76 replies to this topic

[Livewyr]

[REDACTED]

PGI:

Why are you being so secretive with the overall plan for balance in your game? (I would talk about other things, but this is the balance section.. and creating this thread anywhere else for other aspects would be duplicate and sent to the K-Gulag.)

There used to be Dev Blogs about what you had envisioned for the game.. like "Role Warfare" and "Information Warfare" and that, I think, was a large part of the optimism we had back in CBT a year ago.

Now, if we get anything at all, it's:
PPCs will have heat reduced.
Missile will have damage tweaked and flightpath reworked.
BAP will now counter ECM within short range.

That's nice and all, however:
------------------------

Can we actually get some broad ideas?
Example:

Questions:
What do you envision the role(s) of light mechs being in the end?
What do you envision for information warfare? (How is it intended to play out in the end?)

What kind of match are you looking for in "Assault" and in "Conquest."


--------------------
I ask this for a very logical reason:

Right now, we get little individual answers on individual aspects of the game that do not necessarily take other aspects into account.

Command Chair posts are very individual:
MGs get this
Flamers get that
BAP gets this
PPCs get that

Can the leaders get together and have a meeting like:

What do we envision for light mechs in the end game?
What do we envision for medium mechs in the end game?
What do we think is the role of the PPC?
What is the role of the Gauss Rifle?
What is the role of the Machine Gun?

What are we doing with BAP and ECM?
-------------------------------------

Right now, the game is acting like an EKG machine, but none of us know what the goal is anymore...




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(I understand Clans are being kept secret squirrel for surprises..but the general direction of the game is good to know.. the old Dev Blogs are arguably inaccurate for whatever reason, at the very least in the case of information warfare and role warfare.)


I think it would be a well-spent day in the office for Russ, Bryan, Garth, Paul and the other head people to sit in an office and discuss where the game is going... or if that has already happened.. share it with us.

We would like to know if your end game is based on Missile combat, or Jumpsniping, or a Brawling meta...or if it is going to be something where all three are viable. (Or heck, something completely different.)

And we'd (at least *I* would) like to know generally how.

Edited by Prosperity Park, 30 May 2013 - 04:51 PM.
removed material conflicting with Code of Conduct

[jeffsw6]

I'm hoping we will see a lot more of this once the public test server is available. My outlook remains positive, even though we can all plainly see their failings.

[Rebas Kradd]

My outlook is positive too.

When it comes to all the secrecy, remember two things:

1. No smart company is going to be transparent enough to make statements that might undermine consumer confidence. Therefore, they'll operate on the "no need to report anything until we have something to report" strategy.

2. If they were to answer even 50% of the complaints or questions we post, they'd spend all their time on the forums and none actually working.

[Greyfyl]

In b4 K-town.

[Livewyr]

Rebas Kradd, on 30 May 2013 - 08:25 AM, said:

My outlook is positive too.

When it comes to all the secrecy, remember two things:

1. No smart company is going to be transparent enough to make statements that might undermine consumer confidence. Therefore, they'll operate on the "no need to report anything until we have something to report" strategy.

2. If they were to answer even 50% of the complaints or questions we post, they'd spend all their time on the forums and none actually working.

I'm not asking for anything specific:

I just want to know:

Are PPCs supposed to be the default, bread and butter weapon in the end game?
Are light mechs supposed to be fighters? (Currently they have no real role.)

What is the mission of mediums?

Nothing specific that they have to be held to, just what IDEALs are they having regarding the various mechs/roles/weapons/mechanics.. etc..

What are they driving at?

[Novakaine]

Why?
Because the minute anything is revealed.
Cry-Bombers appear in the skies.
Then the air is filled with cry-bombs and criti-missles.
I for one don't blame PGI.

[Livewyr]

Novakaine, on 30 May 2013 - 08:36 AM, said:

Why?
Because the minute anything is revealed.
Cry-Bombers appear in the skies.
Then the air is filled with cry-bombs and criti-missles.
I for one don't blame PGI.

Because that isn't happening now- with ignorance. (And I'm not talking everything, I'm talking general ideas.. a mission statement if you will.)

[Monky]

Novakaine, on 30 May 2013 - 08:36 AM, said:

Why?
Because the minute anything is revealed.
Cry-Bombers appear in the skies.
Then the air is filled with cry-bombs and criti-missles.
I for one don't blame PGI.

Last time they revealed something 'big' early, it was the coolant issue. If i recall, it was pay 2 win, and the community put up a fight about it, and guess what - it got changed to something we can all live with.

[Diablobo]

They need to take the fifth. Anything they say can and will be used against them in the court of forum speculation.

[Joseph Mallan]

Monky, on 30 May 2013 - 08:50 AM, said:

Last time they revealed something 'big' early, it was the coolant issue. If i recall, it was pay 2 win, and the community put up a fight about it, and guess what - it got changed to something we can all live with.

I don't know Monky... The whole of Murphy's Law has moved to New games since Coolant flush. We used to have 3-5 full dropships on our TS3 server every day. Now we are all in Neverwinter, Defiance, and other games.

[Cyke]

Rebas Kradd, on 30 May 2013 - 08:25 AM, said:

My outlook is positive too.

