14 replies to this topic

[zazz0000]

How are newcomers supposed to figure this thing out? Aside from reading forum posts and such, and good ol' trial/error approach?

And from the point of view of someone who's unfamiliar with the game's iffy meta, what does this mechanic sound like?

[FupDup]

Unfortunately, they'll probably have to figure it out by dying horribly several times via overheating.

[Johnny Reb]

FupDup, on 16 July 2013 - 10:58 PM, said:

Unfortunately, they'll probably have to figure it out by dying horribly several times via overheating.

To bad prolly this.

[GingerBang]

But who will tell them that 3 large lasers generates more heat than 2 large lasers and 1 ER large laser? The children must know!! Why doesn't PGI think of the children!!??!

[Gamgee]

As others have said, the hard way.

[xenoglyph]

It doesn't really matter how it affects them. If they stick around longer than a few days then they're masochists like we are and they'll put up with anything, lol

[GingerBang]

xenoglyph, on 16 July 2013 - 11:06 PM, said:

It doesn't really matter how it affects them. If they stick around longer than a few days then they're masochists like we are and they'll put up with anything, lol

Why does good IP go to bad people?

[Vassago Rain]

GingerBang, on 16 July 2013 - 11:10 PM, said:

Why does good IP go to bad people?

Money, my dear boy.

[FupDup]

GingerBang, on 16 July 2013 - 11:04 PM, said:

But who will tell them that 3 large lasers generates more heat than 2 large lasers and 1 ER large laser? The children must know!! Why doesn't PGI think of the children!!??!

[xRatas]

Like I posted before, I'd fully expect this to cause a lot of frustration for new players. There is really nothing intuitive in this system (extra heat values are rather random), so figuring it out is rather impossible without a lot of trial and error or digging through forums.

One of the things that certainly make people leave games is that they can not get grasp of what's really happening. If we need to give new players 3rd person view so they can play, what chances do they have to figure out heat system, minimum and maximum ranges, XL engine weakness, ECM, BAP, module in general, and stuff like that? People, who can not figure out how to drive a vehicle with rotating viewpoint unless seeing it from outside, sure have patience to figure out all this?

Would still like to see this game succeed, but all these crazy tries of getting into balance sure make believing hard.

Edited by xRatas, 17 July 2013 - 03:03 AM.

[Samurai Pumpkin]

I'd recommend giving them a popup whenever they are fitting more weapons that could exceed the heat threshold. Also give them an option to "never show again" that could be reset when going into options.

[Booran]

in-game pop-up (optional) when overheat occurs, to explain the mechanic

[jozkhan]

If what we have been told (during the 3rd person vote) is true that the 'silent majority' of players never visit the forum then the awful truth is new players have NO WAY of knowing about this and:

due to the fact the system doesnt make sense even when you know about it

AND

Is totally arbitrary by weapon type

AND

is not in mechlab either (and spare me the 'UI 2.0 coming soon' line)

AND

Testing grounds give different results to actual play

AND

TRIAL MECHS are the most gimped of all

The most enlightened of the new players will assume it's some kind of bug. Considering we're in beta n all. Most will rage quit, which was already a 'new player experience' problem before this 'feature' was introduced.

On top of all of that, as if it isnt enough it has also created a disparity in playing ability between those that understand the 'new system' enough (i.e. that its broken and fully exploitable) to gain a significant playing advantage over those that don't (new players mostly, plus those of us that dont want to play cheese etc)

Thus 'THE GREAT NOOB MASSACRE OF 2013' began...

In an apparent attempt to administer first aid to the game, Paul has put a bullet in its head.

Edited by jozkhan, 17 July 2013 - 04:30 AM.

[MustrumRidcully]

PGI just has to avoid giving noobs mechs that fall into any of the pitfalls of this game.
No Trial or starter mechs for them that use alpha-limited weapons beyond their alpha limit, no mechs that use single heat sinks. It shouldn't be too bad...

On the plus side, they can tell their grand children: "Back in our days, weapons generated unpredictable amounts of heat, and we didn't have heat sinks, and we had to walk uphill both ways, but no more than 45°, and we liked it. You kids have it too easy."

[Stoicblitzer]

MustrumRidcully, on 17 July 2013 - 07:30 AM, said:

On the plus side, they can tell their grand children: "Back in our days, weapons generated unpredictable amounts of heat, and we didn't have heat sinks, and we had to walk uphill both ways, but no more than 45°, and we liked it. You kids have it too easy."

lmfao