16 replies to this topic

[Panzerjotun]

Interview of Roughneck45

2/26/2013
_________________________________________________

What is your favorite word?
Ballcock (really, any dirty sounding hardware word ha-ha)

What is your least favorite word?
Not sure I have one.

What is your favorite food?
Cheesesteak

What is your least favorite food?
Ginger tripe

What sound or noise do you love?
White noise when sleeping, Gears of war headshots

What sound or noise do you hate?
Alarm clock

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Pilot or Game design

What profession would you not like to do?
Exterminator

Could you give some background on the types of online games you have played in the past?
Dabbled in quite a few. Some of my favorites are Home world 1&2, Age of Empires 2, Call of Duty series, Halo series (played the most time on the first game for both series), League of Legends, WoW for many years (PvP focus and Raid focus at different times). The ones taking my time now are MWO and Chivalry. (CS with swords and shields cannot recommend it highly enough!)

With community warfare around the corner what can you tell us about the Wolf Spiders?
Quite a few of our core members participated in the NBT league that took place in the time between MW4 and MWO. We are a highly competitive unit, and will be participating in community warfare to the fullest extent. Our goal is to strive for #1. (Similar to most merc corps id think! lol) We have a large player base spread across many time zones as well, which will hopefully aid our CW efforts.

So I understand you were involved in the RHOD tourney. What made you decide to get involved in the tournament?
Not my decision. I was unaware of it until there was a post on our corp forums about it. The decision was made by our Colonel John Clavell. The main focus of this unit is competitive play, so any opportunity to do so is a no brainer. Since we have a large unit, we have a tournament team that is selected within the unit. We want to prove our metal, and RHOD was the perfect place to start.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of the RHOD experience?
The biggest drawback was simply trying to get the teams sync dropped. Many times it would take an hour just to get 1 match, and the rounds were best of 5. Some of the games can develop slowly as well, although that is determined more by the Drop Commander tactics for each side. The most obvious benefit is the intensity and competitiveness of the matches, and examining the tactics/mistakes than won/lost the match. Any game with a single life and a durable avatar can tilt to one side or another with just 1 kill, even more so when each target has 11 potential locations to receive damage, so making every move and shot count is vital to success.

How do you feel about the current iteration of ELO?
I’m loving it so far. 100% of my matches have been with better players. I rarely see trial mechs anymore, and I have not been matched with any opponents or allies that appear to have no idea what they are doing.

If you were a mech what would it be and why?
Dragon 1C. It’s the only mech in my hanger with a name, and is my favorite ride by far. Unfortunately, it collects a lot of dust, because it doesn’t have a strong role in a competitive team, and the Flame takes the same load out with the c-bill bonus.

What is your opinion of the new Alpine map?
Love it, although it is just a teeny tiny bit too big, to the point where certain parts of the map will never be tread by a mech lol. I’m hoping the new maps we get are a little smaller, but still larger than the originals.

Do you think “cheese builds” have a detrimental effect on the game?
It’s tough to say. They are certainly detrimental to the player on the receiving end lol. It is a very difficult balancing task, pretty much all of the “cheese builds” boat 1 type of weapon. The problem comes when trying to adjust the weapon. It still needs to be capable on its own, so you cannot nerf it too much, because then the weapon becomes viable only when boated. The only thing that is certain is that if you have an online competitive game, players are going to min/max their builds, and this can help the devs identify balance issues.

There are ways other than number tweaks to address it as well. I used to be a dual gauss hater, and thought that something should have been done about the gaussapult. Once the rifle explosions were put in the dual gauss hate just faded away from the player base, myself included. Obviously the Splatcat is the FOTM right now, and is an incredibly dangerous mech. However, I can’t help but to think that once we get more large maps, the Splatcat hate may fade away as well.

What would be best to include in the “new user experience” of MWO to keep newbies coming back for more?
A proper tutorial is really needed, something similar to the older games with the instructor yelling at you. I always liked that immersion. This game isn’t difficult to understand; new players just need to be able to get a feel for movement and firing before someone else is shooting them. There are also a lot of small things that make a big difference, like torso twisting to absorb damage, and chain firing for heat management. I also think some sort of daily bonus for playing matches would be a great idea. Something like bonus c-bills for the first wins of the day, bonus for the first kill of the day, and maybe a bonus for placing first once a day. Small achievements like that could really help player retention.

