91 replies to this topic

[Qman]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 11:43 AM, said:

What would you guys prefer, a WoT style "Do you want: Russian (or) North American?" for your account, or to pick a region when you first log in, or something else?

Choosing what region to play in would be great

Edit: if you bring a server to oceanic / Australia I will personally bring a truck load of beer to those working there

Edited by Qman, 17 May 2012 - 03:15 PM.

[Garth Erlam]

So I got an official explanation: You will sign up for a specific region (North America, Europe, Asia, etc) but you do not have to be from that area.

So, each Merc Corps needs to choose a region, and all members join that region.

[Zylo]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 11:43 AM, said:

What would you guys prefer, a WoT style "Do you want: Russian (or) North American?" for your account, or to pick a region when you first log in, or something else?

If a player is locked to a single pilot per acount no matter which region is selected I think a region drop box on the login screen (choose region before login) would be fine. As long as players aren't region locked which would cause problems for merc corps or other player groups. Most players with a typical play schedule would probably choose a server in their home region anyway but those with a schedule that matches peak activity in another region might want to play on another region's server rather than playing in their home region while their merc group members are all asleep, working or whatever.

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

So I got an official explanation: You will sign up for a specific region (North America, Europe, Asia, etc) but you do not have to be from that area.

So, each Merc Corps needs to choose a region, and all members join that region.

Just saw the official explanation but that brought up another question. Is it possible for players to play in multiple regions?

[MausGMR]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

So I got an official explanation: You will sign up for a specific region (North America, Europe, Asia, etc) but you do not have to be from that area.

So, each Merc Corps needs to choose a region, and all members join that region.

Are you constantly forced to play in that region? We've got players from New Zealand and Japan in our unit. As much as they're used to playing on US servers mainly, I Imagine they'd like the opportunity to play locally on occasion with a decent ping sometimes.

[Dirk Le Daring]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

So I got an official explanation: You will sign up for a specific region (North America, Europe, Asia, etc) but you do not have to be from that area.

So, each Merc Corps needs to choose a region, and all members join that region.

This is a good thing. Just one question though.....

If we choose a region, say Asia/Pacific for me, and discover the North American server/s are better for us, can we change ?

[Sheilei]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

So I got an official explanation: You will sign up for a specific region (North America, Europe, Asia, etc) but you do not have to be from that area.

So, each Merc Corps needs to choose a region, and all members join that region.

Thanks a lot for that answer Garth. You just saved a tiny little merc corp that is still getting organised. If i could i'd buy you cold beer.
Anyways thanks again.

[Belisarius1]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

So I got an official explanation: You will sign up for a specific region (North America, Europe, Asia, etc) but you do not have to be from that area.

So, each Merc Corps needs to choose a region, and all members join that region.

Can you switch regions easily?

Common situation: I'm Australian, my team is US. To play in their organised matches, I join US, but to play by myself when they're not on, I play SEA because then I have less lag. If my character was locked on a US server from the instant it was created, that would be crippling.

This is actually incredibly important. So many existing MW teams are spread all over the world.

Edited by Belisarius†, 17 May 2012 - 04:35 PM.

[Redshift2k5]

Sounds like you'll probably need different accounts if each account will be tied to a region :/

[Victor Morson]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 11:43 AM, said:

What would you guys prefer, a WoT style "Do you want: Russian (or) North American?" for your account, or to pick a region when you first log in, or something else?

Really my first choice would be the ability to port characters (even if it costs money) between servers.
Actually my very first choice would be picking a region every time you log in to the game and automatically having your character there; but tying a pilot profile to a region would be entirely acceptable, too.

Having units region locked would be a tragedy for our unit; we've got several UK members, including one who has been with us for a very long time. We definitely want to drop together!

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

So I got an official explanation: You will sign up for a specific region (North America, Europe, Asia, etc) but you do not have to be from that area.

So, each Merc Corps needs to choose a region, and all members join that region.

