24 replies to this topic

[CrazyRockStar]

So I see all this about clans and mercs and inner sphere and such. I only see multiplayer action with no story. What am I missing? I use to play back in the year 2000. This was infact my first computer game. I noticed you cant set up a joystick with this game also. At least I couldnt cause of the torso thing. Back to my original question. I know back in the day you had ways of doing drops on planets and fighting for people and all that. It was a ton of fun. Is that still here or is it out there at all? I just feel like I am missing something with this game right now.
Can someone help?

[3endless8oogie]

It´s still just a beta. All the real stuff isn´t developed yet....

[Arnold J Rimmer]

What it sounds to me that you're after is Community Warfare - declaring for a faction (House, merc unit, Clan...) and fighting for them, to control territory, etc.

Good news - it's on the way!

Bad news - maybe the end of next year!

At the moment the game is drops of 12v12 players in team deathmatch, base assault, and 5-point king of the hill, grinding for new mechs and equipment and little else. However, the gameplay is fun and finding a team of people to drop with helps immeasurably. Once you have completed 25 matches, you'll be able to post in the Outreach sections of the forum to find a unit (if you want one )

Edited by Arnold J Rimmer, 26 December 2013 - 12:01 PM.

[Katus]

There is not yet much meta story until community warfare is launched. For now it is all just PvP and stat grinding.

The best source of lore I have found online is http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

[BFett]

A huge portion of the game called Community Warfare (CW) is being worked on by PGI. Unfortunately PGI only has 18 people working on CW. These 18 people also have to push out the patches and do other programming things.

In short there is a plan for CW to be made but it is not in the game yet.

[Durant Carlyle]

If you're talking about the single-player parts of the earlier games, there isn't a single-player experience in MW:O. And there won't be for quite some time (years away, if ever).

They will be adding features to the game in the future where you can join one of the Great Houses or a player-controlled mercenary unit and fight battles for them. You will be able to conquer planets and such.

3endless8oogie, on 26 December 2013 - 11:59 AM, said:

It´s still just a beta.

Yeah, they shouldn't have moved for an official release so soon. The game requires another year or so (hopefully less) to get to the actual "why" we're fighting.

[Dvorak]

Durant Carlyle, on 26 December 2013 - 12:06 PM, said:

Yeah, they shouldn't have moved for an official release so soon. The game requires another year or so (hopefully less) to get to the actual "why" we're fighting.

I work in software. Reading between the lines, I'm almost certain this was driven by the negotiations w/Microsoft they referred to in their recent 'State of the Inner Sphere' post. My bet is that in order to retain the Mechwarrior license, they had to do a 'non-beta' release.

Of course, in no way does this excuse their failure to deliver Community Warfare - they've chronically over-promised and under-delivered for almost 2 years now. I'm just guessing that the decision to 'go final' was driven by constraints they can't talk about in public and offering an explanation on that basis.

[Hexenhammer]

Right now we have a 12v12 robot killing game. Thats it.

Oh and a frustrated community.

Edited by Hexenhammer, 26 December 2013 - 12:37 PM.

[Gwydion Ward]

CrazyRockStar, on 26 December 2013 - 11:43 AM, said:

So I see all this about clans and mercs and inner sphere and such. I only see multiplayer action with no story. What am I missing? I use to play back in the year 2000. This was infact my first computer game. I noticed you cant set up a joystick with this game also. At least I couldnt cause of the torso thing. Back to my original question. I know back in the day you had ways of doing drops on planets and fighting for people and all that. It was a ton of fun. Is that still here or is it out there at all? I just feel like I am missing something with this game right now.
Can someone help?

To put it bluntly.. MWO may be 'launched'. But all it is at the moment, is a PVP Arena.

There is no story, there is no 'clan' warfare, there no Community driven anything. Its just a PVP arena.

PGI seems more interested in throwing out new Mech's than they are in actually improving the gameplay at all. And even the Gameplay is lacking something bad as it has de-evolved down to nothing more than 'use the biggest/fasted-firering weapons and shoot the other guys CT!'.

Unless your farming credits, or simply want to show the 'arcadies' how to really fight, All you have to do is fire everything you have at the others guys CT, and hope you destroy his before he does yours. There really is no point in destroying arms, or legs.. as all the damage you do to those, could have simply been done to the other guys CT.. which instantly kills the mech. Even if every single other part of it is still 'green' and 100% untouched.

