24 replies to this topic

[Reno Blade]

Hey Rash, maybe your way to start this post could have been different.
How about a "tutorial" in the new player section?
This is not really the best place or best way to help newbies, as you described, if you don't offer help in your post.

[42and19]

It's not the gauss mechanics that hurt new players. It's the stupid trials that run gauss rifles. They really need to do a pass on those champions and make them more new player friendly.

[Agentpony]

Rashkae, on 10 November 2013 - 06:34 AM, said:

Since MWO has ZERO useful training scenarios for newbies, what I regularly see is a newbie who jumped into the Trial atlas and does not fire a SINGLE gauss round. Why? Because they have no idea how to use the charge up, and all weapons are in group 1.

You will never be able to teach a "newb" the peculiarities of equipment through tutorials. MWO isnt exactly complex, and still you have so many different things to look out for which can only be learnt through effort, work and asking around. I do agree though that MWO suffers from the modern days´ game pest that is called "no centralized, developer driven documentation".

You describe the Gauss as being unfriendly, but I actually think its concept is relatively easy.
Charge, wait for the chime, shoot. The only real trouble is aiming it during the fire window. Other than that, it is pretty straightforward, and can be understood by ANYONE who puts in a bit of effort within a few shots (note: "understanding" does not mean "used successfully" ).

Personally, I find it much harder to get a grip on all the different weapon ranges, out-of-range rules, and the complex interaction ECM+BAP+target lock-on+missile behaviour. Add to that the complexity of heat management, pinpoint vs. sustainable DPS, modules, engine ratings, situational awareness and weapon placement... you´d need a 5 hour guided tutorial with gameplay demonstration, videos and flipcharts to really show the "newb" all of the possible consequences. Who´s going to sit through THAT?

The learning curve in MWO is somewhat longer than in an action-driven game, and you will NEVER get rid of that without dumbing down the gameplay for all, period. If people are not willing to discover at lest some aspects of a game by themselves, they will never be successful no matter how much you hold their hand.

Quote

Please PGI, there are many better ways of "balancing" things than creating ridiculous things like charge times, ghost heat, etc. You guys just keep applying band-**** instead of fixing the issue properly.

Ah, there it is, the token "balancing is easy if you´d just do the right thing" comment.

We can argue all day long about what the best way to go forward is. In practise, NO balancing will be without consequences, and all of them will introduce other complications to what we have right now. I have my own thoughts on what would be a "better" way to balance the game (much of it would increase the complexity ten-fold).

The thing is, with all its bad and not-yet-resolved aspects, I think PGI has adopted a workable solution for now in keeping incremental balancing focused on individual equipment, instead of giving a comprehensive "meta-balance" system where changing Aspect A will influence everything else B-Z.

Edited by Agentpony, 16 November 2013 - 12:56 AM.

[HATER 1]

The failed attempt to balance, or give different flavor to, or whatever the logic was for the gauss, can tested in the training grounds.

its completely counter intuitive operation is laid bare for all to macro away.

[SgtMaster]

think this thread belongs in the Feature suggestion or game balance threads,
not patch feedback as this was done some time ago...