38 replies to this topic

[Lostdragon]

Disclaimer: I streamed this to my phone while at work and audio cut out a few times, but I got to hear 90% of it.

After the CW presentation I have to say I am disappointed. I was waiting for this to decide if I would buy Phoenix or not and the answer is definitely not.

First, there was no live demo of UI 2.0, which all out hopes and dreams are pinned on. The demo was a pre-recorded video of Bryan selecting mechs for two minutes. It did not show customization in the mechlab, the social area, or anything of much importance. The filters were nice, but I am very concerned they were not ready to show more. Bryan said it would be on the test server soon and he expected it to go live in about four weeks, I believe. I find it hard to fathom that this feature will be implemented that quickly if they were only able to show us one minor aspect of it.

As far as CW itself, there was not much new info. Most of it was similar to http://mwomercs.com/...mmunity-warfare or things they said in podcasts and interviews. The biggest takeaway I got about CW is that it is still in the concept phase, there has been no work done as far as implementing it into the game. Bryan said it was six months from completion, but I think it has been six months from completion for a year now.

On a positive note, the one major thing they gave some new details about I really liked: Contracts. I thought their ideas behind this were very solid and made a lot of sense. I like that merc corps will have to use a lot of strategy in deciding how to deploy their assets and in what contracts they take. I also like the idea of player specific contracts and bounties, I think that will be a lot of fun.

I guess my major concern at this point is can MWO afford to wait six months for CW? The reviews of the game so far have been pretty critical of not having this feature available yet. What if CW is delayed yet again? I think that is very possible considering that there will be a tremendous amount of work involved in realizing their vision of CW. I like where they are going, but I have serious doubts whether they can realize the vision of CW as outlined in the given time frame. Will the game be able to retain enough players to stay afloat if CW is delayed until the end of 2014 or even into 2015?

What did you think of the presentation? What parts of CW are you looking forward to?

Edited by Lostdragon, 27 September 2013 - 12:00 PM.

[Agent 0 Fortune]

I really liked the presentation, although I have more questions than answers at this point (like do you really have to sit around doing nothing waiting for someone to attack your planet, or do you garison "spare" mechs, and continue to fight. Additionally if we can't find matches now or have seperate queues for 3pv or pugs, how can they expect to have seperate queues for individual planets.

One thing that really scared me was timeline. it sounded like it would be at least a couple months before UI 2.0 arrives. another month before phase 1 CW, then 6 months to CW phase2, and 6 more before it is complete (all estimates). Basically that puts us 2 years out on CW. I like where they are headed, I just had no idea it was that far out.

[Lostdragon]

Agent 0 Fortune, on 27 September 2013 - 11:49 AM, said:

I really liked the presentation, although I have more questions than answers at this point (like do you really have to sit around doing nothing waiting for someone to attack your planet, or do you garison "spare" mechs, and continue to fight. Additionally if we can't find matches now or have seperate queues for 3pv or pugs, how can they expect to have seperate queues for individual planets.

One thing that really scared me was timeline. it sounded like it would be at least a couple months before UI 2.0 arrives. another month before phase 1 CW, then 6 months to CW phase2, and 6 more before it is complete (all estimates). Basically that puts us 2 years out on CW. I like where they are headed, I just had no idea it was that far out.

I think he said CW Phase 1 would launch with UI 2.0, but that phase is just setting up the loyalty system. Phase 2 and 3 are where the real meat is, and they are probably much further out. I was hoping they had been working on CW in conjunction with UI 2.0, but it looks like there has only been minimal work done for it so far.

[Appogee]

I hate to be a pessimist, but if anyone is putting any stock in these latest promises of ''four weeks'' or ''six months'', then frankly that is a triumph of unbridled optimism in the face of sustained evidence to the contrary.

Remember, a month ago, when they were playing down our expectations for launch? PGI said the one thing they would have ready to add at launch would be ''a shop''. And even that wasn't ready...!

This game continually sets new records for how low a bar can be set. And then it misses the bar anyway.

I am sorry to be so negative. But I just so tired of this endless cycle of promises, missed dates and under-delivery. At some point it's an insult to our intelligence as players and customers.

Edited by Appogee, 27 September 2013 - 12:04 PM.

[Lostdragon]

Appogee, on 27 September 2013 - 11:57 AM, said:

I hate to be a pessimist, but if anyone is putting any stock in these latest promises of ''four weeks'' or ''six months'', then frankly that is a triumph of unbridled optimism in the face of sustained evidence to the contrary.

Yeah, meeting deadlines and goals is not PGI's strong suit.

[WarHippy]

Appogee, on 27 September 2013 - 11:57 AM, said:

I hate to be a pessimist, but if anyone is putting any stock in these latest promises of ''four weeks'' or ''six months'', then frankly that is a triumph of unbridled optimism in the face of sustained evidence to the contrary.

Remember, a month ago, when they were playing down our expectations for launch, PGI said the one thing they would have ready to add at launch would be ''a shop''.

Even that wasn't ready...

This game sets new record for how low a bar be set. And then misses them anyway.

