55 replies to this topic

[The Centurion]

DROP COMMAND PODCAST

A conversational podcast dedicated to Mechwarrior Online covering everything from tournament competition to the new player experience.

dropcommand@gmail.com

We also have a YouTube version if you prefer it to SoundCloud.

Episode 1 - Recorded 5/12/13
In our pilot episode we discuss our introductions to the Battetech universe, the current state of the game, and our hopes for where it's going.

Episode 2 - Recorded 5/24/13
In this episode we take time to talk about recent changes to LRMs, the introduction of the Blackjack, and the announcement of the Victor assault mech.

Episode 3 - Recorded 6/22/13
We're back, finally. We make up for lost time with a super-sized episode that delves into the new player experience and an interview with a brand new pilot, then follows that up with an in-depth state of the game discussion.

Episode 4 - Recorded 7/14/13
In this episode I sit down with four exceptional pilots from the Alpha unit of the Wolf Spiders to get their take on the state of the game, including their thoughts on the 12v12 test servers, the alpha heat penalties, movement changes and a whole lot more!

Episode 5 - Recorded 7/20/13
In this episode Phelan Carns and I sit down with members of the MWO community who primarily play the game solo in pick up groups. One pilot is in South Africa, another is in Japan and the rest of us are scattered across the United States. We take time to discuss our different points of view about the game, and see where we have common ground and where our opinions differ. We discuss a lot about the current state of the game and where it's headed.

Episode 6 - Recorded 9/8/13
In this episode I sit down with John Clavell, PhelanWard, and Lindsay (aka Natalya) to discuss the upcoming launch of MWO and to give feedback regarding the three-part interview NGNG did with PGI's Bryan Ekman. We also chat with Lindsay about third-person view and the new movement tutorial to see if they've provided a benefit to her as a new player.

Episode 7 - Recorded 10/1/13
In this episode I sit down with some of the members of Team Tiger (JagerXII, B B Wolfe, Mister Zeus, Queenblade & FSXHunter) to discuss their experiences at the MWO launch event and their phenomenal tournament win!

Edited by The Centurion, 02 October 2013 - 04:47 PM.

[Phelan Carns]

This was a real blast to partake in. I'm really looking forward to see where this podcast goes. Centurion is very passionate about this project, and it shows.

Really, man, we appreciate it.

[Soy]

I just listened to this podcast.

I don't typically listen to gamer podcasts, or watch streams, or anything like that. In fact, this is the first MWO podcast I've listened to since the game actually... became a game... and I didn't have to listen to NGNG guys spam on and on about swag for sale, etc.

That being said, one thing immediately stuck out - whenever the one dude who sounded like he had an English accent or something, sounds like someone is actually drawing a picture or writing a novel with a felt tip pen next to the mic. Maybe it's just some sort of audio artifacting in the background, but as someone who dabbles in audio production it was intensely annoying. Otherwise the rest of the recording, editing, and production side of things was actually very professional sounding for the most part.

Other than that I think the conversations were a little long at some points, could've been reigned in, but I thought everybody brought a composed and thoughtful position on a number of topics. I think the topics should be a little more tangible or more discussion around interactive stuff about the game, in other words more personalized than trying to be objective all the time. Cuz honestly some of the suggestions or ideas were not objective but were presented as.

I enjoyed this podcast and will try and keep a pulse on your output, thanks for putting this together.

Edited by Soy, 12 May 2013 - 08:09 PM.

[The Centurion]

Thanks for the feedback! Pleased feel free to suggest specific topic ideas.

[Sean Lang]

Listened to the whole thing while I muddled about online, great stuff guys keep it up!

[John Clavell]

Thanks for the feedback Soy, and for the kind words Phil. I apologise about my mic. It's basically rubbish. I'm going to get a new one, it shouldn't be a problem then. I'll also try not to ramble so much

[StandingCow]

Got half way through listening on the way to work (will listen to the rest on the way home). So far I really enjoyed it, it takes a really good critical look at the game in it's current state.

It's funny listening to this as one of DHB's unit leaders, hearing about the issues others are having within their units, as we have the same issue in ours, lucky for us we have a lot of members, so we always have groups going, but there has definately been less people on due to burnout.

Edited by StandingCow, 13 May 2013 - 08:45 PM.

[No7]

Very good stuff. Well done.

[warner2]

I finally got time to listen to your podcast. Good stuff, looking forward to the next one.

