80 replies to this topic

[Hawkeye 72]

1. Revived a decades old franchise that Microsoft left in the dumpster.

2. Hired on some brilliant artists and drastically improved on designs that were in dire need of an update. Then they added in the Cataphract, Highlander, Blackjack, Flea, Spider-all mechs that don't often get their time to shine.

3. They brought back the Mechlab to the MW franchise, and added hardpoints, which prevented the ridiculous abuse seen in other games where I would pack 8 ERPPC's onto a Warhawk with plenty of room to spare for heat sinks. Yes I know the Stalker can pack on 6 PPC's, but it is not a viable build.

4. They envisioned the idea of Community Warfare where users form their own units and battle over an interactive map, something we will see realized in the next two or three months.

5. They set the timeline in a period where players, in the next year or so, will be able to fight for or against the Clans, thus feeding the old-school mechwarriors desire to see Clanners die, incorporate players who came late to the franchise, and make old MW2 pilots very happy.

6. They showed respect for the canon of the game with the ISN news updates, some of the lore when introducing new mechs, hero mechs, the short stories sometimes released, and the protection of canon units within the future meta-game.

In other words, no Ragnarok...

7. They took advantage of better hardware, software, and network conditions and upped the max number of players in a game to 24. I feel like the gaming industry as a whole has been stuck on the concept of 8v8 for waaaaayyy too long. You can go back and modify the old Mechwarrior 2 Merc files to include up to 32 mechs in a single mission. If that was possible in 1998, then in 2013 we should be able to network a 12v12 game properly these days.

8. They haven't let the forums discourage them too much in the last 6 months.

9. They brough back Bitchin Betty.

10. Tourmaline Desert, Alpine Peaks, Frozen City Night-these are the types of maps Mechwarrior should be fighting on.

11. Strong communication and interaction with the forums/fans. Obviously this has dropped off significantly since Open Beta (for obvious reasons) but back during F&FB these forums were a ton of fun.

12. Taking into account the game is just over a year old since the first line of code, the progress made is fantastic.

[Novakaine]

Bringing back Mechwarrior.
PGI has my undying thanks.
Content wise meh.

[Stone Profit]

Made an awesome game which I have spent hours enjoying and will continue to do so.

[Pale Jackal]

Tourmaline Desert is an amazing map.

Separate arms / torso reticles is great.

LOS required for radar is a good gameplay design - allows for flanking and ambushes.

The concepts and design behind ECM is nifty, unfortunately it's way too much in a 1.5 ton, 2 crit package. Maybe if all of that cost 4.5 tons and 6 crits it'd be better balanced. Oh, also, BAP and TAG could be a little better at countering ECM.

[Bishop Steiner]

Well, TBH, they have done a number of things right.

The core combat mechanics, while still in need of some balancing tweaks, is solid. Matchmaking issue/lag issues aside, I really don't think an honest person could deny that.

As you pointed out, the weapon class differentials are very well done overall, even if u still feel PPCs have issues with consistency, that they seem to often mix the worst of both weapon groupings for hits, like it moves slow like a ballistic, but still frequently spreads damage like a laser. Hoping the state rewinds might help with this.

I really think that FD doing the concept art was a stroke of luck. There may be .1-2 I'm not totally in love with, but in general, these mechs look good.

I also applaud giving not just each chassis, but each variant its own little quirks and idiosyncrasies. It means that each mech is more than the sum of its smurfybuild, as each twist, accelerate, breaks and corners differently. This often gives viability beyond what the smurfywarriors want to believe, and makes each chassis more able to cater to the style of individual pilots.

And I will say that ften times, though not always, the Devs sewn pretty free to yak. I've killed Russ and got to make fun of him for it in game. Have chatted a fair bit in game with Garth and Alex both. Mind you, there are times, too often, when we have fusterclucks like this weekend, but I will say they are a damn sight more approachable than most devs I have seen in Betas, even considering that we try to lynch them at the drop of a hat.

That said...... That was one hellofa big hat, this weekend.

[Tezcatli]

I think they've done a good job with art and sound. Their maps are well made, I don't like all of them, but they're well made regardless of whether I like them.

There are of course numerous things they haven't done well, but there's plenty of threads on that already!

[Arcadinal]

1 - Weapons with effects that look great and feel satisfying to fire.
2 - Tactically interesting maps that look good.
3 - Excellent looking mech models.
4 - Smooth and intuitive control scheme.
5 - Excellent modern implementation of Mechwarrior, captures the right feel.
6 - It's great fun to play.
7 - Build a Heavy Trial Mech contest - Awesome idea, hope to see more of that.
8 - The ISN News Flashes

[Scromboid]

This game is win. The whole thing.

PGI kills it!

[Cur]

The Mech designs are nice.

That is all.

[Utilyan]

they talk to us and listen.

[DaisuSaikoro Nagasawa]

Hawkwings, on 30 March 2013 - 11:31 AM, said:

Sound except for that ridiculous IMMA CHARGING MAH LAZOR sound they put in recently.