Would a PVE (player v environment) aspect be a good edition to MWO?
PVE MechWarrior anything is awesome. The lore, setting, and music have always been a blast to play in, and blowing things up with big stompy robots never gets old. For this game, I think the best thing they could do PVE wise would be to set up a sort of tower defense/horde mode game type, letting pilots play cooperatively with each other. A single player campaign could be cool, but I think that PGI’s resources would be better utilized on something with more replay ability.

Pop tarts or toaster strudel?
If I am eating them? Toaster strudel

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
That he is, indeed, a flying spaghetti monster. Or that life was just a beta, and now I’m moving on to full release.
_________________________________________________

I would like to thank Roughneck45 for participating in the interview (and being my first victim).

If this is something that interests you please read the thread below:

http://mwomercs.com/...yer-interviews/

[Chavette]

Can I be the next? I'll be much better than this one, promise

[Pihb]

Who is this guy and why does he warrant a 1000 word essay about him?

[ItsAPotato]

Pihb, on 26 February 2013 - 01:23 PM, said:

Who is this guy and why does he warrant a 1000 word essay about him?

^ This. Is this some kind of subtle clan-recruitment propaganda?

[Panzerjotun]

Pihb, on 26 February 2013 - 01:23 PM, said:

Who is this guy and why does he warrant a 1000 word essay about him?

I refer you to this thread:

http://mwomercs.com/...yer-interviews/

Edited by General Pace, 26 February 2013 - 01:33 PM.

[Krazyjim]

I don't know what this is... But I like the idea!

[Roughneck45]

General Pace, on 26 February 2013 - 01:32 PM, said:

I refer you to this thread:

http://mwomercs.com/...yer-interviews/

This.

He asked, I responded.

Chavette, on 26 February 2013 - 12:46 PM, said:

Can I be the next? I'll be much better than this one, promise

Opinions are opinions.

[Chavette]

Roughneck45, on 26 February 2013 - 01:49 PM, said:

Opinions are opinions.

Well, that's your opinion.

[Agent of Change]

I like it, can't wait to see more profiles

[Lord Malcom]

Enjoyed the interview. +1

[Fiachdubh]

General Pace, on 26 February 2013 - 12:42 PM, said:

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Or that life was just a beta, and now I’m moving on to full release.

I like this.

[Panzerjotun]

Lord Malcom, on 26 February 2013 - 02:52 PM, said:

Enjoyed the interview. +1

Yep, was a good answer

[Sacrosanct]

I can't see anyone caring about this until the people you interview are professional gamers and winning big money in tournaments.

[Panzerjotun]

Sacrosanct, on 26 February 2013 - 05:47 PM, said:

I can't see anyone caring about this until the people you interview are professional gamers and winning big money in tournaments.

Thanks for the tip!

That said see you all next week with another interview

[FrDrake]

Sacrosanct, on 26 February 2013 - 05:47 PM, said:

I can't see anyone caring about this until the people you interview are professional gamers and winning big money in tournaments.

I think the target audience of these are the people who routinely check the forums and know each other more for our points on given topics moreso than as people.

That being said I like the idea behind these interviews and appreciate it, keep it up general pace.

[Panzerjotun]

FrDrake, on 27 February 2013 - 07:21 AM, said:

I think the target audience of these are the people who routinely check the forums and know each other more for our points on given topics moreso than as people.

That being said I like the idea behind these interviews and appreciate it, keep it up general pace.

Exactly. And honestly this is just an effort to help bolster our MWO community.

I have a bucket full of potential interviews for the coming months. Thanks to everyone who PM'ed me with interest.

[Steven Dixon]

Thumbs up Thank you Roughneck and Pace for the Interview.

As a minor point I never really cared for general 'favorite' questions. They always seemed like padding to me, some questions can be relevant in an interview like this, such as what would be your dream job, or even favorite game, fav movie, ect. Because they help give you insight into the person being interviewed, for example if their dream job is to be a racecar driver, their favorite game is Call of Duty, their favorite movie is Crank you get some idea of the person being interviewed.

Just my 2 cents, very much enjoyed the interview.

Edited by Steven Dixon, 27 February 2013 - 08:49 AM.