That's entirely cool, and is a fine solution!

Do you know if paid character transfers will ever be something to exist in the future?

Edited by Victor Morson, 17 May 2012 - 05:13 PM.

[Belisarius1]

Victor Morson, on 17 May 2012 - 05:11 PM, said:

Actually my very first choice would be picking a region every time you log in to the game and automatically having your character there

This is by far the best thing to do for the players.

Victor Morson, on 17 May 2012 - 05:11 PM, said:

That's entirely cool, and is a fine solution!

It's not a fine solution, though. It's an unnecessary restriction; the fact that it's better than even more uneccessary restrictions doesn't make it good.

What practical reason is there for each server to have separate characters? Is that even what Garth is saying? What about house units and the metagame itself? Is there a US Davion and an EU Davion that are completely independent?

Edited by Belisarius†, 17 May 2012 - 05:33 PM.

[StaIker]

Non-US players really do need the ability to switch between regions at the click of a button. During peak times we'll play with our teams in the US region but when all the US is asleep we need to be able to play in our own regions too.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

So I got an official explanation: You will sign up for a specific region (North America, Europe, Asia, etc) but you do not have to be from that area.

So, each Merc Corps needs to choose a region, and all members join that region.

That is a very poor explanation, but it sounds like your actually saying you will be implementing a system that breaks up already existing multi national teams that have been around for decades and there will be no option to freely move between regions.

[Long Draw]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 11:43 AM, said:

What would you guys prefer, a WoT style "Do you want: Russian (or) North American?" for your account, or to pick a region when you first log in, or something else?

I'm more in favor of "pick a region on login". Though, I think that characters not used in the specified regional languages needs to be blocked and repeated attempts to use those restricted characters be a punishable offense up to banning.

[Tyrant]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

So I got an official explanation: You will sign up for a specific region (North America, Europe, Asia, etc) but you do not have to be from that area.

So, each Merc Corps needs to choose a region, and all members join that region.

1: Can we switch regions once the account has been made?
I have made my account on the EU server, can I play with the same account on the US server?

2: Is my account name unique to the region server or to the whole world?
I trully hope our account names are not based on region server.

3: What are the rules for switching regions?
At will transfer, no restrictions? Once every 24 hours? Pay to transfer?

Edited by Tyrant, 18 May 2012 - 12:00 AM.

[Belisarius1]

I really hope you guys realise exactly what will happen if the jump-to-conclusions interpretation of that post is correct.

The entire veteran community for mechwarrior/battletech played at insane pings as a matter of course. That means it was absolutely standard for teams and relationships to bridge continents, and most of those groups are intact and ready to return.

That means an enormous chunk of your playerbase will be wanting to play in different regions regularly, because their friends and teams are spread. You break that up for an arbitrary reason, you destroy the goodwill of the people who would otherwise be your most avid supporters. Straight away, just like that. I don't want to sound like I'm delivering an ultimatum, but you have to be aware what this will do.

And for once, I'm not just speaking from the perspective of the hardcore teams. Playing across the ocean was par for the course for anyone who played an online iteration of MW. Everyone will care.

I sincerely hope we've read Garth's post wrong.

Edited by Belisarius†, 18 May 2012 - 12:29 AM.

[Howling Mad Murdock]

Garth Erlam, on 17 May 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

So I got an official explanation: You will sign up for a specific region (North America, Europe, Asia, etc) but you do not have to be from that area.

So, each Merc Corps needs to choose a region, and all members join that region.

So I take it from this post we will need to have a regional based version of our Lance etc? or have I misunderstood?


This would mainly be due to time zones because as much as I would like to play on the US servers... no one would ever be on them when I was around to play as I live in the UK so I will have to join the European server to actually be on at the same time as other players.

I thought they were going to go for an Eve Online style universe.....

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Belisarius†, on 18 May 2012 - 12:20 AM, said:

I really hope you guys realise exactly what will happen if the jump-to-conclusions interpretation of that post is correct.

