Let's Revamp Mwo

So some people in my corp were complaining about / discussing patch notes and future plans for MWO, so I thought I'd write some mock-up patch notes myself of things I would like to see changed with the game. They were very well received on my corp's boards, so I thought I would share them here.

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Hello MechWarriors! We're very excited to announce some new and upcoming changes to MechWarrior Online. We realize that our initial design documents for the game appealed only to a small and "hardcore" crowd in the MMO market. Instead, we're going to be drastically starting over (again!) with our progression and player life progression. After realizing our player retention time was rather low, we have come to the conclusion after all these months that we needed to do something different. Since we know you value your game experience, and players will play what's fun, we've made some adjustments to the game that will bring it up to par with its competitors.

'Mech Progression
Some people felt the game was very "pay to win." We have decided that allowing players to purchase any variant with real money was not the way to go about this.

From now on, players will start with a base Commando, Trebuchet, Dragon, and Awesome variant in their 'Mech garages. After players have played 10 matches, they will unlock the ability to customize their 'Mechs.
As players play with their 'Mechs, they can unlock new weapons in those weapon classes for players to purchase with C-Bills. For example, if you gain 20 kills with your AC-2, you will be able to unlock AC-5s for purchase. After 30 kills, UAC-5s will become available for unlocking on that specific 'Mech variant. 50 kills, AC-10s; 80 kills, AC-20s and finally at 150 kills, Gauss Rifles. These are tentative numbers, we'll probably raise them to something higher so that players feel like they legitimately have earned access to these weapons and have plenty of time to familiarize themselves with all the weapons. We will be doing something similar for energy and missile weapons, as well as other components. We may base progression for other equipment off of team play objectives to encourage teamwork, such as bases captured.
To unlock additional variants, players can "prestige" their 'Mechs by unlocking all available weapons and systems for their 'Mechs. This will melt down the current variant along with all of its equipment. Using the Commando as an example, if you started with a base COM-1D, after unlocking all available weapons for it, you could unlock the COM-2D, destroying your COM-1D in the process. The COM-2D now becomes available for purchase using C-Bills.
As some players may find this line of progression too tiresome, any piece of equipment can be unlocked for MC, but must be purchased for C-Bills. We don't want players to feel that others will be gaining an unfair advantage on them because of money spent on the game. We only want to monetize MWO as a convenience, it will never give you an advantage in a match.
Any 'Mech can be made a "hero" or "champion" 'Mech for a reasonable amount of MC for a week or month.
We will be introducing a clan war map. Clan Wars give everyone an opportunity to become the conqueror of the world. Create a clan and unite with other players to compete on the Global Map of ~~World of Tanks~~ MechWarrior Online. Show the tactical and strategical finesse of your clan and receive ~~gold~~ MC benefit for retention of territories. Don't let slip your chance to struggle for the world supremacy!

To usher in a fair chance for all players, all 'Mechs will be wiped and the MC refunded. C-Bills spent will be lost. We are sorry for any inconvenience. Founders who have already activated their premium time will not be refunded.

'Mech Equipment
We have taken feedback from players on what we think would be interesting weapons and equipment to add to the game. These are well within the canon of BattleTech - we want players to feel immersed in this rich universe.

Riot shields - we felt that players in Assault 'Mechs didn't actually feel like they were able to absorb more damage. Thus, we've added energy riot shields as an equippable weapon to an Assault 'Mech's arm(s). Equipping this will take up all slots in that arm, but while it is active will nullify all incoming fire, regardless of source or magnitude. Other weapons cannot be used while the riot shield is equipped.
Throwing javelins - many players have asked for a ballistic weapon capable of knocking out an enemy 'Mech in one shot. Each Javelin takes up a ton, but not a ballistic slot, and is gone once used until the end of the match. In order to balance out running nothing but javelins, a maximum of three will be able to be equipped per 'Mech. Since we know our players love to make their 'Mech feel more like "theirs," we will allow players to purchase skins to change their javelins into swords or toilets, with potentially more options down the road. These will be a one-time purchase.
Smoke grenades - players will be able to equip smoke launchers in their ballistic slots. Thermal vision will be able to see through smoke, of course.
Recon drones - these drones will be deployed directly from 'Mechs. The MechWarrior will be transferred control of the remote drone to fly around the map and spot other 'Mechs with. For defense, they will be equipped with twin machine guns.
Remote cameras - These are small, permanently cloaked cameras that can be dropped. They provide radar coverage within 150 meters of the camera, and allow the MechWarrior to see the camera directly in their cockpit. They can be destroyed with direct fire.
All of the previous modules unlocked with general pilot EXP are now available in the shop, along with the rest of the equipment. Their C-Bill and MC price will reflect the effectiveness and previous difficulty in earning.

Weapon adjustments
We feel the weapon balance is not very good right now. We are proposing these changes:

We feel that LRMs are too accurate and lack counter-play. The lock-on time will be increased by two seconds, and players will be able to roll out of the way of LRMs.
SRMs are too strong up close, so they will now have a 60 meter activation range.
Ballistics will remain as is, but gain a significant velocity buff.
Laser weapons will do much less damage, as they have no ammo.

