7
Podcast here: http://www.nogutsnog...opic,936.0.html
Part I: http://mwomercs.com/...y-part-1-notes/
Part II: http://mwomercs.com/...y-part-2-notes/
Disclaimer: these are the notes I've taken from the Bryan Eckman trilogy part 3. These are just the things that I wrote down, and may not be perfectly accurate, but hopefully you'll be able to get the information you're looking for. If not, listen! Please don't condemn me if I mess up a little. I'm not a professional note-taker! Don't ask me about details. LISTEN to the interview if something is unclear. Understand, especially in this hour of interview, I had to paraphrase what was said because few of the questions were straight up yes/no questions. The answers were VERY long and meandering. If I biased my notes, it was with the intent to get the information out clearly without information loss. MY tone of script isn't the same as Bryan's tone of voice, if you catch my drift. So, before you argue about what Bryan means to say, I'd listen to the podcast so that you're quoting Bryan and not Peiper-channeling-Bryan.
[EDIT: anything in a box like this is my personal question/comments, not part of/answered in the interview. - Peiper]
Duncan Fisher, the man you want.
Choice of weight limits in drops? Yes, in private matches.
Servers cost money, and servers must be dedicated both to private and public matches.
Once that hardware stuff is ready, team leaders will be able to set up 12 v 12 matches.
Premium account holders will be able to set up matches with several options available to them. tonnage, choice of maps, game mode, time limits - anything that the matchmaker can be fed.
[EDIT: what is a premium account?]
Will there be more events like piranha hunts? They have the tech to set up a time bracket during which PGI guys will be playing, and if you kill them, the killer will be awarded with a cockpit item/prize or something put into your account via said trigger.
Ever have a video version of ask the devs/interviews? The PGI guys are already busy enough. They'd love to do this, but they need to get the game out.
In the balance between work and chatting with the community, they can only do so much!
How does Bryan feel about PGI's community interaction? He feels they communicate a lot, and like Russ, they say what they're thinking, and like humans, they make mistakes and change their minds.
Other than Garth, everyone at PGI are FULL TIME employees whose job it is to get the game out: so, if they don't communicate perfectly, it's because they're job is to create the game first, talk second.
When a change gets made seemingly without communication, it's because they're working so hard to get the game going, they go silent. 3rd person is an example. They would have pre-empted it with announcements and explanations if they had the time, but they were freakin busy making MWO!
Bryan, Russ and the gang are as candid with the community as possible, but while communication COULD be better, they can't please everyone all the time.
[edit: this is a paraphrase, if you want Bryan's exact words, listen to the podcast]
Phil talks about ideal expectations for MWO versus realistic expectations, and asks:
What IS MWO?
Bryan: common elements: you should feel that you're piloting a giant war machine, and that your skill will determine the outcome of the game, players should feel part of the universe and that every player should feel that they contributed.
It matters what planets a player/team picks to attack. It matters that your team/faction does well.
Amazing strategy, compelling engagements, and what it means to be a Mechwarrior, and how it feels to actually pilot a mech.
They got the mech/pilot FEEL right, now he wants to make the game so that what they do in that mech and in a team MATTERS.
Phil talks about the highs and lows of being part of all the highs and lows of the development of the game.
We as players are SEEING/part of a game being developed AS it's developed.
Bryan: The players are SEEING what may not normally be in the public eye, so we see some of the dirty with the glamore.
It is new for PGI, because previously they had a publisher as a go-between. As players, the struggles PGI has are similar/mirrors of what PGI goes through.
And through it all, consumer/player loyalty has been amazing.
The numbers of people who have been playing since the beginning, along with the number of matches (1000s) that players have played is staggering.
[Player retention numbers are healthy.]
THE CLAN INVASION
Omni-mechs? Goal, not to invalidate all the current content (mechs) with new tech.
Will play with tonnage limits and some lore concepts. Not going follow TTop to the T.
"This game is an interpretation of the Battletech Universe. It HAS to be, because it is NOT the tabletop game." -Bryan, direct quote
Timberwolf has been designed, using it as a prototype on how the mechlab works with omnimechs.
