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[cmopatrick]

let me state up front that i hate the idea of 3rd person being in the game. i have, however listened to the podcast that has most of us up in arms, and there is a serious reality check due here... and i offer the following from the perspective of a former software developer myself (big iron and as/400 (et.al)): best possible is not always best business.

ok, if (and that is a BIG "if") MWO gets a huge influx of 3rd person folks, the split community may not be a problem. right now, we have everything from the big "NO" on 3rd poll to one that wants no repair bills. Mr. Bullock sounds like they are trying to draw in folks who are not current/past mech players. it makes business sense for PGI and the publisher... and honestly for those of us who have waited for years to have a good new BT mech game. be honest with yourself, if you saw their original "reboot" trailer, you were EXCITED too, weren't you?

i think what we have seen in the past MW titles is that having the additional base pays the developer's bills... who here thinks leagues like NBT would have been able to play off the MW4 engine if M$ had not been able to attract and retain the (larger) group that never went ffp? i DO think that MWO originally sold us the idea that THIS time they would primarily try to build towards the fp instead of 3rd, but fiscal reality could well be intruding (which of us can't relate to real world issues?), leading to the attempt to attract others who are not comfortable with 1st... yet.

let me say to the devs, a training drop environment is needed. EVERYONE here on the boards agrees with me on this. you don't need PVE to do this, just let us have an option to drop into a "training" map. implement it so we can do it as a group or solo. if server volume is an issue, make it so the server matches and drops a full (or nearly so) number, but do not have us see each other (null detect, no visuals, etc.), that way we can all walk around in it without seeing anyone else but still preserve server power.

back to the rest of us:

before someone raises the "don't split" stuff, if we have honestly read through the main forums for very long (i have), didn't we already have significant splits, even before OB brought in more of the arcade style players? i don't actually think the splits are bad at all, IF (and again that is a BIG "if") the devs give us a clear means of controlling what options can drop, most likely in the mm and/or league interface(s).

where i see the biggest problems are to the meta game they are supposed to be aiming towards (it should be only ffp, imo), and in the more common daily pug drops we all want to be able to find easily.

ok, now something i am loath to offer, but in the spirit of trying to fix the problem (at least a little):

an idea for the whole game would be to give far less reward (especially xp, but could also be cbills) to 3rd person than first gets... or if you rather, give fp a significant bonus... and TELL them this UP FRONT. something like, "consider 3rd person as a child's tricycle... but understand that experience gets paid much better when you learn to ride the street bike."

another idea that could play out in mixed matches (i shudder at the thought) is grant 1st pilot more los range, while still not showing the 3rd person player (they are not "pilots" in 3rd person) anything they can not see from the cockpit (los with maybe an indicator comparable to the red triangles the minimap shows already). and again, LET THEM KNOW, up front that they are limiting themselves by playing in perpetual training mode.

yeah, i know i'll get flames a bit for this, but... well... stuff happens... and i want the devs to think about mitigating the mess they will be making even if the rest of you will call me a heretic for even allowing the thoughts.