of launch.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

I have massive expectations for this game - but not at open beta. For that I'm hoping for at least 4 maps and maybe 12 mechs, a working mechlab and a good matchmaker. Anything more than that is a bonus. I'm not worried if weapons are not totally balanced or if there are a few bugs and glitches. I have faith that PGI will sort out any real problems fairly quickly and we will see regular content updates.

[Fresh Meat]

I feel that part of the reason I am so hyped is because MWLL shows the potential of what a modern Mechwarrior game can be. The more I play that game the more excited I become about a full blooded Mechwarrior game backed by a devoted and full-time development team.

However, I am a little confused why they keep telling us to expect something extra special when they just adhere to the usual information release pattern. /shrug

[BlkJaq]

Technoviking, on 25 April 2012 - 01:59 PM, said:

The game is free. That means, 100%, they HAVE to deliver the goods. They can't overhype it, because they aren't trying to get our money up front, they need it AFTER we've played it. So, you can keep your expecations as high as PGI sets them, because its not like you'll be duped out of your dollars, if they don't live up to they hype, only they will suffer.

Be careful what u say, as i know of many people who still are pissed at EA for canceling 3025. Its not just the company that suffers. To them its a failed business adventure. For many of us it was a community that long has suffered because of it.

[FinnMcKool]

waa

[Wolf Reverend]

Over hype can be a problem, absolutely. For me this happened with Knights of the Old Republic, spent months reading every scrap and building it up to be something bigger then life. I can feel the same thing happening here for me so I reigned myself in.

MWO was something I was introduced to because I caught a glimpse of a poll on a friends facebook page. I've heard about mechwarrior and the battletech universe but I've never known anything about it until recently. I've spent a lot of time browsing posts, listening to people discuss this game and the lore behind it, I've started reading some of the old books. It is enjoyable to be introduced to it, but I've forced myself to back up.

Personally, I can't sit on these forums for months debating mechlab min/maxxing and formulas that we don't even have all the pieces too yet. Being that this game is F2P is a great relief that I can try it and if I don't like it I can leave with no money spent. Do I want it to succeed? Of course! The idea sounds great, and the footage looks amazing, but I find that as much as I would love to be a pillar of the community I need more stable ground to stand on before I can invest the effort I want to into it.

Over hype is different for each person though, will it be an issue here? Only if people let it.

[Hayashi]

BlkJaq, on 25 April 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

Be careful what u say, as i know of many people who still are pissed at EA for canceling 3025. Its not just the company that suffers. To them its a failed business adventure. For many of us it was a community that long has suffered because of it.

PGI will take a far bigger impact to the company if MWO fails than EA did though, since EA is huge, and PGI anything but.

[Bullwerk]

Hype is in the mind of the beholder. One becomes a victim of hype when they fall victim to reading more into what has been released than is meant and while I recognize that at times hype is an intentional marketing tool, I just don't see it happening here. Let me 'splain, and please remember I direct this at no one in particular!

I look around these forums, read posts, read dev blogs, answer polls, look at mech pics and mech videos, and crave to play the game already. I'd say I have expectations but I wouldn't say I'm hyped up because nothing I've come across has led me to feel hyped up. The information the devs have provided has been somewhat sparse but it has all been factual, well laid out, and above all focused. They have not released statements and materials meant to be more than they are, they have not "hyped" the product. By nature of their relationship with us on these forums it would seem they are attempting to do the exact opposite.

Given that the "hype" that is infecting the community is really just self induced. So many of us have so wanted a new BT/MW game for so long that even given well presented, reasonably defined, and limited information we have blown things out of proportion, wildly so. To some the zeal they show for the return of the franchise to the realm of legitimate gaming is akin to the second coming of Christ himself. An event so stupendous that they place it on a pillar and idolize it, dream about it, give unwarranted signifigance to every last shred they know about it, and most dangerously, in the absence of info they substitute conjecture.

The only outcome possible from this type of behavior is disappointment. No product PGI releases will meet your expectations, the ones forged in the crucible of your fandom and it's associated "hype" state. Compared to the glorious return you have envisioned it will be less the second coming and more the passing of gas in the back pew on Sunday. Most tragically your disappointment and outrage will be no ones fault but your own though, or our own as a community.

The only thing to do is to take the information as what it is. Read everything at face value and if you are prone to speculate and discuss (as I am at times) keep in mind where the line between your speculation and the devs information is. Realize that when a dev says the Wednesday Mech release will be a surprise even to him that he may literally mean he has no idea what mech is being released yet, don't convince yourself he means more. The devs are a down to earth group of people that are communicating to us on a relaxed and honest level. Though certainly intending to market their game I don't feel they are resorting to typical marketing tactics as this is not your typical game, with your typical fans.

Again I do not direct this post to anyone in particular, just to the community as a whole. I don't want us falling for the self induced hype trap, lest we miss out on the opportunity to enjoy the product that PGI releases, a product that even with out such hype seems to be shaping up to be something very enjoyable.

Edited by Bullwerk, 25 April 2012 - 04:10 PM.

[Shiinore]

Expect nothing.

That way if it fails, you have no expectations for the game to live up to and it's not disappointing. It's just a bad game.
If it succeeds, you get surprised by a pleasant game. And you save yourself the mental torment.

Everybody wins.

[pursang]

"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised."

- Unknown

[Bullwerk]

pursang, on 25 April 2012 - 04:17 PM, said:

"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised."

- Unknown

Yeah but pessimism leads to all kinds of mental and emotional conditions that are less than pleasant!

I prefer Realism. A logical mixture of Cautious Pessimism, Warranted Optimism and Overall Indifference.

Balanced, just as life and your daily breakfast should be!

[pursang]

Bullwerk, on 25 April 2012 - 04:23 PM, said:

Yeah but pessimism leads to all kinds of mental and emotional conditions that are less than pleasant!

I prefer Realism. A logical mixture of Cautious Pessimism, Warranted Optimism and Overall Indifference.

Balanced, just as life and your daily breakfast should be!

Er, congratulations? Everyone's view of what is "reality" and what is "balanced" is subjective - thus meaningless to discuss here.