Khanublikhan, on 23 March 2013 - 12:08 PM, said:
Surely you cannot be objecting to a well implimented (client side only?) 3rd person view, which I choose as my window into the game world, if that is my choice?
I think the bigger concern, which I feel is getting lost, is not 3rd person point of view itself - but playerbase fragmentation by splitting 1st and 3rd POV players apart..?
Sadly, if I was to face you and you were using 3PV, while I was using 1PV, I would feel that you had an advantage over me due to your increased visual field. However slight that advantage may end up being, and regardless of how noticeable it was in casual matches, at the top end everyone would be using 3PV, even if they didn't want to. An edge is an edge.
Which is why the classic solution has been to make mixed ques, thus splitting the player base. There are dozens of posts in this thread detailing the problems with this, including some of my own, so I will not go in to it again here. But suffice to say as much as I would hate to be forced in to 3PV, the community must come first. With CW just around the corner we need to be stronger than ever to carry it forward.
I've given the matter probably too much thought, and the only way I can really see a mixed 1PV/3PV system working fairly is a technology heavy enhanced imaging system that has it's own set of drawbacks. I first suggested the idea as a comedy, lore-friendly but still possibly workable solution, but actually it could work far better than I had first thought. Technology heavy may not be the way they intend to go, of course.
Enhanced Imaging: v2
Toggle ability, switches to fixed camera 3PV behind and above the mech. All standard controls available. Neurohelmet tech.
Terrain: The 3PV would give you increased line of sight, up to and including seeing over walls. Grid lines and range markers would be overlayed on the ground, and the further away from the mech the terrain got the more wireframe it would become. The far distance would look entirely artificial.
Targeting: Enemy mechs targeted or in LOS would be easier to see, glowing red aura perhaps, but when moving out of LOS they would blink out (would not look as bad if you knew it was an artificial image). Enemies at range would light up too, allowing for feasible sniping despite the lack of long range features and 3PV. Also, lots of numbers, rotating targets, sight lines and other SFX that make the experience feel like being
plugged in to the mech.
Drawbacks: Disruption. ECM jamming or PPC fire could temporarily short out the system, either ruining your UI for a time or forcing you in to 1PV until the effect wears off. Exploitable? Perhaps, but it would encourage everyone to use both vision modes depending on the situation. Precision marksmanship would also still be easier in 1PV (but I admit that might be just me).