44 replies to this topic

[babadude71]

Hi everyone,

I have been playing this game now for about 3 days, i have read through various threads in the forums for new players and done the tutorial and visited the training grounds, and spoken to some other new players and experienced players.

This is what i think and some questions :-

First off the graphics are really good and the design on the mech's is awesome

Extremely disappointed that the only goal in the game is to collect mechs and c-bills, xp and gxp by a mundane method of 3 game modes which become boring after you have done them a few times each.

Concerned that players can be so abusive and brag that reporting a player results in nothing done so you can say and do as you please without any real concern, or worry about being banned.

New players being put into matches where they are fighting against experienced players (who then verbally abuse you for being a new player and letting the team down because you got killed), so the first experience i have had is how to die a lot and get very frustrated that about 1 out of 20 people will try to give advice on how to play.

I tried to find a community to join and play with, clicked on the community tab and was faced with a wall of NGNG, and no other mention of any other gaming community within MWO so i can only assume that there aren't any and ngng is the only one.

Game play and movement is good, not sure about the purpose of that 3rd person view drone, it does nothing but let the enemy know excactly where you are, that red blinking thing can be seen from across the map even if the mech is not visible, you can see that blinking red light just fine.

I tried the training grounds and that is just a joke, stationary targets with no A.I movement just doesnt wash for me as a training grounds, pathetic really so it would be nice to be able to try different weapon load outs without actually having to buy the weapons first.

The tutorial just lol.

As a new player i dont feel as though there is enough in game help to explain what does what, why and how, and the general feel that i get from other players is not very good certainly nothing to be proud about.


Some questions:-

Are the long range missiles supposed to avoid contact with the floor by suddenly changing direction and continuing to fly across the ground?

Are ballistic and PPC rounds supposed to go straight through enemy mechs without damaging them?

Is there a comprehensive system in place to prevent hacking like aimbot etc?

Is that the best tutorial and training area that the game has to offer or are there others i havent seen yet?

Is it true that no matter how abusive you are and no matter how many times you kill your team mates it's not likely to get you banned?

Is there a team monitoring this type of behavior and helping to prevent it?

I can only presume this game is still in beta due to the lack on real content, is that correct?

Is the game matching mechanism working, because i find it hard to believe that the matching mechanism will put completely new players up against seasoned players? it is completely demoralizing and makes me feel like un-installing the game and finding something else to play.

I could go on but i have just seen how long this is so i will finish up.........

Overall first impressions, its fun for about the first hour of playing then it becomes a bore, as for spending real money on something that feels like it is not complete or working properly, i dont think i will be doing that.
If someone were to ask me if it was worth playing i would have to say not really unless you like playing unfinished games that are at the stage of rinse and repeat grinding.

The only feeling i get out of this at the moment is that im wasting my time because its not how i have perceived this game to be given the hype this game was having from the developers videos.

I cant see me or many other new players continuing to play this game because of the way new players are treated, and i get the feeling that the development team don't want to waste their time making this game attractive for new players to stick around, it just feels so incomplete and thrown together by some students hoping it will get them a pass for their diploma.
And that comment was about as harsh as new players are treated and the help available to them.

[Sandpit]

I'm in between drops so I'll address the first part. If you're looking for a group then join the teamspeak server. There's always pugs looking for games. You'll generally do a bit better and get quicker advice and tips on builds, game play, etc.

[Firenze]

Quote

Are the long range missiles supposed to avoid contact with the floor by suddenly changing direction and continuing to fly across the ground?

That might have been a glitch if you saw that. LRMs are like homing artillery. Arc through the air and hit primarily from above. They have a minimum range of 180metres (the missiles have to arm themselves) and a max of 1000m.

Quote

Are ballistic and PPC rounds supposed to go straight through enemy mechs without damaging them?

That is lag and HSR issues. Currently they are attempting to fix the best they can, but best way to get around it is just to stay cool if it happens, line up the next shot and keep plugging away. No need to fret about one unlucky hit.

Quote

Is there a comprehensive system in place to prevent hacking like aimbot etc?

I dont actually think there is an aimbot atm. That said, alot of the experienced snipers like myself have learned to target weaker areas of mechs with alot more precision. Its something you will learn in time more than anything.

Quote

Is that the best tutorial and training area that the game has to offer or are there others i havent seen yet?

Have a look on the site too, the in game one is a bit more for just learning the basic controls easier. There is some good tutorial videos on the site. And remember, practice makes perfect.