While piloting your current favorate Mech.


Sadly, thats MWO in a nutshell at the moment.

Edited by Rhapsody Repine, 27 December 2013 - 03:45 PM.

[Koniving]

Durant Carlyle, on 26 December 2013 - 12:06 PM, said:

If you're talking about the single-player parts of the earlier games, there isn't a single-player experience in MW:O. And there won't be for quite some time (years away, if ever).

It's been officially stated that MWO will not feature any single player experience. Instead, if/when "enough interest is renewed in the mechwarrior franchise they will try again at making a single player game separate and unique from MW:O." Paraphrased, not precisely quoted.

[Hexenhammer]

Rhapsody Repine, on 27 December 2013 - 03:42 PM, said:

To put it bluntly.. MWO may be 'launched'. But all it is at the moment, is a PVP Arena.

There is no story, there is no 'clan' warfare, there no Community driven anything. Its just a PVP arena.

PGI seems more interested in throwing out new Mech's than they are in actually improving the gameplay at all. And even the Gameplay is lacking something bad as it has de-evolved down to nothing more than 'use the biggest/fasted-firering weapons and shoot the other guys CT!'.

Unless your farming credits, or simply want to show the 'arcadies' how to really fight, All you have to do is fire everything you have at the others guys CT, and hope you destroy his before he does yours. There really is no point in destroying arms, or legs.. as all the damage you do to those, could have simply been done to the other guys CT.. which instantly kills the mech. Even if every single other part of it is still 'green' and 100% untouched.

While piloting your current favorate Mech.


Sadly, thats MWO in a nutshell at the moment.

It is but I try to have a white knight attitude.
Buy and hold onto as many mechs as possible now so when CW does come out you're already head of the game.

Koniving, on 27 December 2013 - 03:51 PM, said:

It's been officially stated that MWO will not feature any single player experience. Instead, if/when "enough interest is renewed in the mechwarrior franchise they will try again at making a single player game separate and unique from MW:O." Paraphrased, not precisely quoted.

But there is good news on this front!



But I'm not getting my hope up.

Edited by Hexenhammer, 27 December 2013 - 03:59 PM.

[Nick Makiaveli]

Rhapsody Repine, on 27 December 2013 - 03:42 PM, said:

To put it bluntly.. MWO may be 'launched'. But all it is at the moment, is a PVP Arena.

There is no story, there is no 'clan' warfare, there no Community driven anything. Its just a PVP arena.

PGI seems more interested in throwing out new Mech's than they are in actually improving the gameplay at all. And even the Gameplay is lacking something bad as it has de-evolved down to nothing more than 'use the biggest/fasted-firering weapons and shoot the other guys CT!'.

Unless your farming credits, or simply want to show the 'arcadies' how to really fight, All you have to do is fire everything you have at the others guys CT, and hope you destroy his before he does yours. There really is no point in destroying arms, or legs.. as all the damage you do to those, could have simply been done to the other guys CT.. which instantly kills the mech. Even if every single other part of it is still 'green' and 100% untouched.

While piloting your current favorate Mech.


Sadly, thats MWO in a nutshell at the moment.

Not true.

Different mechs play differently. Try that with a Light and you will die each time. Also, if fighting a Light, best to go for the legs as they are easier to hit and have no front/rear or arms to get in the way. Oh and take off one and he slows to 40kph or half speed which ever is slower (on a Light thats 40kph).

LRM boats is another example. Learn to use JJs. Find a great unit to join and drop with cool people. Just don't click the link in my sig, I hear those guys are evil, mean people who use TS and drop in pre-mades so they can have fun!!! You don't need any of that.....

**edit** Actually don't click the link since it isn't working....WTF? Repairs in progress.....

**edit2** Ok working...but seriously don't click it. I hear we have members from all over the US, Europe and even Asia/Australia....who needs that hassle!?!?

Edited by Nick Makiaveli, 27 December 2013 - 04:00 PM.

[Void Angel]

Yeah, that quote's advice is generally horrible. It isn't often worthwhile to blow off arms, but legging is the preferred method of killing Centurions and lights - as well as certain builds, such as jump snipers or AC/40 Jaegermechs who strip leg armor for weight. It's also nearly always worthwhile to target side torsos with heavy weapons on them rather than just mashing your alpha strike at center mass. Good players don't play like that, and neither should you.