I am sorry to be so negative. But I just tired of this endless cycle of promises, missed dates and under-delivery.

Agreed, every goal they mentioned has more or less been made before over the last year, and nothing has come of it. I will believe it when I have it installed and played it.

[Khobai]

CW seems pretty pointless from that presentation. If the only rewards are price decreases and achievements then whats the point? CW doesnt advance my character in any meaningful way.

IMO there needs to be something more tangible, like unique mechs/equipment and a unique skill tree for each faction so each faction plays differently; the more loyalty you get with a faction the more mechs/equipment/skills you should unlock.

Edited by Khobai, 27 September 2013 - 12:15 PM.

[Odins Fist]

Lostdragon, on 27 September 2013 - 10:34 AM, said:

The biggest takeaway I got about CW is that it is still in the concept phase,

I guess my major concern at this point is can MWO afford to wait six months for CW?

This is extremely bad news for MWO.... In 6 months MWO will have missed it's window of opportunity for many, many players.
That is just the reality of the situation.. 2 months would be acceptable for CW and the trickling down of Clan Tech...

It's just too long... Sorry, but it is...

[Lostdragon]

Khobai, on 27 September 2013 - 12:12 PM, said:

CW seems pretty pointless from that presentation. If the only rewards are price decreases and achievements then whats the point? CW doesnt advance my character in any meaningful way.

IMO there needs to be something more tangible, like unique mechs/equipment and a unique skill tree for each faction so each faction plays differently; the more loyalty you get with a faction the more mechs/equipment/skills you should unlock.

Well they did say that Faction loyalty will enable you to join famous units from the lore. They also said losing control of a planet that produces a specific mech or other resource means you will have to buy it on the black market and pay a premium for it. They also mentioned being able to unlock things like access to mechs and customized parts through loyalty.

Another thing they mentioned but did not go into detail on is that you will level up and the level cap will be 60. I am guessing a revamp of the pilot tree will come with this feature and you will unlock content as you level, but that is pure speculation.

[mekabuser]

Unfortunately I expect CW etc to be a failure of imagination monetized.

[Threat Doc]

Lostdragon, on 27 September 2013 - 10:34 AM, said:

What did you think of the presentation? What parts of CW are you looking forward to?

I thought the whole thing was a lot of fun. However, I told NikoSnow and the rest of the moderators, there, who did a fantastic job of keeping the chat '{Richard Cameron}' free, LOL, that whatever I heard during that presentation was going to be a part of my determination of whether or not I will get Armageddon Unlimited back up and running. I've been working on it half-heartedly for a month, now, getting things updated and ready to go for a new batch of MechWarrior's and some returning ones. I also had it set that I would spend $50 on Phoenix and Sabre if what I heard was good.

That being said, I take the existence of my mercenary unit (not merc corps, that's a gimmick of this game and community, it's a unit) in the BattleTech universe VERY VERY seriously. It's super-important to me. PGI is NOT meeting, even remotely or with any brand of depth, my expectations at all. THAT being said, I've learned a LOT about expectation management since the end of October 2011, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

My real concern is about the contracting, which I posted about here, with the long story short that Contracting, especially as it relates to mission types, seems like it's going to be real lean to me. Now, while I liked a LOT of what was said last night, and what was said in NGNG Podcast 88, all three parts, but I am not holding my breath; sorry PGI. On leaving, I told Niko and the rest that PGI had not earned my money for the night.

Even with all of that said, IF PGI can pull this off within, or ahead of, their own current time-frame, then this game will present an unbelievable opportunity. 2,021 worlds in the Inner Sphere, alone, the possibility of many more maps, 'Mechs, and objectives, contracting hopefully somewhere in-line with the Mercenary's Handbook 3055, and at least 845,000 unique accounts, which is still 48x the size of the MechWarrior computer game community at any one time in MechWarrior computer game history. It's still funny to me that, at the height of the tabletop game, over 25,000,000 people were playing that, and the MechWarrior computer games, added all together, and including the community for this one, cannot even touch one-fifth of the tabletop number.

I'm out for the time being, though I intend to keep an eye out on this game.

[Sandpit]

Kay Wolf, on 27 September 2013 - 05:15 PM, said:

I thought the whole thing was a lot of fun. However, I told NikoSnow and the rest of the moderators, there, who did a fantastic job of keeping the chat '{Richard Cameron}' free, LOL, that whatever I heard during that presentation was going to be a part of my determination of whether or not I will get Armageddon Unlimited back up and running. I've been working on it half-heartedly for a month, now, getting things updated and ready to go for a new batch of MechWarrior's and some returning ones. I also had it set that I would spend $50 on Phoenix and Sabre if what I heard was good.

That being said, I take the existence of my mercenary unit (not merc corps, that's a gimmick of this game and community, it's a unit) in the BattleTech universe VERY VERY seriously. It's super-important to me. PGI is NOT meeting, even remotely or with any brand of depth, my expectations at all. THAT being said, I've learned a LOT about expectation management since the end of October 2011, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

My real concern is about the contracting, which I posted about here, with the long story short that Contracting, especially as it relates to mission types, seems like it's going to be real lean to me. Now, while I liked a LOT of what was said last night, and what was said in NGNG Podcast 88, all three parts, but I am not holding my breath; sorry PGI. On leaving, I told Niko and the rest that PGI had not earned my money for the night.

