236 replies to this topic

[ProtoformX]

Seems like a ghost town every time I get on now. Usually I'd have 15 - 20 friends on all the time, but now only 3 - 4. My first guess is that other people are also getting really boring swing matches where one side rolls the other 8 - 0. Other guess is Starcraft 2's release... Anyone else experiencing low population, or is it just me?

[Tickdoff Tank]

I see more people on than I expect. And I expect a lot of people. I also know quite a few people that have come back to the game due to the recent improvements, and a few that have decided to give the game a break for a while. Just like every other game I have played.

[BoPop]

spring break?

[PANZERBUNNY]

Lots of people from CB on and people from the start. I'm actually surprised by this.

[PropagandaWar]

I think i logged 20 hours this weekend sorry but Im taking a day off. Plus my kids are out of school for the week and wifes on vacation. Might play one or two rounds but thats it.

[PANZERBUNNY]

Tournament over. I imagine some are breaking.

[Hayashi]

Time zone matters. PuG population is still all right, but the 8-8 queue is basically dead now.

[Pando]

Hayashi, on 25 March 2013 - 09:35 PM, said:

Time zone matters. PuG population is still all right, but the 8-8 queue is basically dead now.

We're launching in 8's still. We are being plagued by CTD's. We've not went without a match in 8's for over an hour now.

Edited by Pando, 25 March 2013 - 09:37 PM.

[Profiteer]

Hayashi, on 25 March 2013 - 09:35 PM, said:

the 8-8 queue is basically dead now.

I tried a few 8 mans, but I like to play more than 2 games per hour.

Only part of this is due to "failed to find match".

The main reason is people who think others have nothing better to do but wait while they tweak their builds in the mech-bay. It's bad enough in 4 mans - 8 mans are a killer.

I swear I've waited over 15 mins sometimes while people buy mechs, change loadouts, and even play around with camos.

I make sure the mech(s) I'm going to play are ready to roll BEFORE joining a group; maybe I'm strange?

[Hayashi]

I make sure they're ready that way too, so maybe we're strange together.

The only chance we had to try dropping 8-man is about.... 6 hours ish from the timestamp of this post. It was the first time my merc corp ever assembled 8 men. We failed to drop for about half an hour before giving up and splitting into 2 separate 4-man groups - upon which we got matches nearly instantly. That was 2 weeks ago. We haven't yet had the chance to assemble 8 again since then.

[Mechwarrior Buddah]

all right, all right, Ill say it



Its Beta


cause thats the catch all excuse

[Methuselah Honeysuckle]

Lots of reason I suppose like spring break as mentioned above, and most recently Bioshock Infinite has been released. That's the big game at the moment. Personally, my enthusiasm for MWO has started to wane so I'm playing less and only to grind the Jagers. Looking forward to the Highlander's release in April. Maybe they'll have a Tartan camo pattern to go along with it.

Edited by uckfred, 26 March 2013 - 12:23 AM.

[xxx WreckinBallRaj xxx]

I've been playing GW2 and RE6. I tend to fall off this game on its week between patches. Because on the patch week I've already seen everything and just want to wait for the next one. I don't even have classes this week but I'm just going to play other games and do a pile of work anyway to get ahead so I have more time to play it next week after its patch. On patch week you at least have something new to see or do, even if they still don't fix things.(cough ECM) Off week however is /yawn. Don't worry though, I'll still bless the forums with my presence.

[Vassago Rain]

There were a lot of bad news and spaghetti all in a single go, and some rather insulting comments from PGI top staff.

[Peiper]

Vassago Rain, on 26 March 2013 - 01:01 AM, said:

There were a lot of bad news and spaghetti all in a single go, and some rather insulting comments from PGI top staff.

Care to elaborate?

[Vassago Rain]

Peiper, on 26 March 2013 - 02:03 AM, said:

Care to elaborate?

The core players don't matter. The core doesn't know what it wants. We must improve the new player experience, by adding 3rd person for REASONS. We're adding 3rd person, and that's just how it is. Coolant shots are here to stay. Gold artillery. No news forever.

Etc.