When it comes to all the secrecy, remember two things:

1. No smart company is going to be transparent enough to make statements that might undermine consumer confidence. Therefore, they'll operate on the "no need to report anything until we have something to report" strategy.

2. If they were to answer even 50% of the complaints or questions we post, they'd spend all their time on the forums and none actually working.

Did the "Information Warfare" and "Role Warfare" articles that PGI released in the past undermine your confidence?

I understand their reluctance to release timelines (or deadlines of any sort) when it appears they have staffing resource issues and difficulty meeting deadlines, but notifying the customer base about their plans for developing the product is absolutely essential to maintaining confidence.

Still, we'd appreciate some information about the direction the game is heading, even if there were zero dates given. Even if the only timeline given is "it'll be done when it's done".


Perhaps I'm in the minority; in fact, perhaps I'm the only person who feels this way, but right now, I'm unwilling to spend a single cent more until I know what I'm paying for.

Edited by Cyke, 30 May 2013 - 08:59 AM.

[RG Notch]

Joseph Mallan, on 30 May 2013 - 08:52 AM, said:

I don't know Monky... The whole of Murphy's Law has moved to New games since Coolant flush. We used to have 3-5 full dropships on our TS3 server every day. Now we are all in Neverwinter, Defiance, and other games.

Don't those games have forums?

[Joseph Mallan]

Livewyr, on 30 May 2013 - 08:32 AM, said:

I'm not asking for anything specific:

I just want to know:

Are PPCs supposed to be the default, bread and butter weapon in the end game?
Are light mechs supposed to be fighters? (Currently they have no real role.)

What is the mission of mediums?

Nothing specific that they have to be held to, just what IDEALs are they having regarding the various mechs/roles/weapons/mechanics.. etc..

What are they driving at?

Live, TPTB for 30 years told us Catapults are Missile boats. MWO players made one into a Ballistics monster. The Players will find a way to use what they want how they want to use it I have seen.

PPCs are the most powerful Energy weapon,

Lights are supposed to be scouts and harassers.

Mediums are meant to fill the gaps that a force cannot fill with the proper chassis. Jack of all trades.

RG Notch, on 30 May 2013 - 08:55 AM, said:

Don't those games have forums?

Of course. I am on Neverwinters and MWOs forums right now!

[Monky]

Joseph Mallan, on 30 May 2013 - 08:52 AM, said:

I don't know Monky... The whole of Murphy's Law has moved to New games since Coolant flush. We used to have 3-5 full dropships on our TS3 server every day. Now we are all in Neverwinter, Defiance, and other games.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like coolant flush, and wish they had not opted for it (last thing this game needs is MORE damage/DPS), but while it was strongly opted for in competetive settings, the real game killer is the PPC/Gauss snipefest/poptart fest and lack of other viable options. Combined with generally ineffective fixes for missiles and other weaponry - This kills the hope.

[I am]

They probably just don't have any answers to the questions you want answers to. If they did, I bet they would share them. They keep this ship floating forward one patch of duct tape at a time. Basically, they are making it up as they go. They have no clue how to field your inquiries, what information warfare actually means/is/will be, they don't know how to make meds viable, or whether they want scouts to be scouts or brawlers...... and thus, will ignore answering all of these questions with any meaningful detail. Really, they're probably just hoping they sell a lot of the new camo they just came out with. Have you seen it? I think it may be on sale!

[Joseph Mallan]

I personally love seeing missiles flying through the air! I used to be a heavy User of LRMs. Seeing how they were working a few days ago brought back old feelings. Except I was on the receiving end not the delivery! But it was good seeing that All the weapons were being used.

As for PPC/Gauss combo. I love Gauss, I use a couple PPCs, but I don't play the present Meta... never have.

[Soy]

This is why they're secretive:

[Nicholas Carlyle]

Novakaine, on 30 May 2013 - 08:36 AM, said:

Why?
Because the minute anything is revealed.
Cry-Bombers appear in the skies.
Then the air is filled with cry-bombs and criti-missles.
I for one don't blame PGI.

They fostered this environment by setting high standards in the begining then slowly but surely showing more and more contempt for the community while closing the doors on open communication.

Instead we get things like ATD where they answer the same questions with the same non answers repeatedly. While also giving out bad information at the same time and contradicting their own ATD's from earlier.

And Command Chairs have gone down the same route, as Livewyr said, and even Paul himself has started sniping at the players within the Command Chairs.

If they had been open, and talkative, and communicated plans maybe we wouldn't be at this point.

I mean just look at how ECM went down. They opened up a place for us to give our views, then summarily dismissed them with a 1 page letter. Only to release the BAP upgrades a couple months later, contradicting their viewpoint of ECM being where they want it.

It's just bad juju at this point.

[FupDup]

Joseph Mallan, on 30 May 2013 - 08:59 AM, said:

Lights are supposed to be scouts and harassers.

A whole lot of them are fire-support units, such as the Hollander (I won't mention all of the Clan ones like Mandrill, Cougar, or Adder because you don't seem to count Clan lights when deciding the role of the weight class for some odd reason). Urbanmech can't exactly scout or harass. There are even some dark-age brawler lights with melee that I don't feel like looking up.

Edited by FupDup, 30 May 2013 - 09:27 AM.

[Chavette]

I thought livewyr just left the game for cod.... back already?