9 replies to this topic

[Soy]

Wins / Losses 2,106 / 1,551

At some point you really yearn for a gaming experience in the MWO universe where you feel immersed beyond Team DeathMatch.

Community Warfare is going to make or break this game.

Let me be frank - this is a great game that anyone can play, it is free, not difficult (the hardest part is organizing all of the lore, data, and fluff into a digestable form for new guys), and has that unique replayability that we all love about BT - customization of mechs, min/maxing build theorycrafting, and of course the penultimate showdown of wits - seeing our creations in action in different scenarios and then comparing it against the backdrop of meta in pursuit of idealistic min/max perfection (or of course in pursuit of 'the win' or 'the lulz').

The feeling that when you drop into a match is missing something - the sense that there are larger mechanations (yep a pun) at work besides your metal feet marching inevitably towards victory or defeat.

It all is very arbitrary at the moment and has been for quite some time. This depresses me but I have hope for the future. The community, while extremely rigid at times, afraid to adapt to a modern video game, and generally not real 'gamers' they are boundless in their passion of this game, their support for the IP, and the general comraderie of the community seen in places like the various public TS servers gives one a sense that we are here to stay and have fun together, without descending into madness or unethical play. For that notion alone this game and it's community is worth sticking up for, flaws and all.

I love this game and really do enjoy it, that should be obvious by the table in the first line of this post. But the way this game feels (not plays) is like looking at a snowglobe. There is so much about BT that is beyond the micro of an individual brawl, and MWO does a horrible job of showcasing that.

Isn't it ironic that most of the older cats, the actual BT/MW fans, one of the most cited reasons for their dedication and appreciation of the IP and canon is the depth and immersiveness of the universe itself? Without all of that in this game, eventually you realize you're just playing a slowed down version of an FPS on rails with easy to aim weapons and very little in terms of high-end meta development (I pull my punch on that last one because it's early here and that develops naturally over time if fostered by devs who balance and push their game to new places, the community will follow if the games worth salt).

All I'm getting at with this rant is, I love MWO. I'd like to see MWO become more than a TDM game, which it will. Eventually. I've taken a break before, I'd rather not take another one any time soon, but it's difficult to lie to yourself that you're in a universe worthy of being called BT when you play the same map 10 times in a row and each scenario plays out along the same script.

The game is missing dynamism and immersiveness, I believe in a better MWO in the future and I look forward to having a lot more fun when that happens.

[jakucha]

Well, with that many games I'd be wanting a lot more right now too. At the moment they're just trying to fix bugs that exist right now before adding a ton more content it seems. If you don't feel like bug hunting and reporting you probably should take a break, at least until next patch which is a few days over a week; not too long.

[Soy]

I just came back from a 3 month break a week ago... ^^

Not planning on breaking off anytime soon, but I certainly don't play like I used to. Lack of a grind has a lot to do with that, you can lie to yourself when you're grinding about the endgame, we all do it.

[jakucha]

The good news is they've apparently started to optimize their Q&A process and said they're hiring more staff, so things may pick up pace as a result.

[Khanublikhan]

I agree with the OP's thoughtful and positively critical comments.

The game *is* missing dynamism and immersiveness. Previous mechwarrior games, because of their campaign structure, because of the metagame of collecting salvage, kept your mind occupied on a level beyond merely shooting stuff.

R&R was removed.
Salvage collection does not exist.

I perfectly understand there may be reasons for R&R removal or salvage not being collectible from the battlefield. This however leaves a gaping hole (metagame / entertainment value) in the structure of the game, which to date, has not been replaced. Make a shallow game with few metagame choices to entertain yourself and attention deficit casual players will leap in and leap out at their whimsy. Make a deeper game that sucks players in - and you will keep them as loyal customers.

More depth please. Give me more to think about. Give me choices.

[Soy]

Yeah Khan, those are nice and simple examples that highlight some of the things I was trying to express.

Thanks for your opinions which I share for the most part.

[Sephlock]

Are you joking? With the state of the game as it is right now (see, the introduction of artemis, the subsequent nerfing of artemis, the introduction of ECM, etc etc) things are in such flux that any persistent elements to the game would be pooped upon quite liberally.

[Khanublikhan]

Sephlock, on 06 April 2013 - 02:19 AM, said:

Are you joking? With the state of the game as it is right now (see, the introduction of artemis, the subsequent nerfing of artemis, the introduction of ECM, etc etc) things are in such flux that any persistent elements to the game would be pooped upon quite liberally.

Of course the game is in flux. Of course there are issues. What the OP and myself are doing, is highlighting a concern. We are as the OP's title says, "impatiently pining".

Impatiently pining as opposed to rabidly insisting. It is called making a (hopefully) persuasive case for change, rather than bouncing up and down like an excitable puppy wanting to be fed.

[Sephlock]

Fair enough, but I'm rabidly insisting upon bugfixes and better poopweapons (my new catch all term for LBX, Machineguns, and flamers) first.

NAO! PATCH NAO!

.

[Khanublikhan]

Let me see if I can incisively expand my point with a few examples:

The decision to remove R&R and not include salvage recovery from the battlefield is a design choice, which left me, when I first learned of it, astonished.

It is akin to:-

• Gwen Stacy not appearing in the first Spiderman movie.
  
• Stephen Russell, not being given the voice actor role for Garrett, in the new Thief game.
  
• Firefly being cancelled.

It is like watching in slow motion (for all you Americans) a star NFL receiver fumbling a catch in the endzone. Oh my God, he has dropped it. He's dropped it.

It is a "Whatyoutalkingaboutwillis?" moment (showing my age there).

As a fan, I am concerned a good part of what made previous Mechwarrior games good and identifiable, has been surgically removed and nothing yet added to replace it.

"Oh." was my exclamation to learning of all of the above. A disappointed "Oh".

Edited by Khanublikhan, 06 April 2013 - 03:22 AM.