Quote

I can only presume this game is still in beta due to the lack on real content, is that correct?

TECHINCALLY it has had a release. I personally dont count it as one, more a milestone than anything. There is more coming which is in the works, so its just a matter of time. I remember when Hawken was just 'released' and then got substantially better after a while. This hopefully is gonna happen here too.

On the topic of Units and community, NGNG is a great place to get to the hub of the community, which you are able to join them on Teamspeak. However you can also join units, like the Mercenary group I am in The Remnant. They can help you learn to play better, learn mech building techniques, learn maps, and maybe even get you good enough to take part in the unofficial leagues such as 'Run Hot Or Die' or 'Marik Civil War'.

In terms of people being harsh, its a competitive game, and some people get mean. Best way is to just ignore them. I was rubbish once too, and got shouted at alot. Now I get to play in league drops with my team sometimes. If you like how the game plays, I would urge you to stick it out a while, as its only gonna improve from here on in.

Edited by Firenze, 22 December 2013 - 07:11 PM.

[Valore]

Play the game for free, don't put a penny into it until you've played for a few months and keep coming back.

Do NOT impluse buy.

The game has devs which have taken plenty of us for a ride with empty promises for more than a year now.

All these complaints you have are the same complaints we made long ago, which were never addressed.

Or if they were addressed, they were looked at superficially like the poor new player experience you had, which many have been pointing out is still poor for a year or more now.

[Tesunie]

babadude71, on 22 December 2013 - 06:28 PM, said:

Some questions:-

Are the long range missiles supposed to avoid contact with the floor by suddenly changing direction and continuing to fly across the ground?

Are ballistic and PPC rounds supposed to go straight through enemy mechs without damaging them?

Is there a comprehensive system in place to prevent hacking like aimbot etc?

Is that the best tutorial and training area that the game has to offer or are there others i havent seen yet?

Is it true that no matter how abusive you are and no matter how many times you kill your team mates it's not likely to get you banned?

Is there a team monitoring this type of behavior and helping to prevent it?

I can only presume this game is still in beta due to the lack on real content, is that correct?

Is the game matching mechanism working, because i find it hard to believe that the matching mechanism will put completely new players up against seasoned players? it is completely demoralizing and makes me feel like un-installing the game and finding something else to play.

To answer the questions as posted:

Explain what you mean more? I have my LRMs running into things all the time, especially hills and buildings...

Ballistic and PPCs are not suppose to "phase" through anything but air. However, these is a problem with Host State Rewind (HSR) and Hit Registry (HR) at this time. It is a deeply rooting problem that is being hard for PGI to correct. It becomes an especially large problem when a player's ping (lag) bounces dramatically. More stable pings see better performance overall.

This game is server side authoritative. This means that many normally known and common hacks do not work on the game. That is not to say that the game can't be effected by hacks, but they are harder to impliment as everything must be checked on the server (PGI's) side. It doesn't matter if you have a program that says your PPCs create 2 heat, the server will see you fired a PPC and will still apply the full normal heat of the weapon, just to create an example.

There are others, that aren't "here" yet. This is an admitted problem with the overall game that everyone is aware of. Just come to the forums and ask any questions in the "new player help" forum. There are always people who are willing to help others there. (Or, if you wish, you can also always message me questions, and next time I am on I will answer them to the best of my ability. However, asking on the forums will probably be faster.) There are also numerous guides in the "Guides and Strategies" forum as well you can look through.

That, as far as I know, is untrue. However, PGI does not announce people they have banned, and do not inform the other players of their decisions. I have seen them edit or remove people's posts on the forums before, and also heard of some people having their posting privileges become "Dev authorization only" (AKA: Anything they wanted to post had to be read and approved by a moderator of the forums first before anyone else could see it.) If they take these steps on the forums, I am inclined to believe that they will do the same or more for in game problems.

If you have a problem with anyone in game, for now you can E-mail support ( support@mwomercs.com ) with any issues you might have. This can include rude and crude behavior ( http://mwomercs.com/...79#entry2753479 ), griefing, game bugs, and more. Any problems can be sent to support, and they are very helpful and responsive (considering that it's a game with only a small support staff). In game reporting is in the works still.

