498 replies to this topic

[loliza]

Gregory Owen, on 04 March 2013 - 02:51 AM, said:

all i hear in this long winded post is a bunch of crying because clan mechs aren't here NOW. the game is still in beta, they can do whatever the **** they like.

there is no MARCH DEADLINE, full invasion doesn't happen until august, only a couple small forces attacked in march.
quit parroting information you've read somewhere else and not in the books.

that picture of the whiteboard is over a year old, processes change, resources(people) get moved around to reprioritize things like netcode still being fixed. they stated not long ago they will be going to a 2 mech a month format once the game goes gold.

BOTTOM LINE: the game is fine, it's these stupid sensationalist thread titles trying to get people worked up that needs to die.
they have enough money right now they don't have anything to worry about, this isn't some halfbaked mmo, they stated they had over 100,000 people play the weekend of the tourney.

this needs to stop seriously you guys protecting pgi and answering posts like you are pgi THIS is important stop giving pgi red roses and happy thoughts on everything. criticism is VERY important when u develop a game...


now back on topic i agree with OP i tihnk the communication between pgi and playerbase has been dreadfull at best ask the devs isnt even answered in time, PGI is getting fat of those 5 million and dont feel like coming to work anymore they just load their favorite raven3L as many ppl has seen the last weeks or so and go pewpew in public games

OHH edit: jenner+raven has also seen alot of pgi playtime last week

Edited by loliza, 04 March 2013 - 04:33 AM.

[Signal27]

I'm pretty confident MWO will be around for a good long while, no matter how fast or slow they release content, for the simple fact that they carry the Mechwarrior/Battletech brand name. It's very apparent that many people are heavily attached to that brand name. And with MWO currently being the only game in town, with the halt of Living Legends, I'm sure people will be around for a while yet, no matter what. After all, people kept playing previous versions of Mechwarrior for a very long time despite no additional content being released for it. And I believe that the same applies for people who will continue to play Living Legends even though the developers of that game consider it a finished product and won't be making any more additions to it.

Edited by Signal27, 04 March 2013 - 04:34 AM.

[Chrithu]

Inertiaman, on 04 March 2013 - 03:49 AM, said:

I really do feel like PGI want to achieve more than they have. But it's impossible to find sympathy given how they prioritise work against the resources they have as it stands. Chinese lanterns or a better front end? Can't sell a menu, problem solved!

As sad as it is. From my completely exterior view (assisted by insights shared by people like Gabe Newel or Chris Roberts complemented by public statements made by CEOs of houses like EA, Activision, Ubisoft and whatnot) on it this is exactly what decision making boils down to more often than healthy for any game when a publisher gets involved with too much share and hence too much say in the developing company. I could be wrong with this completely. Still this is my impression from a lot of game projects that I followed. And if I am wrong that still leaves a case on doing a VERY BAD job at communicating with customers from the Publisher side.

Edited by Jason Parker, 04 March 2013 - 04:35 AM.

[loliza]

Tichorius Davion, on 04 March 2013 - 03:03 AM, said:

Mr. Packard,

I see that you actually put together a good argument for what you believe. My issue lies with the fact that you say it stubbornly in a way that puts off an aura of "I am right, there is no other choice" While your evidence is wide with the citations of other articles we have no way to conclude that these delays will continue.

PGI gives us an agenda of loose dates in which to expect something. They release content as they see fit as it is their game. You say that Mechs are the heart of this game, but the soul is Community Warfare. For all we know a lot of resources could be devoted to making CW at this very moment. Maybe they have a backlog of Mechs already premade and models but are testing them or finding bugs that they find would be stupid to release.

I have no way to back what I am saying now either. MWO either will bust or it will prosper.

Your Sensationalized title and demeanor will put off the the wrong message. You do more harm than good by doing this.

yes they might be developing CW behind the curtains but why? i mean why not get a bit of custumor happiness or just satisfaction atleast if they are dev. CW why not just say we are currently working on cw we will be done in 2 months dont expect tons of new content before thats done....

BUT BUT BUT we get year of the snake crap for our cockpits ******** sales and heromech boosts NOW tell me they are going all in on CW wich would be the lifesaver of the game and is already a bit late errhm?

[LtPoncho]

javathejat, on 04 March 2013 - 04:21 AM, said:

Do you know how many people plays MWO and never entered once to the forums? I have 3 friends playing MWO, and Im glad they never did.

You could be the 4th friend who never did too if you wanted - just saying.
There's a saying about not making one's opinion heard too.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Gregory Owen, on 04 March 2013 - 02:51 AM, said:

they stated they had over 100,000 people play the weekend of the tourney.