A couple of things jumped out at me. There was a suggestion that JJ shake would be a good idea, but only on the heavier classes. I don't agree with this at all. MWO is supposed to more of a simulator, less of a twitch FPS. I think it succeeds in the heavier classes, but not so much with the lighter mechs. I don't have a problem with lighter mechs being fast, speed is their armour, but the way they change direction while moving at speed is not at all simulator-like (even a Jenner is supposed to weigh 35 tons). JJs play into this too. The speed at which a JJ Jenner does 180 degree turns in the air is again, not at all simulator-like (more like an exoskeleton). IMO there should be changes to JJs to rebalance them so that they 1. don't give you a more stable firing platform, which makes no sense, and 2. don't make your mech suddenly so much more maneuverable. So IMO PGI should add JJ shake, but only comparable to the reticule wobble you get when running (so that it's still viable to fire when jumping), but do it across all classes. While they are there, they should generally reduce the boost to maneuverability you get from using JJs, like the rate at which you can turn in the air while jumping (heck, you could remove that altogether). Even if I'm in a light, it should still feel like a mech, and JJs are a contributing factor to making them more like a Gundam or exoskeleton or something.

There was also a call to move the speed of PPCs back to where it was (or the same as the gauss), in the context of a conversation about jump sniping. I've seen this quite a bit and I don't think it's a good idea. Sure, you're making it harder for the jump sniper to hit something (I suppose, we don't seem to have a problem hitting things with gauss) but it will also make it harder to hit the jumping mech with your own PPCs. JC said himself that before state rewind you could vert-jump without taking much damage (not something I did myself), with the PPC state rewind changes discouraging this as it made it easier to hit the jumpers. Well, if you lower the velocity of PPCs you will once again make it harder to hit the jumpers, and we really don't want that. What I'd like to see you discuss in the next podcast is how you would address the current balance by boosting weapons, not nerfing weapons. For example, why are there so few people using SRMs, LBX10, AC10? What's wrong with the AC5? How about figuring out why they are unpopular, and boosting the lesser weapons instead of swinging the nerf bat? Perhaps there would be less PPCs if there were more viable weapons available across the board. I'd like to hear your opinions on that next time.

Keep it up.

[John Clavell]

To be honest while PPC's certainly could use a tweak, the PPC issue seems to be so interwoven with other things it's hard to get a clear view on the best way to address it. It's a problem, and yet not a problem in the same breath. We've also seen several suggestions that the PPC / Pop-Sniper issue is only really taking place in higher ELO matches, I guess that's hard for me to confirm first hand however. But maybe newer players can step in on this question and say how much or how often they see such tactics in solo and 4 man experience.

Some other possible out looks would be to maybe consider again weapon stacking heat penalties, or even say jump jets causing heat. I dunno. There is a fine line though I feel, whatever happens, if anything happens, it should be slight. I think it would be too easy right now to nerf it into just being useless. And we need to avoid doing that. We need to avoid nerfing things too hard based on where the game was weeks and months ago.

Edited by John Clavell, 16 May 2013 - 09:52 AM.

[warner2]

Have you seen this?

http://mwomercs.com/...19#entry2355519


PPC/ERPPC cool-down now the same as Gauss (4 sec). Very good change IMO, the one I've been suggesting myself.

[The Centurion]

Thanks for the feedback Warner! I think discussion of how to bring neglected weapon systems into favor would be an excellent topic!

I also applaud the new PPC cooldown change. The speed change was an idea, but in all honesty "a bolt of man-made lightning" (God bless you, Michael A. Stackpole) absolutely should be the fastest striking weapon in the game.

There is a lot that goes into design decisions, and I'm sure PGI has their hands full taking them all into consideration. In my opinion, you need to ask "Does this change/tweak/design choice make MWO a better video game?" before concerning yourself with how anything was handled in the tabletop game, other video games which came before it, or the lore.

[StandingCow]

So, when's the next podcast?

[Phelan Carns]

I believe we're recording this Friday night =)

[StandingCow]

Excellent!

[John Clavell]

Yeah we may or may not be drinking booze, before, during and after recording. I'll try not to be too drunk

[Sean Lang]

@The Centurion, looking forward to the next podcast.

[John Clavell]

We recorded last night, Centurion is working on post production now.

[StandingCow]

John Clavell, on 25 May 2013 - 12:24 PM, said:

We recorded last night, Centurion is working on post production now.

Excellent! Looking forward to it.

[The Centurion]

Episode 2 is live. SoundCloud version is ready to go. YouTube is uploading. Still haven't heard back from SoundCloud about getting a RSS feed, so it looks like the iTunes version (and whatever the hell android people use) is still delayed.

Thanks for the continued support!

We welcome all feedback and suggestions for future topics.