Are you being snarky in your own thread of non snarkiness? Meta...

I dont even notice the laser sound now except to know when my lasers recharged. Amazing what habituation can do for a warrior.

Oh I love how mechs die. Its amazing.

[Corbon Zackery]

The core component of the game is still great, and they knock most games out of the park. That being said they have failed to build on that core part of the game.

The graphics look great for the maps but once again they failed to expand them by adding destroyable terrain or environmental effects that could turn a 7-0 match into a freak win because that ECM Spider hid near a oil tank and blew it up when they swarmed in on him, or dropping a building that a mech is standing on.

The high cost of simple things like paint also hinders the customization aspect of the game make customization unappealing because you have to pay 3 million just for a basic paint color or shell out real cash for exotic colors.

Now there been some progress now that weapons are more balanced but we want more done such as balanced matchmaking before I can call it nothing more than a great way to blow off some spare time.

I would also add that they have really failed to market the game and build a strong 1.5 million community. There some huge talk in the gaming community as to when it will be finished. You had a single player game that had a cease order brought in play then they went cold for 2 years. They come out and say were making a free to play game we all buy in and give them 5 million dollars yet its March 31 of 2013 and were still in open beta. No ones writing articles about the game because they don't know when there going to get it done. If it flops or gets canceled there going to go down as the biggest scam artists in the game industry because they were able to legally collect over 5 million dollars cash for founders packs most free to plays have a 3 to 5 year community life span.

Edited by Corbon Zackery, 30 March 2013 - 11:37 PM.

[Tehtos]

Giant mechs that actually feel heavy. Not slumbering, but heavy.

Cockpit actually feel right. Some cockpits (Stalker) are cramped and feel harder to hit, and some cockpits (Catapault) have a great view, but you feel vulnerable after getting headshot so often.

[Darkfire66]

Great map design on Tourmaline, Forest Colony, and Alpine.

I feel like River City could use some tweaking, and River City night is boring. Use ambient light to make it feel like a real city,( and add terrain/building damage = D)

Double XP weekend is a blast, very pleased (surprisingly so) with playing odd chassis of new mechs just to grind faster.

Great level of detail on the mechs. Particle effects, textures, handling, looks great.

A little too much brown and bloom, and the sound could use some work (add scraping when close to walls or other mechs, have environment effect sound) but it still a high point.

They convinced a lot of people that they were going to deliver a skill based, first player mech game with no monthly fees and no pay2win items, and raised a lot of money.

[Jman5]

I know it's kind of hard to believe now of all times, but I really do believe this:

The willingness for PGI to listen to their community feedback and change their mind in a rapid manner. Remember when they announced open beta just as their game was self-destructing with some horrible bugs and playability issues? The community went into a furor and they decided we were right. Open Beta was delayed and there was a much smoother launch.

Remember when they said the Jenner, the best light mech at the time, would have ECM? Everyone was outraged because it would overshadow the raven. PGI took our advice and changed their mind within days.

Remember when coolants were essentially going to be p2w? Well, we complained and they changed their mind and released something better.

There are several more instances of them announcing something, taking the community's feedback seriously, and then changing it to something better. They have a history of listening to their customers in a way not a lot of game developers do. It's a real strength that I believe makes a lot of sense.

Edited by Jman5, 30 March 2013 - 10:09 PM.

[raptorak]

Duke Nukem Forever multiplayer. That **** was fun as hell while it lasted lol.

[Iscariott]

1.) They brought mechwarrior back. That does count, and it counts for a lot.

2.) Feel of combat. Run up behind a stalker with a commando, hit X. Unload on his RCT. Stay behind him as he tries to shake you off. Brawl with heavies. Jumpjet over a hill and rain death on your enemies. It all "feels" right. Size, weight, its all there.

3.) Lasers vs Ballistics vs Missiles, each weapon system feels different and unique. Lasers feel fantastic, I've never really played a game that did a beamdot properly, I like it. On the other side AC20's feel brutal and awesome.

4.) Visuals. The game is pretty, the effects are good, for the most part everything looks detailed cool and 'warlike.'

[Jay Z]

PGI have done a lot right. It is genuine F2P and not P2W. The mechs and weapons are quite well balanced. The matches are varied and exciting. The visuals are excellent. Sounds great too. The whole interface is also easy to use and find matches. Also constant patches and updates give helpful tweaks and new features. Furthermore, PGI is willing to try new things such as ECM. This keeps the meta in a state of constant evolution where there are so many many good builds available. (Personally, I do not use ECM mechs). Thank you PGI for making a great interesting game and for not giving in too much to whiners who call for everything to be nerfed.

So far I am giving MWO a 9.5/10 and is in my top 5 favourite games of all time.

[Hayashi]

Dual reticles. There's finally a reason to use arms.

[jakucha]

Aiming system, what they've done wrong is still no Urbanmech.