I'd just like to point out, over 100,000 people playing the weekend, is not 100,000 people playing the tournament.
And in all honesty, im skeptical at that 100,000 figure.

As to the OP, well written for those with a brain that have watched the development, things will ring very true.
For white knights, the sky will always be rose colored.

And for the other record, the Clan Invasion of the actual inner sphere (not periphery) began in March,not april, not august.

Edited by DV McKenna, 04 March 2013 - 04:51 AM.

[Inertiaman]

Compare the previews available from PGI with the previews pumped out by even tinier companies like Unknown Worlds, S2, Born Ready, Naughty Dog etc. They cannot wait to crank out some new collateral and do so on all points with incredible regularity. The idea that the reason PGI sit on the stuff cannot be attributed to some kind of willing veil of secrecy or pressure from IGP. In the case of CW and anything else demanding - it's simply because there isn't anything to show.

[Harmin]

MWO dying? Can't wait, I might get my social life back!!!

On a slightly more serious note... I found the post thought-provoking, but ultimately I think it interpretes too much doom and gloom in what probably just amounts to regular issues in an office environment while having to coordinate engineers and creative people. That's never clean and always chaotic. Look up some Dilbert cartoons to learn about life in an office. It's closer than you might think/fear.

There's a hard core player base which will be happy to stick around or at least fade-in and fade-out every so often to keep the infrastructure running and if we're lucky to fund more features. So I don't think it will die en large.

I think that what the OP really meant by "MWO is dying" is that the way it's going, that it will be dead to HIM. And that's fine too. The world will keep on spinning for you (and for those of us who stick around and those who fade in and out and those who join later).

GL HF

-Armin

[Livewyr]

Umm, if I remember right, a dev on an NGNG podcast said that Clan mechs probably wouldn't be here until August (citing that March was the first time they were seen by any important unit, but still relatively far away from "us")

So, while he might have been deceiving for surprise....I would expect clan mechs around August.
Yet I'm still here. (this ECM business though, that might kill the game.)

[Inertiaman]

DV McKenna, on 04 March 2013 - 04:47 AM, said:

I'd just like to point out, over 100,000 people playing the weekend, is not 100,000 people playing the tournament.
And in all honesty, im skeptical at that 100,000 figure.

Yeah that's always been a comedy quote to me that one. Even being generous that's probably slots filled by non-unique, non-tourney players throughout the weekend.

[Lyrik]

Norris J Packard, on 04 March 2013 - 04:09 AM, said:

And you missed my point entirely.

It's almost as if you didn't read the post.

Because your point was : bla bla bla bla repost from old links bla bla bla not enough mechs bla bla bla whining about a non-existing situation bla bla bla bla

You missed the point on missing features. Mechs and maps are mostly irrelevant.

The game must have leaderboards, tournaments and community warfare. MWO is a PvP game without any meaning to the pvp. It's fun (I really like MWO) but there is nothing to achieve in the game.

And grinding XP for Mechs is not an achievement. Every troddler with some patience could do that.

[Sir Roland MXIII]

Norris you echo a lot of my thoughts that I try not to dwell on too much. You've taken them to a similar conclusion as I have. We don't agree on all points but the fact is, you ar enot the first, or only, nor will you be the last, to say that the window of ooportunity for MW:O is closing, and there are some of us here who feel it.

I don't hope in vain, here, because I've been in lots of betas so I know hope is folly, period. Some bad betas - which I rate this one as one of the worst 3 I've been a part of and naturally I compare betas to betas, bad betas to bad betas, etc - have flopped, some HORRFICALLY. Some bad betas have gone on to become GREAT games. I just had the doors closed on one of the latter, it had been alive and kicking for over 8 years after a beta thats reminiscent of this one. So is there hope?

Well, as Protection pointed, hope isn't applicable but it helps. His post echoes another thought of mine - that this MW is not (so far) the MW we deserve, it's the MW we are being stuck with. Hope for the former is all well and good as long as one is prepared to accept the latter.

Note that I say so far. Community Warfare? That is THE make or break point. If Phase One of that bombs, this game will probably go with it. Investors who have their noses in their investments business, as MW:O reeks of having, will know when the pulse begins to slow, and when the time for euthanasia is. So I don't worry about content droughts, because I doubt that this batch of bunglers would be capable of dropping THAT ball. What I worry about is that CW will bomb, and what happens after.

Keep in mind, we don't know whether IGP will shutter a game in beta or not - it has happened but this investment groups too new to know. Hows that matter? Well, we the players may not get a chance to leave MW:O if IGP decides to slam the door on our fingers. And if PGI can't satisy them... well. I'd say thats a concern, too. Look how well they keep US happy...