This game is technically out of beta for a couple of months now. However, myself included, still feel this game should still be in beta. However, from PGI's perspective, the game runs without too many crashes (is stable), the basics are all there and working, and they feel it is past beta testing and ready for release. More content is coming. If what they say now is true (we've had the dates pushed back several times), UI2.0 is around the corner, and by fall/winter of 2014 they expect to have CW in the game. This is an internet game, and it is always changing and updating. Problems will happen from this, and new material is always just around the corner.

Match maker, to my knowledge, is working correctly at this time. However, new players are started at what is called "neutral Elo". Just to sum up, Elo is a personal score that the computer assigns players. When searching for matches, the computer will try to match elo scores on each side. This means that you will normally have either a mix of elo scores that are considered close in their teams total score, or everyone will be running with close elo scores themselves. With Neutral Elo, you are basically ranked dead in the middle, as the game has not found out your actual score yet. The more you play, the better the game can figure out your Elo. After so many games, Elo will find your score and start pairing your games accordingly. This does not mean, however, that you will always be paired up on teams that are of the same skill as you, but it should be close. (The other half of Elo is that your Elo score is seen by the computer as you skill. When it makes teams, it wont always make perfectly balanced Elo teams. Instead, one team might have a higher Elo than the other. When this happens, Elo will say "This team should win and this one should lose". The computer then will rate Elo by if a team can out preform their expected results. If Elo said you should lose, and you do, no harm is done. If it says you should win and you do, same thing (it will adjust your score very little). If, however, you win when it said you should lose, and vis versa, it will bump your score more than if it was "right".

Keep playing for a bit longer. Get past your Cadet bonus (your first 25 matches I think?). Your Elo should be scored by then and you should start to see better matches more suited to your skills. You can also always join a "premade" team, by finding teammates in the game. Use the social tab on the bottom right corner of the client screen (game screen that isn't the match screen). You can type in people whom you liked playing beside in game, as well as possible forum friends. If you wish, you can always add my name to your friends and if I'm ever on when you are, we can team up. I wont say I'm the best mechwarrior, but it's always good to still be in a team. Someone whom can watch your back for you. You can also do as Sandpit says with team speak, as you can see better communication on a speak system than the ingame typing system.

[SiorAlpin Wolf]

There are many places within the forums you can get help, if you are willing to trudge through many pages and menus, you took a risk posting some of that stuff as i fear you are going to get trolled to hell and back unfortunately such is the mentality of some of the people on these forums.

It is a hard game to learn and it is by no means a game for a single player, it should really say that on the cover but they need as many people to sign up as possible, it looks good for the figures ;p

I will try to get around to answering your questions once i have had a sleep, i only posted this to try and make you feel abit more welcome into the MWO family, but with all the hostility in the forums at the moment in not quite sure what sort of first impression you have had.

Try to stick around for abit and see what others advise you,

Good luck and try to have fun for now

[Selfish]

If you're being abused, please record (optimal) and send the behavior to support@mwomercs.com. There are several free recording programs out there such as Bandicam, Fraps, and Shadowplay (Nvidia, can be used reflexively due to its time buffer). I've yet to have a report submitted without a response.

Welcome to the communities. There are many VOIP servers to try, and I found several I bounced between before finding a host company (QQ Mercs). NGNG is a popular circuit as they are the publicly endorsed MWO affiliate. I'd recommend Comstar NA and Marik myself. I've had fantastic experiences at both. Just show up, drop in a LFG, and also search out public groups that are open.

This game won't be anywhere near started until a year from now if what you want is "meaning". If you want something to 'do' other than shoot at other mechs, I wouldn't recommend MWO.

[Tesunie]

Selfish, on 22 December 2013 - 07:30 PM, said:

This game won't be anywhere near started until a year from now if what you want is "meaning". If you want something to 'do' other than shoot at other mechs, I wouldn't recommend MWO.

I'd like to add, at least for now...

[Lyoto Machida]

Tesunie, on 22 December 2013 - 07:14 PM, said:

To answer the questions as posted:

Explain what you mean more? I have my LRMs running into things all the time, especially hills and buildings...

He means LRMs coming in on an arc and then appearing that they are about to strike the ground and then levelling out and flying almost parallel to the ground for a number of meters more. This happens when the target mech has already died or the LRMs missed because the mech moved. It's almost like the missiles hit a cushion of air that causes them to fly along the ground. This has been happening for a long time.