As far as the overall state of the game, it's really not bad - there's a certain faction that's allowed their frustration with the game to become a part of their reasoning, rather than the result, and they like to complain, and pronounce doom, and hurl insults, and complain. A lot. Even to the point of making up names to call people who dispute their claims - that's what Hex is talking about with the "white knight" attitude. It's an epithet people made up to poison the well against people who disagree with them.

The thing to remember is that while there are legitimate criticisms that can be leveled at the game, they're mostly about timelines and promised content. We were supposed to have Community Warfare a looong time ago - but they had to rewrite the netcode, and then there was LRMageddon, and stuff got behind. WAY behind. So we need a broader content base for the game - community warfare can't come soon enough. But what we have right now is still fun. There's a few balance issues, a few problems here and there (like hit registration for SRMs) that need fixed - but the game we have is very playable and fun for what it is. It's just more limited than it's designed to be.

PS: PGI has told the complainers that the people working on new 'mechs aren't the ones working on fixing issues or programming new systems. Programmers are not fungible; they're not shorthand for money. You can't just throw more programmers at a problem and "buy" a faster solution - they have to have the right skills. But the complainers don't listen; they don't care. Accepting that there are at least partial reasons for things they dislike robs them of the thrill of self-righteous wrath. It is this willful disregard of contrary data that makes me doubt their opinions, and you should bear it in mind when you hear them froth.

[NRP]

^Damn fine post, Void!

[Gwydion Ward]

Hexenhammer, on 27 December 2013 - 03:55 PM, said:

It is but I try to have a white knight attitude.

Yea, try to keep a somewhat 'up-beat' attitude, but i cant play MWO for more than 30 mins to a hour now-a-days before i simply get frustrated to how 'arcade-like' the game has de-evolved into. They literally could take away every single hitbox.. and just split the Mech's in 1/2, give us 100hp to play with, to split front 1/2 or rear 1/2... and you wouldn't notice a single thing different about any of the gameplay.

Except that instead of the 'race to kill the CT'... you'd have a 'race to kill his hp!'.

Beyond that, in its current state, thats all MWO is.

Nick Makiaveli, on 27 December 2013 - 03:57 PM, said:

Not true.

Different mechs play differently. Try that with a Light and you will die each time. Also, if fighting a Light, best to go for the legs as they are easier to hit and have no front/rear or arms to get in the way. Oh and take off one and he slows to 40kph or half speed which ever is slower (on a Light thats 40kph).

Nope... ive seen plenty of Lights run literally 'circles' around another Mech... and you know when they fire?... Only 2 times. Once when the Rear CT of the enmy is facing them, and once when the Front CT is facing them. No other time do they fire. They do just like everyone else does. Aim for the CT and nothing else.

The only difference is they can 'dance' around the Mech their currently chewing away at the CT of, or do little hit-n-run attacks. But they ONLY ever fire at the CT (front or rear).

As for shooting their legs. Easier said then done unless they are charging directly towards you, or away from you. If their runing side-to-side... Their busy chewing away at your CT.. and by the time you kill even 1 of their legs, youve already lost your CT and are dead.

Again... All MWO is at the moment, is a game of "Kill his CT! Before he kills mine!"

*shrugs*

[cSand]

Rhapsody Repine, on 27 December 2013 - 03:42 PM, said:

Unless your farming credits, or simply want to show the 'arcadies' how to really fight, All you have to do is fire everything you have at the others guys CT, and hope you destroy his before he does yours. There really is no point in destroying arms, or legs.. as all the damage you do to those, could have simply been done to the other guys CT.. which instantly kills the mech. Even if every single other part of it is still 'green' and 100% untouched.

Hey you should post a thread about this




it's really interesting

Edited by cSand, 27 December 2013 - 04:36 PM.

[Void Angel]

CrazyRockStar, on 26 December 2013 - 11:43 AM, said:

I noticed you cant set up a joystick with this game also. At least I couldnt cause of the torso thing.

There are ways to set up joysticks for this game - but you have to do it right, or you'll hurt your effectiveness. Basically, you need your joystick to work like a mouse. If you move your stick halfway up to the top of its range of motion, it should move your cursor halfway up to the top of the screen. If instead you push up on the joystick and the cursor goes up, and then stops moving when you move the joystick back to center, you don't want to use that joystick to aim a shooter or sim game - any shooter or sim game. Unfortunately, most joysticks work like the former example out of the box. This is, in engineering jargon, the "order" of a controller - a mouse is zero-order, and that's what you need.