Once CW is finished, Clan stuff will be worked on including:
If players can join/switch factions to a clan, and joining a clan will have consequences. [We're all IS pilots until then, so CW will launch without the option to be a clanner, and the choice will be given when the clans are brought out as playable factions, and it will be 'an event.']
How do hardpoints compare with omnimech design? Omnimechs in TT have things that can be changed about them, and things that are set, like engine size, armor value and type, etc... [in TT, inner sphere mechs cannot be changed at all, unlike in MWO where we can change a great deal.]
In MWO (this is not final) its easy to adjust/set engine size, but they're more concerned about firepower and balancing that with the metagame. [EDIT: the rest of the answer is gobbledeegook]
Mix-tech? There is no final answer. They'll try a free market system first and see what that allows (internal and in public test), might be managed through the economy, rather than mechlab rules.
Faction specific mechs: Factions will have access and/or discounts to certain mechs, and a black market will give you access to the rest. But this can be circumvented by time/grinding, so they'll have to think more about it.
Rare/unique items/camo/stuff? Medallions only available to launch attendies as an example, but there will also be items available by only [grinding] and achievements.
Example: Sharpshooter achievement, get 10,000 kills and you get **** medallion that has more than looks, it has a passive benifit like a +% C-bill or loyalty bonus when equipped.
Also you might get stuff for participating in historical events. [Battle of Twycross?]
What about unique mechs for tournaments?
Maybe earn the ability to join Wolf's Dragoons faction. To do so, earn 100% loyalty in all five houses, and that achievement will allow you to join the Wolf's Dragoons. Reward: pattern and colors for your mech.
Repair/Rearm return? No, near impossible to balance, especially punitive to new players.
Looking at a concept similar for veteran players/micromanagement stuff WAY off in the future.
Economy notes: they will not allow players to gift/trade gear/mechs. Reason, gotta make money, so players inventories will remain personal (FtP model)
There will be Merc Corps assets though (jointly owned).
Dropships, options to upgrade bases on planets you control, stuff to install on planet with c-bill costs to build/maintain/repair.
Also, merc corps will have to assign members to hold various planets, and that roster determines who is available to defend.
Ejection? In the backlog.
Faction specific mech variants and/or schemes? Yes, definitely on different costs to factions.
Probably not faction RESTRICTED mechs, but definitely different prices depending on factions/achievements/loyalty, etc...
Loyalty, achievements and stuff WILL unlock skins/colors of various house/canon units.
Note: mechs cost $50-80,000 to create, each, before marketing, so they don't want to limit the market for a mech to one segment of the player population.
Auto-refill consumables? Yes, UI 2.0.
Dx11? Going well, currently focusing on it, public tests in September.
What does Dx11 do? Performance boosts for Windows 8 users, and some visual fidelity perks. Will allow more options for user.
VOIP/C3? They want to do full integration in the game. Bryan thinks its cool for new players, but most people/units use their own coms.
Before they get back to VOIP, they will work on a command wheel for drops. (attack my target/waypoints, stuff like that)
Regional/international servers soon? 3 areas: Russia (closed region), Europe, Austrialasia.
Also considering the problems of sharding the population, having player/server information carry over to other shards/servers. Working on it right now.
Will players be region locked? Bryan wants what might not be possible: for regional servers to be available so players can play in their own language (like an all German server), but not be restricted to playing only in Germany. But Russian servers/providers, for example, will want Russians to ONLY play on Russian servers and stipulate that in any contract.
Also, time zones will have to be considered for CW.
Thank yous. Bryan loves conversations over perfectly worded dev posts [EDIT: and so do I.]
Happy Sarah Jenner thoughts.
Phil, Daeron, Bryan and NGNG. Thanks for making this possible. Peace, Peiper
A request: It took me a long time to put all these notes together for all the interviews. Please keep the comments and discussion below civil and objective. If you're going to rant, make it constructive, instructive, thoughtful and respectful. Thank you.
Edited by Peiper, 07 September 2013 - 12:17 PM.