Even with all of that said, IF PGI can pull this off within, or ahead of, their own current time-frame, then this game will present an unbelievable opportunity. 2,021 worlds in the Inner Sphere, alone, the possibility of many more maps, 'Mechs, and objectives, contracting hopefully somewhere in-line with the Mercenary's Handbook 3055, and at least 845,000 unique accounts, which is still 48x the size of the MechWarrior computer game community at any one time in MechWarrior computer game history. It's still funny to me that, at the height of the tabletop game, over 25,000,000 people were playing that, and the MechWarrior computer games, added all together, and including the community for this one, cannot even touch one-fifth of the tabletop number.

I'm out for the time being, though I intend to keep an eye out on this game.

The tabletop game was unique at the time. The major issue with the vid games has always been a transition from tt rules to live action fps. They don't translate well enough for the hardcore btech fans but are still exceptionally complicated for the average player to get. You either wins up with a very true port that's very detailed and complex OR you get a craptastic thing like mech assault which casual players love but tut fans abhor. It's almost like a catch 22 and very hard to balance. With that said pgi has done an exceptional job of failing to find that balance thus far in my opinion and are starting down that slippery slope of catering to the casual gamers while alienating the hardcore players. Right now this game doesn't offer a casual player nearly enough content for retention and spending when compared to other games on the market and doesn't offer any content for the hardcore tt players

[culverin]

It all sounded wonderful, but I don't think they could have been more vague.
At there current pacing I'm not holding my breath.
Phase 1 just sounds like they are laying the groundwork.
It sounds like they should have Phase 3 right off the bat with the start of this game.
And certainly before they introduce clan-tech.


But no, I can pretty much guarantee you they will start selling clan toys before.
The whole point of this was we were supposed to see the Clan invasion unfolding!!!
We wanted to see how the Houses would react.
We wanted to be part of the defense of the Inner Sphere and get some sweet, sweet Clan salvage.


I'm on my 3rd week of this game and I'm already bored with the maps.
2000+ worlds? AMAZING!
But on how many maps?


If PGI can start cranking out 1 high quality map every 3 weeks from now until they launch CW, then they will have my attention.
But unless that happens, it's nothing but lofty promises with no proof they can execute.

[Lightfoot]

From past experience in RP leagues of MW4 a Merc Unit/Faction would challenge for a particular planet and the defending faction would be allowed a few days to a week to defend or forfeit the planet. That is the basic level. The next level is placing the whole Battletech universe up for grabs on an interactive level, but then you can't have the lore timelines, so MWO doesn't need to go this far. The basic level is pretty easy to interface if you have the UI to support this kind of communication input, so hopefully UI 2.0 allows this to be added on.

A chat and Mechlab after you know the planet terrain is also vital to community interaction.

[Sug]

Lostdragon, on 27 September 2013 - 10:34 AM, said:

What did you think of the presentation?

It was a power point presentation on the article I read in PCGamer last year. Other than that it was fine.

[Lukoi Banacek]

http://mwomercs.com/...08#entry2792208

Decent summary to review if you didn't see the thing.

[Sandpit]

Sug, on 27 September 2013 - 08:18 PM, said:

It was a power point presentation on the article I read in PCGamer last year. Other than that it was fine.

Made me laugh and cry at the same time

[Hexenhammer]

Appogee, on 27 September 2013 - 11:57 AM, said:

I hate to be a pessimist, but if anyone is putting any stock in these latest promises of ''four weeks'' or ''six months'', then frankly that is a triumph of unbridled optimism in the face of sustained evidence to the contrary.

Remember, a month ago, when they were playing down our expectations for launch? PGI said the one thing they would have ready to add at launch would be ''a shop''. And even that wasn't ready...!

This game continually sets new records for how low a bar can be set. And then it misses the bar anyway.

I am sorry to be so negative. But I just so tired of this endless cycle of promises, missed dates and under-delivery. At some point it's an insult to our intelligence as players and customers.

But don't worry! PGI Can churn out Hero Mechs like it's nothing!

[Morashtak]

Hate to point out this but...

Planetary warfare and the economy - Having heard of people with 40+ mechs and/or ridiculous amounts of C-bills banked away how does this seriously affect anyone but the very brand new players or those that have not played recently or do not play often due to RL constraints?

For those that have been playing a lot and have everything banked there is no downside; Lose the only Atlas making planet? No problem, already have all the variants in the garage already. Medium laser planet lost? No problem there either. I'll just rip them off any of my 40+ other mechs in the hanger.

Without repair and re-arm or even, dare I say it, total mech destruction and permanent chassis loss there is no downside for a player that already has all this banked away.

But for the new players it's going to be anywhere from an annoyance to a PITA (which leads to game uninstall). And yes, we need new players that stick with the game and spend the occasion MC.

Just wanted to toss that out there for discussion.

[Zolaz]