The reason all this matters is that if your joystick doesn't work like a mouse, you're inserting an extra step into everything you do with it in the game. Want to aim at a target? A mouse, you move your cursor until it's over the target - but with your joystick you have to move the mouse in the direction of the target, and then stop by moving the joystick back to center. This may sound like an inconsequential thing, but it adds up, and fast. Consider that the average human's reaction time (to new stimulus, like a blinking light) is around two tenths of a second. If Rhapsody up there is using a first-order (normal) joystick, that would explain why he is unable to aim. You may need to buy a special stick and/or use special software, but if you want to use a stick in this kind of game, it's worth it.

Note that this is primarily important if you're trying to aim with a joystick. If you're trying to move with a joystick, it's a much better proposition - in fact, some people have told me they have indeed gotten analog movement to work, which makes me want to try a joystick for movement. However, I haven't done it yet - you'll have to check this forum for information. Throw out a question thread if you can't find what you need, and people will help you out. =)

Edited by Void Angel, 27 December 2013 - 04:49 PM.

[Victor Morson]

CrazyRockStar, on 26 December 2013 - 11:43 AM, said:

So I see all this about clans and mercs and inner sphere and such. I only see multiplayer action with no story. What am I missing? I use to play back in the year 2000. This was infact my first computer game. I noticed you cant set up a joystick with this game also. At least I couldnt cause of the torso thing. Back to my original question. I know back in the day you had ways of doing drops on planets and fighting for people and all that. It was a ton of fun. Is that still here or is it out there at all? I just feel like I am missing something with this game right now.
Can someone help?

There are currently a number of user created leagues to provide you with that experience. Also there is a lot of rage on the forums (go check out the Comstar Focus Group threads) that PGI has failed to support or do this themselves.

If you are curious search "Marik Civil War", "Run Hot or Die", or "Proxis" just for starters! Lots of fun to be had there, at least.

Edited by Victor Morson, 27 December 2013 - 08:48 PM.

[Gwydion Ward]

Void Angel, on 27 December 2013 - 04:48 PM, said:

If Rhapsody up there is using a first-order (normal) joystick, that would explain why he is unable to aim. You may need to buy a special stick and/or use special software, but if you want to use a stick in this kind of game, it's worth it.

I can aim by the way. Thats actually the problem. i AM aiming at something 'other' than the CT of every single mech i come across. I spend time shooting off Limbs or legs. The other guy simply aims at my CT.. and guess who wins? They do.

Because that is all this game is about. Whoever kills the CT the fastest wins. There really isnt any point to having the other Hitboxes. Atleast not when every single weapon is 100% accurate.

The 'hit-boxes' existed in the Tabletop Game to give the 'dice-rolls' something to hit when you rolled for your accuracy and such. It was also implemented to simulate 'battle-damage'. In the TT, you didnt have 100% accurate weapons. In MWO you do. Every single one of us hits exactly were we aim, with every weapon short of SRM's. and that pretty much makes any other Hitbox 'but' the CT obsolete as in order to kill the Mech by leg-shots, you have to take out 'both' legs, CT's do no good unless the othe rmech is running a XL engine. The Arms?.. dosnt kill it even if you blow both off. Only the CT kills in 'one-shot' so to speak (and the cockpit.. but really how often do you see those droped?) So, thats were everyone aims.

[Void Angel]

That's simply not true. If you are matching your center torso against their side torsos, and hitting what you aim at, you need to work on battlefield positioning and damage mitigation skills. While sometimes it's best just to pound on the CT, targeting vulnerable weapons or XL engines is an essential tactic that yields results if done properly. Given the number of 'mechs currently popular who use XL engines (Battlemasters come to mind,) or have a significant portion of their firepower in their side torso (Atlases and some Shadowhawks,) there are plenty of reasons to take out a side torso first - particularly given the existence of glass cannon builds who strip leg armor for little extra speed and ammunition.

It bears mentioning that MWO weapons are "100% accurate" only against stationary targets. Against a target that is moving, either with its feet or its torso, factors such as beam duration, travel time, ballistic drop, and (for machine guns) cone of fire will tend to spread damage across a 'mech. This ability to spread damage is why high-damage weapons are generally preferred over rapid-fire weapons - particularly in brawling.