[Inertiaman]

Sir Roland MXIII, on 04 March 2013 - 04:53 AM, said:

Keep in mind, we don't know whether IGP will shutter a game in beta or not - it has happened but this investment groups too new to know. Hows that matter? Well, we the players may not get a chance to leave MW:O if IGP decides to slam the door on our fingers. And if PGI can't satisy them... well. I'd say thats a concern, too. Look how well they keep US happy...

I really don't think there is any discussion about it being a beta or otherwise internal to IGP. I think it is a total irrelevance to them and that it will get pulled the very moment that the three month forcast doesn't pay to keep the lights on.

[Chrithu]

Inertiaman, on 04 March 2013 - 04:47 AM, said:

Compare the previews available from PGI with the previews pumped out by even tinier companies like Unknown Worlds, S2, Born Ready, Naughty Dog etc. They cannot wait to crank out some new collateral and do so on all points with incredible regularity. The idea that the reason PGI sit on the stuff cannot be attributed to some kind of willing veil of secrecy or pressure from IGP. In the case of CW and anything else demanding - it's simply because there isn't anything to show.

I think that isn't entirely the point of the discussion. The point is the hypothetical question wether we would see new stuff more regular and faster if PGI would be working on more manpower. Which I assume most would answer with a yes. Based on that if what the OP says is true and no new hires were actually made since August (which I don't see much proof for but let's assume it is so), where the hell did the 5 million $ raised from the founders program go? Because you could pay a few artists and coders from that money quite well for at least one year. I mean let's assume you just hire the 6 or 8 people needed to make a mech per month to get back to the 2 mechs/month schedule you would have a lot of that money left and still speeded up the development of the game quite dramatically I guess.

[Sir Roland MXIII]

Inertiaman, on 04 March 2013 - 04:56 AM, said:

I really don't think there is any discussion about it being a beta or otherwise internal to IGP. I think it is a total irrelevance to them and that it will get pulled the very moment that the three month forcast doesn't pay to keep the lights on.

Aye and that's my primary concern with MWO as well. Plus, with all this micromanagement going on... these are NOT the type of people to pay for servers to stay running after they fire the devs of said game. If PGI gets canned, or told to start on something else, MW:O is not likely to stay operational past that. Not the way these guys act, I think.

[Thirdstar]

Inertiaman, on 04 March 2013 - 04:56 AM, said:

I really don't think there is any discussion about it being a beta or otherwise internal to IGP. I think it is a total irrelevance to them and that it will get pulled the very moment that the three month forcast doesn't pay to keep the lights on.

There's another option. The dreaded maintenance mode. Where the publisher allocates the bare minimum resources to keep the servers going. It's happened before, why pull the plug entirely when you can simply freeze all development and bug fixing but still get monies from cockpit items?

[Captain Ahab]

The amount of posters in this thread that can't understand "the potential death of MWO =/= OMG MWO IS DYING" is mind boggling.

[Thirdstar]

Captain Ahab, on 04 March 2013 - 04:59 AM, said:

The amount of posters in this thread that can't understand "the potential death of MWO =/= OMG MWO IS DYING" is mind boggling.

But not surprising. I've seen it time and again, where genuine concerns are shouted down by the White Knights.

[Artgathan]

Norris J Packard, on 04 March 2013 - 04:23 AM, said:

As I highlighted in the final paragraph, the inclusion of the Clan Mechs necessitates that PGI does not add any other Mechs for four months, thus creating a content drought.

I appreciate the links you supplied earlier about the development time / staff requirements.

That said, Bryan indicated that it takes a team of 6 to create 1 mech per month. He didn't indicate how many teams of 6 they had (though considering they only have 43 employees I'll grant that they may only have one team).

In response to the above quote, I feel that this is the biggest flaw in your argument. Why does the inclusion of Clan mechs necessitate a 4 month content gap? PGI could easily just plug those 4 months with 4 more IS mechs while they sort out the hardpoint system for Clan mechs. I doubt the team that develops the mechs is actually involved in the creation of the systems that drive those mechs - they're there simply to implement someone else's ideas. As long as they're ready to roll onto the development of Clan mechs once the system has been finalized I see no reason why there should be a gap in content introduction (since they can just keep producing IS mechs until the devs are ready for Clans).

[Sir Roland MXIII]

Thirdstar, on 04 March 2013 - 05:02 AM, said:

But not surprising. I've seen it time and again, where genuine concerns are shouted down by the White Knights.

Those kind are at least better than the I DID NOT READZ UR STOOPID STUFF. UR STOOPID ITZ BETA STOP QQ LOLZ ones. Not by much, but they are.