[Chavette]

Hayashi, on 25 March 2013 - 09:35 PM, said:

Time zone matters. PuG population is still all right, but the 8-8 queue is basically dead now.

Yea, its not looking good for you guys on the other side, EU and NA nighttime 8s are non stop, even though its sometimes the same team 3 times in a row.

[Zylo]

Vassago Rain, on 26 March 2013 - 02:05 AM, said:

The core players don't matter. The core doesn't know what it wants. We must improve the new player experience, by adding 3rd person for REASONS. We're adding 3rd person, and that's just how it is. Coolant shots are here to stay. Gold artillery. No news forever.

Etc.

Gold artillery... that wouldn't surprise me at all considering the way PGI has changed the focus of MWO. Maybe PGI should try copying something else done by World of Tanks since they seem to try copying many other WoT game systems: A random MC reward for answering a survey that asks players what they really do want in game.

It's a shame that PGI probably won't bother asking the players what they want but will instead continue forcing changes and then wondering why fewer players are logging in after trying the game. Eventually the core players will be gone and the new players won't be interested enough in the game to stick around.

[Vassago Rain]

Zylo, on 26 March 2013 - 02:17 AM, said:

Gold artillery... that wouldn't surprise me at all considering the way PGI has changed the focus of MWO. Maybe PGI should try copying something else done by World of Tanks since they seem to try copying many other WoT game systems: A random MC reward for answering a survey that asks players what they really do want in game.

It's a shame that PGI probably won't bother asking the players what they want but will instead continue forcing changes and then wondering why fewer players are logging in after trying the game. Eventually the core players will be gone and the new players won't be interested enough in the game to stick around.

It's just a joke, like we used to joke about goldsinks and rental clan mechs. I feel both sides are acting outright stupid. There shouldn't be any crazy conspiracy theories going, but at the same time, we shouldn't have to live with a literal 3rd person sword of damocles hanging above our heads.

[Peiper]

Vassago Rain, on 26 March 2013 - 02:05 AM, said:

The core players don't matter. The core doesn't know what it wants. We must improve the new player experience, by adding 3rd person for REASONS. We're adding 3rd person, and that's just how it is. Coolant shots are here to stay. Gold artillery. No news forever.

Etc.

Other than some rather smart debates on game balance and some heated debates on ECM that shouldn't even be necessary, the core knows EXACTLY what it wants, and the majority isn't silent at all. We want community warfare with a malleable map of the inner sphere where our efforts mean something. We want lobbies so we can set up leagues, matches, and fair fights. We want ECM fixed (the majority still do). We don't want gold ammo/consumables or 3rd person. We want role warfare. We want more maps and game types/modes.

3rd person has no place in a simulator, but in something like the testing grounds/tutorials it would go a long way for people to learn to visualize torso/leg movement. Us old hats, and those of us who know what joystick twist and/or pedals are for take it for granted, but new people should have some obstacle courses and firing ranges with tin ducks moving along to shoot at. What we do need is rear-view cameras, and the ability to look left and right with the hat on our joysticks like MW4. Crisis may not allow it, but the lack of peripheral vision hurts. Still, this game is a battletech simulator, and not just another shooter.

The devs have finally brought LRM's and streaks down to some semblance of balance, and they have listened to us and altered their short-sighted ideas for gold-coolant, which is great! ECM is still totally FUBAR. We have some great new maps, fantastic netcode fixes and state-rewind is moving along smoothly. The game, overall, runs smoother on everyone's system compared to 4 months ago and they've made many, many improvements.

Those of us who play every day see changes happening rather slowly, but my friends who are returning to see the changes are stunned and impressed. CW and lobbies/private matches will bring everyone back, along with bring in droves of people sitting around waiting for the game to be more complete before they dive into it. It IS BETA.

Yeah, waiting for the roadmaps for the next couple months is agonizing. The game is at a place where we can have some great lobby organized games and matches out there, and the players are frustrated as all-get-out waiting for this to happen.

But, if PGI really said that the core doesn't know what it wants, then they are either monumentally sarcastic, or seriously out of touch with their BETA testers.