[Tesunie]

Lyoto Machida, on 22 December 2013 - 10:00 PM, said:

He means LRMs coming in on an arc and then appearing that they are about to strike the ground and then levelling out and flying almost parallel to the ground for a number of meters more. This happens when the target mech has already died or the LRMs missed because the mech moved. It's almost like the missiles hit a cushion of air that causes them to fly along the ground. This has been happening for a long time.

I suspected that was what he was talking about. I don't see this happen too often, but I have seen it happen. Why it happens? I don't know. It just does. It isn't suppose to... I normally see it when the missiles lose tracking on a target. Then again, I've only seen it happen a few times in the year I've been here.

[Xmith]

You sure had a lot to say for only playing for 3 days.

[Lyoto Machida]

Tesunie, on 22 December 2013 - 10:21 PM, said:

I suspected that was what he was talking about. I don't see this happen too often, but I have seen it happen. Why it happens? I don't know. It just does. It isn't suppose to... I normally see it when the missiles lose tracking on a target. Then again, I've only seen it happen a few times in the year I've been here.

Only a few times? I see it at least once a day (and more than that).

Kinda reminds me of skipping a rock off a lake surface.

[Moku]

Play with the HouseSteiner.com community on their teamspeak at ts1.housesteiner.com (no password). Group up, chat, ask questions, and have fun.

Moku 10SR
http://10SR.enjin.com

[Modo44]

babadude71, on 22 December 2013 - 06:28 PM, said:

Are the long range missiles supposed to avoid contact with the floor by suddenly changing direction and continuing to fly across the ground?

Yes.

babadude71, on 22 December 2013 - 06:28 PM, said:

Are ballistic and PPC rounds supposed to go straight through enemy mechs without damaging them?

No. This is due to a slight desync between you, the server, and the other player. Basically, someone managed to move before it was shown on your client.

babadude71, on 22 December 2013 - 06:28 PM, said:

Is there a comprehensive system in place to prevent hacking like aimbot etc?

Yes. The entire game is controlled server-side. This means that you can not e.g. improve your mech or get 100% accurate aiming information by hacking the client. In addition, many weapons are not hitscan-based. Actual flight paths make reliably hitting moving objects doubly hard.

babadude71, on 22 December 2013 - 06:28 PM, said:

Is that the best tutorial and training area that the game has to offer or are there others i havent seen yet?

This is all there is for now. While technically out of beta, MWO is about a year from looking like a polished product. Forum and YouTube guides are the best you can get right now.

babadude71, on 22 December 2013 - 06:28 PM, said:

Is it true that no matter how abusive you are and no matter how many times you kill your team mates it's not likely to get you banned? Is there a team monitoring this type of behavior and helping to prevent it?

If you make a few pointed screenshots and send them to the GMs, people will get banned. BTDT. There is no automatic in-game system, unfortunately.

babadude71, on 22 December 2013 - 06:28 PM, said:

Is the game matching mechanism working, because i find it hard to believe that the matching mechanism will put completely new players up against seasoned players? it is completely demoralizing and makes me feel like un-installing the game and finding something else to play.

The matchmaker works best if you are in a group. It tends to be bad for solo players, unfortunately. It is one of the systems that will likely improve over the next year.

You came here just before some major changes. We have a revamped UI, and an entire Community Warfare (i.e. a galaxy map that tracks factions) coming up in 2014 and. If you like big stompy robots, hang in there. If you expect battles to matter a little more, check back in a couple of months.

[Fang01]

Xmith, on 22 December 2013 - 11:55 PM, said:

You sure had a lot to say for only playing for 3 days.

Sure feels trolltastic don't it? If I am trying out a new game and find it doesn't suit me I quit, uninstall, and find something else to play. I'm certaintly not going to walk into the forums and write a book about my gripes, ESPECIALLY when I didnt pay a dime for the experience.

I'd be very surprised if this post has any legitimacy and that OP isin't one of the drooling noper idiots

[Modo44]

The fact that a new player takes time to write shows how hooked he already is. Poor fella might be stuck with this great horribly broken game.

[CarnageINC]

Seriously guys...some of you thinking hes trolling? Hes being polite and inquisitive. Hes making new guy observations and asking for advice. I see nothing trollish about it. Lighten up on our newer players. Hes just frustrated right now.

I have had a similar experience in War Thunder. Being a new player over there is very difficult now too so I can see where he's coming from. I uninstalled that game because I felt so out of my league and overwhelmed.

