126 replies to this topic

[Novakaine]

I could deal with everything irritating about this game now.
If we only had lobbies.

Edited by Novakaine, 16 November 2013 - 12:34 PM.

[Xie Belvoule]

Novakaine, on 16 November 2013 - 12:34 PM, said:

I could deal with everything irritating about this game now.
If we only had lobbies.

Theirs a reason they haven't included lobbies, because it would destroy the public que. My unit has 100+ players on during prime time, now imagine we were all playing league games in private lobbies instead of dropping in the public que. Now imagine every Marik unit is in private lobbies playing in the Marik civil war. Ok, now imagine every unit in the game is in their own private lobbies during peak hours, the public que would be a ghost town. See the problem here for PGI, introducing private lobbies would play havoc with the matchmaker and devastate the public que. It would also hurt new player retention as the lack of tutorials means new players rely on veterin unit players to train them. Basically PGI fears private lobbies will lead to units becoming insular and incestious, playing only with themselves or other units, as the core game experience itself is uninteresting and unengaging. PGI is afraid that the community will craft a more engaging community warfare experience then their own, through the use of private lobbies. That is why you don't have lobbies.

P.S. I fully support the introduction of lobbies.

Edited by Xie Belvoule, 16 November 2013 - 01:31 PM.

[MavRCK]

Lobbies aren't the same as private matches.

Lobbies are where players can congregate and communicate with one another.

Private matches are where premade teams can face-off versus one another.

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Lobbies would allow for the ease of development of communities in real time. Log into the game and start chatting with friends. This interaction would promote people to log into the game which ultimately would promote more people to play the game, to spend more on the game and to give a social reason for improve retention to the game.

Private matches would also allow for the ease of development of community-run initiatives such as tournaments, training and whatnot. It fulfills a need for specific matches between groups of players and removes a huge obstacle for the community for run their own initiates - random matchmaking.

Both are good for the community!

[Troggy]

@ MavRCK,

100% Agreed.

Also, in the interim I think it would sufficient to use a match coding system (if people are patient enough to play Proxis, they will use match codes...hahahaha).

I don't think it will kill public queues at all. The 12-man public queue is virtually non-existent already (sync drops for 3rd party leagues dominate), and the 4-man queue is healthy and fun. I know my unit is about 80% 4-man drops and 20% 12-man. That won't change too much with private matches, but it will certainly help the competitive players stay interested and involved. That can only be good for the game.

I have started a suggestion thread again, please drop by and vote/comment. PGIs communication has been better the last month or so, perhaps if we can keep the thread constructive, and build enough interest, they will consider throwing us a bone. I have a feeling they are worried a time investment in something like match codes will be useless if they don't get used. I think we should show them how much interest there would be. It can't hurt, right? I know I don't wanna wait another year or two for private matches. *shudder*

Take a look:
http://mwomercs.com/...28#entry2923228
--
Troggy
Apocalypse Lancers

Edited by Troggy, 16 November 2013 - 01:47 PM.

[Xie Belvoule]

They have said in the past that lobbies and private matches will go hand in hand. I'm simply assuming that if we get lobbies we get private matches. However that won't happen because it interferes with PGIs plans to monetize CW. They can't afford to give the player base the tools to craft a better CW experience then PGIs own community warfare. Your not getting lobbies and private matches because it endangers their plans for CW and threatens to destabilize the matchmaker and deplet the public que's population.

[Troggy]

@ Xie,

This kind of cynism is exhausting. PGI isn't doing this, because people are too busy being unresonably angry to request what they really want.

And, I don't believe your statements are true at all. If they monetize CW, they can monitize private matches at the same time (make premium time a req, or whatever). However, currently PGI gets money from Mech Purchase, Asthetics, and Premium time. An active competitive player base will increase all those things. Leagues like RHOD and Proxis with their mech/tonnage restrictions encouge the purchase of mechs. Being in a unit encourages the purchase of unit colours and patterns. 12-mans encourage consumables and thereby premium time (so you don't lose money). In short PMs and money have NOTHING to do with each other.

Likewise, Lobbies and Private matches are two very different things. PGI may have lumped them together for now, but I am arguing that they could separate private 12-man matches and quickly implement a stop-gap method.
Besides, when community warfare comes around, if they decide that private leagues are killing their $$$, they can de-implement the private matches if they have to (I can virtually guarentee they won't!).

What is preventing them from having PMs already is probably programming time; private matches cost them absolutely nothing except the time to program them (though that is probably not trivial).

I am posting on the forums mostly because I think there is a sufficient user base to warrent a system to get players re-involved in some sort of semi-competitive play, and that it would be worth PGIs time to programme this.
--
Troggy

[Novakaine]

Xie Belvoule, on 16 November 2013 - 01:29 PM, said:

Theirs a reason they haven't included lobbies, because it would destroy the public que. My unit has 100+ players on during prime time, now imagine we were all playing league games in private lobbies instead of dropping in the public que. Now imagine every Marik unit is in private lobbies playing in the Marik civil war. Ok, now imagine every unit in the game is in their own private lobbies during peak hours, the public que would be a ghost town. See the problem here for PGI, introducing private lobbies would play havoc with the matchmaker and devastate the public que. It would also hurt new player retention as the lack of tutorials means new players rely on veterin unit players to train them. Basically PGI fears private lobbies will lead to units becoming insular and incestious, playing only with themselves or other units, as the core game experience itself is uninteresting and unengaging. PGI is afraid that the community will craft a more engaging community warfare experience then their own, through the use of private lobbies. That is why you don't have lobbies.

P.S. I fully support the introduction of lobbies.

I believe quite the opposite.
1. I do not believe it would destroy the public que based on the fact there are plenty of pug or lone wolves if you will to fill it.
2. Lobbies would allow for new player training and retention will out the frustration dying in 3 minutes and not learning to fight and pilot a mech.
3. Private lobbies would allow for inter-faction training and rivalries.
4. Lobbies would take some pressure off of PGI and their game development cycle.
5. Lobbies would give the player base something to do until community warfare finally emerges.
6. Lobbies would allow the player base to set goals and have a sense of accomplishment besides the endless grind.
7. Lobbies does not have to be a permanent feature, only until CW emerges.

Edited by Novakaine, 16 November 2013 - 04:18 PM.