stjobe, on 16 June 2013 - 02:12 AM, said:
Paul Inoye, July 17, 2012:
(
http://mwomercs.com/...is-when-needed/)
MechWarrior Online is being designed to put you the player in the seat of the pilot. It is 100% first person view only. Being the pilot is one of our key design pillars and 3rd person breaks that pillar on multiple levels as seen in many of the other 3rd Person discussions.
We will investigate 3rd person in the far off distance for special game settings, but this is very far off in the distance.
While we appreciate those who enjoy 3rd person, MWO will be 1st person out of the gate and in the near future.
-Paul
Lead Designer
Bryan Ekman, June 14, 2013:
There will be two modes Normal and Hardcore (FPV) only. We anticipate most players will play the first mode leaving the hardcore mode for the those wanting a challenge. 3PV will be going onto test servers in the next 60 days and we’ll see how it goes from there.
[...]
The plan is to have scheduled matches will be FPV only, since these will be performed between Merc. Units. Regular matches will follow the above rules (Normal/Hardcore).
[...]
Probably not, however we’re going to emphasize that both view modes are essential to a well-rounded experience, with FPV being something that you use if you are a true sim-head.
So...
From "100% first-person view only" and "3rd person in the far off distance for special game settings" to "We anticipate most players will play the first mode" and "FPV being something that you use if you are a true sim-head" in just under a year.
And the thing that really has me questioning if they've completely gone off their rockers: "TT is just a guideline and not really applicable to a realtime simulation".
What happened to "we want to stay as close to TT as possible"?
Really PGI. Go back and re-read your dev blogs. That's the game you promised us and got us to spend our founder's money for. That's the game you should strive to deliver.
You and I have disagreed on some things in the pass stjobe but I see eye to eye with you on this one. This quote here "
"TT is just a guideline and not really applicable to a realtime simulation". Does he not know that since he has made the switch from 1PV to 3PV as the primary mode that this game is
no longer a realtime simulation game since simualation games do NOT have 3PV as a mode of play??
How as a game devloper can you change the entire scope of your game after getting such a good review as this from PC Gamer Magazine #233 DEC 2012:
The following is directly copyed word for word from the review, I have bold, italic and underlined key parts of this review that spelled out very clearly what PGI got right but have now thrown out the window..........
"MechWarrior Online preserves the variable armor, modular damage system, location-based hardpoints, slow reloads, heat management, and throttle response of its grandparent game. They're all modeled in a way that fells modern but familiar. And thank goodness: these are the organs that make MechWarrior pump.
After month spent in MWO's closed beta, I've found it to be a great deal more than a nostalgic fling. The meat and potatoes that makes MechWarrior work is totally intact. Any given session feels like a 16 person boxing match with every weight class thrown into the ring. Awesomes and Atlases pick on pesky Jenners, who perform hit-and-run. Catapults exploit the long reach of their LRMs. Assault mechs stand their ground and swing in heavy weight slugfests, trading haymakers until someone falls down.
The beta is low on bells and whistles, but it makes some smart, simple changes to classic mechanics. Traditionally, blasting a mech's leg off has been an arguably easier way to bring it down. MWO removes "legging" as it once existed: losing a leg doesn't kill you. But this actually makes the tactic more meaningful: it's the only way to take away an enemy's speed. Because MWO is the first time Mechwarrior has been a free-to-play, multiplayer-only game,
Piranha is keen to shut down any paths of least resistance that might be available throught exploitative mech customization or easy aiming. The experience of fighting from a cockpit distinguishes MechWarrior from other games. Being locked behind a laser-resistent window is mildly disorienting in MWO exactly as it should be. A third-person camera only appears when you've collided with another mech hard enought to fall down, or if you've died. I'm less happy with the window-dressing.
Your pilot's hands rest statically on the throttle and joystick as you decelerate and turn. And while there's a freelook command to inspect panels, they don't currently offer much valuable information. While these coclpit aesthetics don't currently meet the standard for "futuristic trucker cabin" I associate with MechWarrior,
being forced first-person puts you in a situation that demands and rewards battlefield awareness in a way that's on par with Counter-Strike or Tribes: Ascend. Spotting either through the built-in mechanic, or by having an eye good enough to faint heat signatures over infrared is key, because enemies only apper on your radar when you or and ally have line of sight. If a Huchbackflanks around an office building to attack you from behind, the only alert you'll have that it's there is the camera whiplash as its Autocannon 20 rings your bell.
Remember when Darth Vader mutters "I have you now" at the end of Episode IV? Being behind an enemy without them knowing feels like that.
MOW's detection mechanics are near-perfect in the way that they emphasize vision as a skill while leaving plenty of holes for flanking. And with that in place, strategy and individual responsibilty is made as necessary as it might be in, say, Dota 2 wanderion offis a sin. A lot of that is owed to the inertia of mechs. If you jog into a pack of enemies, it's going to be tough to reverse throttle, turn, and flee without getting killed."
Edited by CutterWolf, 16 June 2013 - 07:23 PM.