Stay with it awhile longer babadude, find a unit to run with and help you learn the mechanics of the game. Playing with friends definitely enhances the game IMO.

[babadude71]

Khajja nar Jatargk, on 23 December 2013 - 05:55 AM, said:

Sure feels trolltastic don't it? If I am trying out a new game and find it doesn't suit me I quit, uninstall, and find something else to play. I'm certaintly not going to walk into the forums and write a book about my gripes, ESPECIALLY when I didnt pay a dime for the experience.

I'd be very surprised if this post has any legitimacy and that OP isin't one of the drooling noper idiots

Now i see what SiorAlpin Wolf was om about, tnx for that.

I wrote alot because its what i had observed and wanted to know a few other things, i realy appreciate the constructive help and advice that most of you have given me tnx, as for the others i will just ignore those.

In real life i'm a scrum manager so my days in work can be stressful so its nice to chill out with a game that i used to play when it was pen and paper and models and a dynamic rule book, which is why i do have a bit of an interest in MWO, i have also built battling robots for Robot Wars that was televised some years ago, alas i never made it far into the competition due to work (always gets in the way of fun).

Anyway Tnx all for your input and advice it has been most appreciated and taken on-board, i will check out some of the TS servers that have been suggested and you-tube vids.

[Koniving]

Tesunie, on 22 December 2013 - 07:14 PM, said:

Match maker, to my knowledge, is working correctly at this time. However, new players are started at what is called "neutral Elo". Just to sum up, Elo is a personal score that the computer assigns players. When searching for matches, the computer will try to match elo scores on each side. This means that you will normally have either a mix of elo scores that are considered close in their teams total score, or everyone will be running with close elo scores themselves. With Neutral Elo, you are basically ranked dead in the middle, as the game has not found out your actual score yet. The more you play, the better the game can figure out your Elo. After so many games, Elo will find your score and start pairing your games accordingly. This does not mean, however, that you will always be paired up on teams that are of the same skill as you, but it should be close. (The other half of Elo is that your Elo score is seen by the computer as you skill. When it makes teams, it wont always make perfectly balanced Elo teams. Instead, one team might have a higher Elo than the other. When this happens, Elo will say "This team should win and this one should lose". The computer then will rate Elo by if a team can out preform their expected results. If Elo said you should lose, and you do, no harm is done. If it says you should win and you do, same thing (it will adjust your score very little). If, however, you win when it said you should lose, and vis versa, it will bump your score more than if it was "right".

On this I should mention: The later in the Western night you (anyone who is reading this) play, the worse you will experience in match maker. This is because towards the evening and early morning hours, there are fewer and fewer people playing and so the ELO score mix is much harder to balance, with completely random and out of place players (too good or too new) being thrown together. Combine this with the horrific 500+ pings that frequent these late hours and you're bound to have a rotten experience.

If you play at such a time, you may consider playing at other times when possible. Once you find a time of day where the game runs good and enemies can be hit (due to lower, manageable pings) and they also seem more new than not, you should be much better off.

[Tuann]

baba,
don't judge a game, that is F2P and PvP only in just a few days.
1. Some coding isn't perfect. True
2. lot's of people play it because of the lore. the added value is not in the 3 match modes, but in the years of reading and playing mechwarrior.
3. There will be added content (we all hope they keep their promises), so it can only get better, while we train and grind :-)
4. Find yourself a unit, stroll around on the forum, check some recruiting posts, do a few drops with some guys, till you find a unit that suits you
5. If people get abusive or irritated : Tell them you are new and are getting used to it. if it persists, report them. how can you judge by only 3 days of play that there is no follow up ? do you always believe anything people brag about :-)
if behavior is consistently abusive, i have no doubt the person will be banned.
6. Train and train,.. yes targets in the training grounds are stationary, but you don't have to be. try running at full speed and at the same time hitting your mark,... if you hit all the time, then you will certainly hit a slow moving heavy ingame too
7. The experience get better if your mechs get levelled
8. if you want to try different mechs, use the trial mechs. they are not optimal, but at least you will get the flavor
9. did i already tell you to look for a group ? :-) Teamspeak drops are way more fun and you will learn a lot faster too.

And finally, i cannot tell you to keep playing a game u don't like, but in my opinion, MWO is a fun game, with fun people (and the occasional raging idiots of course) and worth spending some time to give it a chance.

have fun

(edited for typo's)

Edited by Tuann, 23 December 2013 - 06:50 AM.