Unstoppable Bonuses
We have noticed a problem with players "camping" in matches, delaying them. To keep things more intuitive and the battle fluid, we will be rewarding MechWarriors who score successive kills in a match. Remember that all numbers are subject to tuning!

2 kills - recon plane. A recon plane will fly around the map, revealing all enemies for five minutes.
4 kills - artillery strike. Players will bring up their battle map, and choose 4 squares to be filled with artillery fire for 20 seconds.
6 kills - wolf pack. A dropship will arrive, unloading 6 RVN-2X 'Mechs equipped with primarily flamers. These 'Mechs have greatly reduced armor, but will seek out enemy 'Mechs (prioritizing 'Mechs that have moved the least lateral distance that map) and burn them to death.
8 kills (12-mans only) - guided missile. A missile will fly down from orbit, instantly coring one 'Mech, randomly chosen. 'Mechs deemed under sufficient overhead cover will not be vulnerable or considered in the RNG. This is intended to allow the winning team a glorious victory in a 12 man game, if one 'Mech is carrying the match.
All of our artillery and reconnaissance consumables have been removed from the shop. Again, we wouldn't want the game to become "pay to win."

Perks
Players may be familiar with pilot skills, unlockable on specific 'Mechs, granting bonuses like small boosts to turn speed or acceleration. Only our most hardcore players who were fans of previous MechWarrior games truly appreciated these, so we've decided to overhaul the system to appeal to our target audience (you guys!). Abilities will be unlocked after 100 matches, and players can choose which ones they want. These perks can then be purchased for C-Bills or MC for specific 'Mech variants. Here's what we have on the drawing board right now:

Veteran Killer - When targetting a 'Mech, component health will be listed in a percentage next to the component's name.
Cold Fusion - Cools down your 'Mech's reactor and adds stealth plating. Your 'Mech will take significantly longer to be "scouted" when targetted for the first time by an enemy, and almost completely disappear off thermal vision.
LosTech Weapons - your weapons will do 20% extra damage.
Advanced Servos - all movement characteristics of the 'Mech (acceleration, cruising speed, stopping speed, twisting, turning, etc) will be raised by 10%.
Masterwork Armor - Your 'Mech's armor will gain 10% extra effective HP on each component that it is applied to.
Trigger Happy - All weapons' cooldowns are reduced by 15%.
Reserve Rounds - Once your 'Mech depletes all available ammunition for a ballistic or missile weapon, it can fire one additional salvo before being truly empty. For energy weapons, they may fire once without generating heat if your 'Mech is over 97% heat.

Obviously, these add a lot of power, and since we don't want veteran players crushing new players under foot only one will be equippable at a time.

Cosmetics
We have decided to take a new artistic direction with our cosmetics! We're still waiting on a formal announcement from the art team, but here's some snippits!

Weapon cosmetics - we talked about this with the javelins, but we will be putting cosmetic skins for weapons into the game. You can color your weapons differently - want red large lasers, so as to confuse your enemy? Sure! Maybe a different color for each weapon to fire a rainbow? Why not! These will also be available for other weapons. For example, instead of launching a standard LRM, you can pay to have your LRM leave a trail of red, white and blue.
Custom decals - for a small fee, players can apply custom decals to their 'Mechs. These are of course subject to screening by trusted by PGI staff.
Cockpit replacements - change the look of your entire cockpit with unique variations!
Existing camo schemes and paints will remain as they are. Prices of colors will be reduced, but now must be bought per-variant. This is to fit in with our new progression model.
MechWarrior cosmetics - no longer will you look down to see the same drab MechWarrior every match. You can pay MC to change your skin ethnicity and gender, as well as clothing. By default, every MechWarrior will be a white male.

Matchmaking & UI, misc
Additionally, we want to overhaul the matchmaker and UI, as well as the cameras.

For our cameras, we're going to use both first and third person for 'Mechs. First person will allow players to aim using a reticule, and see all relevant information to their 'Mech such as component health and ammunition. Switching to third person will allow the MechWarrior to see more, as well as spot any 'Mechs they can see regardless of position relevant to your 'Mech. For example, if you were to look around a building with third person and see an Atlas, you could scout that and relay the information to your team.
In order to ease new players into the game, we will be replacing the "find match" button with "find beginner match" so they are not intimidated about queueing solo. This has no effect on the actual matchmaking.
We believe that the only way to improve at something is to challenge yourself, so we have added preferential matchmaking for parties. If your party contains less than the amount needed to fill a match, you will be matched against a full group if possible. Teamwork and communication makes for strong teams, so we want to balance difficulty around coordination and organization. If you have enough players in your party to fill a whole team in a match, you will be more likely to be matched against other full parties if available; otherwise, you will be matched against disorganized players. We believe that communities are what will keep this game thriving in the long run.

And that's it! We're really excited with the new direction we're taking with the game, and feel it will breathe a lot of life into the game.
- The MechWarrior® Online™ Team

What do you think guys?

Edited by westy543, 26 August 2013 - 02:41 PM.

Let's Revamp Mwo

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