The entire veteran community for mechwarrior/battletech played at insane pings as a matter of course. That means it was absolutely standard for teams and relationships to bridge continents, and most of those groups are intact and ready to return.

That means an enormous chunk of your playerbase will be wanting to play in different regions regularly, because their friends and teams are spread. You break that up for an arbitrary reason, you destroy the goodwill of the people who would otherwise be your most avid supporters. Straight away, just like that. I don't want to sound like I'm delivering an ultimatum, but you have to be aware what this will do.

And for once, I'm not just speaking from the perspective of the hardcore teams. Playing across the ocean was par for the course for anyone who played an online iteration of MW. Everyone will care.

I sincerely hope we've read Garth's post wrong.

100% True, the only people who are likely to not care are the TT/Lonewolf crowd.
Pretty frustrating that people i have known for the last 12 years and have played games with from Canada and the US are going to be scattered across servers unable to play with each other.

[Howling Mad Murdock]

DV^McKenna, on 18 May 2012 - 01:10 AM, said:

100% True, the only people who are likely to not care are the TT/Lonewolf crowd.
Pretty frustrating that people i have known for the last 12 years and have played games with from Canada and the US are going to be scattered across servers unable to play with each other.

They wont be as you can all join the same server even if you don't live in that region but once you join it you cannot move your Account to another Region. You get to pick which server you want to play on but will have to take time zones into account.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Howling Mad Murdock, on 18 May 2012 - 01:42 AM, said:

They wont be as you can all join the same server even if you don't live in that region but once you join it you cannot move your Account to another Region. You get to pick which server you want to play on but will have to take time zones into account.

You completely do not understand, that is the worst possible way to do it. That then forces people to play at odd times, for UK for example 1/2AM till 4/5AM.

By allowing people to switch freely as it in the example uses 1 Metagame players can play at times that suit them, with people they have been for multiple years without being stuck for eternity at playing at silly oclock.

Edited by DV^McKenna, 18 May 2012 - 02:00 AM.

[Belisarius1]

"Just register on the NA server if your friends are NA" is not an acceptable solution, for a variety for reasons.

The first is the one DV outlined: It's standard for off-timezone players to be weekend warriors, playing team matches on US servers when they have those hours available, and practicing in their local prime-time for the rest of the week. If you register on a different server for the purpose of playing with friends on a different timezone, you're doomed to life in a ghost-town because nobody will be playing there when you try to log on without your team.

The second are the non-team relationships you lose. What if I decide to bite the bullet and join my old team on NA, but other friends count the cost too high and stay in SEA; those relationships are now gone. What if I'm dedicated enough to the game and my team to do that, but then want to bring an RL friend in? Do I make them join NA too?

The third is something very evident in Starcraft 2, and that's region dominance. There's an effect where one region gets a reputation as having the highest level of play, and begins to cannibalise the others. Good players on other servers migrate to the most prestigious one to find better enemies and friends, and this has a knock-on effect that is very quickly felt by even casual players. SEA in starcraft, for example, is a ghost town. The majority of Australian players above a certain level play on NA or KR/TW, and that means that local matchfinding is painfully slow and ranks are meaningless. Even the highest tiers on SEA are "king of the desert" awards compared to bigger servers, so more and more players jump ship. Region-locking actually kills the very scene it's supposed to protect.

I understand that all of these can be circumvented by the 'ol "it's free to play! just make an account on both servers," but that is in fact the greatest betrayal of trust of all, because we are then asked to pay twice for the privilege of accessing the same content on both sides of a divide that should not exist in the first place. If a player opts not to pay twice, joining an off-server becomes an enormous chore, because they are forced to operate with inferior content for what they see to be no good reason. That experience fosters nothing but bitterness in the playerbase.

Gouging the people who are most invested and excited about a game is not a smart idea if you want to build trust and keep that community around.

Edited by Belisarius†, 18 May 2012 - 03:12 AM.